How to Navigate Job Interviews With Jeff Altman ” The Coach “

Everyone welcome to Ask the Expert. And today an interview and looking for a job is something that I think never going to stop. You can have markets who change tendencies to change. But what is never going to change is looking for a job, pass the interview and close the deal. And you know what, in this subject is no BS. Oops, I say it. But as somebody who said before, we're going to talk to the coach, the expert and how to nail the best job interview, the best research, the best search, and what to do, and most important, what not to do. Jeff Altman, the coach, Welcome to Ask the Expert.

Why thank you so much. I greatly appreciate it today.

Jeff, why you are an expert?

Well, I approach the job search coaching profession. As a former recruiter, I worked in search for more than 40 years, fill more than 1200 full time positions plus consulting assignments. I host the number one podcast on Apple podcasts on job search, called no BS, job search advice radio, hence why we got the reference to no BS before. I also have a top 10 YouTube channel on job search that you can reach a job search tv.com. I've done a lot in the search business, I approach it from the standpoint of how to help people find work and to do it more effectively than they might learn from trial and error. Well,

we met some time ago, we are both part of the Forbes forum console. And I never know how to say it my part one, and you interviewed me for your segment. And we have so much fun. And actually, one of the workshops, then more keynote speaking than I give is about how to use soft skills and human behavior hackers to when you have the job interview, but I always says I don't teach you how to look for a job. I don't teach you how to sell, I teach you once you have it become the best you can. But in this case, you have all the niche and twizzles that we can do. Jeff, Coach, what do you want to start with? Because I have news for you, you are nailed to this segment for a long time.

Oh, so I thought we would talk today about launching the interview in a way that advantages people in their search. Because most interviews start off with someone applying for a job or being referred for a job. They see a job description. That's about 80% accurate. And I say that because most job descriptions come about when someone's given notice a hiring manager calls to HR and says, Hey, Susan, you got that job description, we used to hire Jeff, he just gave notice, could you pull that up and try and get it out to a couple of people and let's get some activity going. And the problem is, no one's updating it, no one's doing anything to bring it into greater accuracy than the original job description from a year ago, two years ago, I've had people 256 years ago. So my belief is when you start an interview, I want you to hear about the job. So whether it's a phone interview, a video interview, or an in person interview, the first thing I want to want you to say is, hey, thanks so much for reaching out to me. You know, I recall the position description. Or if you are referred by a recruiter, you might just simply say, I was referred by Jeff, and he told me a little bit about the role. But I'd want to get your take on it. Could you tell me about the job as you see it, and what I can do to help. Now, this allows them to tell you about the role as it's currently being thought of, because even if the job description is perfect, most of the time, there's some changes in their thinking there's some changes in what they're looking for, where they emphasize one thing, de emphasize something else. And you're never going to know it because it's not like they're sending you revised job descriptions, right. So I always want to make sure you ask that question at the beginning of the interview. Because my belief is I always want you to talk about what you've done that matters to them, not just talk about what you've done, which are obviously two different things. So that's the best way to launch it. Now. If you're in an in person interview, I always remind people, there's one little extra nuance there. And that is sit facing the greatest number of entry points into the room where someone could come out and greet you. So you can see them approaching because you have looked at their LinkedIn profile right? You do see what they look like. Maybe it's not the most up to date photo, but it's gonna give you some impression about what they look like, so that you can see them coming out to ask for you, you're not going to be so engrossed in your phone that you're going to miss out. And thus, as soon as you see them, I want you to size them up as a person and deal with them as you presuppose them to be. Are they aggressive? Or not? Are they smart? Or not? What are they like, is a person. And my reminder for folks is if you are meeting someone socially 95 times out of 100 Your instincts about them are right. But unfortunately, because it's a career, it's important. And if I was getting a job, he paralyze those qualities that advantage you in that way, in the interview. And since hiring managers, interviewers really make a decision within two minutes, as to whether or not to pay attention to the rest, you've got to dive in there, assertively and present yourself effectively. So just trust your judgment after rule. If you were to casino, and you knew you're gonna win 95 times out of 100? Would you worry about the other 5%? Of course not, of course. So my belief is, I always want you to be out there for out front collecting information, so that you're able to give them what it is they want to know about you, without you having to figure it out, or without them having to ask you lots of questions to get it.

So you mentioned two things that I usually tell people when I give the workshop or the keynote speaking is not to do be on the phone. First of all, what do you think with people being on the phone? When are on the job interview? If you're not expecting an update about the job, or they're not gonna call you on the on the on the waiting room with a cell phone? What is your perception? And what is what do you think that the HR people or the recruiter thinks about you when you are in the waiting room with the phone?

My belief is, we have a dance here to do. And the dance is really about mental acuity going into the meeting, if you're going to get fuzzy, if you're going to kind of fade mentally, you got to do something to keep yourself active. But again, you have to be aware of your surroundings. So you can put it away quickly. You don't wear buds, you don't tune out the environment, you're reading something years past, I remember seeing people who would sit in the reception area, remember the days of newspapers, by the way

I do. I'm all enough like you are to remember the newspapers, and the phone with the coins.

Oh, my goodness, you really are old.

I really appreciated coach.

And I remember rotary phones as well. So just simply say, the whole trick is knowing what's best for you. For you, if if you think you're going to zone out and not be crisp, out of the gate, unless you have something to occupy yourself, occupy yourself, but be aware of your surroundings. See, you see someone who's coming out to greet people, the phone goes down immediately. So they don't really detect it. And you're able to move quickly into the interview.

I was talking, I did a presentation in HR conference, I think it was couple of weeks ago. And one of the HR we I was talking about how to approach and one of the HR says, I hate when people is reading a newspaper then I do not agree. And when they're reading a book, I want to know what kind of book it is. So I can determine if I gonna like the person or not so simple things like reading a novel or reading a biography. If the person who is going to approach to you do not agree even with the newspaper you're reading, or the book that you're reading, they can do a preconception. So I cannot imagine all the pressure and things that you need to be aware when you go into a job interview me almost hitting 50 If I need to go a job interview, I think I need a couple of volumes to go for because I'm so I don't know if I'm extremely self aware. And everybody's the same way. But it's a tremendous chloride in here nails, your resume your phone when you're reading how you're crossing your legs. Whoa, it's a lot.

There's millions of details that go into. It's one of my YouTube channel has over 7000 videos on and I haven't really finished anything. So I'll just simply say one of the things with books is it suggests that people right away that you're an introvert, that may be okay. However, if that's not really what you are found is a better device. So everything you do and don't do is a signal to the interviewer and they pick up on these very quickly. As you know Have you spoken to people?

Coach? I love it. I love it. And I like the way you say it as you mean it, no filters, because we have a world who go to such a fast pace that we don't have time to sugarcoat it because maybe is there some people looking for a job some people looking for a career and when you're looking for a career and you fall in love with that job, even before it started, mess it up with a simple thing that you don't have the right information, I think is a scene and something you're not is a senior. So Coach, thank you for being here and I looking forward to have you back.

Thank you so much. Great to be on.