Every company has unmet needs, and hiring new personnel is one way to meet them. "Business pain" refers to those problems that a company needs fixed quickly so that it can run more smoothly or be more productive. Sharing how you can solve that pain is a quick way to show your value to an interviewer, but at the same time, it is important to avoid asking directly what the organization's business pain is.
When you go into a job interview, you are an unknown. The interviewer has no particular reason to trust you and is unlikely to want to answer direct questions about the company's problems. Direct questions appear forward and nosy, and might make the interviewer dislike you. Luckily, there are subtler ways to learn about the company's business pain.
Read Between the Lines
Use logic to infer an organization's business pain from the job ad. While reading the job description, think what the company really wants from a new hire. Do you have any specific aptitudes or skills that could help them right away? Do you have experience solving the kinds of problems that this business has? That is the kind of information you need to focus on during your job interview.
Pair Questions With Compliments
Do your research, and learn about some of the company's recent accomplishments before your interview. Segue into more intrusive questions by praising those accomplishments. The specific praise shows the interviewer that you have genuine interest in the company, making him more open to sharing with you. Next, ask about the company's or department's current priorities to find out more about its business pain. Once you get that information, it's easy to move on to your interest in helping to solve those problems and the past experience that makes you the right candidate to do so.
Turn the Interview Around
Another method is to take control of the interview. After answering a few basic questions, turn things around, and ask permission to share your questions about the job. By getting clarification about exactly what the job entails, you get information about the company's needs. People like to share their stories with interested listeners, so listen actively and ask questions to learn more. This type of conversation gives you the openings you need jump in with information about how your particular abilities and interests are right for solving the company's problems.
The quickest way to land the job is to show the interviewer that you understand the company's problems and can solve them. Finding out the organization's business pain is an important part of this process. Resist the temptation to ask directly about the pain, and instead, turn the standard interview into a conversation about the position to get the information you need.
Photo courtesy of Master isolated images at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
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