Session 2: winning the job interview. 2 2
Hi there! 3 3
Welcome to session 2 of Interview Hero. 4 4
In the last session, we have seen what the interviewer is expecting from you. 5 5
In this session, we will see how to meet his expectations 6 6
and go beyond them by sharing with you the interview best practices. 7 7
We first start with a simple but extremely effective technique 8 8
that will help you get to real results real fast. 9 9
One: The Big Three Y’s of the interview. 10 10
This is the first and most important guideline of this course. 11 11
What we will refer to as the Big Three 12 12
Y’s of the interview is a trio composed of the three elements 13 13
you need to constantly discuss during the interview: Yourself, 14 14
Your motivation for the job, and Your motivation for the company. 15 15
The rule is very simple here: If at any given moment of the interview, 16 16
you are not talking about one of these three elements, 17 17
you are off-topic. 18 18
It means you are not convincing the interviewer that you are the best 19 19
for the job! 20 20
If you have to remember just one thing, it should be this. 21 21
Whatever you say or question you answer, you have to make sure 22 22
that you relate it to yourself, the job, and the company. 23 23
Try to think about it as the holy trinity of the interview. 24 24
Ideally, you want to talk about several 25 25
of the three elements in a single response. 26 26
It means that you must not only connect anything you say 27 27
to one of these three items, but you also need to do 28 28
the gymnastics of moving from one item to the other. 29 29
It needs to come as a package. 30 30
You can't talk about yourself independently from the position and the firm. 31 31
Here is an 32 32
example : 33 33
See how 34 34
the candidate has moved from one element to the other? 35 35
We will keep referring to it as the Three Big Y’s, 36 36
and it will serve as the main thread for the course. 37 37
In Sessions 3 and 4, we will build the content to enrich each of its elements. 38 38
In Session 5, we will create an introductory pitch 39 39
that revolves around these three elements. 40 40
In Sessions 6 and 7, we will show you how to talk about them. 41 41
Finally, Sessions 8, 9, and 10 will help you answer questions 42 42
in a way that includes all three components of the Three Big Y’s. 43 43
Part 2: Back up with examples The second most important 44 44
guideline is to back up all your answers with examples. 45 45
In other words, you don't ask the interviewer 46 46
to believe you, but prove to him what you are saying. 47 47
And the best way to prove your answer is to support it 48 48
with an example from your own experiences. 49 49
The goal is to illustrate your response 50 50
with a specific event that happened to you in the past. 51 51
It is much more impactful than saying how 52 52
you would handle the situation or giving some generalities. 53 53
For example: Don't just say, “I am curious and I love learning.” 54 54
But say, “I am curious and I really like learning new things. 55 55
During my student years, I was part of a cultural association 56 56
called X, in which I organized two workshops on topics Y and Z. 57 57
I have also followed courses on international cultures, 58 58
such as Mandarin and Italian. 59 59
In my previous job, I enjoyed very much working on 60 60
various topics at the same time, such as A and B. 61 61
As you can see, I am curious and I love learning! 62 62
The learning curve is a strong motivation for this position, 63 63
especially given the variety of tasks that I will address as Project Manager, 64 64
from planning to execution. 65 65
I have also seen that your company has a mentoring program 66 66
that will fulfill my desire to learn and discover new things.” 67 67
In this example, 68 68
the candidate did not expect the interviewer to trust him. 69 69
But he demonstrated that he does like diversity and learning 70 70
by giving a concrete example from his past academic and professional experiences. 71 71
And in addition to that, he applied the first rule of this session, 72 72
as he has moved from one element of the Big Y’s to the other. 73 73
Indeed, he went from talking about himself, to talking about the position, 74 74
and finally talking about the company, all in one single answer. 75 75
Of course, it may not seem very easy at first sight. 76 76
But don't worry. 77 77
At the end of this course, this will become child's play for you. 78 78
Let's see what this will mean for you. 79 79
Easily stand out from your competition 80 80
Just by giving a concrete example from a past experience, 81 81
you gain a massive advantage over your competition. 82 82
Because most candidates only do it if they are asked to by the interviewer. 83 83
But if you do it proactively, interviewers will enjoy it very much. 84 84
You will sound : More convincing. 85 85
More structured. More clear. 86 86
Besides, you are blowing your chances of having the interviewer remember you. 87 87
Indeed, we tend to remember anecdotes and stories more easily, 88 88
especially since the interviewers usually meet plenty of other candidates. 89 89
And just by supporting your answers with examples, you are significantly 90 90
increasing your chances of having the interviewer remember you. 91 91
They will recall that anecdote you told them and be like, 92 92
“oh yeah, that’s the candidate who worked on that project and overcame 93 93
a big challenge.” 94 94
Facts first. 95 95
When giving an example, you need to provide as many facts 96 96
as possible. 97 97
Facts are essential details 98 98
about the story that will help you back your example. 99 99
The best facts are numbers. 100 100
Because numbers speak for themselves. 101 101
You could push some quantitative results that you got 102 102
from the story you are using as an example. 103 103
For example: “Thanks to my actions, sales in my area 104 104
increased by 5% that quarter, and customer retention increased by 10%”. 105 105
Facts will help you: Find content for your story. 106 106
Make it sound more authentic. 107 107
Have the interviewers believe you. 108 108
Engage them even more in your narrative. 109 109
Plenty of candidates exaggerate their experiences, 110 110
and interviewers know about it. 111 111
So their trick to catch out liars is by quickly throwing 112 112
many questions about their story: Who was involved? 113 113
Where was it? 114 114
How people reacted? 115 115
What did you do next? Etcetera. 116 116
That's why you will sound much more convincing by coming up with facts 117 117
proactively. 118 118
The importance of preparation 119 119
From our previous examples, see how it was really hard to: 120 120
Find a story to illustrate any of your skills, or experiences 121 121
- just like that, on demand. 122 122
Remember all the details about that experience in a flash, 123 123
especially if you want to give some facts. 124 124
And that is why preparation is key. 125 125
You must have your stories and facts prepared before the interview. 126 126
And, when needed, they will be ready to use. 127 127
And all you will have to do will be to open drawers 128 128
and choose the right example to illustrate your answer. 129 129
Luckily for you, you took time and energy to prepare for the interview, 130 130
and you will not have to find those stories out of the blue. 131 131
So. You guessed it. It is time for homework.