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  • 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

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  • Thanks for watching again, and I will see you in the next video.

Hey, what's up, guys?

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