1. Describe a situation where you were unable to overcome a customer’s objection. What would he do differently in hindsight?

2. Describe the most unique project you have been a part of. What role did you play? Who did you manage? Who did you report to? Explain the process from conception to implementation.

3. Describe in full detail an example of a situation, which illustrates your stereotypical role on a project. What was your involvement with work processes and work redesign?

4. How many projects have you managed over the past 3 years? How many people have reported to you on each project? Who did you report to? What were sizes (revenue) of those projects? Explain the role you played on the largest and the smallest project.

5. Describe for me the most difficult employee situation you have ever been involved in.

6. What is the average number of people you have been responsible for at one time? What level of employee has typically reported directly to you? What have been your greatest challenges in maximizing employee potential?

7. Describe a decision you have made without consulting superiors. What was the outcome? Would you do the same thing again? What have you learned from experience?

8. Describe for me a time when you have made an immediate and sustainable impact

9. Tell me about a time when your tenacity resulted in closing a deal? Be specific.

10. Describe the process you use to gain a clear understanding of a client’s key issues and hidden agendas.

11. Tell me about your time management system. How do you plan your day, week and month?

Know your resume and questions that could be asked from it. Review your major accomplishments, strengths and weaknesses. Learn all you can about the company and product in advance. Arrive 15 minutes early. Late attendance is never excusable.

Dress to Impress

Professional Dress!

• Two piece solid or pinstriped (dark color preferable) suit w/ polished shoes
• Do not wear excessive jewelry or heavy cologne/perfume.

Winning Questions to Ask

• Get the interviewer to describe the position and responsibilities early in the conversation so you can relate your skills and background to the position throughout the interview.
• Clarify questions. Be sure you answered the questions the employer really asked.
• Don’t answer vague questions. Rather than answering questions you think you hear, get the employer to be more specific and then respond.
• Be aware of what your body language is saying. Smile, make eye contact, don’t slouch and maintain composure.

An interview should be a mutual exchange of information, not a one-sided conversation. Below are examples of conversation prompts:

• Why was this position created?
• What are the primary objectives during the first six months?
• What is the most urgent or difficult part of the job?
• Why did the previous person in this position leave?
• What freedom would I have in getting the job done?
• When will you be making your decision to fill this position?

Listening, This is probably the most important ability of all. By concentrating not only on the employer’s words, but also on the tone of voice and body language, you will be able to pick up on the employer’s style. Once you understand how a hiring authority thinks, pattern your answers accordingly and you will be able to better relate to him or her. Don’t ramble. Long answers often make the speaker sound apologetic or indecisive.

Closing the Interview

• Express strong interest in pursuing the job regardless of your immediate impressions.
• State that you feel that your strengths fit well with their needs.
• Express confidence that you can handle the job. Stress teamwork and people skills
• Ask for the job; this may be your only opportunity to do so.

If you feel that the interview went well and you would like to take the next step, express your interest to the hiring authority and turn the tables a bit. Try something like the following:

“After hearing more about your company, the position and the responsibilities at hand, I am certain that I possess the qualities that you are looking for in the (title) position. Based on our conversation and my qualifications, are there any issues or concerns that you have that would lead you to believe otherwise?”

You have a right to be assertive. This is a great closing question because it opens the door for the hiring authority to be honest with you about his or her feelings. If concerns do exist, this is a great opportunity to overcome them. You have one last chance to dispel the concerns, sell your strengths and end the interview on positive note.

Job seekers, beware the telephone.

For years, the phone interview was a preliminary step that allowed an employer to give a candidate the once-over and schedule an in-person interview. But these days, many recruiters are using the phone interview to pose the kinds of in-depth questions previously reserved for finalists. What’s more, job hunters say the bar for getting to the next level has been raised much higher, catching many of them off-guard.

In a recent first interview for a senior marketing job, Robyn Cobb was grilled by a hiring manager for an hour and a half on topics ranging from her work history and marketing philosophy to her knowledge of the company and its industry.

“I thought it was never going to end,” says the 45-year-old Ms. Cobb, who lives in Alpharetta, Ga., and was laid off in December from a midsize communications firm.

Until recently, candidates could often breeze through most phone interviews in 10 minutes or less by answering a few softball questions. Little preparation was necessary, and most people could expect to be invited for a “real” interview before hanging up.

