Hey, what's up, guys?
Today, we are gonna be focusing in on how
to ace a job interview.
I'm gonna be giving you 10 tips that you can
use to make sure that you're on the hiring
manager's short list by the time you walk
out of the room.
But before we get started, I do wanna mention
that this video is sponsored by one of my
favorite apps, which is Audible.
I'm gonna have more information at the end
of the video and a book recommendation from
my own personal library, but if you do wanna
get a free 30-day trial and a free audio book
of your choosing, you can go over to audible.com/thomas,
to text Thomas to 500-500 to get started.
First up on our list is to do practice interviews.
You actually have a lot of opportunity to
do these.
When I was a college student at Iowa State
University, throughout my four years, every
single year when the career fair would roll
into town, there would be actual recruiters
that would come to the Career Center and offer
up their time to do practice interviews with
any student that signed up for one.
Now, these interviews weren't real interviews,
but they were real conversations with people
who were hiring managers or HR people at companies
who were going to be at the career fair.
So in addition to being good practice for
future real interviews, they were actually
good networking experience with people who
might be making decisions in the future.
But the main benefit of these types of interviews
is that they are great practice for the real
thing, because an interview is inherently
a nerve-wracking experience.
So if you have some time to go in and do practice
interviews where the stakes aren't so high,
you're gonna be able to come into the real
thing with a lot more confidence and a lot
more polish.
Tip number two is to be as friendly and engaged
as you can with everyone that you interact
at the company.
Now, I don't think people are going into companies
and being downright rude to the secretary
or telling people that they don't want to
talk to them, but a lot of students will go
into a company, and if there's a little bit
of time to wait before the interview, they'll
just kinda sit in the waiting room and stare
at their phones.
I can tell you from experience, that people
who aren't the hiring manager still do observe
the behavior of potential candidates, and
then they talk to those hiring managers.
In a lot of companies, the hiring decisions
don't come down to just the people that you
interview with.
A lot of the times they're going to ask anybody
who talked to the potential candidate if they
have any objections.
So if you come into a company and you have
a few minutes before the interview, spend
some time talking to the person at the front
desk.
Or if they're busy, at least be really polite,
greet them, ask how their day is going, and
then sit down and do your waiting.
Also, don't walk into the building wearing
headphones.
Just don't.
Tip number three on our list, come prepared
with questions for your interviewer.
Now, you might think that an interview is
just a situation where you're supposed to
answer the interviewer's questions because
they're figuring out if you're the best candidate
for the job.
But don't forget that you're trying to figure
out if the job is right for you as well.
Additionally, coming to the interview prepared
with your own questions tells the interviewer
that you are engaged, you're interested in
the position, and that you put in a little
bit of preparation.
While you might think that having no questions
makes you seem like you know everything, and
maybe that's a good thing, what it actually
does is it makes the interviewer wonder if
you're apathetic about the position, and if
maybe you're just doing it for the money.
One question you should definitely keep in
your back pocket is, what opportunities for
advancement or additional duties am I gonna
have at this company?
The great thing about this kind of a question
is it tells your interviewer that you are
willing to be adaptable and flexible and you're
willing to learn new things, and that is a
great quality to have in somebody that you
are employing if you're a business owner.
Related to my third tip on asking questions
during the interview, tip number four is to
research the company before you walk into
that interview room.
Once again, this shows a level of preparation
and dedication that a lot of other candidates
aren't going to have, and it's gonna help
you stand apart.
Now, I know what you're thinking.
What kind of research am I supposed to do,
Thom?
Well, you can do a little bit of preliminary
research on the history of the company and
its business, what you really wanna understand
what the culture is like, what people tend
to do there, and what your intended position
usually entails.
Now, on the general position and duties side,
there are tons of websites on the internet,
so I recommend just Googling, what does a
network engineer do, for example, but for
the individual company, you can use sites
like Glassdoor and Vault to get reviews from
actual employees and get a little bit of a
feel for what the company's culture is like.
All right, we are on to tip number five, which
is to bring a notebook and a pen to the interview
with you.
Doing this is yet another signal that you
are dedicated and detail-oriented, because
you're able to actually take notes on the
details of the position during the interview,
but it also allows you to come prepared with
some pre-written notes about the company's
history or any questions that you might have.
You should also bring a couple of copies of
your resume, just in case it becomes useful
during the course of the conversation.
And if you happen to be applying for a position
where examples of your work would be useful,
bring those along as well.
During my last couple of years at college
before I became a full-time entrepreneur,
what I would bring to an interview is this
leather padfolio which had some resume copies
in it, it had some notebook paper and a pen
in it, and I also brought an iPad that I would
keep inside of it which had screen shots of
my web development work.
And a little bit of a side note here, I made
sure that I had screen shots of web dev work
because in case the company didn't have wifi,
I wouldn't have been able to load the actual
websites.
Tip number six, that's seven, six.
Send thank you notes or thank you emails within
24 hours of your interview.
Now, I say thank you notes or thank you emails
because in my mind, time is of the essence
here, and in a lot of cases, it's pretty difficult
to get an actual, physical handwritten note
to your interviewer, especially if the building
that you went to the interview in is far away
from where you are.
So in those cases, a thank you email works
pretty well.
But if you happen to have the ability to give
an actual handwritten thank you note, and
it's within 24 hours or maybe within 48 hours
at the very latest, then that can actually
add a nice touch.
It should also be noted, and yes, that was
a pun, that you shouldn't limit your thank
you notes or thank you emails just to the
interviewer.
If you interacted with a secretary during
your time at the building or you actually
got to go tour the building or talk to somebody
doing a job that you would be doing, send
those people thank you emails as well.
It really goes a long way.
