267: CRUSH Your Next Job Interview: Transform Your Nerves into Confidence

Unlock the secrets to mastering your job interviews and transforming anxiety into confidence. Imagine walking into your next interview not overwhelmed by nerves or fixated on the outcome, but fully present and prepared to showcase your unique value. This episode promises to equip you with essential mindset shifts to revolutionize your approach to interviews. Say goodbye to the common pitfalls that hinder your storytelling, and learn to engage with interviewers effectively by focusing on their needs and demonstrating how you can solve their problems.

You'll discover how to treat interviews like a strategic sales call, where you highlight the extraordinary results only you can deliver. Let's move beyond the generic traits and step into a space where your true strengths shine. Plus, you'll get a sneak peek into my new interview preparation course, a comprehensive guide designed to enhance your skills, boost your confidence, and navigate job offers with grace. Packed with practical insights and actionable strategies, this episode is your ticket to standing out as the top candidate and securing the job you've always wanted.

To learn more about my interview preparation course, visit https://www.johnneral.com/courses.

Chapters

• 0:01 Mastering the Job Interview Mindset
• 4:08 Elevate Your Job Interview Performance

Transcript

John Neral: 0:01

Here's what's holding you back from doing well at your next job interview You're too nervous, you lack confidence in yourself and your abilities to do an excellent job, you have too much fluff in your story and, admittedly, it's turning people off. Or maybe you're too focused on yourself and whether or not you'll get the job yourself and whether or not you'll get the job. This episode is for you if you are currently preparing for a job interview or plan to interview for one soon. In this episode, I'll share with you my number one interview mindset tip, and it's the same thing I coach my private coaching clients on. It'll help you crush your next interview and instantly change the way you show up for it. So let's get started.

John Neral: 1:00

Hello, my friends, this is the Mid-Career GPS Podcast and I'm your host, John Neral. I help mid-career professionals like you find a job they love, or love the job they have, using my proven four-step formula. Let's not waste any time, let's get right into it. The number one mistake you might be making when interviewing for a job is that you're too tied to the outcome. Here's what I mean by that. You are too worried about whether or not you will get the job offer, and then you worry about what you'll do and what you'll negotiate, you are getting way ahead of yourself. There is nothing worse than being in the middle of answering an interview question and worrying whether or not you're going to get the job. See, what you need to be doing is you need to be focused on the task at hand. But so often you can allow yourselves to get distracted and lose focus in thinking about oh, is this really the company I want to work for, or is this the job I really want to be doing, or I just want to get out of this awful job I currently have now? Do you think they'll hire me? You need to be focused on the task at hand, and that is the actual interview the task at hand and that is the actual interview. Another thing where I see people getting too tied to the outcome is that you're filling your mind and your brain with way too much drama and that's taking you away from telling your story Right now. Storytelling is key and you've got to be able to tell that story from a place of value and service, where you focus on the results and what you are going to do for that new company. You can't focus on showing up from a place of value and service when your focus is on whether or not they are going to give you the job or not. So how do you stop all of that? How can I help you today, quiet your mind, to not be so tied to the outcome? It's really a lesson in being present In the interview. It's your opportunity to lean in and listen. What are the interviewers saying to you? Where are they communicating their particular problems or challenges and how are you getting to know them? How can you communicate your value differently than what you are? What are your results, your accomplishments, achievements, your significant milestones, if you will, in your career? That is going to be of value to them and you're going to craft that story in a way that is focused on. Here's how I'm going to help you. Here are the results I've delivered and here's what I see us being able to do in this new role and how I'm going to deliver these results for you here. New role, and how I'm going to deliver these results for you here.

John Neral: 4:08

One of the biggest ways to stop being tied to the outcome is the focus needs to shift, and the focus needs to be on them and not you. So let me ask you this how would you show up for a job interview if you didn't care whether or not you got it? Think about it. Think about an interview you recently had or an interview you're planning to go for. How would you show up for it if you honestly didn't care whether they offered you the job or not? What would that feel like? What would you say? What would that feel like? What would you say? What would you do in the interview if it ultimately didn't matter whether they offered you the job or not? How would your body posture be? How strong would your voice be? Would you be nervous or would you be more confident? Would you be nervous or would you be more confident? Let me offer you this.