These days, job hunters are finding that they need to reserve an hour or more for a phone interview. They may be asked to discuss their full work history, including the exact dates of their experience in various business areas. They may also be expected to cite examples and exact stats that illustrate their strengths and offer details on how they would handle the position.

During a call earlier this year about a director-of-Internet-marketing job, Jaclyn Agy of Wheat Ridge, Colo., says she was asked to describe about 10 different marketing initiatives she’s worked on, plus provide metrics resulting from each. “I didn’t have those stats off the top of my head,” she recalls of the hour-long conversation. “I expected to be asked that in a face-to-face.”

Some job recruiters are starting to screen job applicants over the phone. Clarity Media Group CEO Bill McGowan explains how to avoid a few common mistakes.

Ms. Agy, 30, says she assumed she’d need only to describe two or three past accomplishments in general terms. “I was taken back by how specific [the interviewer] was getting,” she says. Ms. Agy was better prepared for a follow-up phone interview. She was later invited to meet with eight members of the hiring company in its Denver office, though she didn’t land the position.

Employers say they’ve raised the phone-interview stakes in part because they’re attracting more candidates who meet their basic qualifications. They’re digging deep to identify the best ones, and in some cases adding second-round rigor to phone screens as one way to accomplish that.

“You can be pickier,” says Joyce A. Foster, vice president of human resources at Hilex Poly Co. LLC in Hartsville, S.C. Salaried job openings at the company’s 10 U.S. locations have been attracting up to three times as many qualified applicants — including more candidates with experience in Hilex’s niche, plastic film and bag manufacturing and recycling — than during more robust economic times, she says.

“Before, if a person had only recycling experience in paper, we might have said OK,” Ms. Foster says. “Today we can be more specific. I’m going to find someone who’s an even better fit.”

Recruiters are also seeking to weed out those who seem likely to change jobs as soon as the economy turns around. “We’re trying to determine whether what we’re offering truly meets their long-term objectives,” says Paul Newman, assistant vice president of human resources at OppenheimerFunds. And when it comes to candidates who were laid off, recruiters for the New York-based asset-management firm want to know the circumstances behind what happened. “Was this person a high-performance, talented individual who was let go because of the economics of the business,” he says, “or an average employee let go in the first round” of layoffs?

For many firms, evaluating candidates over the phone also serves as a way to save on recruiting costs. “In this economy, you can’t afford to fly every person out for an interview,” says Jeff Cousens, vice president of organizational development at Patrick Energy Services Inc. in Lisle, Ill. After joining the energy concern in January, he instructed recruiters to complete up to four comprehensive phone interviews with candidates before inviting finalists in. Previously, they made just one brief call, mainly to schedule in-person interviews. “When a candidate comes in to meet the hiring manager, recruiters have already gone through every detail to make sure they’re a fit,” says Mr. Cousens.

Job seekers should prepare for a phone interview as seriously as they do for an in-person one. When asked about your qualifications, for example, you can craft a better answer by asking what the company wants and why, says J.T. O’Donnell, a career strategist in North Hampton, N.H.

If you’re asked how many years of experience you have with a program you have used extensively, but not for years, you could reply by asking how much is required and at what level, says Ms. O’Donnell. Maybe the company chose a number based on how much experience the last person in the position had, and you might have just as much, but in a condensed time frame. You can then provide a convincing reason as to why you should be considered for the job even if your answer doesn’t match exactly what the recruiter is looking for.

You should also prepare to answer more complex and detailed questions in phone interviews by creating a list of key statistics and abbreviated answers to commonly asked questions, says Bill McGowan, founder of communications-coaching firm Clarity Media Group Inc. Some examples: What do you know about the company? Why do you want the job? What are your greatest strengths? What are your career goals? How do you see yourself fitting in?

“What traps a lot of people is they think and talk at the same time. They make up answers on the fly,” says Mr. McGowan. “It’s better if you know your conversational path.”

Don’t expect to defer answering questions to your first meeting with a hiring manager, says Maureen Crawford Hentz, a talent-acquisition manager at Danvers, Mass.-based lighting manufacturer Osram Sylvania Inc. That may have been the case in the past, but not now. “People think if you’re talking to someone in HR, this isn’t a real interview,” she says. But these days, it might be your only shot.

