The First Two Minutes By: Gabe
Under: Interview, NetworkingJun has a theory that interviewers decide if they’ll want to hire you within the first two minutes of meeting you. This means that the very possibility of getting a job offer starts the moment you meet your interviewer. I want to share with you some tips on supercharging your interview from the very start — something only the best interviewers really know how to do.
When you first meet your interviewer, you must do three basic things:
1. Give a warm smile.
2. Give a firm handshake and look them in the eye.
3. Introduce yourself in a loud, confident voice.
If you fail to do all three of these things, your interview has already gotten off to a bad start — and you could very well have lost your job offer.
Why? Because the interviewer wants to see, right off the bat, if you are personable, professional, and confident — three key characteristics of a successful person. I remember sitting in my college career center watching other candidates wait for their interviews. I was appalled when 90% of them would stand to greet their interviewer for the first time, mumble their names, dart their eyes to the floor, and look frightened, often bitter. I knew those interviews were doomed from the start.
I was once waiting in the lobby of my college’s career center for one of my first-round interviews, and I started chatting with another student whom I kept running into at interviews. Every time I saw this guy he had a scowl on his face — he looked angry and scared, like he was about to walk the plank. Because we had chatted a few times I felt compelled to tell him: “Steven, dude, you have to smile more. You’re way too smart to be so unfriendly — you look miserably, buddy.” He looked at me a second, looked at the floor, and continued scowling. A few minutes later my interviewer came out to get me from the lobby area. He called my name, then quickly asked if anyone else was waiting to interview with his firm. Steven raised his hand, they exchanged a few words, and the interview took me to the back room.
“What was that guy’s name again?” he asked me as we walked back.
I told him.
“What’s his last name?” he asked as we entered the small interview room.
“I’m not sure. We’ve only met a few times.”
“ Ahh… here he is.” And right in front of me, he scribbled “poor attitude” on this guy’s resume.
Seriously. This stuff happens.
Once you’ve met the interviewer, you have The Walk — the minute or so walk to the room you’ll be meeting in. This walk can either be excellent bonding time, or it can be a disaster. There’s nothing worse than that feeling when you have absolutely nothing to say to this person. Now sometimes this means there’s no chemistry, which means you might not fit into the culture of the organization, which is just fine. But often this means you’ve failed to adapt to the personality of the interviewer, or you’re walking in with no material. It might sound disingenuous, but you have to have some material to work with — like a stand-up comic. Face it: Recruiting is a performance. It’s a performance to convey the real you in a calculated way.
When I was interviewing during my senior year of college, my interviewers would always ask me how I was doing. Rather than offer the usual, “Fine, how are you?” I’d respond, “Great — did some yoga this morning, so I’m a little sore but feeling good.” Now, I was able to say this because I do in fact start my day off with yoga, so it wasn’t just a line. But more importantly, I’ve injected a few things into the interview with this response.
1. I’ve given a nontraditional, intriguing answer, which makes me stand out from the other candidates.
2. I’ve conveyed a positive, healthy attitude.
3. I’ve dropped a neat fact about myself that the interviewer will react to. Now we have something to chat about, and I can’t tell you how many of my interviews have begun by sharing a common interest in exercise or recommendations on great yoga classes in L.A. We’ve already bonded, and the interview hasn’t even officially begun.
To have a real shot at getting an offer, you have to build an emotional connection with the interviewer. It’s not enough to be a human calculator or the world’s greatest case interviewee. You have to be a dynamic and enjoyable person, and the first two minutes are absolutely crucial. It’s do or die — and if you follow these tips, you’ll get off to the right start.
Have any of you had success with this model? Have any of you been finding difficulty in the first few minutes of the interview? Post your thoughts and we’ll address your concerns.
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