Hey Ma. Yeah, I'm pretty nervous for this interview. But it's about all weekend knowing my content, so I'm ready to crush the interview. No, I don't know who I'm going to interview with. I just know her name is Tammy. She's a part of the firm, but don't know much else. Sorry Ma, I gotta run. I'm walking to the way in the room now.
Hi Brett. Hey Tammy, how's it going? Good, how are you doing? I'm doing good. It's a beautiful day in Palo Alto. Is it weather always this nice in November? Yes it is. Is this your first time here? Yeah, yeah, I'm from the Midwest and it's snowing already there. Got it. Well, welcome here.
So I'm looking at your resume. Like, how many of you think this is going well so far? Show of hands. How many of you think it's too early to tell? Hmm, let's see what our participants think. Brett, how do you think it's been so far? As much as you guys said, I feel things are going pretty well. I complimented the weather, talked about the city, and I'm ready to crush this interview. Interesting. Bami. What's your opinion? I've had 10 interviews today. I don't feel a special connection with this guy. He doesn't stand out. Wow. Did you just see how. Did you just see how in the first 10 seconds itself, there's such different opinions of how it's gone among the two people?
First impressions in an interview are critical. Will they say, don't judge a book by its cover? That's actually what we do most of the time. First impressions are usually formed within the first 17 seconds of meeting someone, and then they're only reinforced with time with high correlation. Research from Amy Cardi shows that 80% of your first impression is based on two traits. Strength. How capable and competent is this person and want? Do I trust them? The thing is, it actually starts before it starts. Your preparation can key you up for success for the rest of the interview. Contropanely, you can also put you on your back foot so that you're always struggling to catch up.
Let's take a look at a couple things we can do to enforce good habit building to set you up for your best success. First, let's check our online presence. Brad, if you wouldn't mind, thank you. When was it you thought you first saw Tammy and she first saw you? When Tammy walked down those steps, opened the imaginary door, and saw me sitting over there. I think that's maybe true. But more likely, probably, is that she did her research. And she saw this. This is a beautiful picture of you. I think it's taken a good look at that. Nothing we can do to improve our progress, but please, let's think a little bit about the production value that we're putting into this. The lighting is a little bit off. You can't necessarily do any better than this when it comes to the smile. But there is more you can do for a higher resolution camera. Let's see if we can do this. Put you into the bright, you can be. You're looking good. Thank you for that.
Another thing you might want to think about is dressing appropriately. I was hoping you might walk me through some of your thinking when you got dressed. I know that Tammy's firm was business casual, so I thought it would be good to match business casual and be a part of the team. I can see that. I agree. I might suggest one other thing. Maybe consider that if they're going to be business casual, let's just do up just a little bit. One step above. How do you feel? Feel a lot more comfortable, right? I like to hide behind the blazer too.
Next thing to remember, you're already on stage from the second you come in. Can you borrow your phone from one of them? I like this. I'm going to give this back to you. As soon as you are done with the interview, you can use this to call it Uber when you're done. When they see you using the phone, it looks like you're not there. You're not ready. Let's set you up for the best success you are here. You are present. Remember, think about all of these things before you go in. Remember that there's going to be some habit building that happens. We want to make sure that you're set up for your best success because it starts before it starts.
Now, let's prepare you for what is in a waiting room. Brett, would you please act like what you did before? I have three quick tips for you to help you to differentiate yourself professionally in the waiting room. First, try to plan to stand up. Standing up based on all their paguales gives you more power and confidence. Standing up gives you more energy because it's so much better that if you would have slouched in the couch, when you're nervous in an interview, your default would be to take refuge in thinking in that comfortable couch in the waiting room. Instead of sitting there, you can look at the view out of the window, read about the art on the wall, or read about a magazine while you're sending.
Standing up has one other benefit. When someone you meet comes in, standing up gives you a more fluid transition into greeting them because you start out as they're equal rather than from below them from a sitting position. The second tip we have for you is to make small conversations. They can be with people in the receptionist or there can be other candidates in the room. This helps you stretch out your vocal cords so you can deliver a more clear and resonant voice. And hopefully, the admins will see that you are a friendly person and you're a better fit for the company's culture. Convert them into your allies.
