February 21, 2024 • 39 mins
Stepping into a job interview is intimidating for many of us, but when you're a teen or young adult with a communication disorder, it can feel overwhelming. On the Speech Umbrella podcast, we tackle this subject head-on, with my husband, Dan Stratton, bringing his IT management and interview expertise to the table. One of Dan's passions is helping young adults in their career searches and interviews. Together we demystify the interview process, transforming it from a daunting task into an exciting stage to spotlight your problem-solving abilities. We discuss the art of self-presentation, the power of a well-told story, and how to do networking interviews.
You'll hear firsthand how strategic networking and informational interviews can forge paths to unexpected job offers and meaningful professional relationships. From the impact of a thoughtful handwritten note to the nuances of asking the right questions, we delve into the details that can set you apart. We also examine how to make an impression in the interview itself, with tips on maintaining composure under pressure and using body language to your advantage.
So plug in, listen up, and let's get you ready to nail that interview with grace and confidence.
Helpful Links
Amy Cuddy TED Talk
List of Skills.
Long List of Skills
Sample Interview Questions and How to Answer Them
More Interview Questions
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Denise (00:06):
Welcome to the Speech Umbrella, the show that explores
simple but powerful therapytechniques for optimal outcomes.
I'm Denise Stratton, apediatric speech-language
pathologist of 30-plus years.
I'm closer to the end of mycareer than the beginning and
along the way I've worked longand hard to become a better
therapist.
Join me as we explore the manytopics that fall under our
umbrellas as SLPs.
(00:27):
I want to make your journeysmoother.
I found the best therapy comesfrom employing simple techniques
with a generous helping ofmindfulness.
Hello, welcome to the SpeechUmbrella podcast.
While I don't podcast on such aregular schedule as I did in
the past two years, I stillsometimes am really motivated to
share some information, andthat's why this podcast came
(00:48):
about today.
Besides, I get to interview myhusband, Dan, and I don't have
to do all the talking.
I love that.
I am a pediatric speech-languagepathologist, but sometimes I
get clients who are on the cuspof adulthood older teenagers,
until they have some adultconcerns, and one of those is
that summer job or their firstjob after they graduate from
(01:09):
high school.
And now, if you're someone whohas a language disorder and
words don't come quite as easilyto you, or if you're someone
who stutters, you can reallyreally get worried about job
interviews, and that's when Ilike to talk about all this
wealth of knowledge Dan hasabout how to do a great
interview, because he has put alot of study into coaching
younger people how to interviewfor a job.
(01:31):
Recently I asked Dan for someadvice for one of my clients and
the stuff he was saying was sogood.
I pulled out my phone, I turnedon record and said just tell my
phone and I'll play it for him.
And it was really, reallyhelpful because the way Dan said
everything well, he said itlike an expert.
So today I'm going to interviewthe expert on how to interview
for a job, and this can behelpful for anyone who is
(01:53):
stressed about interviews.
But I find it particularlyhelpful for those people with
communication disorders, becausewhat can be more stressful than
being in a job interview,having to represent yourself
well to someone who doesn't evenknow you with how you
communicate?
So let's start out with Danintroducing himself, so you know
that he's more than just mysidekick.
Dan (02:11):
Hi, I'm Dan Stratton.
I am an IT manager by day.
I've spent 35 years working inthat industry and have been a
manager interviewing people forjobs for about 15 of those years
.
Denise (02:24):
So, Dan, what kind of help can you offer to our young
adults who are stressed aboutinterviews?
That's who we're gearing thispodcast towards those young
adults who are maybe gettingtheir first job.
Dan (02:35):
Okay, this is perfect, because we're going to give you
a hack to jumpstart your careerwith this today.
This is going to be so helpfulto you.
What is an interview?
It's easy to look at aninterview and say, oh, they're
there to grill me with questionsand I'm, you know, to try and
trip me up.
That's not it at all.
The reason they areinterviewing you is because they
(02:58):
have a problem.
They have a need that you canfill and they desperately want
to stop interviewing and havesomebody fill that need.
And so, as much as you'relooking for a job, they're
looking to hire you.
So you need to think about that.
They want you just as much asyou want them, and so if you can
think about that and realizethey're just as nervous as you
(03:21):
are, that can kind of help getthe nerves down and you can
start relaxing and thinkingahead.
Denise (03:27):
So I like what you said, that they're just trying to
solve a problem and you want toshow that you can be the person
who solves their problem.
Dan (03:34):
Exactly, I mean they.
They had somebody doing theproblem before you know, doing a
job before and that personprobably quit.
Well, now somebody has to dothat work until they can
backfill that position.
So probably the manager isdoing it themselves.
So they are desperate to getsomebody in there because their
work is falling behind.
They just want to hear how youcan solve their problem.
(03:57):
Come in and do the work.
Denise (04:00):
So if you change your focus from thinking about how
desperately you need the job tohow desperately they need
someone to fix their problem,that can help you with your
mindset.
Dan (04:10):
Right.
Denise (04:10):
And then you can get into the interview.
Dan (04:12):
And we're going to talk more about that in a little bit.
But yeah, how you do that.
Denise (04:16):
Okay, so do you have some specific tips for how to
prepare for the interview?
So some of the stress is off ofyou, even as you're just
walking in the door.
Dan (04:24):
Right, these are things that you are going to need to do
well before the actual jobinterview, but they're fun and
they're rewarding, so this workcan be done at any time.
So there's no time like thepresent to start it Now.
The first thing you need to dois you need to identify your
skills, your superpowers.
(04:45):
What have you done in your lifethat's been really cool?
Have you been on a sports team?
Have you excelled at math?
Have you gotten an award atschool, at church?
There's a number of things thatyou probably have done in your
life that you can be proud of.
And if you can't think of any,ask your friends, ask your
(05:07):
parents, ask your family.
Hey, what have you seen me dothat you thought was pretty good
?
And then get those ideas fromthem.
And then you need to break downwhat skills are involved in
that.
Let's say, for example, you'reon the soccer team.
Well, that requires commitment,because you have to go to
practice every day, you have tohave stamina, you have to think,
(05:31):
you have to plan, you have tobe able to react to unknown
situations quickly.
And that's not even talkingabout the physical things that
you need to do.
You have weights that you'vebeen lifting or something like
that.
Those are skills that you do,that you need to identify those
skills.
Now I'll put a link in the shownotes to some websites that
(05:53):
have a whole bunch of skillsthat you can then kind of go
through and go oh yeah, that'sin there, that's in there.
And then you can start takingthat list of skills from all
these different things that youdo.
Well, the more times you seethat skill show up, that is
probably your superpower.
So, let's say, you have areally good GPA, what goes into
(06:13):
doing that?
Well, that's the same skillsthat help you in playing an
instrument, because you've gotto show up and do the homework
right.
Same with sports.
These are your superpowers andyour skills and you need to
identify them.
Now that you've identifiedthose skills, I want you to
build some SOAR stories aboutthem.
Now, SOAR S-O-A-R like a birdis soaring.
(06:33):
S-O-A-R stands for situation,obstacle, actions and results.
Every one of these skills,You're going to identify
something that you did that wasreally cool and you're going to
write about what the situationwas.
Let's say, for example, you hada big report to write for one
of your classes.
What was the situation?
This was something that was achallenge for you.
(06:56):
You didn't know a lot ofinformation about, but you had
to get a good grade on thisreport.
The obstacle was you had a lotto do in a short amount of time.
What were the actions you took?
You broke it down into thedifferent pieces.
You went and did the researchand you went and talked to
somebody.
I don't know what the answer ison this exactly, but you did
(07:17):
some actions to get you throughto the result.
And what was the result?
I got a really good grade onthis report.
Let's say you were flippingburgers at a part-time job or
something like that.
One night you had a situationof somebody called in sick.
You had to work a double shift.
You had to clean the grill.
That's the obstacle.
(07:39):
What was the action you took?
Well, you stuck to it.
You stayed late, you helped out.
The results is you got the jobdone.
The company was able to serveall their customers really well.
You know you got employee ofthe month.
So you put those storiestogether and you actually write
them down.
This can be really helpful forpeople with communication
(08:00):
challenges, because you get towrite this down and understand
it and know it before you gotelling it to someone in front
of them.
So write the story down, usethese examples and then practice
them.
I mean literally almostmemorize them.
Denise (08:18):
You can stand in front of a mirror and practice or
something like that.
Dan (08:21):
You can talk to your parents, you can do it yourself,
but memorize these stories andyou know.
Then when anybody asks you aquestion about what's something
that you did, you can pull outthese stories and you know them.
