Interview Strategy to Be Used At a Referral Interview

In a referral interview, your strategy has to be flexible because you probably will have little idea ahead of time why the key executive is willing to see you. In a small fraction of these interviews that person may indicate that he or she is considering you for an opening. If this is the case, use the technique of the three-stage interview (described in another article on our website) in which you try to get the key executive to reveal the problems he or she is concerned about in your field before you try to make an impression with your background. In most referral interviews, however, there's only a slight chance of a job; therefore plan your approach to get as much help from this key executive as possible.

A personal interview usually will start off with your being asked to outline what you are looking for and what your credentials are for such a job.

You should have a well-organized presentation which will cover your overall background including one or two examples of experience that an employer would be looking for in the kind of job you are seeking. This presentation should be consolidated into two or three minutes. Your initial presentation may well get a specific response from the interviewer asking for more information on something you've mentioned. If not, the interviewer probably is indicating that he or she wants you to carry the ball further. It is now appropriate to ask whether the interviewer would like to hear more about type of experience X or Y. The response to this provides you with some direction on what he or she may be interested in. As the conversation develops, it may take the direction of one or more problems that are of particular concern to the interviewer. Be prepared to ask one or two questions concerning these particular items, stressing the fact that you have expertise in solving some of the kinds of problems he or she may be having.



This is your interview with key executive Betty Brown, district manager of ABC Electronics.

It may well be that she clearly discourages you from relating any of your experience to her particular problem. In such an event, you might ask her some specific questions such as:

"If you were looking for someone in my field of expertise, what would be the most important requirements of the job?"

"Can you think of any important functional experience I'm missing?"

"Have I mentioned experience that you feel is irrelevant or over-emphasized?"

"In _ (a key function previously mentioned by interviewer), what depth of experience would you be looking for?"

Continue by outlining how you're going about your campaign and asking for her reaction to it.

Finally, ask her for her ideas on people you should see. Some of these may be in the employment field and others may be key executives. It is great if she volunteers to arrange an introduction by phone or letter for you, but don't count on it. She may not give you any names at all, but your objective should be to get at least three referrals to key executives. If she will provide you with names, they will probably be on a level comparable to hers. The more favorable impression you make, the better referrals you will get. If she will not give you such names voluntarily, bring up the names of a couple of companies that you might be interested in.

"Would you think it would be a good idea if I saw somebody at the XYZ Company or M&M Machine Company?" She will probably say yes, and she might suggest several other companies that you ought to see. Then ask if she knows who would be the best person for you to see at each of these companies. If she does not volunteer to contact them or say that you can use her name, ask her if you may. Such an interview may last only 10 minutes, but it may last an hour or more.

To get the most help from key executives who have given you referrals, make sure you inform them of what transpired with each person they referred you to. And always send a brief thank-you note, even if it is handwritten. But don't let the matter rest here - phone each referral in a month or six weeks to see if he or she has any more ideas.

There undoubtedly will be some companies that you would like to approach directly, but to which you have no specific entree. You can still use this technique of "asking for help, and not a job" by making a blind contact (one for which you have no referral) with a specific executive. Done skillfully you should be able to get a blind-contact interview perhaps half the time.