Be sure to brush up on your phone etiquette, too. Ms. Crawford Hentz says candidates have put her on hold while they answered another call or tended to their children. Once she could tell a candidate was visiting a drive-through restaurant during a call because she heard a loudspeaker requesting the person’s lunch order.

Finally, be mindful of common faux pas, such as giving long-winded answers that go off topic. “Sometimes the longer you talk, the more it sounds like you’re trying to explain your way through something,” says Mr. McGowan. “The most confident people don’t need to drone on.” Another common flub: answering recruiters’ questions before they’ve finished speaking. Not only does that show disrespect, but it “makes it seem like you have stocked, canned answers,” he says.

Last summer, Lisa Harrell interviewed a candidate for a director job who offered a list of impressive accomplishments. But during the 60-minute meeting, the Ivy League candidate never paused long enough for the recruiter to ask just how he executed on them.

“In the end, he took a breath and said, ‘After my first 90 days, what is my next step?’” recalls Ms. Harrell, vice president of human-capital development at UnitedHealth Group Inc. in Minnetonka, Minn. His bravado cost him the job, she says.

When it comes to self-promotion in the workplace, hiring managers say some people go too far and block their path to the next level. You might call them the corporate world’s “American Idol” wannabes. Like many contestants on the reality TV show who extol the greatness of their singing abilities and then end up sent home, corporate idols sing praises about their abilities without delivering tangible evidence to back up the claims.

And recruiters and employers say they’re seeing the behavior more frequently in the current bad economy, as some candidates try harder to impress interviewers and workers go out of their way to hang on to their jobs.

“A lot of people are selling themselves hard,” says Mark Angott, president of Angott Search Group, a recruiting firm in Rochester, Mich. Out of desperation, many job hunters convince themselves they’re qualified for positions that don’t match their backgrounds, he says. “They want to try anything and everything,” he says.

And like “American Idol” rejects, corporate idols who lack the skills and knowledge they claim to have often handle criticism or rejection poorly. “We’ve had guys use every expletive in the book,” says Dave DeMink, an executive-search agent in Roseville, Calif., referring to the reactions he has received from job hunters he has declined to present to clients.

Even in the current recession, some job hunters are still unwilling to bend. Brian Rhonemus, a managing director at Angott Search Group, says several former big-bank executives recently refused to consider job opportunities at small community banks and credit unions. “They balked because they didn’t want to go backward,” he says. “It’s amazing. Some candidates just haven’t wrapped their arms around reality yet.”

In more robust economies, some corporate idols take their cockiness to extreme levels by demanding above-average salaries, custom job titles and other forms of special treatment. Consider, for example, the candidate for a senior communications job who told New York recruiter Bill Heyman that he would accept the role only if he would report to the large company’s chief executive officer. The position reported to the head of human resources, and Mr. Heyman strongly urged the candidate “to play by company rules.” Ignoring the recruiter’s advice in an interview with the employer, the candidate lost out on the job, he says.

On the job, corporate idols often spur resentment among their peers. John LeBlanc, vice president of product management at Jefferson Wells International Inc., a professional-services firm, says he once worked with a colleague at a former employer who regularly puffed up his job title when talking to clients. “This same [person] routinely would tell anyone willing to listen how he was doing the same work — and doing it better — than his boss and his boss’s boss,” says Mr. LeBlanc. “He showed a great lack of self-awareness, which hurt his working relationships.”

An unwillingness to accept help from a boss or colleague is another sign of a corporate idol. Case in point: When Lee B. Salz was a vice president at a small outsourcing company, he says, an employee who reported to him repeatedly turned down his offers to show her ways to improve. “She thought she knew everything and [in reality] she wasn’t that good,” recalls Mr. Salz, now president of Sales Architects, a sales-management consulting firm in Minneapolis.

What causes these unaware workers’ heads to swell? According to Brooks Holtom, an assistant professor at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business, employees in certain fields like customer service have no solid way to measure their performance. By contrast, sales professionals can add up the revenue they generate and compare figures over time. As a result, some people are more susceptible than others to developing false impressions about their skills, he says.

