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Repost Series: The Joys of Interviewing
9 Plays3 months ago
Introduction
0:00 - 2:17 — In this episode, Shanarra will talk about interviews and shares her love for the interview process.
Early Experiences with Interviewing
2:17 - 6:09 – Shannara reflects on her first experience with interviewing at the age of 13 when applying to boarding school. She discusses subsequent interview experiences for roles such as head prefect and college admissions. Despite initial challenges, she acknowledges the guidance she received along the way.
Interviewing in the Corporate Setting
6:09 - 9:01 – Shannara shares her experiences with various interview styles, including panel interviews and case study assessments. She expresses discomfort with certain interview formats and reflects on the evolution of her confidence over time.
Mock Interviews and Tips for Success
9:01 - 27:25 – Shannara discusses the privilege of participating in mock interviews within her organization. Offers tips for interview preparation, including question sourcing, crafting responses, and maintaining authenticity. Emphasizes the importance of passion and confidence during interviews, sharing personal anecdotes to illustrate her points.
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Transcript
Introduction and Podcast Overview
00:00:00
Speaker
Hey there, welcome to The Good Guide, your ultimate career companion. I'm Shannara Good, and I've been on quite the career roller coaster. From the trenches of entry-level positions to the boardrooms as a now more seasoned professional.
00:00:15
Speaker
Believe me when I say i have been there and know that I've acquired some wisdom over the years that I cannot wait to share with you. Ever felt like you're on your career journey solo?
00:00:26
Speaker
Or maybe you're curious about conquering career plateaus, overcoming imposter syndrome, or leading with unwavering confidence. Well, I promise you are in the right place.
00:00:38
Speaker
Every week, my guests and I will share our own challenges and successes. We'll talk about everything from career development to leadership to even work-life balance. Expect a healthy dose of authenticity and of course, our tips and tricks that will have you navigating your career with a newfound confidence.
00:00:58
Speaker
Don't miss out on the knowledge drop, y'all. Hit that like, subscribe, and follow button on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app. Trust me, you won't want to miss an episode.
00:01:12
Speaker
Because this is the good guide, where we're not just chasing success, we're defining it. Are you ready to elevate your career game? Let's dive in.
Shannara's Early Interview Experiences
00:01:26
Speaker
So this week I'm going to talk about something that is probably a bit controversial, but hear me out. Okay. Controversial statement.
00:01:38
Speaker
I, Shannara Janelle Good, love to interview. pause for a dramatic effect yes that's exactly what i said i love interviewing i love the interview process i love meeting new people i love coming up with questions i love researching the company you name it and i thoroughly enjoy it
00:02:14
Speaker
But, well, I would even say but. I think I've always been that way. I think I've genuinely always been someone that enjoys interviewing. And I think ultimately the reason behind that is because to me, an interview really is one of those rare moments that you get interview.
00:02:35
Speaker
Call it brag, call it showcase, call it whatever you want. But it's the moment where you really get to talk about your talents and what makes you qualified for a role.
00:02:49
Speaker
I don't feel like we get a lot of chances to really like gloat about ourselves and to really share our accomplishments and share what makes us qualified for something. And those are the that is one of the few opportunities that we get to do that guilt-free.
00:03:06
Speaker
In today's episode, I want to share a few of my tactics and maybe just a few funny stories that I've had throughout my career When it comes to interviewing and I think why I've really enjoyed the process and have really over the years, especially kind of gained even more confidence than I had initially started out with at the beginning of my professional career.
00:03:36
Speaker
I think back to the very first interview i ever had. So i went to boarding school for high school. It was something that I don't know, my mom and I kind of just came up with together at the time that i was in eighth grade.
00:03:53
Speaker
The school system growing up in Southern California, the school system just wasn't I don't know. I don't want to crap on it and say that it was horrid and awful, but i was definitely someone who excelled in the classroom setting.
00:04:10
Speaker
And I didn't really feel like I had a ton of support on advanced placement or on just learning in an advanced way.
00:04:24
Speaker
I was acing all my classes and I'm not saying all this to be like, yes, I was amazing because believe me later on, once I got into boarding school, things were tough. But my point is that I needed a bigger challenge. So my mom and I decided i was going to go to boarding school.
00:04:39
Speaker
A part of the boarding school process, though, was that I had to interview. I specifically had, i want to say maybe three to four different interviews, just depending on the school that I was applying to.
