5 Steps to Ace Your Interview

Ever been asked to meet your potential boss's spouse during a job interview? Or maybe they threw you a curve ball by asking what kind of animal you'd be? We've heard it all and we're sharing these hilarious and offbeat interview experiences with you. But it's not just about the laughs, we're using these stories to stress the importance of preparing for any scenario when you step into that interview room. 

Did you know that only 2% of applicants are called in for an interview? It's a shocking statistic that underscores the need to stand out. Our show is packed with tips on how to research a company, how to highlight your skills and achievements, and how to handle those unforeseen questions. Even if you're not in sales, we'll show you how to demonstrate your value through metrics and storytelling. 

We'll also give you our top five tips for acing job interviews, so you can walk into that room with confidence. So, grab your favorite cup of coffee and get ready to redefine your career. We'd love to hear your feedback, so don't forget to rate, review, and subscribe. Time to accelerate your career journey, and we're here to give you the tools to become the CEO of your career!

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Transcript

Tips for Aceing the Job Interview

Mary 0:02

Welcome to the Redefine your Career Journey Podcast , where we help career- minded professionals like you become the CEO of your career .

Laura 0:11

I'm Laura Bashore and I'm here with my co-host , Mary Fain Brandt . Together , we have over 25 years of experience in career development and coaching .

Mary 0:19

We're thrilled to share our insights and expertise with you on this podcast .

Laura 0:22

So grab your favorite cup of coffee , tune in and let's start the show .

Mary 0:31

Hey guys , today we're diving into a topic that can make or break your chance of landing that dream job how to ace the interview with these five tips . But before we jump into our five tips , laura and I thought we might share some interesting interview moments that we've experienced or know someone's experienced . So , laura , we were talking about this right before we jumped on the podcast , recording here A question that was really popular or relevant . I don't even know what to call it or how to frame it , but back in the 90s I love this one . What kind of animal would you be , mary Like ? How is that relevant to see if I have the skills to do the job ? Is that question still being asked , Laura ?

Laura 1:26

Thankfully no . I think this is when corporations were really trying to figure out , like , how do we find the personality of the people that we're hiring ? And I just you know , on any day I might be a different animal , so I don't even know how I would answer that question . But also , it's really hard to control your facial expressions when you get asked something that just makes you want to walk out , I always answer I'd be a dolphin .

Mary 1:53

I was always a dolphin , because they're smart , they're loyal , you know they're fun , they're strong .

Laura 2:05

But you also know that they have a crazy sex drive, right ? So there are different parts of this . I don't know that . I do love dolphins , but yeah , if you were to say a dolphin I would .

Mary 2:17

You'd be like , oh , okay , interesting , yeah , things that you know , Laura , well , I have . Okay . So this I just heard this one . I was having tacos with a new colleague here and we were talking about interviewing and how she's at this great company now . But she'd had an interview with this gentleman and it was going well . And then he said are you willing to meet with my wife ? And it kind of took her by surprise , yeah . And she's like well , yeah , of course I , of course . Red flag , red flag .

Mary 2:53

Why do you need to meet with your boss's wife ? Now , those that know me know where my mind's going . I'm not going to say it , but , like I don't know what he was thinking , why do you need to meet with your potential boss's wife ? Now , for me , laura , I can say when I worked at the Bishop School , I worked for the headmaster and his wife was on the interview panel , because there are events that I would be creating and managing for her and him , and some of them are at their house , right . So that's a different scenario . She was on the interview panel , she was one of the five people , but why would a guy say hey , laura , I think you're a great match , you know , would you mind meeting with my wife ?

Laura 3:43

Yeah , I would have to go with a hard no on that . I would not even . I mean it's so funny because at different levels of your career , that question you'd be like sure . And then at another level in your career you'd be like absolutely not , this interview's over . What are we talking about ?

Mary 4:03

And the last part of your career . You'd be like no , but I'm gonna report you to HR right now if I'm asking that .

Laura 4:08

True , true . Point me in the direction of that office or who I email .

Mary 4:13

Right , yeah , have you had any like really odd interview questions ?

Laura 4:20

You know I've had when I'm interviewing people , I've had people answer really strangely Like they just give me these off the wall things that don't make any sense to me . I think the best one is just the opening question of tell me a little bit about yourself . And this person was interviewing . They were at the sea level and they just went on and on and on to where I started timing it , and it got to 11 minutes , 11 minutes of this .

Mary 4:55

Did they tell you , like their daily routine , where they were going on vacation , what kind of car they drove ?