Poorly designed reward systems are sometimes to blame for overinflating egos, says Roy Saunderson, president of Recognition Management Institute, a New York provider of workplace-consulting services. “If you read the criteria, they’re so loose, almost anyone can get” rewards, he says.

Of course, career experts say that some self-promotion can be helpful for moving up the corporate ladder. “A lot of times, managers have a tendency not to think about how much work went into an accomplishment,” says Jo-Ann Gastin, senior vice president of human resources at Lockton Cos. LLC, an insurance brokerage firm in Kansas City, Mo. “When an employee does go above and beyond, they should make it known to their supervisor.”

Likewise, it can be advantageous for job hunters to engage in a little spin-doctoring to show recruiters they’re confident in their ability to handle a position, say career experts. But it’s also critical to demonstrate modesty. UnitedHealth’s Ms. Harrell says she hired a director last year who described himself as a technically competent leader and provided two detailed examples to illustrate his point. “He showed that he could efficiently instill a vision and accomplish major tasks, and whether he did them himself or through other people,” she says. Giving credit to others and showing his team mentality helped seal the offer.

Ralph Balastriere, vice president and general manager of international administration at C.R. Bard, a pharmaceutical firm in Murray Hill, N.J., was ready to take a job with a smaller drug company in Ohio early in 1998. But “when I announced I was leaving, Bard offered me such a great package that I decided I could put up with the company for a few more years,” he says.

Bard’s counteroffer included matching the Ohio company’s base salary, boosting Mr. Balastriere’s bonus from 18% to 25% of salary, bumping him up to a higher stock award category, tripling his stock options and providing supplemental retirement. In addition, Mr. Balastriere received a $150,000 “staying bonus” payable in three increments over a two-year period.

It was an attractive counteroffer, a typical practice nowadays. As the scramble for management talent intensifies, companies are trying to poach high-performance professionals from each other in droves. At the same time, they’re paying top dollar to retain their best people.
Counteroffers are a factor in at least 50% of CEO hires, according to Robert Stucker, a compensation specialist and partner at Vedder Price Kaufmann & Kammholz, a Chicago law firm. Increasingly, lower-level employees who tender resignations also are receiving counteroffers. In his high-tech field, at least 40% of job offers in the $75,000 to $100,000 compensation range are parried by counteroffers from the current employer, says Ben Slick, CEO of PeopleScape, a software company in San Jose, Calif.

Although most employers claim they won’t make counteroffers when an employee resigns for a new job, many eat their words and pony up to avoid losing critical talent. Says the staffing manager of one global consulting firm, “We don’t like to do counteroffers, but sometimes we have no choice [if we want] to keep an employee with an unusual skill.”
According to Mr. Slick, organizations make counteroffers for three reasons: They highly value the employee; they understand his or her reason for leaving and disagree; and the employee appears to be sincere about leaving and isn’t just angling for a raise.

“These factors, as well as the company’s frame of mind, will determine its response,” Mr. Slick says. Having special skills and experience, particularly in international business or technology, increases your chances of receiving a counteroffer.

Mr. Balastriere, a 16-year veteran of Bard, is bilingual and has extensive experience in Europe and Latin America, skills that make him highly valued.

Counteroffers are also more common in some industries than in others. They’re rare in manufacturing but prevalent in high-technology and financial and professional services where one rainmaker or idea person can produce significant business. Says Jeffrey Christian, CEO of Christian & Timbers, a Cleveland search firm, “In places like Silicon Valley companies hardly ever say goodbye.”

Your Strategy

If you fit these categories, chances are good when you walk into your boss’s office to deliver the news about a new opportunity, you’ll be confronted with a counteroffer. Be ready. You’ll have to make a decision and, if you’re highly valued, you’ll likely have to make it under considerable pressure to stay. Says Mr. Christian, “With competition for talent as fierce as it is, companies are developing war-room tactics.”

Before you step into the line of fire, arm yourself with facts about your career goals, your current and prospective employers and the job market. Consider the following advice when you develop your strategy.

Get your own career story in order.

What’s wrong with where you are today? Will the new position get you where you want to be?

Before you make a move, reflect on why you want to leave your current employer and whether you’ll be better served by the organization that’s trying to hire you. Look at the long-term goals and values of your current employer and those of the new one. Which more closely supports your long-term goals and values?