00:04:52
Speaker
And a lot of times that looks like interviewing with academics. So interviewing with the professors or the headmasters or things like that. And sometimes it was even interviewing with maybe students that I would be going to school with.
00:05:04
Speaker
Crazy. i haven't thought about this in like forever, but either way. So I was exposed to the idea of interviewing basically at the age of 13, which is kind of wild. So that was probably the first time that to me, the concept of like, okay, I now have to sell myself. I now have to explain to an individual that does not know me why I deserve to be a part of their organization. Like what a thought, you know?
00:05:35
Speaker
So that was my very first experience interviewing. And I'd say probably i i wish someone would have recorded what I looked like interviewing. Like I wish I would have been able to see like 13 year old Shannara just like, hi, i want to go to school because just because.
00:05:52
Speaker
Anyway, so fast forward to being in school. i had to interview for a, I was like a head prefect of the house
Corporate Interview Challenges and Learning
00:06:02
Speaker
that I lived in.
00:06:03
Speaker
Yes, it very much sounds like Harry Potter. And yes, it pretty much was except for the magic and the fact that I went to school in Georgia and not the UK. But I had to interview for that role as well.
00:06:17
Speaker
And then later I had to interview for college. So when I think about by the time I got to interviewing for like internships and full time work, I at least had three significant and successful interview experiences that you know were underneath my belt.
00:06:36
Speaker
And i feel like I had a lot of people that guided me along the way to really get to that point. So I say all of this because i guess I don't want it to come off as if like I've always been good at interviewing and it's something that I've you know just naturally was able to do, but it was something that I enjoyed.
00:06:57
Speaker
And I want to make sure there's a stark difference between was I a good interviewer versus did I enjoy interviewing? Was I good? i don't know. Cause I couldn't go back and watch myself, but did I enjoy it? Yes. Because it genuinely felt like one of those, um, times where I could sell myself, um, and really root for myself to either get a job or get into school or whatever that is.
00:07:24
Speaker
yeah. Let's talk about interviewing in the corporate setting though, because that was strictly tied to school. And by the time I got to my sophomore year, when I was interviewing for internships was really the first time that I was introduced to various forms of interview styles.
00:07:42
Speaker
And what I mean by that is, for example, I remember interviewing for Kohl's and that interview, I was literally in a room with, and it was timeout. tiny, tiny room. I like remember this vividly. It was a tiny, tiny room and i was interviewing with three other people.
00:07:58
Speaker
So three other sophomore to juniors, whatever. And then i was being interviewed by three panelists. So we were in this tiny room packed with six people in an interview setting.
00:08:12
Speaker
When I say I was probably like sweating bullets, like I'm not even kidding. And on top of that, it was like a case study type interview to where basically were given the case, you had to solve it with zero retail knowledge. Like I was a retail major, but like I didn't really have any knowledge about retail methods and things like that. But Either way, we were given this packet.
00:08:38
Speaker
We had 15 minutes to kind of like come together or come up with our own solution. And then we basically had to sit for the rest of the time. And it was like an hour interview explaining how we got to the thought process that we came to. Y'all, as a sophomore, that is so terrifying.
00:08:58
Speaker
Like I was terrified.
00:09:03
Speaker
And quite frankly, I feel like that type of interview setup, it was so common back then. i don't know if that's how they interview these days, but it was so common back then.
00:09:14
Speaker
And hated it. Talk about an interview process that I actually hated. it was that one. Because I didn't like the idea of sure, i'm competing against other people. Obviously, it's a job application. Like I know I'm not the only one applying.
00:09:27
Speaker
But to sit in a room with others that you are applying with and basically be asked to have a pissing contest, like that's what it felt like. Didn't enjoy it.
00:09:38
Speaker
Wouldn't recommend it. i hope they've gone away from it.
Interview Preparation and Mock Interviews
00:09:40
Speaker
Okay. let's fast forward to today and why i specifically wanted to talk about interviewing this week in particular and actually over the last couple of weeks i've had a few opportunities to have mock interviews with people within my organization that are interviewing for certain roles and i've also mocked with people that i've asked to help me prep for an interview But I realized that that within itself is such a privilege and something that I don't know if it's specific to the company that I work at.
00:10:13
Speaker
um I guarantee it's not. But i do think it's such a wonderful privilege to be able to have that experience of like prior to going into an interview, like let's do it a test run.