Laura 5:01

Just the whole story and I think that's something to remember . When you have been into your career for a while , you should be confident enough to not have to justify every single little accomplishment or twist and turn that you made , because those questions you should be researching before you do them . I mean , at the end of that I can't even remember who he was , what his name was . I don't know what we talked about , I just know that 11 minutes of my life ticked by ever so slowly . You'll never get that back .

Mary 5:33

No , oh my gosh , oh my gosh Well .

Laura 5:39

So one of the things that I think we should really kind of point out here is the reason it's important to do your research before you get into your interview , or how to prepare yourself is that did you know ? On average , only 2% of applicants are called for an interview . I was blown away when I saw that , mary , I mean 2% . How are you gonna make yourself stand out from the competition during the interview process when you know you have such a small opportunity or a window to be in there ? Yeah , right , and so ?

Mary 6:13

throughout this episode we're gonna be sharing five key tips to help you ace the interview and really increase your chance of landing the job . So tip number one I'm just gonna start us off . Laura , you're good with that right , I'll allow it , I think .

Laura 6:34

Okay , thank

Tips for Successful Job Interviews

Laura 6:35

you .

Mary 6:35

So the tip number one again research . You need to research the company . Now I have actually interviewed people and they couldn't tell us anything about the company . And I'm like what ? Like you applied you want to work here but you can't tell me . You know , like if you're in the news . So you know one thing research the company online , not just on their website , on LinkedIn . What are people posting about ? Do they have any media PR coverage that you should know that you can go in and share at the appropriate time in the interview ? It also when you're researching the company , it can help you come up with questions to ask that are relevant . So when people don't even research the company , they just come in for the interview and think they're just gonna slide on by . I love asking questions about the company .

Laura 7:31

And I think it's standard . I mean , I don't think you're gonna walk into any interview and have them not ask you why do you wanna work for us ? That's also the same thing . When they say why you ? Why should we choose you ? You still need to tie that into the company . I was just speaking with a hiring manager the other day out at a networking event and he said he loved this candidate . Things were going great . They go to wrap up the interview and he says okay , well , so why you ? We have a lot of other candidates coming in . Why should we hire you ? And this guy , this candidate , just looked at him and said , well , my skills match up with the job description . Well , and I know that I have a lot to offer . And he said that was the end of that . We went with somebody else because he could tell that the person didn't actually do any research on the company and people wanna feel special .

Laura 8:27

They wanna feel like you're their only option that you love it .

Mary 8:30

You want to do that . He should have done some market research and not research on the company , like where are they struggling ? What are their goals ? How do his skills align with the company's next five year mission ? How do his skills and accomplishment , how can he help the team development or how can he help the leadership team or the product launch ? Like he was so generic that then he was just like done , don't be joking .

Mary 8:57

Exactly no . So moving on , laura , do you wanna take this one ? I think that this is really more your niche preparing and practicing those common interview questions .

Laura 9:13

Sure , I mean . One of the things I would add here is that even if you don't like the common interview question , you should still prepare for it , because you're not in control of the questions that they ask you and the worst thing that you could do is say I don't know or I never thought about that . Let me , this is the best one . Let me get back to you . When will you get back to ?

Laura 9:38

Yeah , when is that happening ? So , instead of being well-prepared for those common interview questions , is what's really going to make sure that you're able to Put your best foot forward ? So , talking about your experience , your strengths , your weaknesses , why you're the best fit for the role , where do you see yourself ? Those are all going to be asked of you , and also looking at your resume Against the job description beforehand will help you better prepare for those common questions . Hopefully you're able to take a look and see if what you might be lacking that they're going to ask you and also what you do very well that they're going to ask for more information on , because if you keep using the same story to answer all your questions , it's not a good look for you .

Mary 10:36

Right , I agree you want them to ask more questions and I think tip number two , section number two that we're talking about highlighting your achievements and skills . That is critical to understand what you're bringing to the table and how to articulate that when you're in the interview . So I know that recruiters love numbers , right , like I've increased Customer attention by 36% in my first 90 days . You know getting really specific . But you really need to know what your top three Achievement and skills are , because if you go in like Laura said at the beginning with a laundry list , then it becomes an 11 minute tell me about yourself . And nobody wants that , they don't want the 11 minute detailed . They want to know you know what are your top three Achievements and best skills , because we all have more than three or five . Three or five skills . But what are the top skills that you bring to the table for this particular position in this company ?

