đ Hiya, work bestie!
You know that sick feeling you get right before an interview? The one where youâre convinced youâre the Worldâs Biggest Imposter and youâll probably throw up all over your keyboard on this Zoom call?
Yeah, I used to feel that way.
But now, hereâs how I keep my lunch where it belongs.
Interview Mixtape
I print out this mixtape template the night before every interview. I can usually work through it in about 30-60 minutes. But then I can go to sleep knowing Iâve got the perfect playlist to pop in tomorrow to boost my confidence.
The Gig: This is just the company and role youâre interviewing for.
Audience: These are the specific people whoâll be in the interview.
The Theme: This is the overarching thing that theyâll be evaluating.
The A/B Sides of Your Career
Think of the A-side as the good times where you really shined. The B-side is the dark times where you got beat up a little, but learned a lot.
Hereâs the thing: youâve got tons of stories you could tell. So when your audience hits you with one of those inevitable âTell me about a time when...â, youâre likely to come down with a case of analysis paralysis as your entire career flashes before your eyes.
My life hack... choose your stories beforehand. And by that I mean pick one A-side and one B-side story and limit all of your responses to just those.
Poof, youâve just lowered your heart rate by 45 bpm.
Now when your audience asks, you just have to decide if your A or B-side is a better fit for the scenario. And then what angle of the story youâre going to tell.
But that sounds too easy, right? And what if they ask about more than two scenarios? Or your story doesnât perfectly match their prompt?
It is in fact that easy. Nearly every behavioral interview question falls into one of two buckets: showing what youâre capable of (A-side) or demonstrating resilience and growth (B-side). The key is choosing bigger, stronger stories that can stand up to more than one scenario.
And donât worry about circling back to the same story. Thatâs actually a good thing. Your audience already has some context as a jumping off point. And they get a fuller picture of what itâs like to work with you than a bunch of disjointed, vague examples.
And close enough is good enough. Just tell your story. They care more about how you think and communicate than getting a pixel-perfect answer. If they need more, theyâll ask for more.
Pro tip: Test your stories beforehand. Ask AI for 50 examples of âTell me about a time whenâŚâ prompts based on the theme of this interview. Go through the list and see if you can quickly decide which story youâd pick and the angle youâd use. If youâre getting stuck a lot, you probably havenât found the right stories yet.
Three Good Questions
Hereâs another way to stand out: come up with three good questions. These are questions that make your audience say âThatâs a good question,â and then pause for a few seconds while they think about their answer.
Itâs a bad look if you donât have anything to ask, but itâs also not helpful if youâre just regurgitating every other candidateâs throwaway questions.
For example: âI noticed the team recently switched from X to Y framework, what drove that decision?â is way better than âWhat technologies does the team use?â The first shows youâve done your homework and youâre thinking critically. The second couldâve been answered by skimming the job posting again.
More inspiration: look at your audienceâs LinkedIn profiles, at the companyâs Glassdoor reviews, or just pretend this is your second week at this gig. What sorts of things would you be asking your audience?
Hype Song
One last thing (and this might sound weird):
Pick a hype song. Then right before you get on the call, blast it at full volume and move your body. Dance. Do jumping jacks. Go full inflatable tube man like at a car dealership and wave your arms around.
I know it sounds ridiculous, but getting your body moving literally changes how you feel. Our bodies and minds are connected in ways we donât even understand. Get your energy up. Get your blood flowing. And youâll show up as the version of yourself you want them to meet.
The deep dive? If you need even more help with what to do before, during, and after the interview, grab a copy of The Job Closer by Steve Dalton. You'll also want to check out the FIT Model and CAR Model that he and his former colleagues at Duke University put together.
You got this,
âď¸ Kirby
PS That extra space at the bottom? All yours for notes. And keep your mixtapes throughout your job search. Youâll start to see patterns in whatâs working and whatâs not as you go from interview to interview.