Welcome to the MHB Podcast. This is Michael Baun. And welcome to my nineteenth episode. Tonight I want to talk about how to to succeed at a job interview. First I will go over some preliminary actions you can take to maximize your appeal. Then I am going to give you some tips on effective speaking. Finally, I will talk briefly about uncontrollable variables and the law of averages.
Okay, so preliminary actions. These are things that you can take care of prior to your interview. First, is your resume. Let us assume that since you landed the interview your resume is good. You need to familiarize yourself with your resume. Go over it and make sure that you know exactly what you included and why you included it. This is important because your resume is going to be one of the factors that drives the conversation between you and the interviewer. The questions that the interviewer has formulated from your resume will give you an opportunity to make your conversation stand out among the other applicants. The other applicants do not have the same resume that you do.
Once you know your resume, pick out your favorite outfit to wear. Do not be afraid of overdressing, be afraid of under dressing. Make sure that your clothing is comfortable. Even if you think that business professional clothing is not comfortable, pick the most comfortable version of the uncomfortable clothing. Do not wear anything that will distract yourself or the interviewer. Your outfit should elevate your first impression, and then it should become a non factor – for you and for the interviewer.
So, you know what you are going to wear and you know the details of your resume. Next, do a little bit of background research on the company that you are interviewing for. What are their goals? What challenges do they face? As you research, write down questions that you can bring with you into the interview. Do not approach the research thinking that you need to sell the company to the interviewer. It is easy for an interviewer to know when they are being told what you think they want to hear. That is like cheap flattery. The aim of the research is to go in with a bank of knowledge and use it only when the opportunities present themselves organically out of the conversation.
Here is an example: let us say that I am the founder of a growing podcast. I need to hire someone for marketing because I want to reach new demographics. You research my company and discover that I struggle at connecting with millennials because my message resonates with older audiences. During the interview, you ask me what my biggest challenges have been. I tell you that one of my biggest challenges is connecting with millennials. Then, because you have done your research, you can say “That is quite a challenge Mr. Baun, especially since your message resonates with older audiences. But it is not impossible and I would love to work with you to make that happen.”
So you have just told me something about my own podcast and you said it with certainty. As the interviewer, I did not know that you researched the company. So I am just impressed by your confidence in assessing my challenge. But that had to happen organically. It would not work as well, and it may even come off cheap, if you walk into the room and say something like: “Mr. Baun, I read that your podcast is struggling with reaching millennials. With my ten years of experience in marketing, I believe I am the right person to help you reach a younger audience.”
The difference is that the first encounter arose out of a back and forth conversation between us. The second encounter was just you pitching yourself to me.
So far we have discussed three preliminary actions: resume, clothing, and research. There are two more preliminaries I want you to remember. One is, do not drink too much coffee or eat too much food before your interview. If you are shifting around during the interview because you need to use the restroom, you will shatter the focus and probably your chances of succeeding. If your worst nightmare comes true and you need to use the restroom during your interview, stop the interview and excuse yourself. That sounds dramatic, but it shows that you are not afraid to recognize and address problems.
The last of the preliminary actions is the most important. That is your mindset. Get your mind right before you go in there. The best way to do this is to realize the true nature of the situation. So many people get rejected at interviews and on dates because they are afraid of being rejected. The mind and body are connected and they work together. If you are petrified of being rejected and you think that they are going to reject you – your body language and your facial expressions are going to reflect that. Something like 65% of information is transmitted through body language. That sounds horrible, but this can actually be your most powerful weapon in speaking.
What you need to do here is remember the true nature of the situation. You got the interview. They are interested in you. They want you. You are the main act. The headliner of the show. They got out of bed this morning and got dressed to come see you – and not because they were required to. They had a stack of applicants and chose you because you are an asset to them. They already want to give you the job, the interview is just a formality.
So, get those thoughts running through your head. Now, thinking this way is not going to get rid of your nerves. It is not supposed to. In public speaking, and in interviews, the listener can only see 10% of the nerves that you are actually feeling. The fear of rejection and the belief that you are insufficient are not the same thing as being nervous. Nervous and confidence can go hand in hand. What does a confident person look like? A confident person simply looks like they are having a good time. That is it. You do not need to puff up your chest. Confident people are people who are having a good time. Think about the last time you laughed with someone – maybe a family member or your best friend. You were a confident person in that moment. That is what your confidence looks like.