00:10:24
Speaker
So i wanted to spend some time today providing tips and tricks and just things like that that I typically lean on when I'm interviewing because I also realized in doing mocks with other people who are trying to prep for their interview, it's something that I like really enjoy. i get so much joy out of helping someone prep and feel confident going into an interview opportunity.
00:10:53
Speaker
Typically, it's for a job that they're super duper excited for or something that they're like, oh, this is a little bit of a reach, but I want to go for it anyway. And for me, it's like, what better way to be a part of someone's journey as they hopefully get a job that they've been gunning for than to like help them really kind of feel grounded and feel really sure in their decision to move forward said position.
00:11:17
Speaker
So something that I thoroughly enjoy and I wanted to share a little bit of that with you. All right, so I'm going to set up the scenario. I a role posted on LinkedIn. Maybe it's posted internally at your company, whatever platform that they use, but a role has been posted.
00:11:35
Speaker
First of all, I'm going to freak out because I have been waiting for this role to be posted. I'm so excited. I know I'm qualified. Click apply. Let's go. All right. Next step, a couple weeks later, or maybe it's a week or maybe it's a day. I'm getting ah response saying, Hey, Shannara, we're about to interview you.
00:11:53
Speaker
Here's the date and time. Be there or be square. Again, another freak out moment. I'm like, Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. This is it. What do I do? Take a deep breath.
00:12:05
Speaker
So tip number one, take a deep breath. You got the interview. That's great. That means that your skill set came through a virtual platform that isn't your face or anything about you other than your resume and your past job experience. So like you sit out on paper, which is fantastic.
00:12:25
Speaker
Now you are going to meet these people in person, maybe remotely, maybe actually in person. And you finally get to put your face to your skill set. And that should actually be probably one of the most relieving moments in this entire process.
00:12:42
Speaker
Because who can sell you better than you? A resume is really only going to go so far, right? This is your moment to like talk yourself up.
00:12:54
Speaker
So like get excited about this opportunity. Tactically though, What I typically start off with is question sourcing. So something that my company does in advance of an interview is they provide like the HR specialist or whoever will provide a potential list of questions.
00:13:17
Speaker
Now, if I was external to a company and I was applying, obviously, you probably won't have that list of questions, but there's so many platforms and apps and things like that. And honestly, what I've done in the past is gone into and by the past, I meant near past because chat GBC has not been anything for that long. But you could also utilize things like chat GBT to type in, give me some interview questions if I were applying for a supply chain job, whatever.
00:13:42
Speaker
But anyway, I've obtained a list of questions that are potential that are that will be potentially asked throughout said interview. The first thing that I do is I will literally write out my responses to said interview questions.
00:13:59
Speaker
Now, I try and start by writing them out in probably the most professional and kind of like buttoned up way. So if a question is asking me something, I am going to touch on all of the exact points or the right points that I want to hit on.
00:14:16
Speaker
I'm not interlacing conversational wording or anything like that. I'm strictly kind of creating the perfect thing that I would want to say. And that I will do for every question that maybe I've researched or has been provided to me ahead of time.
00:14:33
Speaker
My second round, I'm now putting my spin and personality and just kind of lighter touch on said questions.
00:14:44
Speaker
And the reason that I do this is because first I want to know the exact thing that I want to say. And then I want to write down how myself as Shanara Good would interlace my personality into the thing that I would want to say.
00:14:59
Speaker
So find that being able to do or differentiate between the two really helps me with repetition, first of all, because if I'm repeating something over and over again, it kind of gets stuck in my mind.
00:15:12
Speaker
And secondly, I think it just kind of puts a little bit of ease into, okay, I'm going to say something in a more casual way than how maybe I would want to say it or maybe what's the perfect way to go about saying it.
00:15:28
Speaker
Does that make sense? Hopefully I didn't talk into a circle, but that's one of the things that I really love to do. After I've done, I've written it out in like full sentences, the more casual way, the third and final time I'm putting pen to paper around these questions is bullets.
00:15:45
Speaker
And here's why especially if you're interviewing in a remote setting where maybe you're able to have questions up on your screen as you're interviewing with a person. What I don't want to do is say I have the sentences laid out right next to me and I'm looking at a video.
00:16:02
Speaker
Number one, my eyes are going to keep shifting right from the person to the write out. And that comes off very obvious in a video call.
