Fix These 3 Common Mistakes Before Your Next Job Interview

Key Concepts

• Interviewing as storytelling, not just answering questions.
• Speed, Reasoning, and Remembering (the "3 Rs") as key elements of effective interviewing.
• Focusing on the employer's needs and how you can transform their future.
• Using specific language and sellable ingredients in your stories.
• Making the interviewer feel a certain way to be memorable.

Interviewing Mistakes and How to Fix Them

The speaker identifies three critical errors job seekers make during interviews, all stemming from a misunderstanding of the interview's purpose. The speaker uses an analogy of his childhood experience with reading comprehension to illustrate these points.

1. Speed: Convincing Them Quickly

• What it is: The goal is to quickly convince the interviewer that you are the right person for the job.
• Mistake: Taking too long to tell stories, trying to explain every detail. Job seekers often feel the need to explain "what actually happened," which is unnecessary.
• Issue: Interviewers are looking for verification of your skills, not a complete retelling of your history. They are making assumptions based on your resume and background.
• Cure:
  • Focus on "sellables": Use specific language and ingredients that highlight your key skills and accomplishments.
  • Compress stories: Condense year-long projects into 2-3 minute stories, focusing only on the most relevant information.
  • Trim the fat: Leave out unnecessary details and allow the interviewer to make inferences.
  • Assessment: When describing steps to achieve a goal, always include the assessment phase. Highlight that you know where to look, how to analyze, and how to assess.
• Example: Instead of detailing every step of a research process, summarize it by saying, "I looked at our top 100 customers, their demographics, spending habits, and geography, and then analyzed our competition's products to draw conclusions about the new product line."
• Resources:
  • YouTube video: "The Job Interview Formula Guaranteed to Get You Hired" (focuses on the CAR/My CAR technique).
  • Job Interview Playbook Webinar (evergreen).
  • Live office hours (March 6th) with a live story-building case study.

2. Reasoning: Connecting the Dots

• What it is: Connecting your past experiences, skills, and accomplishments to the employer's future needs.
• Mistake: Focusing on your past experiences instead of how you can transform the employer's future.
• Issue: Interviewers are not buying your skills in isolation; they are buying the projected application of your skills in their environment.
• Cure:
  • Focus on relevance: Use stories that are directly relevant to the job description and the employer's needs.
  • Obsess about them: Understand the job description and checklist the skills that need to shine in your story.
  • Work backwards: Craft your story to highlight the skills and experiences that the employer is looking for.
• Example: A fund developer interviewing with a school should focus on stories from educational institutions where they created a strategy, raised money, and presented to the board.
• Case Study: The speaker describes working with a client named Chris who was interviewing for a fund development position at a school. They initially focused on a recent story from a non-educational institution. The speaker advised Chris to instead use a story from his 13 years of experience in educational institutions, specifically one that demonstrated his ability to create a strategy, raise money, and present to the board. By tailoring the story to the school's needs and using language that checked off their requirements, Chris could effectively demonstrate his fit for the role.
• Resource: YouTube video: "How to Choose the Right Job Interview Answers."

3. Remembering: Making Them Feel

• What it is: Making the interviewer feel a certain way so they remember you positively.
• Mistake: Not focusing on the emotional impact of your story.
• Issue: Interviewers hire who they like and who they feel will be a good teammate. They remember how you made them feel, not necessarily everything you said.
• Cure:
  • Identify desired feelings: Determine what you want the interviewer to feel (e.g., experienced, organized, confident).
  • Craft stories that evoke those feelings: Use your story to demonstrate the qualities you want them to associate with you.
  • Two-word clusters: Aim for the interviewer to remember you with two-word descriptors (e.g., "subject expert," "highly organized").
• Example: In Chris's story, he wanted the interviewers to feel that he was experienced, organized, and had strong executive communication skills.
• Resources:
  • Book: "Interview Intervention: Communication That Gets You Hired."
  • YouTube video: "The Best Way to Prepare for a Job Interview" (specifically the November 5th, 2024 episode).

Conclusion

The key to successful interviewing is to reshape your thinking. It's not about reliving your past, but about quickly convincing the interviewer that you are the right person for the job by focusing on their needs, connecting your skills to their future, and making them feel a certain way. By focusing on speed, reasoning, and remembering, you can craft stories that are fast, powerful, and memorable.