What to Expect When You Use the 'Cure' Method
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Extra Work Shows Higher Value When you show you are ready to do more than the basic job description, the company gets a better return on their hiring money compared to average applicants. This extra effort leads to better results and helps the team grow without needing to spend more money.
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Understanding Quickly Means Faster Start If you show you already understand how the company and the industry work, you prove you can start contributing right away. This speeds up how fast you get up to speed, meaning you can do important work in days instead of months.
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Being Tough Shows You Are a Safe Bet Showing you can handle problems and bounce back proves that the company's investment in hiring you is safe. This toughness means your work output stays high even when things get stressful, which lowers the chance of burnout or projects getting stuck.
Checking How You Talk About Yourself
The usual way people answer the question, "Why should we hire you?" is based on a bad idea. Most candidates treat the interview like a show about themselves, talking only about what they are good at and what they like. This is an old-fashioned idea that only sticks around because it's what everyone does by default. The truth is, the company cares more about its own success and growth than your personal story.
When you just list your skills, you create extra work for the hiring manager, which we call the "translation tax." You are making them figure out how your background actually solves their specific problems. This is a bad way to communicate that leads to no career progress. It's like taking on career debt that you can't pay back. If an employer has to work hard to see your value, they will just move on to someone who makes their value clear right away.
The only fix for this failure is a sharp change in focus. You need to stop selling yourself as a candidate and start selling yourself as a good business investment. By shifting the talk from what you offer to what the company gains, you close the distance between their need and your presence. You are not asking for a job; you are promising a result.
Checking Your Interview Performance
Just Listing What You Do
When asked why you should be hired, you list all the tasks you did, certificates you have, and tools you know. You think giving more information proves you are worth it.
You are making the manager do extra thinking. By listing what you do (inputs) instead of what the company gets (results), you force them to connect the dots. Most managers won't bother doing this mental work for you and will lose interest.
Focus on Business Results
Change your focus from "what I have" to "what I produce." For every skill you mention, immediately follow it up with a business result, like how much time you saved, how much money you brought in, or how much risk you lowered.
Telling Your Own Story
You spend most of your time talking about your personal "excitement," your career plans, and how this job is a great "next step" for you. You think showing you are excited about your own future makes you appealing.
This is failing to focus outward. The company isn't a place for you to show off your life story; it's a business trying to deal with its current problems. When you only talk about yourself, you look like someone searching for a job to fit your life, not a solution ready for their specific need.
Use the Problem-Solution Method
Use the "Closing the Gap" idea. Start your pitch by naming a specific challenge the company is dealing with right now, and then show how you are the direct answer to that problem.
Using Empty Words
You use general, nice-sounding words like "creative," "works hard," or "good leader" to describe yourself. You think you are saying the right things, but the interviewer looks bored or unimpressed.
You fail to build a clear money value (ROI Bridge). Without real numbers or past proof, your claims seem like guesses. The interviewer can't see a clear "profit" from hiring you because you haven't shown that your past "investments" in other jobs paid off.
Use Data Instead of Nice Words
Swap any vague word for clear numbers. Instead of saying you are a "leader," give a specific example where your leadership led to a certain percentage increase or a definite improvement in team speed.
Changing Your Talk: From Your Life Story to a Business Argument
When interviewing, people often use it as a chance to just list what’s on their resume. This misses the point. To switch from being someone who wants a job to someone who offers a solution, you must change your pitch from a history report to a promise of future results. The chart below shows the switch from a weak, unhelpful pitch to a strong, helpful one.
Viewpoint
The Life Story: You focus on your own past timeline, telling your personal story and listing your own goals.
The Solution: You focus on the company’s problems, making your skills the exact fix for their current issues.
Shift from "Me-focused" to "Company-focused"
Proof
Fake Words: You use words like "passionate," "hard-working," or "team player" without offering any proof.
Real Numbers: You use proof points (percentages, dollar amounts, or time saved) to show you have achieved results before.
Replace generic adjectives with hard evidence
How You Talk
Too Much Detail: You list every skill you have, hoping the interviewer figures out what matters.
The Smart Story: You give a short, three-part argument that connects what you did in the past directly to what they need in the future.
Curate information into a targeted narrative
Measuring Success
Based on Tasks: You talk about "what you did" (like "I managed a team of ten") as if being busy is the main goal.
Based on Results: You talk about "what happened because of you" (like "I led a team to increase work output by 20% in six months").