So this leads me into the speaking part. You have completed all of your preliminaries and now it is time to go in for the interview. As you enter the room, the first thing I want you to do is smile. Even if you do not like your smile, do it anyway. It is not for you, it is for them. Even an ugly smile makes people feel at ease and lowers their defenses. If there are multiple interviewers, keep smiling and make eye contact with each of them. While smiling, walk across the room and shake each person’s hand. It should be a firm handshake – for both men and women. Even if there are many interviewers, smile and shake each person’s hand. As you shake a hand, say your first name. If they give you their name, repeat it back to them and say “pleasure to meet you.” Then, move on to the next hand. This kind of entry shows confidence, decreases tension, and sets you up for strong conversation.
Introductions are finished. Now it is time for the main event. Let them ask the first question. All of their preliminary questions are going to be about you. This means that you can take these questions as opportunities to tell stories. Generally, people speak more easily when they are telling a story. Avoid filler words such as “like” and “um.” Do not be afraid to pause for thought. Do not talk too fast. After you have answered the first couple of questions, start looking for opportunities to ask the interviewer a question.
There are three rules you need to remember when having a conversation. First: people are always more comfortable talking about themselves than they are when hearing you talk about yourself (yes, this even applies at interviews). Second: when someone is speaking to you it is absolutely crucial that you listen. This means paying attention to what they are saying, not trying to think of what you are going to say next. You can demonstrate active listening by smiling, nodding, keeping eye contact, and repeating important parts of what the person is telling you. Do not worry about how the conversation is going to advance. Instead arm yourself with this third rule: conversations develop organically when you listen to someone speak and allow what they say to drive what you say.
It works like this: you have asked your interviewer a question and they go on a monologue answering you. You are listening, so you hear them when they bring something up that is interesting to you. Or maybe it is something that you have a further question about. It is in these moments of listening that you will hear your opportunities to organically expose your preliminary research. You will look like a stellar conversationalist if you can branch off interesting thoughts and ideas from what someone else is saying to you. Do not be afraid to ask the interviewer for their personal view on topics or on the company. They will feel like you understand them and the human connection will be fantastic. Think of your job interview as if it is a relaxed conversation – not a rigid interrogation.
Pay attention to when the interviewer starts displaying cues that things are concluding. Sometime in these closing moments, ask the interviewer if you can have a tour of the building. This is a good thing to do because it shows initiative on your part and it becomes one less thing that the interviewer has to do with the new hire. Since most people do not like doing extra work, this will increase the likelihood that the new hire will be you and not someone who still has to be given the tour.
So you went into your interview prepared and you did well. I want to close this episode by reminding you that there are certain uncontrollable variables in every job interview. Treat these variables as such, do not frustrate yourself trying to control them. An example of an uncontrollable variable is prejudice. Every human being has cognitive biases and you might be unlucky enough to interview with someone whose biases stack up against you. Another uncontrollable variable is the interviewer having a bad day prior to your time with them. You did not cause the bad day, but you may be the one who pays for it during the interview.
The best thing you can do about these variables is refrain from beating yourself up when you encounter them. I cannot emphasize how important it is that you do not take rejection personally. You are trying to get a job you love, not be a professional interviewee. This means that if you get rejected then just move on to the next one. Do not allow rejection to sabotage your future interviews. If no major mistakes stand out and you think you did a good job, then you probably did. Chalk it up to an uncontrollable variable.
The second best thing you can do about these variables is employ the law of averages. Try to set up interviews with several different companies that you could see yourself working for. The more interviews you do, the better you will get and the higher your chances will be of having the variables cast in your favor.
If you find this content valuable, feel free to share it and to use it in your own studies. If you’d like to support this podcast, you can do so at www.patreon.com/michaelhbaun. There is a link in the description. Your generosity goes a long way to promoting the growth of this enterprise and the cause of free speech. Thank you all for joining me this evening, and I will see you in the next episode.
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