In the past I would get nervous trying to think of a perfect response to every question that could happen and bomb my job interviews. Simply because I didn’t know the best way to interview for jobs.
Last week was the career fair here at K-State, and as a sophomore, I am pretty passionate about lining up an internship for this coming Summer.
Photo of me from senior year in High School 2 years ago- Instagram Verification
Tuesday night I talked with my father for some advice on how to approach the job fair. I had a list of companies I researched and planned on talking to. After building up some confidence and networking with some of the company reps, I scored three different interviews starting the next day.. Great opportunities awaited me, but I was shitting myself with the little interviewing skills and experience I had!
I called my older brother for some advice, and he replied with the wisdom given to him by his mentor, Neil Strauss, a New York Times best-selling author. He passed on 3 basic rules in which he guaranteed I would be offered a job by every company if I used them. They are as follows:
1. Who ever talks the most loses
2. Respond to every questions under 60 seconds
3. Answer every question with a question
They seemed pretty straight forward. I called on Peter, my roommate, and challenged him to this rules as a way of practice. We were only allowed to speak to one another the rest of the night using this formula.
The next morning came. Iit was a smoking hot day to wear a suit & tie. 100 degree weather and I only had one way to get to my interviews...
...my bitch ass bike.
So I suited up and by the time I got across campus for my first interview I was drained of energy and dripping in sweat like I just jumped into a Jacuzzi.
When I arrived I shook hands with the company’s HR reps, and confidently sat in my man-made sweat puddle.
I followed every tactic I practiced and the interviews went slick.
The interviewers opened up so much they were the ones doing all the talking! There was no stress in the room. I felt as if I was the one in charge of asking them questions. Their professional tough attitude went quickly faded and we bs’d about cars and even the women in their life! It was just like talking to some everyday bro’s - it was a blast.
One interview went just like this..
Interviewer: I see you work at weddings, I just got married a few weeks ago. How do you react in a situation where a customer is angry?
Me: No matter what happens I keep a smile on my face and do whatever it takes to make that angry customer happy again because it's their big day and not mine….at your company how do you handle an angry customer?
Interviewer: (Goes on for 5 mins about his wedding experience and how he had to handle his bridezilla).
Interviewer: What are some of your strengths and weaknesses?
Me: Strengths: I am extremely motivated individual, I am sociable, and love working with people. Weakness: I sometimes struggle to hold a stable sleeping schedule causing me to feel lacked of energy some days. But something I do in response to my weakness is I have recently been tracking my sleep through an app on my phone, and it has helped me stay consistent with my schedule.
Interviewer: That’s great! We like how sociable you are! It is a very important skill to have.
Me: What some strengths and weaknesses your company looks for in this position?
Interviewer: (Interviewers both go into depth of certain skills they have and what they are looking for taking up about 5 mins).
Another example:
Interviewer: I see year by year your job improves - showing you have a wide variety of experience.
Me: If I’m not growing, I’m dying. Are you guys happy with your position, or are you planning on moving even higher to a different position?
Interviewers: (Both cut each other off excited to respond and take up about another 8 mins of talking).
Overall, after doing some research on the company beforehand, then applying these techniques, I felt like a beast. I left a great impression and I really stood out to the recruiters.
Even if you don’t have an upcoming interview I suggest practicing these techniques talking with friends, recruiters at a booth, or even if you are just trying to approach a fairly attractive female.
With these 3 skills you will be able kickass like I did.
Now go kill it.