You've already planned whatyou're going to say so you can
be more relaxed in it, becauseyou know this stuff cold.
Denise (08:44):
Well, that sound like you've memorized it, or will it
sound natural?
Dan (08:47):
Well, here's the thing to you.
It's going to sound memorized,but it's the first time they've
heard it, so they won't thinkit's memorized.
They'll think that you're justanswering the question because,
remember, they're nervous too,so they're just going to be
hearing the answer, not how youdelivered so much.
And if you can get more relaxed, that puts them at ease and
(09:09):
that gets them to totally ignorehow you're delivering it, just
what your delivering.
Denise (09:14):
And do the same stories work for different jobs that
you're applying for?
Dan (09:19):
Absolutely, because these skills are transferable.
For example, as a projectmanager, which is my current job
, I have to plan, I have tobreak things down into little
pieces, I have to understandsome basic accounting, I have to
be able to take notes and Ihave to understand who's going
to do what next.
(09:39):
I have to calendar things.
Does that sound like any skillsthat you might use as a speech
therapist?
Denise (09:45):
Yeah.
Dan (09:46):
Most of them right, so they're the same skills.
Now, obviously, there's veryother things that you need to do
that I don't do.
Denise (09:52):
Those are the specialized things, but people
can be taught specialized skills.
It's these basic skills thatpeople have that can solve other
people's problems that they'relooking for.
Dan (10:04):
Exactly.
I always tell people I canteach you to do the job.
I can't teach you the attitudeand the basis of that.
So if people realize that youshow up and you're going to do a
job the best you can, they'llbe happy to teach you anything,
all the specialized skills thatyou need, but they see that as,
(10:26):
oh, this person does this basic,you're in.
Denise (10:30):
Now, is it possible to actually rehearse an interview?
I mean, we talked aboutrehearsing the stories, but can
you sort of rehearse whatthey'll ask you?
Dan (10:39):
You can rehearse an interview.
So there are lots of websitesout there that have sample
questions that they're going toask you in an interview and you
can take those questions and youcan have, you know, if you have
someone, they can ask you thequestion and you can answer back
to them.
That's ideal.
Second best thing recordyourself asking the question,
(11:00):
play it back and then answer thequestion.
You know you can practice thosequestions that they're going to
ask, because everybody asks thesame questions.
Honestly, we really do.
We have very little that is newin the world, so you can
rehearse those questions andthen you're going to get some
form of that question.
Now another thing you can do isyou can and this is all the
popular thing out there videoyourself answering the question.
(11:23):
Only do that if you really wanta traumatic experience.
I mean, it's very teaching,it's very good, don't get me
wrong.
I highly recommend it.
But the first time you watchthat you're going to, you're
going to die.
Denise (11:36):
And you're going to see your body, language and all
sorts of things.
Dan (11:39):
Yeah, and so be easy on yourself.
Everybody hates that.
I hate it so much, I never doit, but you can video yourself
and then you can really do anunderstand.
Hey, this is what I'm doing,this is what they're seeing, so
then you can.
You can change that.
But the best practice I knowfor preparing for an interview
(12:02):
is a networking interview.
Denise (12:05):
Now we're getting into Dan's super interest and
specialty, which is networkinginterviews.
But tell us what a networkinginterview is.
Dan (12:13):
Well, first you got to know what a network is.
Now it's not a bunch ofcomputers that talk to each
other I mean that's that's adifferent kind of network but a
networking interview or a rathera network In business world is
a group of people who know youand understand you and you know
you talk to them and they talkto you.
You'll hear this a lot in the,especially in the sales world.
(12:34):
They all network a lot.
Those are a bunch of extroverts.
Chances are you're not an extraextrovert and that's okay.
You can have a network of peopletoo, people who know you and
will help you out.
A networking interview is howyou build that network, because
you're going to go in and talkto somebody and you're going to
tell them a little bit aboutyourself.
(12:55):
You're going to tell them whatyour skills are and you're going
to ask them questions how doesthis fit in your industry, your
world?
Is this a valuable skill?
What skills do you have?
And we're going to dive intothis a little bit deeper,
because if you can master thisskill, you will have an amazing
network, the instead of justhaving one person out there
(13:18):
helping you find a job.
You're going to have 20 or 30 or50 people out there.
Denise (13:22):
Okay, so this sounds like something that a 30 or 40
year old person would do, butfor these young adults, is a
networking interview a good ideafor them.
How does it help?
How?
How would someone their ageeven get started?
Dan (13:36):
You're right.
This is typically somethingdone by someone in the industry.
You know that's had a job ortwo.
But if you start now as astudent, you're going to be able
to build a network way easierthan them, because the key to a
networking interview is you arenot asking them for a job.
Never ask anybody for a job ina networking interview.
(13:59):
You're asking for advice.
Now, when you're in industry,out in the working world, people
are going to be suspicious.
They think you're going to beasking them for a job, because
that's mostly why people dothese.
But as a student, you're askingfor help, and who doesn't want
to help and mentor a student?
Denise (14:22):
Everybody does.
Dan (14:23):
Everybody does.
It's an honor for you to evenask them to be a mentor, and so
they are going to fall all overthemselves to help you out.
And it is amazing, the doorsthat you are going to be able to
unlock, because they're goingto open up their contact list to
you and share you with alltheir friends.
Because there are so manystories out there about students
(14:45):
who just don't care, but you do, you're asking for help.
You're the one that everybody'sgoing to say, wow, this
person's a star.
Denise (14:54):
So walk us through what a network interview might look
like for this population we'retalking about.
Dan (15:01):
Yeah.
So the first thing you're goingto do is you're going to ask
someone for an interview, and Irecommend you start with
somebody you know because theywon't say no.
You know, I started with areally good friend.
I knew he wouldn't say no to me.
You know your parents havefriends.
They won't say no to you eitherbecause they know your parents.
You're going to get all thatgoodwill.
(15:22):
So best way to start is tostart with positive.
You're never going to get a noby asking a friend of a parent.
Denise (15:28):
And what are you going to say to that person you're
asking?
What do you say?
Dan (15:32):
You say I'm looking for career advice, I'm getting ready
to start, you know, college,whatever I need to start
understanding what the worldlooks like.
I'm interested in fill in whatyou might be interested in
learning about (15:47):
Computer programming, nursing, doctors,
you know.
I mean you can make anything up, you don't have to even really
be interested in it, but youwant to learn about it.
And so if you have a neighbor,let's say a neighbor who's a
nurse, and you say I want tolearn about nursing, you go to
this person, you can write theman email, you can just talk to
them on the street.
However it works for you, butjust say look, I'm interested in
(16:10):
learning about nursing.
Can I talk to you for 20minutes next week about nursing
and how it works and what skillsyou use in that?
Of course they're going to sayyes.
Denise (16:22):
And it's just 20 minutes .
I remember that you don't wantto take a lot of their time, so
you always tell them it'll be 20minutes.
Dan (16:33):
Take a lot of their time and you really need to hold to
that.
Take a watch, because you wantto be out of there 20 minutes.
But you know they're going tosay yes, and then you're going
to go to that interview.
You're going to have a couplequestions prepared to ask them
about nursing, and you know youcan make those up as you wish.
But you're also going to go inthere and say, with your list of
(16:55):
skills and your source stories,right?
So you're going to sit downwith them and you're going to
just make sure they know aboutyou.
Yes, they know your name isSally and that, but you're going
to say, hey, I just want totell you a little bit about
myself.
I have done this, this and thisin my career, and you can use
double quotes If you want.
(17:16):
You know, however, you want todo it.
Did you mow lawns?
Then tell them about the lawnmowing job that you were
successful at.
Baby sitting is a great one too, so you're going to tell them.
I just want to tell you alittle bit about my background.
I've done these kinds of jobsand these are my favorite skills
.
And then you're going to kindof go down those skills and you
(17:36):
know I can plan.
I love working with children.
I've done babysitting jobswhere I have taken care of four
kids at once while the parentswere away for four hours.
I made them dinner, I helpedthem with their homework and got
them to bed on time.
You know, whatever you did andyou can say I'm really
(17:56):
interested in the nursing field,can you see how any of these
skills might apply to nursing?
They're going to come back withsome answer and then it becomes
a conversation about nursingand what are those skills, and
you can start asking themquestions about their skills and
it might sound something likeoh, what do you find the most
(18:16):
important skills you use in yourcareer or in your field or as a
nurse, what helps you the most?
They're going to keep talkingabout and you're getting
information about nursing andthey're getting a feel for you
as to how eager you are, whatare your skills and what are
your superpowers.