Don’t take a counteroffer just for the money.

Most experts say you’ll be sorry in the long run. “It can be tremendously flattering to have two or more companies bidding over you,” says Thomas Flannery, a partner in Dallas with The Hay Group, a Philadelphia human-resources consulting firm. “But quibbling over $10,000 isn’t a career-building strategy.”

Before you respond to a recruiter’s call or even think about an offer, reassess your career goals and whether your current employer — or the new one — can better help you achieve them.

Additionally, think about your work environment, work product and the corporate culture. “The employment relationship is a more robust thing than simply a base salary and a bonus,” says Mr. Flannery. “Most high-potential employees are seeking to make a difference or do something new and original. Even if their current employer can beat an outsider’s offer, it may be unable to support their career goals.”

Decide whether you’re looking for more opportunity, more money or both. If it’s really a matter of more money, gather facts on current market rates of pay before trying to negotiate. Compensation surveys for many occupations and industries are available through a variety of sources.

Avoid “dating syndrome.”

If you entertain an offer from another employer for the sole purpose of wangling a raise or promotion from your current employer, you’re in for trouble, according to compensation experts, headhunters and human-resource managers.

“Many of the people we, and every other consulting firm, are trying to hire are afflicted with ‘dating syndrome,’ ” says the consulting firm staffing manager. “They talk to several companies at a time to see who will ‘put out’ the most. If we discover that they’re using our offer mainly to leverage more money from their current employer, they go on our blacklist. We won’t refer them to anyone else in this firm.”

Be prepared to discuss the factors influencing your decision.

It’s usually in your interest to speak frankly to your boss about the recruiting employer’s offer and why it’s compatible with your long-term career goals. But keep it positive.

If you’re fundamentally happy with your current employer but want a specific problem remedied — such as a combative boss, a long commute, lack of recognition or a low base salary — it’s worth exploring a counteroffer.

Consider Jeff Struve, former manager of staffing and employee relations at the Milwaukee branch of a major bank for more than six years. When a small Chicago-based bank recruited him to be senior vice president of human resources, he used it as the basis for a discussion with his boss.

“My issue was career growth,” says Mr. Struve. “I didn’t see much potential in my then-current position. I felt I’d have a greater span of control and more impact at the Chicago bank.”

With a written offer in hand, Mr. Struve talked to his manager. “He and the CEO sat down with me. They said I was an asset, that they needed me and that they would work to make opportunities happen for me.”

Even though the Chicago bank offered more money, Mr. Struve stayed because he was convinced top management would look out for him.
His decision was rewarded within a year, when he was promoted to senior vice president at the bank’s Chicago branch.

Know what your employer can change and what it can’t.

Realistically don’t expect a counteroffer if you know your company can’t match the outside offer, promote you or expand your responsibilities. Further, if you’re unhappy with the employer’s management style or operating methods, don’t bother taking a counteroffer. For example, a middle manager who thinks his employer’s hierarchical culture will impede his career shouldn’t expect the management pyramid to collapse overnight.

“Our employees occasionally get offers, and I always ask them what it would take for them to stay,” says Mr. Struve, who’s now senior vice president of human resources for MasterCard’s global technology operations in St. Louis. “If the issues are pay, scope of responsibility or career direction, we can almost always make changes. But if they have problems with the company’s products, culture or management, we can’t.” Understand the career impact. In a candidate-driven job market, companies can tolerate employees who have been won back from competitors with counteroffers. But if the job market turns, this view could change and you may be viewed less favorably. “If you elect to stay, your loyalty will always be suspect,” says Mr. Flannery.

Consider also that remaining with an employer that bestows raises and respect only when employees threaten to quit may not solve your long-term concerns. Says Mr. Stucker, “Who wants to work for a company that rewards you only when you say you’re leaving?”

Additionally, if you receive a counter-counteroffer and decide to accept it, you may be seen as a “bought” employee, a mercenary who will job hop at the first recruiter’s call.

Multiple Offers

Counteroffer tips also apply to multiple offers. It’s easy for talented employees to lose sight of their career goals when employers fight over them, offering a dizzying array of salaries, bonuses, stock options and other benefits.