Mary 11:44

And I think Telling a story , laura , helps us paint the picture and it makes it easier for us to remember . So if you can come up with a short story To tell for each of your achievements , it'll help the interviewer also remember you . You know stories sell backs . Tell Just something that works Right .

Mary 12:06

Yeah not only in business , but in interviews or in the job market .

Laura 12:12

Well , it helps you when you have a story to also avoid having that back and forth where it's just yes , no , 13% , right , you know You're not having a conversation and if it's Strenuous or exhausting to talk to you in an interview , they're not going to move you forward as somebody who they might want to work with , right , and so that's really important . And then also thinking about those skills and achievements . You know , sometimes my clients who don't directly work in cells or they don't see themselves as salesmen , they will flat out say I don't have any numbers to give you , laura , because I'm not in sales , I don't have numbers , I don't have access to that . And I say that's not true .

Laura 13:04

Even when you work at a nonprofit , everything you do is sales , everything is a sell , because your nonprofit has metrics that they need to meet and report into the board and then the board needs to share that . And if you don't know what those numbers are that's another part Going back up to talking about preparing you should be understanding what you add to the current place that you work or the most previous place that you were working at . If you don't understand how your position fits into there , how it ties in , then you will have problems doing this third crucial part , which is understanding how to highlight your achievements and skills . You need to know how you fit .

Mary 13:45

Yes , absolutely , you've got to do the groundwork . Like we said in some previous episodes , you got to prepare , prepare , prepare , prepare .

Laura 13:53

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Mary 15:01

So this next one is really near and dear to my heart is that you need to show genuine enthusiasm and confidence . What's worse than someone that comes to the interview that slouches , keeps their eyes down , talks real quiet , right ? That is not exuding confidence . So how do you get that confidence ? By practicing , by researching , by prepping and by planning . You know employers want people to be part of the team and great team members are those that are very passionate , confident and enthusiastic , right ? Bring that energy level up .

Mary 15:41

So I think that that's really important these days , especially when you're going into the interview , that you are showing your passion and you're showing your enthusiasm . You can stand out against the other person that , just you know , had the interview before you if they were very and I don't want to say quiet , because there's introverts and extroverts . So don't get me wrong . I'm not saying you have to be an extrovert , but I am saying you need to walk in there , you need to be prepared , confident in your answers . I think that's one of the biggest problems that people have , laura , I don't know is they tell me I'm not confident when I'm asked to you know a question in an interview , I don't know how to answer it confidently , and I think that comes with practicing yeah if you are practicing , then you will get confident because , kind of talking about what we were saying earlier , is that a couple of things .

Laura 16:37

One , you'll make sure that you're not saying the same story over and over again or using the same example and just highlighting different facts of it , because you will have practice . You'll have things in your repertoire that you can pull out . Another thing to think about is some of your confidence is just nerves . You might have the answers , but then you tense up because you don't feel confident in the way that you're presenting yourself . So I do want to talk about that just quickly in two forms . So one of the forms that I would talk about it is in-person .

Laura 17:12

I know not many of the beginning interviews are in-person . Sometimes even the final one isn't . But the further you go up in your career , the closer you get to people wanting to have a final interview to make sure that you are exactly the person who you're presenting yourself as they want , to make sure you're not just putting on a facade .

Preparing for a Job Interview

Laura 17:34

One of the ways that I help my clients and talk to them about preparing is a couple of things . First thing is drink water . You need to drink water before you go in . Don't be worried that you might need to use the bathroom . You need to drink water so that your throat doesn't do that thing that happens where you start to get dry throat , because your nerves you don't want to cough .

Mary 17:56

right , you have a dry throat you'll start coughing , exactly .

Laura 18:00

So it's just a whole thing , and especially now after COVID coughing , is definitely not a great look for you . So there's that . The other thing is Bringing in a notebook . I don't expect that you're actually going to sit there and take notes . It's more so for the look of things and it gives you two different advantages .

Laura 18:22

One you look like you're prepared . I think maybe you would be prepared to take a note if you wanted to . But also think about it you can put this in between your two hands , okay , so when you sit down , you can use it to help you with your posture because now it's sitting on your lap , you are less likely to start fidgeting around with your legs , because your legs would hit this notebook and you don't want that to happen . Also , when you go in for your handshake , your palms Are less likely to be sweaty because they have been busy holding something else instead of clenching fists or I know it sounds so silly , but it really helps and with my clients the ones who get really nervous about it , and especially for more introverted They've come back to me and said it just made a world of difference .