The next thing you know you'vegot a friend who knows about you
(18:39):
and is going to champion youand then the end of the
interview is real simple.
Thank you so much for sharingthis information.
This is really good.
I would love to talk to morenurses or other people in the
nursing field.
Can you do you have any friendsthat might be able to talk with
me?
What are they going to say?
Denise (18:58):
They're going to give you a name.
Dan (18:59):
They're going to give you a name, and, or two or three or
five, and that's really the goalof the interview to get a
couple names.
And so the end of the interviewis over.
Thank you so much for your time.
I really appreciate it.
Do you mind if I keep in touch?
And then you can get theiremail address or something like
that, so that you can keep themin touch and you can always go
back and email them withquestions about something else?
(19:20):
Or later you can say hey, I'minterviewing at this college for
the nursing program.
Would you write a letter ofrecommendation for me?
Well, they don't know anythingabout you as a nurse, obviously,
but there can give you acharacter reference and they
will bend over backwards to doit.
And it's really helpful as youstart your career to have all
(19:40):
these people who you talk to byemail or however semi-regularly
on your side.
Denise (19:47):
I remember you saying you always write a thank you
note.
Dan (19:51):
I do.
Denise (19:51):
After the interview and you handwrite it.
Dan (19:54):
I handwrite it.
Denise (19:55):
On a card.
Dan (19:56):
You know, I don't know if you've ever received a thank you
note, an actual thank you notein the mail.
You hang on to them forever.
You know this stands outbecause that used to be the norm
.
Everybody wrote thank you notes.
Nobody writes thank you notesnow.
So if you want to stand out inthe crowd, go buy some cheap
thank you notes at Walmart andjust write down a quick note.
(20:17):
Hey, Jan, thank you so much forspending time with me yesterday
.
I really appreciate it.
Here's two things that Ilearned from talking with you.
And then list them Number one,number two.
I appreciate it.
Thanks for letting me know ofyour friends.
I'm going to be talking to themsoon.
John, you just won over thatperson for the rest of life.
They're going to hang.
I bet you that thinking isgoing to be stuck to their
(20:37):
mirror and they're going to bepulling it out on a bad day and
reading it for a boost becausethey helped you.
And then you go do the nextinterview.
If Sally told you to go talk toher supervisor, Joan, then you
send an email or a letter toJoan and you're going to say hi,
joan, my name is.
(20:59):
I was talking with Sally lastweek.
I am on a career search tounderstand what is you know more
about the nursing industry.
She recommended that I talk toyou to get more information.
Would you be willing to meetwith me for 20 minutes next week
, when would be good for you?
And then that's all you have todo.
(21:21):
You've got instant credibilitybecause Sally sent you.
Joan knows she likes Sally.
She's going to help Sallyanyway she can.
You're in the door with thehead of nursing now and you're
going to keep climbing theladders up and down.
Some of my best networkinginterviews was with a custodian
because they know everybody or asecretary.
I got into all sorts of placesby knowing the secretaries.
Denise (21:43):
And most people said yes .
Dan (21:46):
I had.
I did 130 interviews and I hadtwo people say no, two out of
130.
Denise (21:54):
And most of them were very successful experiences, I
think one wasn't.
Dan (21:59):
I only had one experience that was really bad, and it was.
It was actually with a CEO of acompany.
It was funny because I wentfrom that CEO's office over to
another CEO's office and hecould tell something was wrong
with me.
This is actually a friend ofmine.
I went in and talked to him.
He says, well, what happened?
I said, oh, I had this badinterview with this guy over
(22:20):
here.
And he goes oh, don't let thatstress you.
He does the same thing to me,you know.
So there are just some peoplewho don't know how to talk to
people, how they get to be CEO.
I don't know.
Denise (22:33):
And so if you have a bad experience, it's probably not
you, it's not you?
Dan (22:37):
It's not you there was other stuff going on, obviously.
But that's the key thing isyou're going around talking to
people and people's friends andthen through that they become
your friends and, especially assomeone in high school or your
early years in college, they aregoing to bend over backwards to
help you.
(22:57):
They are going to be yourbiggest champions and they will
help you any way they can.
And so when you get time tolook for a job, now that you
have these people in your circlelet's say you are applying for
a job that is past the burgers,right?
You know it's a first entrylevel job you can call any one
(23:21):
of them up and ask them to be areference and if you don't know
the job, you can send out anemail to them and say I am two
years away from graduation infield X.
I am looking for an internshipor an entry level job in this
industry where I can kind of geta better feel for it.
Do you know of anybody who mighthave such a job?
(23:41):
You're not asking them for ajob.
You're asking them if they knowof anybody.
Well, guess what?
They already think you're oneof the best people in the world
because you're doing what theyknow they should be doing as a
person building a network.
They're going to find jobs foryou all over the place.
You never know when thesenetworking interviews turn into
(24:05):
an actual job interview.
I've had that happen.
I had several people offer mejobs on the spot in the middle
of a networking interview.
It happens!
Denise (24:16):
So, you get a job interview.
You've done all this networking, you get an interview.
Let's talk a little bit abouttactics during an interview.
That can help anyone,communication disorder or not.
Dan (24:30):
So the biggest problem in an interview is time acts funny.
You're stressed, they'restressed.
That's a whole other podcastabout how stressed they are but
you're stressed and you feellike they ask you a question and
you have to say somethingimmediately.
In reality, you can count tofive or 10 and say nothing and
(24:51):
answer.
They're totally fine with itbecause what does it convey to
them?
They're thinking about myquestion.
They're not just rattling offsome strange answer or making
something up.
Now you may be, but if you cancome back with one of your well
planned answers after takingthree or five seconds to collect
your thoughts, you can comeback with one of your well
planned answers.
After taking three or fiveseconds to collect your thoughts
(25:13):
, deep breathe a couple timesand relax?
Then you're going to actuallygo right through that answer and
they're going to think wow,what a well thought out answer.
Denise (25:24):
You could even say that's a great question.
Dan (25:28):
Yeah, let me take a second here because I want to answer
that.
Denise (25:31):
I want to just think this through for a second
because I think that is reallyhelpful to let them know that
you're thinking, you're not justsaying anything.
I want to think about that fora minute.
I wouldn't, say a minute, but Iwould say a moment, a moment.
Because that's you know butyeah, you can say, that's a
really good question.
Dan (25:48):
That's another one, and that's a good question.
It's so used, overused.
I would say that's aninsightful question.
Let me gather my thoughts for asecond here, and then you've
got even more time.
Now you've got 10 to 15 seconds.
If you need it to calm yourselfdown, choose your SOAR story
which you memorized right, andyou can answer their question in
(26:12):
a nice, calm, efficient manner.
You always will talk fasterthan you need to, so pace
yourself, talk slowly.
When people get nervous, theytalk faster, and so you need to
learn that you can always talkslower and relax, and it's going
(26:35):
to be just fine.
Denise (26:36):
Now what about body language, which communicates so
much beyond what you're actuallysaying?
Dan (26:41):
Right.
So when you're in the interview, sit calmly in the chair.
Don't sit on the front edge ofthe chair, just you know.
Be back in the chair a littlebit.
Hands in your lap, just relax,smile.
Whatever you do, whateveranything else happens, smile.
You just got to be pleasantwith yourself because we all
forget to smile when we getstressed.
(27:02):
Quite honestly, they've seen 13other people that have scowled
at him.
So if you smile, you're in.
Also, look them in the eye.
Make sure you always look themin the eye, no matter how scared
or anything.
You know, if you can look themin the eye, you can make that
connection with them on aphysical level.
(27:23):
Before you go into the interview, there's some things you can do
that will help you so much, andthere is a great TED talk by
Amy Cuddy called Your BodyLanguage May Shape Who You Are.
It was done in June of 2012.
It's out on the internet.
I'll put a link in the shownotes, but it's amazing.
She talks all about bodylanguage and how to do it, but
(27:44):
the best thing I got from it wasthe Wonder Woman Pose.
And she says before you go intothe interview, arrive early,
which you should do anyway Gointo the bathroom, get in the
stall, lock the door so no onecan see you, put your feet
shoulder width apart, put yourhands in fists and put them on
(28:06):
your hips like Wonder Woman andyou stand there just like that
for 30 seconds.
Just stand there with yourshoulders back and it's amazing
how much power you gain fromdoing the Wonder Woman Pose.
And that will actually carryyou into that room all the way
(28:28):
into that first importantmeeting that, hey, I'm confident
and I'm calm and I'm Wonder manor Wonder Woman, take your pick
.