Focus on impact and ROI rather than activity
Your Position
The Needy Applicant: You act like a student hoping for a good grade, relying on a basic list of qualifications.
The Expert Partner: You act like a partner who has studied the company and is ready to start solving problems on the first day.
Change the dynamic from "asking for a job" to "offering a solution"
Why This Change Matters
Most people fail because they treat the interview like a test where they have to defend their past. The Good Way treats the interview like a business meeting where you are pitching a project that will give a high return: You.
By moving away from "Telling Your Story" and toward "Offering a Solution," you stop being a cost the company has to pay and start being a valuable asset they can't afford to lose.
The Downside of a Perfect Pitch
As someone who studies risk, my job is to look beyond the best possible outcome. While making a powerful pitch is key to getting hired, every good plan has weak spots where things can go wrong.
1. Being Too Specific (Hitting the Limit)
When you create a pitch that perfectly fixes the company's problems right now, you might accidentally box yourself in. By saying you are the "perfect fix" for one thing, you might suggest you aren't flexible enough to do anything else. If the company's needs change slightly after you're hired, you might have pitched yourself out of the job because you seem too specialized.
2. Clashing with Company Culture (Rare Situations)
A strong pitch often highlights personal wins and being a high-achiever. But you need to be careful if the interviewer values teamwork or modesty more than individual success. In those cases, a "powerful" pitch can sound too arrogant or like you will be hard to manage. If they want someone who just fits in, and you pitch yourself as the star player, the clash might cost you the job.
3. Getting Tired of Performing (Switching Roles)
A pitch is a performance. The danger here is the mental effort of switching between your "Interview You" and your "Real You." If your pitch is too smooth or too intense, you set a standard that is too high to maintain. If they hire the "Pitch Version" of you, you will immediately feel burnt out trying to keep up that personality every day on the job.
For Specificity: Don't just pitch for today's job. Mention how fast you can adapt your skills to new problems as the company grows. For Culture Clash: Use "We" as much as "I." Acknowledge that your success was helped by a good team or system. This makes you seem less risky. For Performance Burnout: Keep the energy level of your pitch something you can actually maintain. If you aren't naturally a super-intense person in real life, don't pretend to be one in the interview. Being honest during the interview prevents you from crashing three months into the job.
Turning Weak Answers into Strong Career Arguments
The Problem Finder Job Check Tool
Not matching your talk to what the employer really needs. Our AI finds your "Matching Skills" and gives you "Fixes."
The Proof Creator Basic Resume Tool
Giving answers that are vague and don't have numbers to back them up. This helps you find real results by pushing you past just listing your basic duties.
The Delivery Coach Interview Practice Tool
Telling stories in a messy way and not sounding confident when you make your pitch live. It helps structure answers using proven methods and gives feedback.
Common Questions
How do I figure out what the company needs if it's not in the job ad?
Most job ads list what you must do, but the real problem is usually hidden in what those tasks mean. If they need a project manager, their problem is likely missed deadlines or poor team talk.
Look at recent news about the company, what leaders are posting on LinkedIn, or what's happening in the industry.
If you still aren't sure, use the first part of the interview to ask: "What is the biggest problem the team is dealing with right now?" Then, use the Problem-Solution method to tailor your final pitch to that exact answer.
What if my past jobs weren't in sales? How do I show I'll bring "Value"?
"Value" isn't only about money; it’s about any resource you save or create for the company.
If you work in HR, your value might be "time saved" through better hiring. If you are a programmer, your value might be "less system crashes" or "code that rolls out faster."
Think of it this way: How did I make things faster, cheaper, or better? Turning your work into time, efficiency, or stress reduction is how you prove your worth in jobs that don't directly bring in cash.
Does focusing on the company’s problems make me sound like I think I know too much?
There is a fine line between being helpful and being too pushy.
To avoid sounding arrogant, talk about the company's challenges as a team player. Use phrases like, "From what I've seen, it looks like the team is focused on [X]..." or "In my past experience, companies at this stage often have trouble with [Y]..." This shows you are an expert partner who understands their situation, not someone telling them how to do their job.
Stop selling your background; start selling their future success.
The time for just talking about your personal history is over. Treating an interview like a show about your best qualities just creates extra work for the hiring manager. When you stop listing what you are good at and start showing how you will lead them to better results, you stop being just one more applicant and become someone they need to hire. By using the Problem-Solution way of talking, you prove that you aren't just looking for a job—you are ready to fix a problem. You have fixed the habit of talking about what you do* and started proving what they *receive.
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