Suppose you were interviewing attorneys to come work for you. You take out an ad or contact an agency and before long, you’re paging through resumes, trying to decide who should make it to the interview stage. One of the candidates you decide to interview is. . . you.
You made the first cut (surprise) and you’re interviewing yourself. Now tell me. . .
Would you hire you?
This is a good question to ask and answer. If you would hire yourself, the next question is why?
What do you bring to the firm in terms of talents and accomplishments? What could you do to make the firm more profitable? Would you be good at bringing in clients? Better clients? Will you bill more hours? Will you be a good fit for the firm in terms of practice areas, target markets, marketing and management philosophies? Will you get along with the other employees?
Whatever you offer as reasons why you should get the job, your next step is to prove it.
You (the applicant) say you would bring in more business to the firm, for example. Why should you (the interviewer) believe that statement? What have you done in the past that provides evidence of what you will do in the future?
The answers might not appear on your resume. Impressive though it might be, if it’s like most resumes, it is a record of where you’ve been, not what you have accomplished. You need to show the interviewer what you have done and make the case for hiring you instead of a plethora of other candidates with equally impressive resumes.
You may never consider working for someone else. You may have always worked for yourself. Nevertheless, this is a good exercise for exploring the “four corners” of value you bring to the market.
To make it more meaningful, you might update your resume and write a cover letter. You might fill out a job application. Then, write down questions you think an employer (you) would ask you, and answer them.
When you’re done with this exercise, you’ll be better able to assess your strengths and weaknesses and see yourself as the world sees you. You can use this information to improve your image, develop new skills, or neutralize your weaknesses.
Once you have done this, I suggest you do it again, but from a different perspective. Instead of pretending that you’re interviewing for a job with your firm, pretend you’re interviewing to be hired by a prospective client.
Look at your website and all of your marketing materials. Note what’s good and what could be improved. Write down the questions prospective clients typically ask you. Add questions they should ask but usually don’t. And then interview yourself and record your answers.
If you can’t make the case as to why someone should hire you, you shouldn’t expect to be hired. Not even by you.
Why should anyone hire you? The answer is in The Formula
