SMARTer Job Hunting's Jobcast

Hello and welcome everybody.

This is the Smarter Job Hunting Podcast,
Job Cast for short, the show where job

seekers and corporate leaders find each
other and join together as winning teams.

In the weeks to come, we'll be
exploring what kind of job you really

want and need, how you can find it
quickly, how to prepare for your

interview, and how to pitch yourself.

In our last episode, we reviewed why
storytelling skills are so important

and what the basics of storytelling are.

In today's session, we're going to
review what questions an interviewer

is likely to ask you and how you might
answer those questions with stories.

Let's get started.

A couple of questions are
inevitable in any interview.

A real common one is, Could
you tell me about yourself and

briefly describe your background?

Interviewers like to
hear stories about you.

Make sure your story has a catchy
beginning, a compelling middle, and

an ending that shows you as a winner.

Remember, many interviewers make up
their minds in the first five minutes.

So this is a real important step
in getting into the company.

Start with a related incident that got
you on track to enter the profession.

Go on to academic and other
training background and

transition to work experience.

Mention a complex or exciting
project you worked on that you won.

For instance, my background is
in war games and virtual reality.

When I was young, I was a latchkey kid
with a working mom, so I grew up with

video games and a gaming community.

I wanted to get into the army, but
couldn't pass the eyesight exam.

I didn't give up and got into the next
best thing to the military, a job with

a company that produced weapons training
simulators and war games for the Pentagon.

I had a degree in computer science,
so I started as a programmer.

And then took night school
to become a product designer.

It was like being a kid in a candy store,
since I got to drive and shoot the actual

tanks and helicopters, so I could build
simulators to fight in virtual worlds.

One big project I got on was for
network tank simulators for the German

army and several other NATO countries.

We had impossible, tough competition
from a huge local company named Krupp.

Also, I met the head tank
general, and he said, our U.

S.

made simulators just
weren't realistic enough.

So a normal person might have given up.

But what happened next was the NATO
Tank Olympics, where teams of tanks went

through terrain and shot pop up targets.

The American team had never won.

They'd never even come close to winning.

So I borrowed a helicopter
from a friendly U.

S.

general.

We went up and mapped the whole area,
including where the targets were.

No one had ever thought of doing it.

So the tank crews trained around
the clock on our simulators.

On the day of the competition,
I made sure our team went last.

The American team went through
the terrain and came in

first with a perfect score.

It had never happened before.

came out of the course and stopped with
a screech before the reviewing stands,

which had rows of astonished generals.

They'll never forget what happened next.

The crews got out of the tanks and
started dancing on top of them to

the song, Bad to the Bone, which
I'd cranked up on loudspeakers.

We had dancing practice the
nights before the competition.

I turned to the German tank general,
whose mouth was hanging open, and asked

him, Is that realistic enough for you?

He got the message, and we won the
program, for over 100 million euros.

I went on to get an MBA in
international marketing and got some

courses that made me sensitive to
what different audiences expect in

different countries of the world.

A second question is, How did
you hear about this position?

Companies want to know whether you
researched them and sought them out,

or just stumbled across them, and
whether you had the help of an employee.

If an employee recommended
you, say his or her name.

Don't assume the interviewer
already contacted them.

Your story then could create the image
that the employee was comfortable with

you, possibly while meeting over lunch.

As an example, you might tell the
interviewer, I met Steve Brunson and

David Wu at the Metaverse conference.

We had lunch and they listened
to my background and recommended

that I apply here, as they
thought it would be a great fit.

They also mentioned you've got
some really creative teams that

I'd love to meet and work with.

We even, at my suggestion, took a
team from one of your competitors

to dinner that night and we picked
their brains for what they were doing.

I can send you my notes from
that meeting, if you like.

With both stories, you told the
interviewer that you think outside

the box, that you don't give
up easily, and that you come up

with really creative concepts.

You also told him that you work
well as a team member, that you play

well with others, which is something
I guarantee you he's looking for.

I've had great luck with going to
technology conferences and meeting team

members from the company I was interested
in and getting local color from them

and what the company was looking for.

Meeting company contacts
can be really creative.

I met Jesse, Itzler, the CEO of
Marquis Jet, who told me he discovered

a contact at a TED conference,
but couldn't get in to meet him.

