Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter reminds you of the importance of preparing whether it is for a job interview or a standardized test.
I want to remind you about something that sometimes we take for granted, sometimes were casual about limited you in the context of the story. As you know, I was a professional recruiter and did work as a headhunter for more than 40 years. In the course of doing my work, I try to prepare people for interviews. More more firms these days, no matter what level looks of experience some has, are relying upon standardized testing as a way of evaluating and assessing different candidates. The more senior someone gets the more likely that they are going to blow these things off or take them for granted or be casual about the tests. After all, "I can do this. I've done it before. I don't have to study for this." There was a person is representing who took 1 of the standardized tests and did well. But they're not looking for "well." Do not looking for "good enough." They are looking for "exceptional." He knows this. He has been told this. He was told to do a little bit of homework before hand so that if he was rusty and some of the subject matter he would be well prepared. Instead of scoring 3.5 or better on the exam, he scores 3.15, which may or may not be good enough to get him onto the next step. When I spoke with him, he was (I want to say he was blasé about it because I think that's unfair) disappointed in himself because he coasted. You can't afford to coast. When you interview. You may be competing (more often than not, you are). You're competing with yourself. You're competing with the standards an organization sets. The matter where you are interprofessional cycle, your job is to score an A+ on any exam that you take. I'm not talking about written exams necessarily. Interviews or form of exam, too. You want to be well prepared before you walk in the door, knowing what it is that they are looking for and be able to talk with them about what your role, responsibilities and accomplishments are (and if you're in IT, you have to include the technology that you've been using in order to accomplish your goals). No more coasting. No more taking it easy. Go all out.