00:16:12
Speaker
The second reason why that's not a good idea is you then are reading a sentence and God forbid you miss one sentence, you're now suddenly thrown off. So the third time that I go through writing something down pen to paper, what I'm actually doing is bulleting out points.
00:16:29
Speaker
So again, I'm taking my key comments or things that I want to say, topics, etc. And I'm bulleting those out per question so that if I do happen to have a remote interview or interview that's like over Zoom in general, if I want to have something up on my screen, I'm just seeing bullet points that help jog my memory as opposed to a sentence that's going to keep me kind of focused on reading something line by line.
00:16:54
Speaker
So when it comes to the first thing that I do for an interview, it's that. It's the more tactical kind of pen to paper. I'm someone who in school, I would write flashcards for everything because it really helped with memorization. So if that's something that resonates with you, that's something that I would highly, highly recommend because it just really helps me to fine tune what I want to say when I have a preview to whatever the questions are going to be.
Communicating Passion and Confidence in Interviews
00:17:22
Speaker
So that's one of my first tips and one that i still to this day use like every single time I go into interview, that's what I do. The next thing that I do is I try and think about like my mission statement.
00:17:39
Speaker
You could think of it as a mission statement, an elevator pitch, whatever. But when I go into an interview, I know that there is one sentence that I am going to nail. And it's that kind of like very initial pitch of who you are.
00:17:52
Speaker
Typically for me, it's like, okay, the question might be, tell me why you are qualified for this role. That is my immediate like trigger to, all right, here's where I insert my elevator pitch or my kind of mission statement.
00:18:09
Speaker
So I would highly recommend for anyone that's going into an interview, come up with your one to two sentence sentence. elevator pitch, have it in your back pocket. Because to me, that is the way that you synthesize who you are and what makes you qualified for this role.
00:18:28
Speaker
It's also kind of, what do they call that? Like the kind of the power stance? To me, it's like the sentence version of power stance. It's like that moment where you were like, this is who I am. My chin is held high.
00:18:43
Speaker
I believe in myself. These are all of the amazing qualities that I have. Like it is your power statement sentence. actually like that that's saying power statement sentence.
00:18:53
Speaker
I'm going to coin that. No one can steal it from me. So now whether actually you are external or internal to the company or the role that you're applying for, Obviously do your research on the role. That is, I feel like interviewing 101.
00:19:08
Speaker
one a wine Also, you probably have done that based off the fact that you've applied for the role, but just make sure that you're doing a thorough interview or excuse me, a thorough kind of analysis of the role.
00:19:21
Speaker
Make sure that you are digging through kind of key terms and words that are utilized in the JD. Okay. I typically like to kind of reuse those same terms in my interview because to me, it shows to the interviewer that I truly know what I'm applying for.
00:19:46
Speaker
i truly know what the role needs and what it entails. And it's almost kind of like SEO, right? It's like I'm using the keywords that will resonate with the interviewer.
00:20:01
Speaker
Now, I'll give you guys a personal story that I even just recently went through. So as I've been looking to my next role, because I know I'm ready for the next thing, I've been applying for different jobs.
00:20:12
Speaker
And I recently sat in on an interview for a job that like, did i know it was the job? Like, I knew deep down that it wasn't the job for me. did i have a ton of belief in the fact that I could do the job, that I could execute on the job? 100%. have the skills that that would qualify me for the job. And so I still went to that interview confident and ready to kind of take it on.
00:20:39
Speaker
But I think another thing to really be mindful of, and whether you want to kind of slot this as an interview tip or not, is is your passion for the actual role showing through.
00:20:52
Speaker
If it is a job that you truly want, ensure that that passion for that specific job is coming through. So continuing on on on my story, I think that I had a great interview and I think I nailed it.
00:21:07
Speaker
I interviewed with three different people that were on the current team, interviewed with the hiring manager, interviewed with someone who would be a peer. And then I kind of interviewed with someone who had the job, but like not in the specific area that I was interviewing for.
00:21:20
Speaker
So when I get the turndown call a couple of days after I actually had the interview, I had a one-on-one, a face-to-face with the hiring manager. And her feedback was this, you nailed the interview. You did a great job of selling yourself. You did a great job of showcasing your skill sets.
00:21:38
Speaker
What we felt in the interview was that you weren't passionate about this role specifically. And as soon as she said that, when it was you know my turn to talk, I kind of let her finish her her comments.
