WEBVTT 1 00:00:07.040 --> 00:00:10.640 Hello, Hi, what's up, and welcome back to another episode of the 2 00:00:10.679 --> 00:00:15.359 Straight Shooter Recruiter podcast. It's your host, in, producer and everything because 3 00:00:15.359 --> 00:00:19.000 it's a one woman show, Emilye. Durham. Thank you so much for 4 00:00:19.079 --> 00:00:23.079 taking the time to listen to this week's episode. This is one that is 5 00:00:23.600 --> 00:00:29.399 particularly close to my heart because my mom is interviewing for a new job and 6 00:00:29.440 --> 00:00:33.640 she's super excited. She's been looking for the last couple of weeks applied for 7 00:00:33.679 --> 00:00:37.039 this position. I'm going to tell you exactly how I helped her get this 8 00:00:37.159 --> 00:00:41.320 interview, and it's something you can easily replicate in your job search. And 9 00:00:41.439 --> 00:00:45.479 she's literally preparing for her first round interview next week, and we were talking 10 00:00:45.560 --> 00:00:49.159 on the phone about tips and tricks for a first round interview, and I 11 00:00:49.200 --> 00:00:51.719 was like, oh my gosh, should I just make this a podcast episode? 12 00:00:51.759 --> 00:00:54.840 And she was like, yes, please, I would love to listen 13 00:00:54.880 --> 00:00:58.600 back. So we literally hung up and now I'm recording this episode. So 14 00:00:58.960 --> 00:01:03.880 this is the all in one, one stop shop guide for how to ace 15 00:01:03.960 --> 00:01:07.560 your first round interview, your pre screen interview because it's different, it's different 16 00:01:07.599 --> 00:01:12.760 than the other rounds. Friendly reminder two shot my merch the merchan goes crazy 17 00:01:14.159 --> 00:01:17.879 friendly reminder to also leave a rating and a review for this show. That's 18 00:01:17.920 --> 00:01:22.519 how we grow Hello, it's important. And also just grab a coffee. 19 00:01:22.519 --> 00:01:26.000 I'm currently having a black coffee. Did add a splash of almond milk to 20 00:01:26.120 --> 00:01:27.959 bex it was a little too dark, So grab a cup of Joe and 21 00:01:29.079 --> 00:01:32.200 let's go. Also, before we jump in, I don't suspect you'll be 22 00:01:32.239 --> 00:01:34.840 able to hear it, but you might hear TV in the background, so 23 00:01:34.000 --> 00:01:37.560 apologies in advance if you do. But I think we should be fine. 24 00:01:37.920 --> 00:01:40.680 Okay. I want to start off by telling you how I helped my mom 25 00:01:40.760 --> 00:01:44.719 get this interview. She found this job on LinkedIn that was super exciting to 26 00:01:44.760 --> 00:01:47.480 her and I was like, girl, if you just apply, that's not 27 00:01:47.719 --> 00:01:49.799 enough. We need to take it to the next level. There's hundreds of 28 00:01:49.879 --> 00:01:55.120 applicants, especially this time of year. Believe it or not, January is 29 00:01:55.159 --> 00:01:59.760 one of the best times to apply for jobs because companies have their budgets renewed 30 00:02:00.040 --> 00:02:04.079 and they're actually able to post new positions. It also means that everyone else 31 00:02:04.120 --> 00:02:06.719 knows this, so there is more competition, so you really have to go 32 00:02:06.760 --> 00:02:09.280 above and beyond. So my mom applied for this job, and I told 33 00:02:09.280 --> 00:02:13.240 her, I was like, go on LinkedIn and look up the recruiter for 34 00:02:13.280 --> 00:02:15.439 this company, and she's like, how do I know who it is? 35 00:02:15.879 --> 00:02:17.680 And it doesn't matter. It doesn't need to be the perfect person or the 36 00:02:17.759 --> 00:02:23.319 right person. But take to LinkedIn and say, I'm like recruiter at Google 37 00:02:23.439 --> 00:02:25.159 or I always use Google as an example, but like recruiter at Google, 38 00:02:25.439 --> 00:02:29.120 find a bunch of them, see who's in the area, and send them 39 00:02:29.159 --> 00:02:32.360 a message. Chances are they may not be the perfect person I don't know 40 00:02:32.479 --> 00:02:37.159 to like recruit for that job. Maybe they're not the actual recruiter, but 41 00:02:37.199 --> 00:02:39.280 they're going to know the other rest the other members of the team, so 42 00:02:39.599 --> 00:02:44.039 it's a great idea to do that. I also had her look up the 43 00:02:44.120 --> 00:02:46.080 manager for the recruiting team and do the same thing, and it was the 44 00:02:46.159 --> 00:02:50.919 manager who responded said, oh my gosh, you actually have an amazing resume. 