20) The First Interview

How I Found A Job (9/20) The First Interview I have one real suit. I know this is a casual company, but my personal policy is you dress a little nicer than the company, and I didnt think a suit was out of line. I scoured the company pictures and videos and saw at least one where a guy was in a white shirt and tie okay, suit should be fine. BUT, is my suit outdated? I am not a fashionista, something my kids point out almost daily (those shoes, dad??? That shirt with those pants??). They all have really nice style and I seem to be style-blind with clothes. Would I walk in and my suit might fit just a little off, or the suit color be to 1900s, or the shoes and suit and tie and belt not look good? Sometimes this actually does matter. Probably not as often as we think, though. But it was something on my mind. It was mental junk that could impact my performance at the interview. I drove to BambooHR, planning to get there about 20 minutes early. If there was traffic or a car accident this would have been a problem 12 years ago I would have left to be there about 45 minutes early. But I figured 20 minutes would be good. I had watched every BambooHR video I could, read more blog than I could count, and scoured their site and Instagram and Youtube for any information that would help. I also had the job posting practically memorized. I felt ready, and this took my nerves down a bit. Getting a new job is such a life changing event. Do everything you can to land the right job for you. Take it very seriously and realize that you have but a few minutes to impress everyone, from the front desk person to the people in the parking lot to the person you interview with. When I was a speaker I had a routine Id run through before getting on stage one of the things I would do is mentally chant LEAVE IT ALL ON THE FIELD! I would be done in an hour, and do everything I could to make it the most memorable, impactful experience for attendees. I took this same approach for my interview: leave it all on the field. By the time I got there I was kind of exhausted. I had prepared very well, but I hadnt slept well. But I was going to do the best I could in the few minutes I got. I went to check-in met one of the company founders (and got him mixed up with the other one, thank goodness I didnt mention his name), and then Rusty came down to meet me. With a smile as big as his personality, we exchanged pleasantries and went to his office.   For the next hour or so we had an indepth conversation about my background, history, experience, and things I had done.   He put a lot of our conversation on the white board, which I thought was cool and interesting. It was insightful to see what he captured from what I said, and if he wrote something that I felt might be incomplete later I was able to drill down on that. It was fun, honestly, and going through my accomplishments over the past 12 years (and a little pre-JibberJobber), I felt like YEAH, I am pretty accomplished! How in the world did I do 3 books, create a professional speaking business, run a startup, and do 30 Pluralsight courses?   And a few other things here and there wow, I wasnt as incompetent as maybe I had thought. Before I knew it I was headed back to my car. It went well. Actually, it went REALLY WELL. I cant imagine having done it any better. I left the office knowing that I would likely come in on Thursday to meet with two more people, and hopefully soon after that Id hear, if they liked me, about an offer. Time to wait. And as I mentioned earlier, time to apply to other places, because if I didnt get this perfect opportunity Id be crushed. So I was already starting to put guards in place to deal with that. How I Found A Job (9/20) The First Interview I have one real suit. I know this is a casual company, but my personal policy is you dress a little nicer than the company, and I didnt think a suit was out of line. I scoured the company pictures and videos and saw at least one where a guy was in a white shirt and tie okay, suit should be fine. BUT, is my suit outdated? I am not a fashionista, something my kids point out almost daily (those shoes, dad??? That shirt with those pants??). They all have really nice style and I seem to be style-blind with clothes. Would I walk in and my suit might fit just a little off, or the suit color be to 1900s, or the shoes and suit and tie and belt not look good? Sometimes this actually does matter. Probably not as often as we think, though. But it was something on my mind. It was mental junk that could impact my performance at the interview. I drove to BambooHR, planning to get there about 20 minutes early. If there was traffic or a car accident this would have been a problem 12 years ago I would have left to be there about 45 minutes early. But I figured 20 minutes would be good. I had watched every BambooHR video I could, read more blog than I could count, and scoured their site and Instagram and Youtube for any information that would help. I also had the job posting practically memorized. I felt ready, and this took my nerves down a bit. Getting a new job is such a life changing event. Do everything you can to land the right job for you. Take it very seriously and realize that you have but a few minutes to impress everyone, from the front desk person to the people in the parking lot to the person you interview with. When I was a speaker I had a routine Id run through before getting on stage one of the things I would do is mentally chant LEAVE IT ALL ON THE FIELD! I would be done in an hour, and do everything I could to make it the most memorable, impactful experience for attendees. I took this same approach for my interview: leave it all on the field. By the time I got there I was kind of exhausted. I had prepared very well, but I hadnt slept well. But I was going to do the best I could in the few minutes I got. I went to check-in met one of the company founders (and got him mixed up with the other one, thank goodness I didnt mention his name), and then Rusty came down to meet me. With a smile as big as his personality, we exchanged pleasantries and went to his office.   For the next hour or so we had an indepth conversation about my background, history, experience, and things I had done.   He put a lot of our conversation on the white board, which I thought was cool and interesting. It was insightful to see what he captured from what I said, and if he wrote something that I felt might be incomplete later I was able to drill down on that. It was fun, honestly, and going through my accomplishments over the past 12 years (and a little pre-JibberJobber), I felt like YEAH, I am pretty accomplished! How in the world did I do 3 books, create a professional speaking business, run a startup, and do 30 Pluralsight courses?   And a few other things here and there wow, I wasnt as incompetent as maybe I had thought. Before I knew it I was headed back to my car. It went well. Actually, it went REALLY WELL. I cant imagine having done it any better. I left the office knowing that I would likely come in on Thursday to meet with two more people, and hopefully soon after that Id hear, if they liked me, about an offer. Time to wait. And as I mentioned earlier, time to apply to other places, because if I didnt get this perfect opportunity Id be crushed. So I was already starting to put guards in place to deal with that.