Tip number seven on our list is to wear a
well-tailored suit to your interview, assuming
that you need to wear business formal attire.
Now, I do have to make a slight admission
here.
Ever since I bought myself a suit that actually
fits well, unlike the one I had in college,
which definitely didn't, it fit me like a
tarp, I've leaned towards recommending an
actual suit to go into interviews rather than
just regular business formal attire.
But if you don't happen to have a suit and
you can't afford one, you can definitely wear
a button-down shirt with a nice tie and a
nice pair of slacks.
If you're a girl, there are definitely dresses
that fit that business formal requirement,
or you can do something like a dress skirt.
But in general, you wanna make sure that you
are dressed for success in the situation.
Now, one exception to this recommendation
is if you are specifically told not to wear
a suit, or if they tell you what to wear to
the interview.
If you're going to a company that has a really
casual dress culture and they say, "Hey, just
show up in a T-shirt and jeans, man," don't
show up in a suit because you're gonna look
like you won't it into that company's culture.
Now, in the case that you don't quite know
how a suit should fit or you're looking for
some additional tips on how to dress well
for an interview, I definitely have some recommendations
for you guys.
As a guy, I learned a huge amount of what
I know personally about how to dress well
from my friends Aaron Mar-in-o, Alf M. and
Antonio Santano over at Real Men Real Style.
And I do also have to give a shout out to
a guy named Sven Raphael Schneider, who has
a channel called Gentleman's Gazette, and
that is much more focused on formal business
attire and how to do it correctly.
So that is also a great resource.
For women, I am definitely a lot less knowledgeable,
but I did find a YouTuber by the name of Elle
Florence who has a lot of videos on how to
dress for work and interviews, so definitely
check out her channel.
And if you are a woman or you know of great
resources for women, definitely leave them
in the comments down below.
Tip number eight is to be prepared for behavioral
interview questions.
These are the kind of questions that ask you
to tell a story about your previous work experience
that demonstrates how you handled the situation
and what you learned and improved on.
Some examples of these kind of questions include,
tell me about a time when you were in a high
pressure situation and how you responded.
Or give me an example of a time when you didn't
meet a goal that you had set and how you dealt
with it.
Or, tell me about a time when hordes of the
undead attacked your workplace, and what items
from the break room you fashioned into makeshift
weapons.
Okay, maybe not that one, though, Martin,
make a note to ask the next person we interview
that question.
- [Martin] Will do.
- So the best way to handle these kinds of
questions is to look at examples of them beforehand
and to think of stories from your past working
life that would fit them.
And crucially, the stories you pick should
be crafted in a way that demonstrates how
you learned or improved in some way that's
relevant to the job.
Now, keep in mind that you don't need a specific
story for every possible interview question
that could come out, because one, that is
impossible, and two, when you have a few stories
and you've practiced them, they're gonna be
pretty adaptable and you're gonna be able
to apply them to a wide range of different
questions.
All right, we are on to tip number nine, which
is actually my personal favorite.
View the interview for exactly what it is,
a conversation between two parties who have
things to exchange.
The reason this tip is on the list is because
a lot of students go into interviews feeling
like they're going into an audience with King
Louis the XIV or something, and they're gonna
be granted a job because of the mercy and
benevolence of the almighty king that's sitting
across the table from them.
That's not the case.
Remember, companies put a lot of time and
effort and money into attracting the best
possible talent.
That's what they live and die by.
So believe that you are the best possible
person for the job, and let that be communicated
in the interview.
Don't be arrogant or cocky, but be confident.
Finally, our last tip on the list is that
15 minutes early is on time, and on time is
late.
Here's the thing.
You want a bit of buffer time when you walk
into the company's doors, just in case they
happen to be ready for you right now.
You don't wanna be coming in 30 seconds late
because you got stuck in traffic.
Plus, showing up a little bit early makes
a really good first impression and it gives
you an opportunity to potentially network
with the person running the front desk or
some other people at the company before you
go into the interview.
So those are my top 10 tips for helping you
to ace your next interview, though the interview
is only half the battle.
The best way to ensure that you're that hiring
manager's number one pick is to do everything
you can to be building skills and experience
that set you apart from the competition.
And if you wanna learn more about why that's
so important and how you can use an experience-based
mindset to eventually find work that you truly
do love, Cal Newport's book, So Good They
Can't Ignore You, is a book that you should
definitely read or listen to on Audible.
I absolutely love listening to audio books.
I listen to them while I'm walking to wherever
I'm gonna work for the day.
I listen to them while I'm cooking dinner.
Audible's app makes it such a seamless experience.
I can start listening to a book on the same
iPad that I'm using for my recipe, and then
the next morning, I can pick up exactly where
I left off on my iPhone while I walk to work.
Plus, the app lets me set bookmarks at any
time stamp so I can start building a highlight
reel of notes that I can go and review for
any audio book I'm listening to.
And speaking of any audio book, Audible's
library has an unmatched selection of titles
in a ton of different genres, from science
fiction to biographies, psychology books,
and many, many more.
And you can get a free 30-day trial, which
comes with a free audio book download of your
choosing, whether it's my recommendation or
anything else that you want, by going over
to audible.com/thomas or texting Thomas to
500-500 on your phone.
Big thanks to Audible for sponsoring this
episode and helping to support this channel.
And, as always, guys, thank you so much for
watching.
If you found this video useful, you can hit
that Like button down below and you can hit
that Subscribe button right there if you don't
wanna miss out on any new videos in the future.
You could also click right there to get a
free copy of my book on how to earn better
grades, and smash your face into your phone
screen right around here to get one more video
on this channel.
Thanks for watching again, and I will see
you in the next video.