Denise (28:37):
It's a fake.
It till you make it.
It really is.
It really works.
It's a biological hack.
When you do that, somethinghappens to your confidence.
Dan (28:46):
Yeah, it goes up and it's weird, but it's true.
And watch that TED talk becauseshe explains it so well.
It's really good.
But fake it until you make itis so true, because you know we
all feel like imposters on a lotof things.
You can look at a jobdescription and go, oh, that's
not me.
Well, if you dig into that jobdescription, you're going to see
(29:10):
a lot of the skills that youhave.
The rest you can pick up.
Now you don't go in and lieabout things.
You can say, well, tell meabout this, and you're like I
really haven't done anythinglike that.
But here's how I have solvedsomething like that in another
job.
And they're like, oh okay, yougot the basics, I can teach you
(29:32):
the rest.
Denise (29:33):
What advice do you have for someone who feels like
they've lost control in theinterview?
Dan (29:38):
So if you're stammering and your mind is just blown, I've
actually had people say look, Iam so sorry, I am so nervous.
Can I take just 10-15 secondsto calm myself?
And as an interviewer, Iunderstand.
I know.
It's going to be thehard-hearted person who isn't
going to say you know what?
Yeah, I can tell you're nervousand they're going to probably
(29:59):
just direct the interview intosomething personable that you're
more comfortable with.
That is, you know, like talkingabout the game last week or
something, just to give you achance to do it.
But that's okay.
If you're nervous and you'reand it's messing up your
interview, just say hey, I'mnervous, do you mind if I take a
second just to collect?
Can we talk about somethingelse just for a moment so I can
(30:22):
get back to myself again?
I think it's going to be okay.
Now, it may not be witheverybody, but if they're, that
person's already written you offanyway.
Right?
So you haven't lost anything.
I actually had an interviewwhere the kid was so nervous he
couldn't say three words in arow and I stopped the interview
and said look, I can tell you'renervous, let's talk about being
(30:43):
nervous.
And I gave him this podcast.
Basically, did he get the job.
No, he didn't get the job, buthe got the next one.
Another thing you can do if youcan feel yourself losing it in
an interview is to go back totaking five to ten seconds
before you answer the nextquestion.
Don't be worried about theanswer so much.
Just taking that time tobreathe and just relax.
(31:06):
And just take a moment to calmdown, slow down your speech,
then answer the question again.
Denise (31:15):
So now let's talk a little bit specifically about
what questions you might hear inan interview.
Dan (31:22):
So you're going to hear all sorts of different questions
and it's going to be impossibleto cover every one of them, but
if you happen to get one ofthese and you've practiced it,
then you're golden right and thechances are pretty high you're
going to hear one of these.
Tell me about yourself.
That's always the firstquestion that they ask you.
You can almost guarantee that.
Tell me a little bit aboutyourself.
So you're taking two minutesand I write this out.
(31:46):
I actually write downeverything I'm going to say and
I practice it.
It needs to be a two-minuteexpose on your life.
Now, if you're young, you maynot have two minutes to talk
about unless you start.
I was born as a baby, but it'simportant to have an answer
ready for that.
So talk a little bit about whatclasses you liked in school,
(32:07):
what are your favorite classes,what are your favorite sports,
what are your hobbies, and theimportant thing I found with
that is to say what have youlearned from that?
So, for example, I really likemy high school physics class
because it taught me how to doproblem solving and to take word
problems and turn them intomathematical problems that I
(32:29):
could solve.
By the way, that is asuperpower.
If you can answer word problems, you can solve problems, and
that is a skill that you shouldbe trumpeting.
So talk a little bit about thatpast and who you are, to help
them get to know you quickly.
The next one you're going tohear is probably worded around
tell me a time when and it'salways you know something about
(32:53):
the job after that.
So tell me about a time whenyou've had to cook under
pressure.
Well, if you've cooked underpressure, great, you've got a
story about it, right?
If you haven't cooked underpressure, then you transition to
and I haven't cooked underpressure, but here's a situation
(33:13):
where I was under a lot ofpressure and this is how I
solved that problem.
You know, this is how I didthat, because then they can say,
okay, they've been underpressure, I can teach them how
to cook, you know.
So if you can't answer it oneway, twist it to be something
else so that it can show thatyou've done something like it.
Another question you hear a lotis how would you handle an angry
(33:37):
customer or how would youhandle an employee that doesn't
ever show up on time?
And then you can go through andtalk about the skills that
you've done where you might havehandled the situation like that
.
These are all questions to tryand get you to talk about how
you can solve their problem,because these questions are
(33:57):
going to be your biggest clue asto what is their problem
they're trying to solve.
It's going to be hidden in thejob description.
HR has a tendency to try andstrip all that out when they
post it.
But you can really get intowhat are they trying to solve by
listening to what they'reasking and then demonstrating
that you can talk to that.
That shows that you can solvetheir problems.
Denise (34:20):
So I've heard to have questions ready for them, so
this is at a point where you canask them those questions.
Give us an example of what thatwould be like.
Dan (34:30):
Yeah, usually at the interview they'll say do you
have any questions for me?
You really should have at leasta question or two for this
person to show that you'vethought about this and you're
interested in them or arealready at the job or the
company.
You can be interested in themtoo.
So one thing that I do is I doresearch on the company
beforehand so that I understandwhat the company is, because you
(34:51):
don't want to go in there andsay, so what does your company
do?
You should know that before youwalk in the door.
But you can ask questions likewhat does success look like in
this position?
Because that's going to getthem to talk about the problems
that they're trying to solve.
That's one of my favorite onesto ask.
Another question you can ask iswhat are some of the biggest
(35:11):
challenges you see for thecandidate?
You don't have to say yourself,but you can say the candidate,
and then they're going to comeback with what are the
challenges?
Well, that's a blatant what arethe problems that you're having
?
You can answer that one.
And then, what keeps you awakeat night?
That's another one of myfavorites, because it's a little
(35:32):
bit strange.
It's a little bit moreconversational, but it gets them
talking about what's worryingthem about their job.
Denise (35:41):
So this is all to put you in the position of seeing
things through their eyes, whichcan change your focus, the
focus off of you and onto howyou can help solve their problem
.
Dan (35:51):
Exactly as you're listening to them answer you can then
follow up with oh, that'sinteresting.
Let me tell you about anotherstory.
There you go.
Denise (36:00):
And then how do you wrap the interview up?
Dan (36:02):
Well, it's important to do a strong close.
When you get done with theinterview, they're going to say,
well, thanks for coming in.
You know, there's the door.
Denise (36:09):
And that's kind of awkward.
You want to have a goodimpression as you close.
Dan (36:14):
So when you close an interview, you want to be strong
.
You want to shake their hand,thank them for their time and
then just say I really like thiscompany.
Thank you for the time.
I've learned so much.
I hope to work with you someday.
Show interest, Ask them for thejob.
Denise (36:32):
This is all terrific information.
I wish I'd had this when Iapplied for my first job.
Any last suggestions, thingsyou want people to remember as
we close.
Dan (36:43):
I think the number one thing to remember is the people
interviewing you want you tosucceed.
They hate interviewing just asmuch as you do, so they want to
find the perfect person in theirmind as fast as they can.
So they want you to besuccessful.
They are actually rooting foryou.
So just remember that.
(37:04):
The key is to have them thinkoh, they're going to come solve
it for me, they know how to doit Done.
Denise (37:12):
And they are so happy to trade money for a solution.
A problem being solved.
Dan (37:17):
Absolutely.
When you have that realization,then you will have confidence,
and confidence wins every time.
So as you're going through theinterview, as self breathe, take
time to breathe, talk slower.
It may feel funny that you'retalking this slowly, but it's
(37:39):
going to be OK because you'rejust bringing your point across
and then relax.
You can always look like you'rethinking, even though inside
you're just going be quiet man,just like chill out, but just
relax, breathe and have fun withit.
And that's the beauty of doingnetworking interviews is, after
(38:02):
you've done 20 or so plusnetworking interviews, you will
suddenly automatically relax inthose situations because you've
been practicing that, and thenyou'll get to the point like I
am now.
I love to interview, I love togo talk to people about what
their problems are.
I think it's fun and I hope youenjoy it too.
(38:23):
So go out there, start withyour friends, your parents'
friends, and just work on outthere, build yourself a network.
You're never going to bewithout a job.
Denise (38:33):
This is great information, Dan, thanks for
letting me interview you, whichI've been wanting to do ever
since I started this podcast,actually.
If you have questions aboutinterviewing, you can always
email me, denise atthespeechembrellacom, and I will
channel those questions to Danand he'll get back to you.
