Advice About Job Interviews

Before taking my job interviews, I watched this video from Jordan Shanks.

In inspiration, I want to breakdown how I think I landed a job at a car dealership for one of the biggest car brands in the world.

And yes, I'm going to be talking about going down the sales pathway. I still think it's a great pathway to go down even while you're studying in university. In everything that you do, sales is involved.

What am I doing now? Trying to solve the problem of performing better at job interviews. You know what else involves asking questions and guiding people towards a solution?

You guessed it, sales.

I'm telling you, having the ability to sell will scepe into every crevice of life.

The Catch 22 of Entry Level Jobs

Before I go into what to do, first you need employers actually interested doing a job interview with you.

Especially in this job economy, it might be difficult landing that job interview if you have had no experience.

But, in order to get experience, you must have had a job.

You see where the problem lies? So, what is the solution?

Personally speaking, I am fortunate that my father knew many employers in our town, that I manage to bypass whole interview processes just by the son of a golf professional. Sure, you can call it nepotism, but I guarantee you in all my jobs I put 100% effort in performing my tasks.

Then I was thinking,

"Well, how would you do it?"

Looking back at it, I kept moving up with almost each role. And with each role there was more responsibility.

Go from low-traffic retail, to customer service, low-traffic consultative sales, high-traffic retail, then car sales.

Also, you want to maximise all your opportunities and see how far you can go up.

How would I play it out if I wasn't born into the family I have today?

I think of the common casual jobs you'd have in high school. Fast food, grocery store, warehouse work, pizza delivery. Low skill stuff.

Then, go apply to low-stakes retail. Like a department store, clothing. There you will get a grasp about customer service, taking phone calls, taking a customer through a sales process.

Then, go to higher-ticket like jewelry, electronics, furniture. Those sales processes will be more refined and structured.

Study Your Chosen Field (Work Experience)

To aid in your path, read about your chosen field. I think it was thanks to reading a bunch of sales, communication and self-help books that I come across as the perfect candidate.

(I still haven't worked out how to solve this for marketing roles, yet)

What is the act of reading?

It's temporarily being possessed by the thoughts of the writer. If you're wanting to become a better salesman, do you not want the thoughts of the greatest communication experts in your head?

By understanding what it's like being an expert in the field, you naturally start to think in terms of the lingo of the field.

When it comes to employers, they're looking for a baseline understanding of the role you're taking on.

Have Options

Apply to multiple jobs, and see what happens.

During my days of applying for marketing jobs, I never had the privilege of having multiple job interviews.

When I came back from Japan to Australia and applied to sales jobs, I got multiple interviews.

See, what we're after is leverage.

Knowing that if a job falls through, we've got another one lined up.

In my case, it was between two dealerships. Having the choice to think of which was the best, rather than feeling like I was forced into one.

Act Like You Don't Care

When I say this, don't care in the sense of the outcome of the job interview. The frame going into the interview is,

"I want to have a conversation, and see where we can go."

By establishing this frame, you are not putting on a performance. You give off a vibe of,

"Let's work out how I can provide value, and you can too."

I realised from my job interviews for marketing roles that I gave off the vibe that I REALLY wanted the job. Like in dating, neediness can put off people from getting the job.

In terms of social interactions, he who cares less indicates high value. If you were of low value, you're wanting the right reactions of the people interviewing you.

I remember in the interview having relaxed body posture. Nor was I really nervous about the interview because I didn't let the interview hold a lot of weight.

I could have framed it as,

"This is it. Now or never to prove to them I'm the right candidate. If I get this job, my life will be set."

Shanks had advice of,

"The things you want but can't have, you're placing unnecessary importance on them"

Authenticity

There are many good reasons that one must live by the truth.

We're social creatures. We can sense if someone is putting on a front to impress others.

There was one part of the interview that couldn't help me crack a smile. The sales manager said,

"Denzil, it seems like you're trying to say the right answer."

I recognised it was a bit of push. But I gave it back.

"Nah, I don't think so. These answers are what I genuinely think."

Stories, Stories, Stories

I'm going to take the common acronym used in all interviews, STARI.

(Situation, Task, Action, Result, Insight)

In my interview, I didn't explicitly follow the guideline. But I did make the right choice of using as many anecdotes as possible.

The reason why we want to use personalised stories is to become rememberable and demonstrate our abilities in action.

Theory is great, but how did you put it into application?

I supposed that's what employers want to hear. What you have done to get the results that you've achieved.

Turn It Into Discussion

There was a point in the interview where the sales manager emphasised they did not want someone who kept asking the same questions over and over again.

I interjected and agreed by asking if they've heard of Alex Hormozi. Part of being authentic as well is not giving a fuck for the reaction of the other person.

The reason why I brought up Hormozi was it related to something he mentioned about intellect.

"Intelligence is measured by the rate of change in behaviour. Let's say in the script if customer says ABC, you must say D. If on your first try you say E, but then you hear the customer say ABC again, and you say D, then you have learnt. Whoever can change behaviour after presented with the same scenario quickest is the most intelligent."

Also there were parts in the discussion where I didn't want to talk out of my own ass, and wanted clarification regarding about things in the car industry.

Like the frame previously discussed,

"Let's have a talk and see how I can help you."

Conclusion

I then asked my sales manager during my first week what made me succeed in getting the job?

Two things:

• I showed up to my interview
• I mentioned the Eisenhower Matrix

By chance, he actually has a certification in time management that trained him on the Eisenhower Matrix.

Also, there were some interviewees that didn't show up.

To me, this wasn't just a job. It was an opportunity to get better at my sales skills and help the business sell more cars.

At the end of the day, I was being me. The version of me that studied up on sales, had the experience in customer sales, and came into a frame discussing how I could provide value.