The Proper Job Interview Mindset

• 00:04 So what's the best mindset to have when you're in a job interview?
• 00:09 Some people go in sort of little scared, nervous, I'm not sure about this.
• 00:15 Some people go in very, very respectful, deferential,
• 00:18 perhaps even too differential.
• 00:21 There is a particular mindset that I do find is helpful for
• 00:24 most people to have in most job interview situations.
• 00:28 Now, nothing always works 100% of the time.
• 00:32 But here's the mindset that I do find works, and that is to go into a job
• 00:37 interview with the idea, with the attitude that you already have the job.
• 00:43 That you've essentially been hired as a consultant for
• 00:46 the last two weeks to come up with ways for this company to make more money or
• 00:50 this organization to fulfill its mandate more effectively.
• 00:53 Now, I don't mean act arrogant.
• 00:54 I don't mean to start negotiating for extra vacation time.
• 01:01 You can't have a whiff of arrogance.
• 01:03 But what I mean by this is to come in with so many ideas, so
• 01:07 much passion for the organization, their mission, so
• 01:11 many ideas that you seem like someone who's already been working for them.
• 01:17 This is where your preparation is so key.
• 01:20 This is where your research really comes in.
• 01:23 If someone says, well,
• 01:24 do you have any questions about the company in the job interview?
• 01:27 Most people have really, really superficial questions like,
• 01:33 so what are your plans for the future, or how long has the company been around?
• 01:39 Questions that show you didn't even do your homework.
• 01:42 What you want are questions that show real insight.
• 01:47 So, for example, if someone came to my media training company and
• 01:50 I said, do you have any questions for us?
• 01:53 They said, well, TJ, I see you have all these books on media training and
• 01:57 public speaking training, and by the way,
• 01:59 your Secret to Foolproof Presentations was my favorite book.
• 02:02 But I'm wondering, are you going to be coming out with a book just for
• 02:06 people on how to use a teleprompter?
• 02:10 My reaction towards the person asking the question would be, wow,
• 02:14 this person really cares about what we do here.
• 02:17 This person has done their homework.
• 02:19 This person is actually looking for ways to help me make more money.
• 02:24 I like that.
• 02:25 I would probably give that person, if not a job, at least some assignment
• 02:30 just to keep that person in my orbit for asking a question like that.
• 02:36 And that's why your research, your preparation is so important.
• 02:40 You need to ask thoughtful questions that show you've really
• 02:44 given some consideration into the goals of this organization,
• 02:49 how they make money, how they service their clients.
• 02:53 Doesn't matter if it's a big oil company, or
• 02:56 a social services government organization.
• 02:59 Every organization has someone they must speak to,
• 03:03 has someone who holds them accountable, has someone they're responsible for.
• 03:08 If you can come into this job interview with this mindset of,
• 03:12 you're already working for them.
• 03:14 And so, what about this idea, and this idea, and have you thought about this?
• 03:20 Even bad ideas are better than no ideas.
• 03:24 And the problem most people have when they go into a job interview is they
• 03:28 don't really have any ideas.
• 03:30 Doesn't mean they're dumb, doesn't mean they're not capable of it, but
• 03:34 they have the attitude of, well, until they're giving me a paycheck,
• 03:38 I'm not going to do any heavy lifting.
• 03:40 Wrong attitude to have, because if it is a company that you like,
• 03:44 an organization you like, and it seems like a good fit,
• 03:47 why not spend just an hour or two in preparation rather than
• 03:51 blindly emailing more resumes out that go into a black hole?
• 03:56 So that's why I suggest, walk into that interview as if you've already been hired.
• 04:01 You're already on the team.
• 04:03 You've been a consultant.
• 04:04 You've researched strengths, you've researched weaknesses,
• 04:08 and you have some suggestions, you have ideas, and you have questions.
• 04:13 But your questions are very specific to how the organization can do better,
• 04:17 how they can get new clients, how they can break into new markets.
• 04:21 Your questions are not, so how many official holidays do we get?
• 04:26 How long is lunch break?
• 04:27 Do I get a smoke break?
• 04:29 Those questions are not going to help you get the job.
• 04:35 I'll give you some more tips in a moment on the next video of
• 04:38 how to even go into more detail on this.
• 04:41 But critically important, walk in to this interview with a mindset,
• 04:47 I'm already on your team, I already have this job.
• 04:51 I've been thinking about you, and
• 04:54 working on ways to help this organization already for the last week.

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