45 00:02:51.039 --> 00:02:53.080 Let me go message my team boom. Within a day, my mom 46 00:02:53.120 --> 00:02:57.719 had an interview. So that's a great tip. What I want to focus 47 00:02:57.759 --> 00:03:01.280 on is what is important and what's different about a pre screening or first round 48 00:03:01.319 --> 00:03:06.400 interview. Really, the goal for those interviews is kind of unique. The 49 00:03:06.439 --> 00:03:08.520 goal is to kind of get a sense of if you are of values fit 50 00:03:08.639 --> 00:03:13.000 or like a culture fit for the company, and if you have the baseline 51 00:03:13.039 --> 00:03:15.919 skills. Ultimately, at this stage, they're not going to go crazy deep 52 00:03:15.960 --> 00:03:21.240 into your hands on or your technical skills. It's more so for them to 53 00:03:21.280 --> 00:03:23.639 get like a flavor of could you potentially be a fit. It really is 54 00:03:23.759 --> 00:03:29.840 a pre screen prequalification, and there's a formula that almost all of these interviews 55 00:03:29.919 --> 00:03:32.360 follow that if you're prepared to answer questions around this, you're going to be 56 00:03:32.360 --> 00:03:37.759 successful. First thing you need to do go to that company's website and take 57 00:03:37.759 --> 00:03:40.919 a look at that job description again and pay attention to the skills they've listed 58 00:03:40.960 --> 00:03:46.560 out. Is project management important? Is data management important? What are the 59 00:03:46.599 --> 00:03:50.599 skills they're looking for and write those down because that's how we're going to make 60 00:03:50.599 --> 00:03:53.879 sure we're staying ahead and staying on top of what they're going to look for. 61 00:03:53.199 --> 00:03:55.560 So we're going to start there piece of paper. You're going to write 62 00:03:55.560 --> 00:03:59.599 down the five or six skills and those are going to be relevant in a 63 00:03:59.639 --> 00:04:03.000 second. The first question you are always going to be asked is tell me 64 00:04:03.080 --> 00:04:06.879 a little bit about yourself and the best way to answer this is in less 65 00:04:06.879 --> 00:04:10.479 than two and a half minutes. You don't want it to go on much 66 00:04:10.520 --> 00:04:13.919 longer than that, and you just simply need to say who you are, 67 00:04:14.240 --> 00:04:16.720 what you do, what you're looking for. I'm Emily Durham. I'm a 68 00:04:16.759 --> 00:04:21.720 senior recruiter and a content creator. I'm an expert in developing sales and technology, 69 00:04:21.839 --> 00:04:27.560 recruitment strategies and execution. I'm looking for an opportunity to grow my career 70 00:04:27.600 --> 00:04:30.399 in a leadership capacity at a tech recruitment firm Boom. It is as simple 71 00:04:30.439 --> 00:04:33.839 as that. It is six seconds, six seconds, It is six sentences, 72 00:04:34.160 --> 00:04:38.319 and that's it. You don't want to do like it all started back 73 00:04:38.399 --> 00:04:42.720 in eighteen nineteen, like no simple sweet. If they have questions, they'll 74 00:04:42.720 --> 00:04:46.560 ask, So that's the first question. The next is why are you looking 75 00:04:46.800 --> 00:04:50.399 or why are you interested in this job. It's a great idea to be 76 00:04:50.480 --> 00:04:55.360 honest in these conversations, right, Like you don't need to have a contrived 77 00:04:55.399 --> 00:04:58.839 answer, but be prepared to answer that if you're stuck. One of the 78 00:04:58.879 --> 00:05:01.639 easiest things you can say is I've really enjoyed my time at my current company. 