So what he did, he found a coffee shop
nearby that all the Ted attendees went to.

He got there early and bought up
all the bagels., When the contact

arrived and found no bagels.

Jesse offered him one and
noted that he had 500 more.

They hit it off and that person
became his first customer for

a private jet company startup.

Pretty creative.

Finding where the attendees have
breakfast and then ambushing them there.

The third question is, what type
of work environment do you prefer?

This is where you really have to do
your research, using LinkedIn, company

appraisal sites like Glassdoor and Indeed,
and personal stories from the employees.

If you have the flexibility to work
part time or as a consultant, mention

that right away, as well as your
preferences for remote or hybrid work.

Strongly rehearsed answers will be really
useful, especially if there's more than

one interviewer firing questions at you.

If there are several of them, make
sure you take a deep breath, face the

questioner, and establish eye contact.

Let your answer illustrate how
your job ethics match the company.

They may, for instance, prefer
collaborative management,

instead of a hierarchy.

So you might say, I worked for a
company headquartered in Japan,

where management was by consensus.

I quickly learned to get all the decision
makers in one room at the same time, else

reaching a decision could take forever.

I found a friend in the company who
provided special snacks for that,

and it worked out really well.

If you learn the company occasionally
has a pressure cooker environment,

which is true of video game and
similar companies, you might say

That absolutely doesn't scare me.

I like fast paced work environments
because I'm always learning and growing.

I prefer to go through collaborating with
team members and reaching a goal together.

My last job had a culture that set
people up competing against each other.

People never smiled.

I made sure every one of my team
members knew I appreciated them.

I brought them coffee and healthy bagels.

I always got there before
they did and stayed later.

On one project, I got a call
from a customer that we'd

won a million dollar bid.

I didn't run into the boss and brag about
it like every other manager would have.

I got the team together in the
conference room, served some really

deluxe snacks, brought in the bosses,
and then told them that we won after

calling out each team member and
bragging about their contribution.

Notice that, you emphasized not
only that you're good and that you win

contracts, but that you're a team member.

Again, interviewers are looking for
that with a question in their mind,

does he or she play well with others?

For every story, align with what
the company is interested in, and

come up with a winning ending.

Another question is, how do you deal
with pressure or stressful situations?

The interviewer here wants to know whether
you're going to crumble under pressure,

or keep calm and carry on, as described
in the famous British World War II poster.

If you're in a large company with
different divisions doing the same

kind of work, be aware they are
going to compete with each other.

And trying to get several of them in on
the same job is going to be really tough.

Share an instance where you remained
calm in spite of high levels of turmoil.

For instance, your story might be,

I know stressful situations are always
going to come up, so I developed

a support network to help me.

While working on a new product
launch at my last company, vendors

told us they couldn't deliver
three key parts by deadline.

Instead of assigning blame and getting
all upset about it, I contacted my

LinkedIn network of over a thousand to
see what options they could come up with.

I found alternatives to the three
vendors, which delivered the

assemblies on time with only a little
bit extra express shipping costs.

Every morning, I do
meditations and go exercise.

I often think of the things
I have to be grateful for.

I've found you can't be grateful
and afraid at the same time.

Instead of panicking, I take one
thing at a time and don't give up.

I have a big sign on my desk with
Winston Churchill's motto, Never give up.

And I really believe that.

You've told the interviewer by your
story that you're a team player.

That you do not panic, that you do
not give up, and that you have a large

network to learn from and draw on.

That distinguishes you
from lots of other people.

Another question is, when you
work on multiple projects, how

do you keep yourself organized?

The interviewer wants to understand
how productive you are and how

efficiently you use your time and energy.

They're also curious about how you stay
on track with different workflows and

deadlines and whether you take deadlines
seriously or slip into procrastination.

Talk about a time you came across
a major piece of urgent work and

allocated your time and got it done.

You might try a story like this.

I was tasked with a program that
had over a dozen deliverables,

for a military customer who kept
reminding us how urgent it was.

And the first day, as I went through page
after page of the statement of work, it

looked like I had to swallow an elephant.

But I remember that saying,
How do you eat an elephant?

One bite at a time.

So I started laying out the
bites for me and my team.

I put a picture of an elephant
with bites, on the wall.

I took a course in timeboxing
based on the book, Indistractable.