Mary 19:07

Well , the language is important , so that's part of the body language . You're sitting up , you're not tapping your feet right . You're not like taking your palms and like , yeah , wiping them on your pants , and then you have sweat marks on your pants or your butt because you wiped them on the behind , thinking no one will see you . You know , it just makes for all that awkwardness . I think those are really really great tips . So , number five I Love this one and I can't believe how many people get this wrong . Number five I'm gonna start it off .

Mary 19:46

Laura is ask thoughtful questions . Here is what is not a thoughtful question in the first interview what are the health benefits ? Do you have 401k ? How many vacation days do I get ? How many holidays are we closed ? Those are not thoughtful questions in the first interview . Yes , you need to know those Answers before you say yes , but that is not the thoughtful question .

Mary 20:15

You , you need to ask these insightful questions . I like one of them could be like why is this role open ? Did the person get promoted or did they leave ? What are you expecting the person that comes and steps into this role to accomplish in the first 90 days , the first six months and the first year ? You know , ask them you need . You have to interview them just as much as they are interviewing you . It helps demonstrate the interest in the role and if you've done your research , you'll know what questions to ask be on some of these Basic or general questions . It's so important that while you're interviewing you're doing active listening , because you're probably going to get one or two more questions if you're really listening To the interviewer that they're gonna be like oh snap , laura . Laura just asked me a question that she didn't have before . It came from our conversation , right .

Laura 21:15

Yes , and it really does help you to stand out in that way . I would say for me , when I interviewed people , if you're gonna ask the first question that you suggested which is why is this position open Please make sure that you're smiling when you ask that question . Yeah , and that you ask it very lightly , because sometimes it can come across as You're grilling them and nobody wants that to . You should be smiling , the entire time all about .

Laura 21:49

Yeah , your tone should be friendly too that's what I'm saying is , if this is where you're going to take , like , your dominant stance , don't ask that question in that form . You want to make sure that you're just doing it out of genuine curiosity . A great question that I always ask for which also helps to alleviate stress on you once you leave is what's the timeline on when you're looking to fill this position . Then , most of the time , you're going to even find out what the continuing process is .

Laura 22:21

Sometimes I've had candidates and myself be given insider information like well , it's actually down to you and one other candidate . Well , if you hear that , then to Mary's point of the act of listening , like don't just be like oh , I asked my questions . Then you want to follow it up and say that's great . Is there something that I can answer for you or that you're having questions about with me that can kind of Let you understand how I am the best candidate for this ? That's where you can open up the door to that . Thoughtful questions are really important , and the last thing I'll say is kind of under the don't section , which is Don't end it by saying do you think I have the skills for this position ?

Mary 23:08

I Don't do that . That's a no .

Laura 23:13

That's a big no . That is definitely a big no . And then the other thing that you mentioned , mary , with you know , asking about benefits and things like that , because we're asking employees and we're trying to have them have more strength in themselves , stand up for their boundaries . Sometimes there can be a confusion here , especially when you're at the beginning of your career , that you're like , well , no , I should ask these questions because it's a deal breaker for me . Yes and no , you should know the answer to those questions . But there's different ways to be able to do that . One of them is in the very first thing that we talked about in the five steps , which is did you thoroughly research the company ? Have you heard of glass door or pay scale ? These are great Sites where you can find out things specific to an organization and also for Transparency , these bigger organizations . A lot of times they have those benefits listed and it's something that you can find out before you go in and then use it later as a Negotiation once you've been presented with a job offer

Tips for Acing Job Interviews

Laura 24:20

. Right .

Mary 24:21

Fabulous . Such great tips , laura . I really hope that everyone enjoyed that . Well , that's gonna wrap up today's episode on how to ace that interview with these five tips we just went over , and by following these strategies , you'll be well prepared and confident to tackle any interview that comes your way .

Laura 24:41

Remember that preparation and showcasing your best self are key to acing the interview and standing out from the competition you got this and join us next week for another exciting episode where we're gonna tackle another crucial topic in career growth .

Mary 24:58

If you enjoyed the podcast , show us some love . Please rate , review and subscribe to our podcast , and if you have any feedback , go ahead and share that with us too , because we want to hear from you , and don't forget to visit our website .

Laura 25:09

You define your career journey that can help you take the next step in your career .

Mary 25:15

We'll see you next week with another episode was to help you redefine your career journey . Until then , stay focused , stay motivated and stay caffeinated .