This week’s topic deals with interviewers asking about your future plans. As we’ll see in addressing the question a subscriber wrote in with, interviewers use the “future plans” question to screen people out. Read on to find out how to make sure you’re not eliminated from consideration with a question like this.
Question from a Subscriber:
I’ve had a lot of interviews lately, and they all go well until the interviewer asks about my plans for the future. I reply by explaining my hopes in obtaining an advanced degree. Then the interview suddenly turns sour. What I saw as being ambitious and trying to illustrate my worth has instead had a reverse effect. Jobs now see me as “temporary”. Even though graduate school would not start for another year or two and I could manage a job and classes, interviewers assume I will leave early and don’t give me the chance, even though I am a loyal worker. Any advice for this predicament? Should I no longer appear so ambitious? Should I seem more “under qualified” than I am? Thanks so much.
Sincerely,
S. M.
Dear S.M.,
It is admirable that you’re planning to go to grad school. It’s obviously something that’s important to you and your sense of who you are. But for the purposes of job interviews, you need to become a little more objective about who you are and what your qualifications are.
Here’s the bottom line: whenever you see a particular thing you’re saying in interviews is turning people off, stop saying it. If you were selling Cadillacs and you discovered that telling people about the OnStar system to get help in the case of a catastrophe was turning customers off, the sensible thing to do would be to stop talking about it. There are lots of other great things about the Cadillac you can talk about. Who knows why talking about the OnStar is a turn off. Maybe it’s because people don’t want to imagine themselves in a catastrophe. Likewise, maybe an employer doesn’t want to think of the possibility that you could get a degree that would make you eligible for better jobs and leave them with the disaster of having to hire a replacement for you. There are many types of positions where getting an advanced degree would be in both your interest and the employer’s. It seems like in your case they don’t see it that way.
You have no obligation to tell employers about your plans for grad school if it wouldn’t interfere with your job duties.
Employers Not Really Looking for Ambition (Per Se)
It’s important to keep in mind that the goal of an interview should not be to show an employer how ambitious you are. The goal of an interview is to discover what the employer is looking for and then to show them how you fit that. Being someone who is passionate about doing a good job is a quality employers generally look for. Loyalty is a quality most employers look for. Ambition is not necessarily something employers look for — it’s often a side-effect to the qualities they want. An employer wants someone who’s motivated enough to accomplish their job duties, but not so ambitious that they’ll get up and leave at the first opportunity.
Don’t Say Things in Interviews for “Selfish” Reasons
You need to take a look at your own motivations for telling employers about your grad school plans. Is it just to illustrate that you’re a motivated person, or is it also because you want to get their blessing/approval to show up late for work after taking a test or studying, potentially missing work when there’s a big paper you have to turn in, etc.
Employers may interpret your mentioning you grad school plans as another way of saying “hey, if you want to hire me, you’re going to have to put up with the side effects of someone who’s preoccupied with something more important than their day job”

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The longer I’ve been around companies the more I believe the words “Planning” and “Decision” are seldom used in the same sentence! And the business fallout because of poor planning when making decisions is staggering.
The effects of a decision gone bad tend to linger around for months or even years. It is a fact that most businesses fail not because they did not make decisions but because they did not make good decisions.
With so much riding on your ability to make the right decisions it is prudent to brush up on the technique of decision making and the process involved in planning to make them.
Planning allows a decision to be made on your terms and in a much more comfortable and intelligent way. It allows you the time to consider several options without the last minute rush.
There are four benefits to decision-making planning:

1. PLANNING ALLOWS YOU TO SET THE GOALS YOU WANT.

That means you are not so much focused on the external events that don’t relate to what you are trying to accomplish. Many decisions are incorrectly made based on things that steer one’s life rather than becoming proactive decision-makers.

2. PLANNING PROVIDES A WAY TO MEASURE SUCCESS.

The plan of action is your mirror to measure how close (or far) you are from accomplishing your goal. This measure is important because it can show you immediately when you are off course and need to make adjustments and corrections.

3. PLANNING CHANGES THE “DO” TO THE “GET”.

Planning converts ideas, values and activities into action. Planning is not the end result; it is the tool to convert the idea into a specific action or actions. Planning helps you convert your company’s goals into your individual goals and helps you get results. Remember most companies pay you for action NOT activity. It’s not the “do” it is the “get” that makes the difference. A good plan is to keep what you are trying to accomplish in the focus at all times. Ask yourself is what you are “doing” now, “getting” the results you are responsible for?

4. PLANNING HELPS ALLOCATE YOUR RESOURCES IN AN EFFICIENT MANNER.

Few companies have unlimited resources. A good plan helps you maximize the resources you have. Remember that dollars are not your only resource. Recourse that you will need to manage includes people, tools, assets and company propriety information. By consulting you plan often, you can see concerns before they become problems and you can shift available resources to cover the unexpected issues.
Planning to make a decision is a perfect example of the Pareto principle — the idea that by doing 20% of work you can generate 80% of the advantage of doing the entire job. Pareto analysis is a formal technique for finding the changes that will give the biggest benefits. It is useful where many possible courses of action are competing for your attention.
Perhaps by spending the 20% of your time thoroughly planning you next decision can save you 80% of your time. Why not give it a try?
There are several methods you can use for planning. Words such as Strategic, Tactical, and Operational may come to mind. However, these are specific planning procedures. Each has their place in business

1. Create a Special Offer

A special offer is exactly that… an offer that is special. Normally, customers would not be able to purchase this product or combination of products, and once the products are gone… sorry!
You don’t have to go out and order a bunch of new products to put together a special offer. It don’t take a whole lot… just use what you’ve got. Grab a few items that are related, group them together, discount the price, and your customers will be excited to be getting a good deal. Think about it from your standpoint… you’ve sold three or four items rather than one. Yeah, combination offers are winning deals for everyone!

2. Address the Small Customer Groups

Niche markets are everywhere, right under your nose! Within the customer audience that you serve right now are groups of people who share common traits. Think about it… maybe you have a group who speaks Spanish, a group of teens, and a group of middle class family men and women.
Evaluate these classes of people, and discover the unique needs and desires they share. That will set you up to customize your advertising campaign directly to them. It’s not hard to take your current ads, and make a few changes to adjust to the niches. They’ll be impressed that you understand THEM, and the increase in your profits will be the best thanks you can get.

3. Set Up a Winning Referral Program

Successful marketers develop the ability to turn their customers into advocates. Often, they don’t even have to directly ask customers to refer them to others. Their willingness to go the extra wins customer loyalty and support. Naturally, satisfied customers refer their friends and family to the place that will take good care of them.
Quality service and is the first step toward referrals, but you can easily take it one step further. Studies show that every satisfied customer tells three people about you. What would happen with a little incentive added to the picture? Yeah, a lot more. Give customers who refer friends a thank you — whether it’s a discount, special gift item, or a simple thank you card — and watch the referrals spiral!
You can get two birds with one stone by implimenting customer surveys. A few quick questions about what the customer does and doesn’t like about your product, followed by a request for the names and addresses of friends and family who would benefit from the product, and you’re all set to go with the contact information of a prospective customer!

URGENT WARNING TO ALL INVESTORS:
*On May 20th, Another Historic “Reserve Split” Will Take Place In The Market, Triggering A Tsunami Sized Wave Of Low-Risk Opportunity For Ordinary Men To Turn $1 Into $121 And Lock In Their Retirement For Good. If you don’t want to miss this great opportunity go to the following link

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