Dan (38:51):
Absolutely Love to help people with this.
Denise (38:53):
Thanks for listening.
Dan (38:55):
Have a great day.
Thanks for listening to theSpeech Umbrella.
We invite you to sign up forthe free resource library at
thespeechembrellacom.
You'll get access to some ofDenise's best tracking tools,
mindfulness activities and othergreat resources to take your
therapy to the next level.
All this is for free atthespeechembrellacom.
(39:18):
If you've enjoyed this podcast,subscribe and please leave us a
review on Apple Podcasts andother podcast directories.
Welcome to the Speech Umbrella, the show that explores
simple but powerful therapytechniques for optimal outcomes.
I'm Denise Stratton, apediatric speech-language
pathologist of 30-plus years.
I'm closer to the end of mycareer than the beginning and
along the way I've worked longand hard to become a better
therapist.
Join me as we explore the manytopics that fall under our
umbrellas as SLPs.
(00:27):
I want to make your journeysmoother.
I found the best therapy comesfrom employing simple techniques
with a generous helping ofmindfulness.
Hello, welcome to the SpeechUmbrella podcast.
While I don't podcast on such aregular schedule as I did in
the past two years, I stillsometimes am really motivated to
share some information, andthat's why this podcast came
(00:48):
about today.
Besides, I get to interview myhusband, Dan, and I don't have
to do all the talking.
I love that.
I am a pediatric speech-languagepathologist, but sometimes I
get clients who are on the cuspof adulthood older teenagers,
until they have some adultconcerns, and one of those is
that summer job or their firstjob after they graduate from
(01:09):
high school.
And now, if you're someone whohas a language disorder and
words don't come quite as easilyto you, or if you're someone
who stutters, you can reallyreally get worried about job
interviews, and that's when Ilike to talk about all this
wealth of knowledge Dan hasabout how to do a great
interview, because he has put alot of study into coaching
younger people how to interviewfor a job.
(01:31):
Recently I asked Dan for someadvice for one of my clients and
the stuff he was saying was sogood.
I pulled out my phone, I turnedon record and said just tell my
phone and I'll play it for him.
And it was really, reallyhelpful because the way Dan said
everything well, he said itlike an expert.
So today I'm going to interviewthe expert on how to interview
for a job, and this can behelpful for anyone who is
(01:53):
stressed about interviews.
But I find it particularlyhelpful for those people with
communication disorders, becausewhat can be more stressful than
being in a job interview,having to represent yourself
well to someone who doesn't evenknow you with how you
communicate?
So let's start out with Danintroducing himself, so you know
that he's more than just mysidekick.
Dan (02:11):
Hi, I'm Dan Stratton.
I am an IT manager by day.
I've spent 35 years working inthat industry and have been a
manager interviewing people forjobs for about 15 of those years
.
Denise (02:24):
So, Dan, what kind of help can you offer to our young
adults who are stressed aboutinterviews?
That's who we're gearing thispodcast towards those young
adults who are maybe gettingtheir first job.
Dan (02:35):
Okay, this is perfect, because we're going to give you
a hack to jumpstart your careerwith this today.
This is going to be so helpfulto you.
What is an interview?
It's easy to look at aninterview and say, oh, they're
there to grill me with questionsand I'm, you know, to try and
trip me up.
That's not it at all.
The reason they areinterviewing you is because they
(02:58):
have a problem.
They have a need that you canfill and they desperately want
to stop interviewing and havesomebody fill that need.
And so, as much as you'relooking for a job, they're
looking to hire you.
So you need to think about that.
They want you just as much asyou want them, and so if you can
think about that and realizethey're just as nervous as you
(03:21):
are, that can kind of help getthe nerves down and you can
start relaxing and thinkingahead.
Denise (03:27):
So I like what you said, that they're just trying to
solve a problem and you want toshow that you can be the person
who solves their problem.
Dan (03:34):
Exactly, I mean they.
They had somebody doing theproblem before you know, doing a
job before and that personprobably quit.
Well, now somebody has to dothat work until they can
backfill that position.
So probably the manager isdoing it themselves.
So they are desperate to getsomebody in there because their
work is falling behind.
They just want to hear how youcan solve their problem.
(03:57):
Come in and do the work.
Denise (04:00):
So if you change your focus from thinking about how
desperately you need the job tohow desperately they need
someone to fix their problem,that can help you with your
mindset.
Dan (04:10):
Right.
Denise (04:10):
And then you can get into the interview.
Dan (04:12):
And we're going to talk more about that in a little bit.
But yeah, how you do that.
Denise (04:16):
Okay, so do you have some specific tips for how to
prepare for the interview?
So some of the stress is off ofyou, even as you're just
walking in the door.
Dan (04:24):
Right, these are things that you are going to need to do
well before the actual jobinterview, but they're fun and
they're rewarding, so this workcan be done at any time.
So there's no time like thepresent to start it Now.
The first thing you need to dois you need to identify your
skills, your superpowers.
(04:45):
What have you done in your lifethat's been really cool?
Have you been on a sports team?
Have you excelled at math?
Have you gotten an award atschool, at church?
There's a number of things thatyou probably have done in your
life that you can be proud of.
And if you can't think of any,ask your friends, ask your
(05:07):
parents, ask your family.
Hey, what have you seen me dothat you thought was pretty good
?
And then get those ideas fromthem.
And then you need to break downwhat skills are involved in
that.
Let's say, for example, you'reon the soccer team.
Well, that requires commitment,because you have to go to
practice every day, you have tohave stamina, you have to think,
(05:31):
you have to plan, you have tobe able to react to unknown
situations quickly.
And that's not even talkingabout the physical things that
you need to do.
You have weights that you'vebeen lifting or something like
that.
Those are skills that you do,that you need to identify those
skills.
Now I'll put a link in the shownotes to some websites that
(05:53):
have a whole bunch of skillsthat you can then kind of go
through and go oh yeah, that'sin there, that's in there.
And then you can start takingthat list of skills from all
these different things that youdo.
Well, the more times you seethat skill show up, that is
probably your superpower.
So, let's say, you have areally good GPA, what goes into
(06:13):
doing that?
Well, that's the same skillsthat help you in playing an
instrument, because you've gotto show up and do the homework
right.
Same with sports.
These are your superpowers andyour skills and you need to
identify them.
Now that you've identifiedthose skills, I want you to
build some SOAR stories aboutthem.
Now, SOAR S-O-A-R like a birdis soaring.
(06:33):
S-O-A-R stands for situation,obstacle, actions and results.
Every one of these skills,You're going to identify
something that you did that wasreally cool and you're going to
write about what the situationwas.
Let's say, for example, you hada big report to write for one
of your classes.
What was the situation?
This was something that was achallenge for you.
(06:56):
You didn't know a lot ofinformation about, but you had
to get a good grade on thisreport.
The obstacle was you had a lotto do in a short amount of time.
What were the actions you took?
You broke it down into thedifferent pieces.
You went and did the researchand you went and talked to
somebody.
I don't know what the answer ison this exactly, but you did
(07:17):
some actions to get you throughto the result.
And what was the result?
I got a really good grade onthis report.
Let's say you were flippingburgers at a part-time job or
something like that.
One night you had a situationof somebody called in sick.
You had to work a double shift.
You had to clean the grill.
That's the obstacle.
(07:39):
What was the action you took?
Well, you stuck to it.
You stayed late, you helped out.
The results is you got the jobdone.
The company was able to serveall their customers really well.
You know you got employee ofthe month.
So you put those storiestogether and you actually write
them down.
This can be really helpful forpeople with communication
(08:00):
challenges, because you get towrite this down and understand
it and know it before you gotelling it to someone in front
of them.
So write the story down, usethese examples and then practice
them.
I mean literally almostmemorize them.
Denise (08:18):
You can stand in front of a mirror and practice or
something like that.
Dan (08:21):
You can talk to your parents, you can do it yourself,
but memorize these stories andyou know.
Then when anybody asks you aquestion about what's something
that you did, you can pull outthese stories and you know them.
You've already planned whatyou're going to say so you can
be more relaxed in it, becauseyou know this stuff cold.
Denise (08:44):
Well, that sound like you've memorized it, or will it
sound natural?
Dan (08:47):
Well, here's the thing to you.
It's going to sound memorized,but it's the first time they've
heard it, so they won't thinkit's memorized.
They'll think that you're justanswering the question because,
remember, they're nervous too,so they're just going to be
hearing the answer, not how youdelivered so much.
And if you can get more relaxed, that puts them at ease and
(09:09):
that gets them to totally ignorehow you're delivering it, just
what your delivering.