Timeboxing is a procedure from agile
project management, and it's been

written up as a great productivity hack.

A bunch of my LinkedIn buddies
use it and give me tips on

how to take advantage of it.

It involves translating a long to
do list to blocks of time on my

calendar, scheduling them for the
days, and then sticking to that

schedule come hell or high water.

I was familiar with flowchart systems,
but they didn't work as well for me.

I started with timeboxing, took
on a few tasks and estimated

how long they would take.

And started blocking
that time on my calendar.

At the end of each day, I
looked to see how well I'd done.

I usually underestimated how
long each thing would take,.

But I learned and kept adjusting
it for the daily feedback.

I learned from studies that it takes
an average of three times longer

to finish a specific task than
we think it will at first glance,

something called the planning fallacy.

But reviewing over and over, and thinking
at the end of every day about how much

progress I made, got me more and more
able to predict the actual time needed.

You might want to take a printout at
this point of one of your schedules

that was a success on a program.

Continue that your team members
learned not to interrupt you,

unless there was an emergency.

And you plowed ahead and got the
project done on time, even after

the Army customer decided on three
major changes at the last minute.

After it was complete and delivered, I
took the team out for drinks and dinner

at a local saloon, and we celebrated.

They're all timeboxing now.

It also got me more realistic
about taking on new projects.

As an example, my office mate Shelley
asked me to help her code a new app,

and instead of saying, Sure, as I might
have at one time, I showed her the

next time box I had available for that.

Before, I might have just jumped into
it, and a dozen other things, and my

productivity would have gone south.

You told the interviewer that you're
organized, That you don't delay

things or put them off and that people
accept and respect your schedule.

Another common question is, On your
resume, it seems that you took a gap year.

Why was that?

Tell your interviewer that your gap
year, or whatever other time period you

were unemployed, made you more valuable.

Tell a short story on why, and
then conclude with what you did

that made you more of a benefit.

As an example,

My team and a whole chunk of the
company was laid off because of COVID.

So I took some time to reflect.

My wife and I weren't happy in our
apartment in Los Angeles, so we

decided to rent a house here in Austin.

We love the music scene, and now I have
a white German shepherd dog we take on

hikes in the hill country near here.

I used the time to get
certified in program management.

I'd managed projects, but I'd never
got the certification, so I signed up.

With Coursera and Google, it was
fun, and I learned a lot about

projects I hadn't come across.

Next, I took online courses in
project coordination, and even in

managing projects in other countries.

I joined a local programming club and
discovered a lot, including the latest

techniques and hacks in agile management.

And two of my friends there, Dan
Spader and Ross Wills, recommended

I come to your company and meet you.

You've told the interviewer that you like
to learn, that you're going to be even

more valuable to him and the company,
and that you don't give up easily.

Another question and probably the
most dangerous one of the bunch

is ,What's your greatest weakness?

Now, don't feel threatened.

A lot of people freeze up on this one.

Remember, before you came in the
room, you had a mindset that you look

at the interviewer as your friend.

Tell a two minute story
with a happy ending.

You might use a twist at the end.

For instance, what I used was,

I know my weakness is I tend to get
excited about a product or service,

and I get into too much detail.

To overcome that, I keep an eye
on my big watch here with the

stopwatch button, to make sure the
customer talks for longer than I do.

Show the watch at this point.

Sometimes I let somebody
else do the describing.

For instance, I lined up an appointment
with a general from the National

Guard to show him a training device,
a tabletop gunnery training system

my company was trying to sell.

I arrived a couple of hours early
with the demonstration system and met

a local sergeant from an armor crew.

I quickly trained him in
how to use the device.

When the general arrived with a
whole bunch of colonels, I introduced

myself, shook their hands, pointed
at the device, and said, General, I

could tell you all about the features
of this system, but why should I?

There was a stunned silence in that room.

No one talks to generals that way.

But I continued, Why not have one
of your own sergeants explain it?

He learned this in under half an hour.

Is that okay?

The general nodded yes, and I
nodded at the sergeant, who proudly

demonstrated his knowledge, shot a
bunch of virtual enemy tanks as I

applauded, and even answered questions.

The general then had to try the system,
because the sergeant had done it.

At the end, the general asked
him, Sergeant, do we need this?

And he replied, Oh, sir,
we needed this yesterday.