Consider the experience of a marketing vice president of a large professional-services firm, who found herself at the center of a bidding war between a global management consulting firm and a financial-services firm. Each side upped its bonus payout and vacation benefits in hopes of winning her over. The deciding factor was a $10,000 signing bonus offered by the financial service firm. She grabbed it, but later discovered that management lacked the commitment to change. A year later, she became disillusioned, left the company and now seeks a new job.

– Ms. Voros is a Fort Worth, Texas, free-lance writer who specializes in executive careers, compensation, benefits and other human-resource issues.

By PERRI CAPELL

Don’t be rattled by your next job interview. It’s possible to answer any question that comes your way. How? By preparing and knowing how to direct the conversation to the topics you want to cover.

To start, take a tip from consultants who coach executives and politicians on how to handle media interviews. These trainers say you can deliver the message you want to an employer, regardless of the question you’re asked.

“Most people don’t realize that their purpose isn’t to sit there and hope the right questions will be asked,” says Aileen Pincus, president of the Pincus Group, a media interview-training firm in Silver Spring, Md. “They need to develop two or three key messages and make sure their point is delivered.”

Unlike some politicians who ignore press questions and immediately introduce a different topic in response, job candidates must respect and directly answer employer’s queries, says Jeff Braun, vice president and general manager of the Ammerman Experience, a Stafford, Texas, media interview-training firm. However, you can quickly make the transition from your answer to the important points you want to convey about your qualifications, he says.

He suggests when answering job-interview queries applying the formula Q = A + 1: Q is the question; A is the answer; + is the bridge to the message you want to deliver; and 1 is the point you want to make.

“If you take the ‘+ 1′ off the formula, then the interviewer is controlling the session,” says Mr. Braun.

Diligent preparation also is necessary to effectively answer any interview question, say senior executives. Theirs and media trainers’ tips follow:

Study hard. Learn as much as you can about the job, the employer and its executives beforehand. Use this information to answer direct questions and to then segue into a discussion about your qualifications and fit.

Eric Herzog, a vice president of product line management and channel marketing at Maxtor Corp., a hard-disk drive company in Milpitas, Calif., says he always talks to current and former company employees and analysts whenever possible prior to job interviews to gain as much insight as he can into the employer’s challenges and culture. If the company is publicly owned, he studies its financial condition by reading U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission documents, such as annual 10-K shareholder reports on the company’s performance. He then tailors his interview answers to the company’s issues.

“If the company is having a rough time financially, you can say that not only did you make good products or services, but that you produced things on time and under budget,” says Mr. Herzog. “That’s a little plus if the company is in trouble.”

If you’re working with a recruiter, ask him or her about what the company is seeking and its key challenges, says Derek Messulam, vice president of rental market development for GE-Capital Solutions, a financial-services unit of General Electric Co. in Norwalk, Conn. Mr. Messulam says he grills recruiters regarding a job’s responsibilities and the attributes the company wants before job interviews. He then makes sure that his answers demonstrate his potential value to an employer.

“When questions come up, you can steer the conversation to how you can demonstrate value,” says Mr. Messulam. “You answer the question, but maybe not 100% the way they were expecting it.”

Have anecdotes ready. Many interviewers ask questions that require candidates to provide examples of how they handled a difficult challenge or other work situation. Such questions often start with a phrase such as, “Tell me about a time when you faced….”

These questions require a story in response, but it’s unlikely you have a story that fits every conceivable query. But the task of preparing becomes easier when you realize that interviewers typically are interested in only five or six general categories, says Mr. Braun. Instead of trying to be ready for every potential question, come up with stories to fit these general issues, such as how you handled conflict or a difficult challenge.

It may help to think of each issue as a bucket and mentally place a story or two in each one, says Mr. Braun. “Be more generic in your approach,” he suggests. “When asked a question along one of those lines, you can move to the story you have in one of those buckets.”

From his research, Mr. Messulam says he can usually tell what types of things a company might want to know about him and thinks of corresponding anecdotes. “I have seven or eight top stories that tell someone what I am good at,” he says.

This strategy also works when interviewers say, “Tell me about yourself,” says Lucinda Baier, former president and chief operating officer of Whitehall Jewelers Inc., a national specialty retailer and a former senior vice president of Sears Roebuck & Co.