Denise (09:14):
And do the same stories work for different jobs that
you're applying for?
Dan (09:19):
Absolutely, because these skills are transferable.
For example, as a projectmanager, which is my current job
, I have to plan, I have tobreak things down into little
pieces, I have to understandsome basic accounting, I have to
be able to take notes and Ihave to understand who's going
to do what next.
(09:39):
I have to calendar things.
Does that sound like any skillsthat you might use as a speech
therapist?
Denise (09:45):
Yeah.
Dan (09:46):
Most of them right, so they're the same skills.
Now, obviously, there's veryother things that you need to do
that I don't do.
Denise (09:52):
Those are the specialized things, but people
can be taught specialized skills.
It's these basic skills thatpeople have that can solve other
people's problems that they'relooking for.
Dan (10:04):
Exactly.
I always tell people I canteach you to do the job.
I can't teach you the attitudeand the basis of that.
So if people realize that youshow up and you're going to do a
job the best you can, they'llbe happy to teach you anything,
all the specialized skills thatyou need, but they see that as,
(10:26):
oh, this person does this basic,you're in.
Denise (10:30):
Now, is it possible to actually rehearse an interview?
I mean, we talked aboutrehearsing the stories, but can
you sort of rehearse whatthey'll ask you?
Dan (10:39):
You can rehearse an interview.
So there are lots of websitesout there that have sample
questions that they're going toask you in an interview and you
can take those questions and youcan have, you know, if you have
someone, they can ask you thequestion and you can answer back
to them.
That's ideal.
Second best thing recordyourself asking the question,
(11:00):
play it back and then answer thequestion.
You know you can practice thosequestions that they're going to
ask, because everybody asks thesame questions.
Honestly, we really do.
We have very little that is newin the world, so you can
rehearse those questions andthen you're going to get some
form of that question.
Now another thing you can do isyou can and this is all the
popular thing out there videoyourself answering the question.
(11:23):
Only do that if you really wanta traumatic experience.
I mean, it's very teaching,it's very good, don't get me
wrong.
I highly recommend it.
But the first time you watchthat you're going to, you're
going to die.
Denise (11:36):
And you're going to see your body, language and all
sorts of things.
Dan (11:39):
Yeah, and so be easy on yourself.
Everybody hates that.
I hate it so much, I never doit, but you can video yourself
and then you can really do anunderstand.
Hey, this is what I'm doing,this is what they're seeing, so
then you can.
You can change that.
But the best practice I knowfor preparing for an interview
(12:02):
is a networking interview.
Denise (12:05):
Now we're getting into Dan's super interest and
specialty, which is networkinginterviews.
But tell us what a networkinginterview is.
Dan (12:13):
Well, first you got to know what a network is.
Now it's not a bunch ofcomputers that talk to each
other I mean that's that's adifferent kind of network but a
networking interview or a rathera network In business world is
a group of people who know youand understand you and you know
you talk to them and they talkto you.
You'll hear this a lot in the,especially in the sales world.
(12:34):
They all network a lot.
Those are a bunch of extroverts.
Chances are you're not an extraextrovert and that's okay.
You can have a network of peopletoo, people who know you and
will help you out.
A networking interview is howyou build that network, because
you're going to go in and talkto somebody and you're going to
tell them a little bit aboutyourself.
(12:55):
You're going to tell them whatyour skills are and you're going
to ask them questions how doesthis fit in your industry, your
world?
Is this a valuable skill?
What skills do you have?
And we're going to dive intothis a little bit deeper,
because if you can master thisskill, you will have an amazing
network, the instead of justhaving one person out there
(13:18):
helping you find a job.
You're going to have 20 or 30 or50 people out there.
Denise (13:22):
Okay, so this sounds like something that a 30 or 40
year old person would do, butfor these young adults, is a
networking interview a good ideafor them.
How does it help?
How?
How would someone their ageeven get started?
Dan (13:36):
You're right.
This is typically somethingdone by someone in the industry.
You know that's had a job ortwo.
But if you start now as astudent, you're going to be able
to build a network way easierthan them, because the key to a
networking interview is you arenot asking them for a job.
Never ask anybody for a job ina networking interview.
(13:59):
You're asking for advice.
Now, when you're in industry,out in the working world, people
are going to be suspicious.
They think you're going to beasking them for a job, because
that's mostly why people dothese.
But as a student, you're askingfor help, and who doesn't want
to help and mentor a student?
Denise (14:22):
Everybody does.
Dan (14:23):
Everybody does.
It's an honor for you to evenask them to be a mentor, and so
they are going to fall all overthemselves to help you out.
And it is amazing, the doorsthat you are going to be able to
unlock, because they're goingto open up their contact list to
you and share you with alltheir friends.
Because there are so manystories out there about students
(14:45):
who just don't care, but you do, you're asking for help.
You're the one that everybody'sgoing to say, wow, this
person's a star.
Denise (14:54):
So walk us through what a network interview might look
like for this population we'retalking about.
Dan (15:01):
Yeah.
So the first thing you're goingto do is you're going to ask
someone for an interview, and Irecommend you start with
somebody you know because theywon't say no.
You know, I started with areally good friend.
I knew he wouldn't say no to me.
You know your parents havefriends.
They won't say no to you eitherbecause they know your parents.
You're going to get all thatgoodwill.
(15:22):
So best way to start is tostart with positive.
You're never going to get a noby asking a friend of a parent.
Denise (15:28):
And what are you going to say to that person you're
asking?
What do you say?
Dan (15:32):
You say I'm looking for career advice, I'm getting ready
to start, you know, college,whatever I need to start
understanding what the worldlooks like.
I'm interested in fill in whatyou might be interested in
learning about (15:47):
Computer programming, nursing, doctors,
you know.
I mean you can make anything up, you don't have to even really
be interested in it, but youwant to learn about it.
And so if you have a neighbor,let's say a neighbor who's a
nurse, and you say I want tolearn about nursing, you go to
this person, you can write theman email, you can just talk to
them on the street.
However it works for you, butjust say look, I'm interested in
(16:10):
learning about nursing.
Can I talk to you for 20minutes next week about nursing
and how it works and what skillsyou use in that?
Of course they're going to sayyes.
Denise (16:22):
And it's just 20 minutes .
I remember that you don't wantto take a lot of their time, so
you always tell them it'll be 20minutes.
Dan (16:33):
Take a lot of their time and you really need to hold to
that.
Take a watch, because you wantto be out of there 20 minutes.
But you know they're going tosay yes, and then you're going
to go to that interview.
You're going to have a couplequestions prepared to ask them
about nursing, and you know youcan make those up as you wish.
But you're also going to go inthere and say, with your list of
(16:55):
skills and your source stories,right?
So you're going to sit downwith them and you're going to
just make sure they know aboutyou.
Yes, they know your name isSally and that, but you're going
to say, hey, I just want totell you a little bit about
myself.
I have done this, this and thisin my career, and you can use
double quotes If you want.
(17:16):
You know, however, you want todo it.
Did you mow lawns?
Then tell them about the lawnmowing job that you were
successful at.
Baby sitting is a great one too, so you're going to tell them.
I just want to tell you alittle bit about my background.
I've done these kinds of jobsand these are my favorite skills
.
And then you're going to kindof go down those skills and you
(17:36):
know I can plan.
I love working with children.
I've done babysitting jobswhere I have taken care of four
kids at once while the parentswere away for four hours.
I made them dinner, I helpedthem with their homework and got
them to bed on time.
You know, whatever you did andyou can say I'm really
(17:56):
interested in the nursing field,can you see how any of these
skills might apply to nursing?
They're going to come back withsome answer and then it becomes
a conversation about nursingand what are those skills, and
you can start asking themquestions about their skills and
it might sound something likeoh, what do you find the most
(18:16):
important skills you use in yourcareer or in your field or as a
nurse, what helps you the most?
They're going to keep talkingabout and you're getting
information about nursing andthey're getting a feel for you
as to how eager you are, whatare your skills and what are
your superpowers.
The next thing you know you'vegot a friend who knows about you
(18:39):
and is going to champion youand then the end of the
interview is real simple.
Thank you so much for sharingthis information.
This is really good.
I would love to talk to morenurses or other people in the
nursing field.
Can you do you have any friendsthat might be able to talk with
me?
What are they going to say?
Denise (18:58):
They're going to give you a name.
Dan (18:59):
They're going to give you a name, and, or two or three or
five, and that's really the goalof the interview to get a
couple names.
And so the end of the interviewis over.
Thank you so much for your time.