John Neral: 5:14

If you treat the interview like a sales call, what would you be selling them? See, here's the thing. You do not need to sell them on you. You are selling them on the results you'll provide for them. Companies don't directly care so much about you. I know that sounds harsh and it sounds cold, but hear me out on this. Where they care about you is what you're going to do for them. What are the results you'll deliver? Because they're going to pay you. They're going to pay you. Well, hopefully, I don't want you to leave any money out on the table here. All right, but they're going to pay you. They want to know what they're going to get for it.

John Neral: 6:02

What you are communicating in the job interview is how you are the solution to their problems. I was recently talking to someone and I asked them about what would they say their strongest points are or their strengths, if you will, as to why a company should hire them. And they said to me oh well, I'm a great communicator and I'm really dependable and I'm a team player. And I went yeah, nobody cares about that. See, they don't care about it because that's expected. You need to find a way to stand out and be different. What's your unique value that you bring? What is that thing that you do better than anybody else that's going to grab their interest and attention and want to know more about why you believe you're the best person for the job. That's what you sell them on. You sell them on the results you will provide for them.

John Neral: 7:01

Companies are coming from one very specific place. They're investing a lot of time, effort, money and energy. Okay, and the money they're investing is the time trying to hire talent when they could be doing other things. Companies want to find the best person for the job, who's going to be the one to solve the problems that they've listed in the job posting. What would it feel like for you if you had more confidence and you knew that the way you prepared for an interview was different than everything you've done, and you were going into that interview feeling more confident and ready to crush it? Well, if you want some help doing this and more I've got something to help you.

John Neral: 7:50

I have just launched a brand new interview preparation course. It is called A Simple Five-Step Strategy for Crushing your Next Interview, and I created this course because I don't want any mid-career professional to struggle on their job interviews. So if you want to save time preparing for your interview I'm guessing that's probably a big one, because more than likely, you're working a full-time job or you're looking for a full-time job, and you've got family and loved ones you're caring for as well, so time is precious. So if you want to save time preparing for your interview, if you want to know how to precisely pinpoint what questions you may be asked, if you want to stop stressing and worrying about your next job interview, if you want to increase your confidence so much that you can use that newfound confidence to answer any question they throw at you and answer it with more impact and results that showcase why you are the best candidate for the job and you want to feel more prepared and ready to make the best impression possible to crush your next interview.

John Neral: 9:07

I want you to check out this course Now. You can learn more about it by looking at the show notes or you can go to my website, https://johnneral. com. That's J-O-H-N-N-E-R-A-L. com. Right at the top of the page there is a tab that says courses. You're going to click on that and you're going to see a tab there that will take you to learn more about this interview preparation course. I have studied the job market, I know what's out there and I put this information into this course that is digestible for you to do literally in less than 90 minutes or in the course of an afternoon.

John Neral: 9:56

It's five modules. There are three bonus lessons within the course. One is on how to negotiate your job offer. The second is on how to avoid being ghosted after the interview and the third are my top 10 interview pet peeves from all of my experiences and hiring talent across organizations and in the work I do with my clients that I get them to avoid doing, and in the work I do with my clients that I get them to avoid doing. But these five simple strategies will change the way you are preparing for your interview.

John Neral: 10:27

So if you want to learn more about this course to help you, go to my website, https://johnneral. com/courses. Learn more about it there. I'd love to have you come on in. One of the best benefits of the course is you get lifetime access to it. So whenever it's updated, you will get those updates as well. But go ahead and check it out.

John Neral: 10:55

This course, I promise you, is something that will absolutely change the way you are looking at interviews, how you are preparing for them and, most importantly, how you are showing up for them. All right, my friends, go check out that course. Either check the show notes, my website, https://johnneral. com/courses. But in the meantime, here's what I want to leave you with. Interviews are all about building relationships. It's your opportunity to build a professional relationship with the interviewer, the hiring manager. Get to know them, get to know their problems and their challenges and communicate your value, but to communicate it in a way that is more impactful and strategic than what you've done.

John Neral: 11:41

We know competition is tough out there. I want you to have the best advantage going into that interview and I hope you'll check out the course. But until next time, remember this you will build your mid-career GPS one mile or one step at a time, and how you show up matters. Make it a great rest of your day. Thank you for listening to the Mid-Career GPS Podcast. Make sure to follow on your favorite listening platform and, if you have a moment, I'd love to hear your comments on Apple Podcasts. Visit johnnarrellcom for more information about how I can help you build your mid-career GPS or how I can help you and your organization. Thank you, you next week. Until then, take care and remember how we show up matters. Thank you.