Job interviewing lessons

Job interviewing is tough. Like REALLY tough from an emotional perspective. I dread the last 5 minutes before going in. And once I’m in, the first 90 seconds of interaction are crucial for how it will go. No matter how many times you’ve ran your stories, you’ve presented yourself in front of the mirror, did interview test runs with the help of an AI bot or better yet, with an actual person.

Of all of the lessons I’ve learned so far, that’s first one that comes to mind: it’s tough.

I have made a career of learning new things as fast as possible. Not failing but adjusting as fast as possible has been a key approach throughout my career, allowing me to adapt quickly and make impactful changes that helped me build myself up as a professional and a solid person to work with. I took this in my personal life too. I’m the one who knocks at your door at 3:30am after you called at 3 in the morning.

Problem is no one teaches you about failing. Not in the part of the world I grew up in. It took me years to learn that failing is part of the learning process and a rich source of insights that ultimately leads to a better outcome/process/product/version of you.

I didn’t think interviewing would be another lesson in humility, but I will admit it has been. I’ve bombed a few times now, and I’ve learned there’s a LOT I have left to learn and that to get any good at this is going to take not years, not months, not weeks. But a lifetime. Some people just have natural charisma and confidence, I need those 90 first seconds of the interview to warm up. If we were all engines, I’d be a diesel engine after the Volkswagen-gate.

I’ve read a post from a Linkedin friend who’s into comedy. He said: 𝐼 𝑐𝑎𝑛’𝑡 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑢𝑝, 𝑠𝑜 𝐼’𝑚 𝑔𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑘 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑖𝑡 𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑙 𝐼’𝑚 “𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑖𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑦 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝑑.” 𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑡’𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝑎𝑙 𝐼’𝑣𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑦𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓.

His words in his post inspired me and I think they are applicable for anything we set ourselves for. Just set those darn goals and stick to them.

If you’re preparing for a big job opportunity and want some insights, feel free to DM me, and I will let you know what I’ve learned but I can’t promise I will be objective. I can only give subjective feedback.

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