The Most Important “Skill” to show in an Interview and Why it so Painful
Tags: Job Hunting, Interview Tips, Software, Job Interview, Lifehacks

Being Passionate is the key differentiator between getting hired and getting a rejected.

At the end of the interview day, all the people that interviewed the job seeker gather in a room to give the thumbs down/up. We talk about the applicant, pros and cons. Is he/she better than the other candidates. Some companies try to science it, by having categories that you score. But it boils down to personal intuition. Should we hired this guy?

Now consider this two real comments from my past companies. “This guy is young and does not have the experience but he was very excited.” versus “He was good but he was a little bit arrogant.”

The first was hired and turned out to be good one. He worked hard and learned really fast. But that’s another story.

The second guy apparently already had a job offer and so he was going through the motions during our interview process. He definitely had the skills to do the job but his attitude was a turn off. Part of me wanted to reject him just because it would feel good (I know this is awful). We end up rejecting him.

Show passion when explaining past projects. Let them know what you enjoy and what you are looking forward to learning.

But more importantly show passion about the company. Know things about their company. Know their core values. Know their mission statement.

Fall In Love

When shopping for a new house, one of the unwritten rule is never fall in love with a house after seeing it in an open house. So many things can go wrong, so to avoid the pain do not fall in love.

Photo by Tyler Nix on Unsplash (edited)

However when looking for a job, you need to fall in love with that job. You need to get excited for the company. Imagine yourself working for that company. What route are you going to drive to get there? Imagine yourself going to lunch with your co-workers wearing company swag.

Ask yourself, “What would be amazing when working for this company? What is in this company that makes me excited?”.

More importantly be enthusiastic for the company’s mission. It is not hard, mission statements are usually pretty amazing. For example, Amazon, they have their leadership principles. Let the interviewers know that you share the same core values. Let them know you are also customer obsessed.

Google has a philosophy as well. Who cannot get on board with:

You can make money without doing evil.

It’s not hard to look for a companies mission. Just check their website. Here is medium’s:

Our mission is to move thinking forward on the urgent issues shaping today and the next 100 years through honest, reflective conversation.

Now for the Pain

Being in love and being rejected is 1000% more painful than just being simply rejected.

Unrequited Love — Charles M. Schulz

Multiply this feeling with the number of interviews you have to do. It is a truly humbling experience and if you are not careful, a dangerous place to be in.

Climb out of the Cesspool of Despair

what doesn’t kill me, makes me stronger. — Nietzsche

Only thing you can do is pick yourself up and do it again. Believe that you are a better person because of the experience. And know that this is not the end.

When one door closes, another opens. — Alexander Graham Bell

Believe that there is a job out they are you are going to get. In my experience, there always is and the rejections will become a faint memory.