79 00:05:01.920 --> 00:05:05.240 I'm looking to continue to grow and I saw this posting and was just 80 00:05:05.399 --> 00:05:11.399 really energized and excited by insert the skills that you wrote down earlier from the 81 00:05:11.439 --> 00:05:14.079 job description. So it might sound like this, you know, I'm not 82 00:05:14.120 --> 00:05:17.560 actively looking. I saw the posting for a Google recruiter on your website and 83 00:05:17.600 --> 00:05:21.079 I saw how data focused and customer obsessed you have to be for the role, 84 00:05:21.360 --> 00:05:24.839 and I got really excited because that's what I love to do. So 85 00:05:25.000 --> 00:05:28.360 I really wanted to throw my hat in the ring. That's an amazing answer. 86 00:05:28.399 --> 00:05:31.240 So those are a couple of the first two questions that you're gonna get. 87 00:05:31.680 --> 00:05:35.279 The recruiter is probably then going to give you an explanation of the position, 88 00:05:35.439 --> 00:05:39.920 what you can expect, what the process looks like. She's gonna you 89 00:05:39.959 --> 00:05:43.639 know, they're going to ask if you have any questions. It's totally appropriate 90 00:05:43.680 --> 00:05:47.519 to ask questions. Some of my favorites at this stage are what does success 91 00:05:47.600 --> 00:05:51.680 look like in this role? What does your ideal candidate look like when you 92 00:05:51.720 --> 00:05:57.480 think about what successful people at this company do differently, what is that How 93 00:05:57.759 --> 00:06:01.439 do you kind of project that sess factor or that growth. So have a 94 00:06:01.480 --> 00:06:06.680 couple of really strong questions because they're definitely going to ask, and then typically 95 00:06:06.759 --> 00:06:11.160 they're going to go into the more technical questions. Don't worry, you don't 96 00:06:11.160 --> 00:06:14.560 get super technical in a first round interview. But they're just trying to get 97 00:06:14.560 --> 00:06:16.600 a flavor of if you can do the things you said you could do on 98 00:06:16.639 --> 00:06:20.199 your resume. And this is again where that skills list comes into play, 99 00:06:20.240 --> 00:06:24.839 because I want you to look at that list and anticipate some of the questions. 100 00:06:25.439 --> 00:06:27.720 If you get stuck, you can also just like Google, Hey, 101 00:06:27.839 --> 00:06:30.439 questions about project management for an interview, and you'll know how to answer. 102 00:06:30.720 --> 00:06:35.240 But those kind of skills they've listed are clearly what they're looking to assess for. 103 00:06:35.519 --> 00:06:39.639 They're probably going to ask you tell me a little bit about your experience 104 00:06:39.680 --> 00:06:43.600 with answer whatever that skill is. Can you tell me a time where you 105 00:06:43.639 --> 00:06:46.920 had to collaborate with the team and there was some challenge. Can you tell 106 00:06:46.920 --> 00:06:50.120 me about a time you had to escalate a concern? Like think of those 107 00:06:50.279 --> 00:06:54.480 more specific questions, and a bunch of those are just accessible on Google. 108 00:06:54.959 --> 00:06:59.120 And I told my mom this too. Whatever you do do, do do 109 00:06:59.199 --> 00:07:01.680 not do not write out a full answer or a script. What you're going 110 00:07:01.759 --> 00:07:05.000 to want to do is bullet point notes, like you want notes that you 111 00:07:05.040 --> 00:07:09.319 can reference. You don't want it to feel like a script, so you're 112 00:07:09.319 --> 00:07:13.839 going to write those bullet point notes. So to summarize your actual interview structure 113 00:07:13.920 --> 00:07:15.800 is going to be tell me about yourself, why do you want this job. 114 00:07:16.120 --> 00:07:18.680 You're going to learn about the position. You're going to ask a couple 115 00:07:18.680 --> 00:07:21.639 of questions, and they're gonna have technical questions for you. That's it. 116 00:07:21.639 --> 00:07:25.720 That's usually all you need to do. So the best thing you can do 117 00:07:25.800 --> 00:07:29.120 to prepare is go on that site, have a couple of examples ready, 118 00:07:29.839 --> 00:07:33.360 and get familiar with the best ways to answer