I really appreciate it.
Do you mind if I keep in touch?
And then you can get theiremail address or something like
that, so that you can keep themin touch and you can always go
back and email them withquestions about something else?
(19:20):
Or later you can say hey, I'minterviewing at this college for
the nursing program.
Would you write a letter ofrecommendation for me?
Well, they don't know anythingabout you as a nurse, obviously,
but there can give you acharacter reference and they
will bend over backwards to doit.
And it's really helpful as youstart your career to have all
(19:40):
these people who you talk to byemail or however semi-regularly
on your side.
Denise (19:47):
I remember you saying you always write a thank you
note.
Dan (19:51):
I do.
Denise (19:51):
After the interview and you handwrite it.
Dan (19:54):
I handwrite it.
Denise (19:55):
On a card.
Dan (19:56):
You know, I don't know if you've ever received a thank you
note, an actual thank you notein the mail.
You hang on to them forever.
You know this stands outbecause that used to be the norm
.
Everybody wrote thank you notes.
Nobody writes thank you notesnow.
So if you want to stand out inthe crowd, go buy some cheap
thank you notes at Walmart andjust write down a quick note.
(20:17):
Hey, Jan, thank you so much forspending time with me yesterday
.
I really appreciate it.
Here's two things that Ilearned from talking with you.
And then list them Number one,number two.
I appreciate it.
Thanks for letting me know ofyour friends.
I'm going to be talking to themsoon.
John, you just won over thatperson for the rest of life.
They're going to hang.
I bet you that thinking isgoing to be stuck to their
(20:37):
mirror and they're going to bepulling it out on a bad day and
reading it for a boost becausethey helped you.
And then you go do the nextinterview.
If Sally told you to go talk toher supervisor, Joan, then you
send an email or a letter toJoan and you're going to say hi,
joan, my name is.
(20:59):
I was talking with Sally lastweek.
I am on a career search tounderstand what is you know more
about the nursing industry.
She recommended that I talk toyou to get more information.
Would you be willing to meetwith me for 20 minutes next week
, when would be good for you?
And then that's all you have todo.
(21:21):
You've got instant credibilitybecause Sally sent you.
Joan knows she likes Sally.
She's going to help Sallyanyway she can.
You're in the door with thehead of nursing now and you're
going to keep climbing theladders up and down.
Some of my best networkinginterviews was with a custodian
because they know everybody or asecretary.
I got into all sorts of placesby knowing the secretaries.
Denise (21:43):
And most people said yes .
Dan (21:46):
I had.
I did 130 interviews and I hadtwo people say no, two out of
130.
Denise (21:54):
And most of them were very successful experiences, I
think one wasn't.
Dan (21:59):
I only had one experience that was really bad, and it was.
It was actually with a CEO of acompany.
It was funny because I wentfrom that CEO's office over to
another CEO's office and hecould tell something was wrong
with me.
This is actually a friend ofmine.
I went in and talked to him.
He says, well, what happened?
I said, oh, I had this badinterview with this guy over
(22:20):
here.
And he goes oh, don't let thatstress you.
He does the same thing to me,you know.
So there are just some peoplewho don't know how to talk to
people, how they get to be CEO.
I don't know.
Denise (22:33):
And so if you have a bad experience, it's probably not
you, it's not you?
Dan (22:37):
It's not you there was other stuff going on, obviously.
But that's the key thing isyou're going around talking to
people and people's friends andthen through that they become
your friends and, especially assomeone in high school or your
early years in college, they aregoing to bend over backwards to
help you.
(22:57):
They are going to be yourbiggest champions and they will
help you any way they can.
And so when you get time tolook for a job, now that you
have these people in your circlelet's say you are applying for
a job that is past the burgers,right?
You know it's a first entrylevel job you can call any one
(23:21):
of them up and ask them to be areference and if you don't know
the job, you can send out anemail to them and say I am two
years away from graduation infield X.
I am looking for an internshipor an entry level job in this
industry where I can kind of geta better feel for it.
Do you know of anybody who mighthave such a job?
(23:41):
You're not asking them for ajob.
You're asking them if they knowof anybody.
Well, guess what?
They already think you're oneof the best people in the world
because you're doing what theyknow they should be doing as a
person building a network.
They're going to find jobs foryou all over the place.
You never know when thesenetworking interviews turn into
(24:05):
an actual job interview.
I've had that happen.
I had several people offer mejobs on the spot in the middle
of a networking interview.
It happens!
Denise (24:16):
So, you get a job interview.
You've done all this networking, you get an interview.
Let's talk a little bit abouttactics during an interview.
That can help anyone,communication disorder or not.
Dan (24:30):
So the biggest problem in an interview is time acts funny.
You're stressed, they'restressed.
That's a whole other podcastabout how stressed they are but
you're stressed and you feellike they ask you a question and
you have to say somethingimmediately.
In reality, you can count tofive or 10 and say nothing and
(24:51):
answer.
They're totally fine with itbecause what does it convey to
them?
They're thinking about myquestion.
They're not just rattling offsome strange answer or making
something up.
Now you may be, but if you cancome back with one of your well
planned answers after takingthree or five seconds to collect
your thoughts, you can comeback with one of your well
planned answers.
After taking three or fiveseconds to collect your thoughts
(25:13):
, deep breathe a couple timesand relax?
Then you're going to actuallygo right through that answer and
they're going to think wow,what a well thought out answer.
Denise (25:24):
You could even say that's a great question.
Dan (25:28):
Yeah, let me take a second here because I want to answer
that.
Denise (25:31):
I want to just think this through for a second
because I think that is reallyhelpful to let them know that
you're thinking, you're not justsaying anything.
I want to think about that fora minute.
I wouldn't, say a minute, but Iwould say a moment, a moment.
Because that's you know butyeah, you can say, that's a
really good question.
Dan (25:48):
That's another one, and that's a good question.
It's so used, overused.
I would say that's aninsightful question.
Let me gather my thoughts for asecond here, and then you've
got even more time.
Now you've got 10 to 15 seconds.
If you need it to calm yourselfdown, choose your SOAR story
which you memorized right, andyou can answer their question in
(26:12):
a nice, calm, efficient manner.
You always will talk fasterthan you need to, so pace
yourself, talk slowly.
When people get nervous, theytalk faster, and so you need to
learn that you can always talkslower and relax, and it's going
(26:35):
to be just fine.
Denise (26:36):
Now what about body language, which communicates so
much beyond what you're actuallysaying?
Dan (26:41):
Right.
So when you're in the interview, sit calmly in the chair.
Don't sit on the front edge ofthe chair, just you know.
Be back in the chair a littlebit.
Hands in your lap, just relax,smile.
Whatever you do, whateveranything else happens, smile.
You just got to be pleasantwith yourself because we all
forget to smile when we getstressed.
(27:02):
Quite honestly, they've seen 13other people that have scowled
at him.
So if you smile, you're in.
Also, look them in the eye.
Make sure you always look themin the eye, no matter how scared
or anything.
You know, if you can look themin the eye, you can make that
connection with them on aphysical level.
(27:23):
Before you go into the interview, there's some things you can do
that will help you so much, andthere is a great TED talk by
Amy Cuddy called Your BodyLanguage May Shape Who You Are.
It was done in June of 2012.
It's out on the internet.
I'll put a link in the shownotes, but it's amazing.
She talks all about bodylanguage and how to do it, but
(27:44):
the best thing I got from it wasthe Wonder Woman Pose.
And she says before you go intothe interview, arrive early,
which you should do anyway Gointo the bathroom, get in the
stall, lock the door so no onecan see you, put your feet
shoulder width apart, put yourhands in fists and put them on
(28:06):
your hips like Wonder Woman andyou stand there just like that
for 30 seconds.
Just stand there with yourshoulders back and it's amazing
how much power you gain fromdoing the Wonder Woman Pose.
And that will actually carryyou into that room all the way
(28:28):
into that first importantmeeting that, hey, I'm confident
and I'm calm and I'm Wonder manor Wonder Woman, take your pick
.
Denise (28:37):
It's a fake.
It till you make it.
It really is.
It really works.
It's a biological hack.
When you do that, somethinghappens to your confidence.
Dan (28:46):
Yeah, it goes up and it's weird, but it's true.
And watch that TED talk becauseshe explains it so well.
It's really good.
But fake it until you make itis so true, because you know we
all feel like imposters on a lotof things.
You can look at a jobdescription and go, oh, that's
not me.
Well, if you dig into that jobdescription, you're going to see
(29:10):
a lot of the skills that youhave.
The rest you can pick up.