Ms. Baier left Chicago-based Whitehall in December after it accepted an agreement with an investor to become private. She left Sears in April 2004 when the credit and financial products division she headed was sold to Citibank.

When asked to tell interviewers about herself, she determines how much time she should use and then tries to describe her specific qualifications that fit the company’s key issues.

“If you know what challenges the company is facing, you can tailor your response to what the company is dealing with and how you can help,” she says.

Be positive about the negative. Count on being asked about a past mistake or blemish on your career record, and don’t try to dodge the issue. Ms. Pincus advises. “If you have a vulnerability, you need to be prepared to answer the question,” she says. “There should be no lying or dodging. Just answer it and move on.”

When discussing a mistake, be ready to say how you learned or benefited from it. “You learn as much by dropping the ball as you do by catching it,” says Mr. Herzog. When interviewing for his current job, which he started in August, Mr. Herzog says he mentioned he had been involved in successful turnarounds and one that failed. “And I said what I learned from it,” he says.

Everyone knows they should express their gratitude in writing following a job interview. Yet most applicants spend scant time writing such letters. Dashing off a perfunctory note blows a great opportunity to gain a competitive edge and, possibly, to seal the deal.

A thoughtful follow-up carries as much clout as a cover letter, many experts say. Nearly nine out of 10 senior executives consider a written thank you influential in evaluating candidates, according to a 2007 survey of 150 respondents by Accountemps, a professional staffing service.

Your post-interview correspondence should deliver a sales pitch far more compelling than a simple thanks. “Put a spin on it that acts in your favor,” recommends Kate Wendleton, president of the Five O’Clock Club, a career-counseling network in New York.

“An effective thank-you letter should hit every one of an employer’s hot buttons,” concurs Wendy Enelow, an author, trainer and career consultant in Coleman Falls, Va.

You can hit those buttons by linking your skills to solving specific workplace problems that you learned about during interviews. Doing so helped one prospect win a top post at a New York nonprofit group last month.

Her thank-you letter proposed numerous concrete ideas akin to free consulting, recollects Marilyn Machlowitz, the New York executive recruiter involved. “She knew how to translate her experience and expertise to fit their needs.”

To bolster your chances further, make sure your letter describes relevant achievements and potential contributions beyond those you cited in person. “We didn’t even talk about the fact that I am also a professional techie,” an aspiring saleswoman noted in her post-interview letter to Inspirica, a small tutoring concern in New York.

“She took another job before we could grab her,” laments Lisa Jacobson, the company’s chief executive.

A well-crafted letter also may overcome a hiring manager’s initial qualms about you. “You can address any issues that may have not gone your way in the interview,” suggests Gary Calvaneso, an executive vice president for a West Coast defense contractor.

He learned this lesson when he sought a divisional marketing vice presidency at a medical-devices company several years ago. “Where do you see yourself in five years?” the head of the company asked during their interview. Mr. Calvaneso outlined a long-term marketing plan rather than his personal ambitions, however.

“Is that what you were looking for?” Mr. Calvaneso wondered.

“Not exactly,” the CEO stiffly replied.

Worried that he had ruined his chances, Mr. Calvaneso sought advice from Brad Remillard, the recruiter handling the search. Mr. Remillard, president of Impact Hiring Solutions, urged him to correct his mistake immediately with a follow-up letter.

Mr. Calvaneso spent 30 minutes crafting his letter’s most important sentence. “I am not sure that I communicated the response to your question about the next five years exactly as you intended,” he wrote. He then explained why he hoped to work for a business where he could grow. The letter “opened the door again,” he says. He got the job.

In applying to his current employer, Mr. Calvaneso took no chances. His thank-you letter strengthened points he raised during interviews about why the defense contractor should pick an industry novice. He argued that he offered a fresh perspective and transferable marketing know-how.

Every key interviewer deserves a personalized thank-you letter, focused on his or her unique interests. You should collect business cards, duck into the bathroom between sessions and jot down details about the individual you just met.

Career coaches, recruiters and human-resource managers disagree about the format for a follow-up, however. Email often makes the most sense when a hiring decision looms. But an informal electronic message could offend a high-level executive at a tradition-bound business. And corporate spam filters may kill your instant communication before he sees it.