The third tip we have for you is to master the meat and grit. You won't be able to immediately have this high energy as soon as you see someone in the first millisecond. Therefore, prepare the mentality for solid, first impression. Think about what you want to do to be confident, to show enthusiasm, and show that you're polished. Greet them with an open gesture, a firm handshake, and a direct eye contact. Brett, let's practice this. Hey, Tammy. Much better, isn't it? So as you can see, there are three quick tips for you to prepare in the waiting room. As we said, it really starts before it starts.
Now let's talk about preparing Brett for the interview. Brett, come on in. Have a seat. I have three tips for you. First, have engaging conversation for your interviewer and prepare for that. Do your homework beforehand. Look up what they work on, where they went to school or college, what their hobbies are. See if you have any commonalities with them or shared experiences. Talk about those to build connections. Second, let's talk about posture. Brett, when you sit with your leg up against your knee and slouching back, you convey a casual attitude at a bit of arrogance. Let's fix that. Why don't you sit straight and try to project confidence?
It's important to maintain eye contact with your interviewer so that they build trust. When you look away from your interviewer and talk, they might think you're not being genuine. Third, it's important to mirror the energy in the room. Practice this beforehand. If your interviewer is low energy or tired, don't be too peppy. If your interviewer is high energy, try to match their level. You want the interviewer to be comfortable with your energy level and not be awkward. So to summarize, three tips. Do your homework on content. Have engaging conversations. Have a confident body posture. And mirror the energy level in the room. Remember, it starts before it starts.
Now let's see if Brett has learned through this process. Wow, a walk-ins the way in the room. I don't have my phone out. I'm so prepared. Hi, Brett. Hey, Tammy. I'm so excited to be interviewing with you today. Well, welcome here. I noticed by looking at our LinkedIn that we have a common connection. How do you know RJ Miller? Oh my God! We went to GSB together. Oh, he's my neighbor. Do you have any good stories about him at the time at the GSB? Totally, totally. Let's talk about it. Okay. Wasn't that so much better? Let's ask our participants how that felt. Tammy, how did that land on you? I've had 10 units today. I won't forget which one Brett is. Brett, how did that feel? I felt that went a lot better. I came in focused. I wasn't distracted on my cell phone. And we made a common connection that got my nerves down. I'm ready to go with it and feel.
So I know as we go through this, most of you think these are just two role plays. Sadly, one thing I have to go with that first role play you saw, that was me. Mine is the whole LinkedIn photo. I walked into the interview wearing this, but all the other candidates had ties on. I thought I wanted to match the people I was interviewing with. I did talk about the weather. Because I was about all my time researching and preparing for my content in my interview. All the other candidates, they had these crazy connections with their interviewers and they did their homework. I walked into that interview room. I was nervous.
I did put my leg up. It hit my nerves. I thought the portrayed confidence. But when I got the feedback after the interview, they told me that I crushed the interviews. I was the most qualified candidate for the job. But I didn't get the job because they felt I didn't take it seriously. That really hurt me because I really focused on this interview. But like Tage just mentioned, the first 17 seconds are super important. And I think that's what set me behind on the back foot. Fortunately, the story I was happy ending because I learned from these mistakes. Didn't make this air twice. Got a job that was better for me two weeks later that I've signed. And thank you.
我抬起了我的腿,碰到了神经。我认为自己充满信心。但是当我在面试后收到反馈时,他们告诉我我表现得太强了,以至于压倒了其他应聘者。我是这份工作最有资格的人选,但是我没有得到这份工作,因为他们认为我没有认真对待。这真的让我很伤心,因为我真的专注于这次面试。但就像 Tage 刚才提到的,前17秒非常重要。我认为这就是我落后的原因。幸运的是,这个故事有个圆满结局,因为我从中吸取了教训,没有再犯同样的错误。两周后,我找到了一份更适合我的工作,并签约了。谢谢。
And just our hope for you going forward when you go into that interview. Do focus on trust. Do focus on doing your research on your interviewer. Practice that posture before you walk in. Because if you do that, you're going to start from the right foot when you go into that content. And I learned the hard way that it truly does start before it starts.