questions. I have an entire 119 00:07:33.480 --> 00:07:38.040 YouTube video about this, so I won't go into super you know, like 120 00:07:38.399 --> 00:07:42.360 crazy detail, but answering with the Star method is the best thing you can 121 00:07:42.399 --> 00:07:45.600 do. Star stands for the situation, the task, the action, and 122 00:07:45.639 --> 00:07:48.519 the result, and you have a couple of sentences that represent each of those 123 00:07:48.600 --> 00:07:51.560 when you answer. Again, Like, I won't go crazy in detail because 124 00:07:51.560 --> 00:07:54.920 I've talked about this a lot, Like I have to talk about the Star 125 00:07:55.000 --> 00:07:57.839 method all the time, but it's because it works, Like it's an amazing 126 00:07:57.879 --> 00:08:01.959 way to make sure you're giving the right LIAE level of information without it getting 127 00:08:01.959 --> 00:08:05.000 a little you know, a little choppoloo, a little bit too much information, 128 00:08:05.199 --> 00:08:09.600 So make sure you're preparing for that. Another thing I would say is 129 00:08:09.319 --> 00:08:13.079 do a good creep of the person who is interviewing you on LinkedIn. Not 130 00:08:13.160 --> 00:08:16.160 a bad idea to ask some targeted questions like, Hey, I saw you 131 00:08:16.279 --> 00:08:18.639 used to work at this company. What was that experience like for you? 132 00:08:18.639 --> 00:08:22.319 You know, shows that you do your research, shows that you do your 133 00:08:22.319 --> 00:08:26.199 homework, and the other kind of portion of it is almost the confidence. 134 00:08:26.240 --> 00:08:31.519 So the confidence around you know, answering those questions, are you comfortable, 135 00:08:31.800 --> 00:08:35.399 are you nervous? Are you speaking too quickly? Too slowly? The best 136 00:08:35.440 --> 00:08:39.279 way to test for that is to record yourself answering interview questions on your phone 137 00:08:39.399 --> 00:08:43.960 and then watch it back to understand do I speak quickly? Do I speak 138 00:08:43.960 --> 00:08:48.240 too slowly? Am I using filler words? And being aware of those habits 139 00:08:48.320 --> 00:08:50.559 is half the battle, because once you know you might have the prepentancy to 140 00:08:50.600 --> 00:08:54.120 speak quickly when you're nervous, or to use filler words like like, or 141 00:08:54.919 --> 00:08:58.320 you end up doing it less because you know it's a potential risk and that 142 00:08:58.360 --> 00:09:01.120 it's a thing you do. You know, Okay, that was like actually 143 00:09:01.120 --> 00:09:05.559 seven minutes of non stop talking. But it really is like the end to 144 00:09:05.679 --> 00:09:09.799 end comprehensive guide. First round interviews are not that painful. They are really 145 00:09:09.840 --> 00:09:11.840 about just getting a better sense of who you are and what you want. 146 00:09:11.919 --> 00:09:16.639 It's not meant to be super stressful, so I hope it helps. If 147 00:09:16.639 --> 00:09:18.240 you have a first round interview, you have to let me know how it 148 00:09:18.320 --> 00:09:22.039 goes. And we are approaching the holiday season, so it's a great time 149 00:09:22.080 --> 00:09:26.080 to brush up on your interview skills and just give yourself the space to explore 150 00:09:26.120 --> 00:09:31.200 a little bit. But I'm super super excited for you. You know, 151 00:09:31.679 --> 00:09:33.639 if you're here, it's because you're looking for a job, but I love 152 00:09:33.679 --> 00:09:37.159 that and I'm super jazzed. I'm actually recording this early because I'm heading out 153 00:09:37.159 --> 00:09:41.639 to go on vacation with Farnas, one of my best friends, this week. 154 00:09:41.720 --> 00:09:45.399 So if you're listening to this, I'm probably on my flight to Jamaica 155 00:09:45.639 --> 00:09:48.960 woo. If you're interested in following along, I'll be posting a lot on 156 00:09:48.960 --> 00:09:52.360 Instagram and on TikTok. But thank you so much for hanging out with me. 157 00:09:52.399 --> 00:09:54.799 I appreciate you much, Lee, and I'll talk to you later.