On the other hand, a hard-copy document sent via overnight carrier keeps “the job seeker in the immediate consciousness of the interviewer,” Ms. Enelow points out.

A handwritten message in flawless penmanship can leave an indelible impression — especially if you use simple stationery, minus any flowers or animals. More than half of the respondents to Accountemps’s survey prefer that approach. “Handwritten notes are a lost art,” says Arnnon Geshuri, Google’s director of recruiting. Applicants “can go a long way” by taking this extra step to brand themselves, he adds.

Last year, a strong contender for a Google account-executive position delivered a handwritten thank you to an internal recruiter — along with cupcakes for the recruiter and five other officials who also interviewed him. One letter of the Google name appeared atop each pastry. His gesture “was just icing on the cake,” Mr. Geshuri quips. The Internet company hired the candidate.

By JOANN LUBLIN

…Here’s a scary thought: You can blow a promising opportunity by talking too much during a job interview.

That’s how one facilities administrator ruined her employment chances at Clark Nuber, a small accounting firm in Bellevue, Wash. Asked to describe her strengths, the applicant delivered a long-winded reply focused on her cleaning of every cabinet in her home. “She probably went on for three to four minutes,” recalls Tracy White, the firm’s human-resources director. “I doubted she could get the job done in an eight-hour day.”

Many nervous job seekers blabber endlessly about irrelevant information. They create a poor impression and cut short the hiring manager’s time for further questions. “That official won’t pay any attention to you unless you prove you’re sharp during the first five minutes,” cautions Robin Ryan, a career counselor, author and speaker in Newcastle, Wash.

“Oversharing in an interview is the most dangerous thing you can do,” concurs Annie Stevens, a managing partner at ClearRock, a Boston executive-coaching and outplacement concern.

Don’t despair. Here are four ways to steer clear of verbosity during a job hunt:

• Prepare short statements on how your background matches the job. Rehearse.

When a hiring manager says, “Tell me about yourself,” you can offer a few war stories that recount a work problem, your corrective action and the measurable result. “The stories have to be powerful as well as engaging,” lasting no longer than two minutes apiece, says Rich Gee, an executive coach in Stamford, Conn.

He helped Ward Smith, a talkative golf pro and instructor, to win a marketing spot with Black & Decker. During practice sessions with the coach, Mr. Smith supplied elaborate detail about the golf irons that he recommended to students. A hiring manager “doesn’t need to know this,” Mr. Gee interjected.

Mr. Smith soon realized he should translate “what I was doing into what Black & Decker was looking for,” and keep it succinct. During his job interview, he used marketing lingo to describe briefly his teaching methods, explaining how he identified students’ objectives, forged a rapport and enabled them to reach solutions. He now is an Atlanta field-marketing coordinator for a Black & Decker unit.

Embracing a similar approach, a jobless organizational-development consultant recently landed follow-up interviews with three possible employers. Callbacks rarely occurred when I “was running off at the mouth,” he remembers. Defining yourself concisely also “builds an enormous amount of confidence for the next interview,” he notes.

• Make sure you understand a question. Stop every couple of sentences to check.

If the interviewer requests your career history, you might inquire, “Do you want me to start with my present situation or at the beginning?” This type of response demonstrates a candidate “is preparing mentally for what’s he’s going to give me,” says Peter D. Crist, head of recruiters Crist Associates in Hinsdale, Ill.

Pausing after you speak lets you collect your thoughts — and seek permission to continue. Before you resume, Ms. White suggests asking, “Did I answer your question enough? Do you want more examples?”

• Watch the interviewer’s body language for hints that your answers are getting boring.

He may stop taking notes, check his watch or glance at his computer. A loquacious middle manager ignored such warning signals after spending 15 minutes telling a West Coast recruiter about several extraneous issues, including her husband’s problems with his boss.

“I was rolling my eyes and tapping my pen on her résumé to indicate we should get back to work here,” the exasperated recruiter says. He finally cut her off because he had many more questions to pose.

• Solicit feedback following an interview.

The West Coast recruiter decided against referring the middle manager to a client. “You had a number of stories to tell but they weren’t relevant,” he told her. “Use each minute to its best advantage to sell your background.”

With practice, you’ll be able to polish your pitch, adjusting the length of your responses until someone says, “You’re hired!”