So the deal was done.

That sergeant focused on the precise
features the unit needed, and he was

credible to those military leaders.

I found getting feedback from users like
that keeps me on track without getting

lost explaining every possible detail.

During your storytelling, feel free
to get feedback with questions such

as, Has that ever happened to you?

Or, Does that make sense?

Check out a YouTube video of Tony Robbins,
the masterful storyteller, and you'll

find he asks for feedback constantly.

What you told the interview with your
story was that you have a perceived

weakness for going into too much detail,
but you're aware of it and you master

it and even turn it to your advantage.

Another common question is, What's
your secret to winning contracts?

Tell a story about something that
actually happened and that worked.

Before you start, review your mental image
of the interviewer as your friend and

that you are helping him and the company.

Your story might go something like this.

I have three.

First, I scope out the site the
night before and make sure I know

where to park and how to get in.

If possible, I walk in
the door and look around.

Then, on the day of the appointment,
I look like I own the place instead of

looking confused, late, and anxious.

Second, I tell a story about how
my product made a difference.

How a client discovered a
feature even I didn't know about.

Customers like to find out
you're fallible, like they are.

Third, I try to give the customer
something, even something small.

I establish this right up front
in the give and take of business.

That I'm a giver.

When I'm waiting in the lobby.

I usually read a relevant technology
magazine or book while waiting instead

of doing what everybody else does,
which is looking at a cell phone.

After mentioning an interesting bit
of news for whatever I'm reading,

I offer to leave it with the
interviewer, since I've already read it.

Small, thoughtful gestures like
that can make a huge difference.

Though, of course, they can't look
or feel like an expensive bribe.

It just anchors the point that I'm
willing to give in the relationship.

Another question is, talk about
when you faced a tough challenge.

For this kind of question,
mention four things.

How you viewed the problem, what
actions you took, what the results

were, and what you learned from it.

Again, keep the language simple.

Try to avoid abbreviations
or technical terms, and keep

it under a couple of minutes.

For instance,

My team was creating a video game to train
firefighters how to deal with hazardous

materials like poison gas and explosives.

I insisted on testing and getting
feedback early on in the game

development process so we could make
corrections before they got too serious.

But I couldn't get any decent feedback.

Our normal testing staff didn't understand
what firefighters are supposed to do.

And a firefighter that got hired
kept complaining he couldn't

understand the video game interface.

I went to the local fire station and
asked who played video games really well.

I got four guys I hired on the days off.

They understood the training objectives
and gave us lots of feedback.

This is in New York.

They said, we don't care
about the turnstiles.

This just doesn't look
like a New York subway.

It's too clean.

So we skipped the details of the
turnstiles to let people in and

we put trash all over the place.

So it looked realistic.

We worked with those four
guys to make the corrections

early on and finish on time.

The customer loved it.

They tried it at the fire academy.

The students stayed late after
classes to keep playing the game and

learning from it on their own time.

So I learned that for certain software
testing, you need dual expertise,

somebody who understands both your
technology and what the customer needs.

The next time I started hiring people
like that a lot earlier in the process.

When you are answering these
questions from the interviewer,

remember that stories are best told
live with the other person being

able to see your body language, hand
motions, and facial expressions.

All of those should be practiced
at home and captured on video.

Do lots of dry runs and have
friends give you feedback.

And make sure they understand each story.

At the end, after you've told
each story, have them repeat the

basic points of it back to you.

Storytelling on Zoom or other
online platforms is more difficult

and needs to be practiced and
captured on that platform.

Always remember you're selling yourself.

And that stories are a great way to
close a sale, and get hired, and make the

customer, the interviewer, remember you.

Practice those stories beforehand,
both alone, and to friendly audiences.

Video yourself telling them, make them
personal, and keep them short and clean.

In the next podcast, we'll get you started
on getting ready for the interview,

interacting with the interviewer.

What to consider, and how to conduct
such an interview, now that you know

how to answer most of the questions.

Much of what we covered today is
in the recently published book,

SMARTer Job Hunting, available on
Amazon in print or as an e book.

It addresses the problems those in
the job hunting biz face, including

job seekers, job counselors,
and human resources executives.

The coming week, we'll go
over sections of the book.

In the meantime, thanks for listening,
tune in next week, and happy hunting.