Now you don't go in and lieabout things.
You can say, well, tell meabout this, and you're like I
really haven't done anythinglike that.
But here's how I have solvedsomething like that in another
job.
And they're like, oh okay, yougot the basics, I can teach you
(29:32):
the rest.
Denise (29:33):
What advice do you have for someone who feels like
they've lost control in theinterview?
Dan (29:38):
So if you're stammering and your mind is just blown, I've
actually had people say look, Iam so sorry, I am so nervous.
Can I take just 10-15 secondsto calm myself?
And as an interviewer, Iunderstand.
I know.
It's going to be thehard-hearted person who isn't
going to say you know what?
Yeah, I can tell you're nervousand they're going to probably
(29:59):
just direct the interview intosomething personable that you're
more comfortable with.
That is, you know, like talkingabout the game last week or
something, just to give you achance to do it.
But that's okay.
If you're nervous and you'reand it's messing up your
interview, just say hey, I'mnervous, do you mind if I take a
second just to collect?
Can we talk about somethingelse just for a moment so I can
(30:22):
get back to myself again?
I think it's going to be okay.
Now, it may not be witheverybody, but if they're, that
person's already written you offanyway.
Right?
So you haven't lost anything.
I actually had an interviewwhere the kid was so nervous he
couldn't say three words in arow and I stopped the interview
and said look, I can tell you'renervous, let's talk about being
(30:43):
nervous.
And I gave him this podcast.
Basically, did he get the job.
No, he didn't get the job, buthe got the next one.
Another thing you can do if youcan feel yourself losing it in
an interview is to go back totaking five to ten seconds
before you answer the nextquestion.
Don't be worried about theanswer so much.
Just taking that time tobreathe and just relax.
(31:06):
And just take a moment to calmdown, slow down your speech,
then answer the question again.
Denise (31:15):
So now let's talk a little bit specifically about
what questions you might hear inan interview.
Dan (31:22):
So you're going to hear all sorts of different questions
and it's going to be impossibleto cover every one of them, but
if you happen to get one ofthese and you've practiced it,
then you're golden right and thechances are pretty high you're
going to hear one of these.
Tell me about yourself.
That's always the firstquestion that they ask you.
You can almost guarantee that.
Tell me a little bit aboutyourself.
So you're taking two minutesand I write this out.
(31:46):
I actually write downeverything I'm going to say and
I practice it.
It needs to be a two-minuteexpose on your life.
Now, if you're young, you maynot have two minutes to talk
about unless you start.
I was born as a baby, but it'simportant to have an answer
ready for that.
So talk a little bit about whatclasses you liked in school,
(32:07):
what are your favorite classes,what are your favorite sports,
what are your hobbies, and theimportant thing I found with
that is to say what have youlearned from that?
So, for example, I really likemy high school physics class
because it taught me how to doproblem solving and to take word
problems and turn them intomathematical problems that I
(32:29):
could solve.
By the way, that is asuperpower.
If you can answer word problems, you can solve problems, and
that is a skill that you shouldbe trumpeting.
So talk a little bit about thatpast and who you are, to help
them get to know you quickly.
The next one you're going tohear is probably worded around
tell me a time when and it'salways you know something about
(32:53):
the job after that.
So tell me about a time whenyou've had to cook under
pressure.
Well, if you've cooked underpressure, great, you've got a
story about it, right?
If you haven't cooked underpressure, then you transition to
and I haven't cooked underpressure, but here's a situation
(33:13):
where I was under a lot ofpressure and this is how I
solved that problem.
You know, this is how I didthat, because then they can say,
okay, they've been underpressure, I can teach them how
to cook, you know.
So if you can't answer it oneway, twist it to be something
else so that it can show thatyou've done something like it.
Another question you hear a lotis how would you handle an angry
(33:37):
customer or how would youhandle an employee that doesn't
ever show up on time?
And then you can go through andtalk about the skills that
you've done where you might havehandled the situation like that
.
These are all questions to tryand get you to talk about how
you can solve their problem,because these questions are
(33:57):
going to be your biggest clue asto what is their problem
they're trying to solve.
It's going to be hidden in thejob description.
HR has a tendency to try andstrip all that out when they
post it.
But you can really get intowhat are they trying to solve by
listening to what they'reasking and then demonstrating
that you can talk to that.
That shows that you can solvetheir problems.
Denise (34:20):
So I've heard to have questions ready for them, so
this is at a point where you canask them those questions.
Give us an example of what thatwould be like.
Dan (34:30):
Yeah, usually at the interview they'll say do you
have any questions for me?
You really should have at leasta question or two for this
person to show that you'vethought about this and you're
interested in them or arealready at the job or the
company.
You can be interested in themtoo.
So one thing that I do is I doresearch on the company
beforehand so that I understandwhat the company is, because you
(34:51):
don't want to go in there andsay, so what does your company
do?
You should know that before youwalk in the door.
But you can ask questions likewhat does success look like in
this position?
Because that's going to getthem to talk about the problems
that they're trying to solve.
That's one of my favorite onesto ask.
Another question you can ask iswhat are some of the biggest
(35:11):
challenges you see for thecandidate?
You don't have to say yourself,but you can say the candidate,
and then they're going to comeback with what are the
challenges?
Well, that's a blatant what arethe problems that you're having
?
You can answer that one.
And then, what keeps you awakeat night?
That's another one of myfavorites, because it's a little
(35:32):
bit strange.
It's a little bit moreconversational, but it gets them
talking about what's worryingthem about their job.
Denise (35:41):
So this is all to put you in the position of seeing
things through their eyes, whichcan change your focus, the
focus off of you and onto howyou can help solve their problem
.
Dan (35:51):
Exactly as you're listening to them answer you can then
follow up with oh, that'sinteresting.
Let me tell you about anotherstory.
There you go.
Denise (36:00):
And then how do you wrap the interview up?
Dan (36:02):
Well, it's important to do a strong close.
When you get done with theinterview, they're going to say,
well, thanks for coming in.
You know, there's the door.
Denise (36:09):
And that's kind of awkward.
You want to have a goodimpression as you close.
Dan (36:14):
So when you close an interview, you want to be strong
.
You want to shake their hand,thank them for their time and
then just say I really like thiscompany.
Thank you for the time.
I've learned so much.
I hope to work with you someday.
Show interest, Ask them for thejob.
Denise (36:32):
This is all terrific information.
I wish I'd had this when Iapplied for my first job.
Any last suggestions, thingsyou want people to remember as
we close.
Dan (36:43):
I think the number one thing to remember is the people
interviewing you want you tosucceed.
They hate interviewing just asmuch as you do, so they want to
find the perfect person in theirmind as fast as they can.
So they want you to besuccessful.
They are actually rooting foryou.
So just remember that.
(37:04):
The key is to have them thinkoh, they're going to come solve
it for me, they know how to doit Done.
Denise (37:12):
And they are so happy to trade money for a solution.
A problem being solved.
Dan (37:17):
Absolutely.
When you have that realization,then you will have confidence,
and confidence wins every time.
So as you're going through theinterview, as self breathe, take
time to breathe, talk slower.
It may feel funny that you'retalking this slowly, but it's
(37:39):
going to be OK because you'rejust bringing your point across
and then relax.
You can always look like you'rethinking, even though inside
you're just going be quiet man,just like chill out, but just
relax, breathe and have fun withit.
And that's the beauty of doingnetworking interviews is, after
(38:02):
you've done 20 or so plusnetworking interviews, you will
suddenly automatically relax inthose situations because you've
been practicing that, and thenyou'll get to the point like I
am now.
I love to interview, I love togo talk to people about what
their problems are.
I think it's fun and I hope youenjoy it too.
(38:23):
So go out there, start withyour friends, your parents'
friends, and just work on outthere, build yourself a network.
You're never going to bewithout a job.
Denise (38:33):
This is great information, Dan, thanks for
letting me interview you, whichI've been wanting to do ever
since I started this podcast,actually.
If you have questions aboutinterviewing, you can always
email me, denise atthespeechembrellacom, and I will
channel those questions to Danand he'll get back to you.
Dan (38:51):
Absolutely Love to help people with this.
Denise (38:53):
Thanks for listening.
Dan (38:55):
Have a great day.
Thanks for listening to theSpeech Umbrella.
We invite you to sign up forthe free resource library at
thespeechembrellacom.
You'll get access to some ofDenise's best tracking tools,
mindfulness activities and othergreat resources to take your
therapy to the next level.
All this is for free atthespeechembrellacom.
(39:18):
If you've enjoyed this podcast,subscribe and please leave us a
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