Jenny Wood spent nearly 18 years working at Google, many of them as a manager and executive at the company. As such, she had occasion to interview numerous job candidates.
And she knows what she likes to see. Among her green flags before an interview are people who come in with ideas for the role or even a one-page business plan outlining different ways they’d improve the company and people who post about the company on LinkedIn before the interview.
“I am talking about stuff that nobody does,” she says about her green flags. Wood shares some of her career insights in her forthcoming book, “Wild Courage,” out March 25.
There’s one green flag she recommends jobseekers do above all: Write an email to your interviewers 24 hours before the interview. Here’s what should be in it and why she thinks that’s effective.
Say, ‘just sending this executive summary’
The email should open with a line expressing your excitement about your forthcoming conversation.
It should then introduce the content of the email by saying something like, “just sending this executive summary and some additional things that might help make this conversation as productive as possible tomorrow,” says Wood.
It should then list three bullets: “One bullet could be your strengths, your three strengths,” she says. “One bullet could be an accomplishment with a number and one bullet could be a link to the business plan.”
If you don’t have time to write a business plan plan, two bullets with accomplishments citing specific numbers that illustrate them is fine.
Close by thanking them and saying you’re looking forward to talking. Send this email cc’ing as many of the people interviewing you as you can.
‘It stands out’
There are multiple reasons this is effective.
First, it helps your prospective employer get a sense of what kinds of details you could cover. “Set me up for success as the interviewer by sending me an email ahead of time and anchoring me on some of the things I could ask you about in the interview,” says Wood.
And, second, while some people believe this could come off as doing too much, Wood believes it makes you memorable in a great way. “It stands out. It is distinct, and it just shows proactivity, eagerness and strategic thinking,” she says. “What’s too much about that?”
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