00:21:51
Speaker
And when it was my turn to talk, I was like, thank you. Thank you for, number one, seeing something that I wasn't necessarily intentionally giving off, but in my words, came across loud and clear.
00:22:11
Speaker
I knew deep down, and I said this to her, I knew deep down, I didn't necessarily...
00:22:17
Speaker
want, absolutely need, feel like this was the job for me. I knew that. Did I know I could excel at the job? Yes. But at the end of the day, i knew there was probably something else that I wanted more. And when I tell you, i was so relieved when she gave me that feedback and when she even told me, hey, we're going to turn you down.
00:22:40
Speaker
This isn't the right role for you. It kind of made me realize how maybe disingenuous I was being with myself. So I think it's really important that if you're going into an interview for a job that you really truly want, make sure that that passion is coming through.
00:22:57
Speaker
Especially if you're someone who's really overt and really authentic in an interview setting, it's going to come off if it's not something that you really want. So think about that prior to going into the interview. Like,
00:23:09
Speaker
Is this the role for me? Is this really, really what I want to go after? Lastly, i would just say in general, confidence goes a long way and confidence isn't one size fits all.
00:23:22
Speaker
Everyone's got their own version of what being a confident interviewer looks like. For me, I think my confidence comes out in the way that I hold myself. I feel like I tend to be pretty relaxed. I feel like I tend to...
00:23:37
Speaker
be able to make eye contact. I tend to use my hands a lot and not in like a frantic kind of way, but I use it conversationally. And I think that's how I come off as confident.
00:23:48
Speaker
In addition to, i know myself, I know who I am. And I know, typically I know the roles that I'm going into or that I'm applying for and like why I'm qualified for the job. But that's something that I also feel like is grounded in the fact that I am super like true to myself and I am super authentic as an individual.
00:24:06
Speaker
However, that doesn't mean that is what confidence needs to look like for you. For example, if you're going for like a really technical job, like that confidence is going to show through in the terms that you use and the examples that you use for your interview.
00:24:25
Speaker
So don't feel like you have to be the most, I think even when I was mocking with somebody the last couple weeks ago, they were like, I i come off so nervous. I feel like I'm, I am always stuttering and and blah, blah, blah. And I was like,
00:24:41
Speaker
It's okay. It's okay to not necessarily be the smooth talker in an interview. Are you utilizing the right examples that showcase your skill set?
00:24:53
Speaker
Are you answering their questions thoroughly? Are you showcasing that you're listening and that you're really tuned into the interview? Because all of those things to me come off as someone one who is confidently presenting themselves in an interview setting.
00:25:10
Speaker
So don't necessarily worry about, oh God, I have to be calm, cool, and collected, and I can never stutter, and I can never like ask for a beat. I think that's another thing that we don't do enough of is like in an interview, Ask someone to repeat a question or ask someone for a second for you to think like it's OK to not have an answer to a question immediately.
00:25:31
Speaker
Like take your time, breathe through it. If you got as far as to get an interview, obviously the interview committee saw something in you that they felt made you qualified for the role.
00:25:43
Speaker
So believe in yourself enough to know that you got to this point. And then from there, let your skillset shine through in any way that's authentic to you.
00:25:56
Speaker
I would give that advice to anyone who would come to me asking like what advice that I'd have. And I hope this has prepped you going into your next interview.
00:26:09
Speaker
And if you ever have any questions or especially if you and I have a personal connection and you're listening to this and you're like, hey, have a specific question about an interview that I'm going into. Like I am always so happy to connect with anyone. Like I said, I thoroughly enjoy helping others prep for their interview process because i know so many people have poured into helping me prep for my interview processes.
00:26:33
Speaker
So don't be a stranger. If you ever need help, I'm happy to give it to you. Have a good day, y'all. Thank you so much for tuning in to this episode of The Good Guide, the podcast dedicated to guiding you through every twist and turn in your career journey. If you loved this episode, make sure to leave those five-star reviews and share this podcast with a friend, loved one, or hey, even a colleague.
00:26:58
Speaker
If you have a topic that you'd like for me to tackle, check out this week's show notes for links to where you can submit your question. It might even be featured during the Q&A segment of the next episode.
00:27:09
Speaker
But first, make sure to subscribe to the podcast so you don't miss a beat. Take care, y'all.