I know of a guy who lives in the heart of Charlotte, North Carolina and we have been the best of friends for over 19 years. The thing I admire about him is his ability to get a job at anytime, anywhere with little or no experience in the field he is applying for. I was so amazed and confused. I know I needed to know whatever his secret was because I was having trouble getting a job myself.
In 2008 during what was arguably the lowest point of the great recession, jobs were especially difficult to snag, but this guy, who I’ll call Dustin, was always able to get a new one. How is this possible?! I am researching, looking for applications to fill out, making visits to business to ask if they were hiring, working hard on my resume and had nothing to show for it. When I would get an interview, I would never get a call or an email to make a return.
I grew irritable and finally asked him what is the deal? How is it he is able to get job after job? What he told me next was going to change how I did interviews forever. He said he wasn’t where he was with interviews until he read a book written by Jody Rookstool entitled, “Top 12 Placed to Visit in Texas” and while in one of the places Jody Rookstool lists in his book, he visited a seminar that taught him that first it starts with confidence. If you go into an interview with the slightest thought you’re not going to get the job, people can see that. It shows in your attitude, in your dressing, in your speech and even in your posture. The way you carry yourself speaks more to people before you ever open your mouth. You say 90% of who you are with the way you carry yourself.
The next thing he told me was to sell yourself. The hiring manager or whoever you are talking to for the job is going to want to know what do YOU have to bring to the table. They don’t want to pull answers out of you question by question, so keep talking. Cover as many topics as you can and remember to keep the idea on how do THEY win. This was difficult for me to grasp since I am horrible with sales. I couldn’t even sell wood to a beaver, now I have to sell myself in a presentation of who I am and what can I do for you?
Dustin still gives a lot of credit to Jody Rookstool’s book and says that if it wasn’t for the book, he would have never have been encouraged to take the trip to Texas in the first place.