Hello friends, welcome to another podcast. My name is Dr Jason Wiggins and I am the host of your Motivational Gen Z and Millennial Expert podcast. First and foremost, it is so great to be here. I know I haven't been on for a little while and my goal is to always provide you with the greatest content whenever possible. However, it has been a grind for the last few weeks now, with my job and teaching at two universities as a regional operations manager on top of it. It has been a fun ride of it. It has been a fun ride, but I can tell you the content that I have today will really help you get that one step ahead of others when it comes to entering the job market or advancing your way in the job market, when you are looking for the next and best, greatest job or move within your career.
Speaker 1:Today's topic is going to be about excelling in interviews and getting your best front foot forward. I have seen so many resumes, I've been through so many interviews and I am dumbfounded by what I have seen so far. Individuals are so ill prepared for an interview. We're talking about from the beginning of getting your resume ready, to dressing to impress, to having the right understanding of the questions, asking the right questions at the end and really understanding what the job requirement is and how you are able to get the next interview. Your whole goal is to get to the next stage in the interview process, and the individuals that I have interviewed recently are simply not prepared.
Speaker 1:This podcast is for Gen Z and millennials, and if you are out there in the market right now and you're looking to advance your career, you're looking to find a new job. Maybe the right fit is not currently where you're at within the job market. Well, I can tell you I'm gonna save you a lot of headache. A lot of headache by ensuring that you are prepared. By ensuring that you are prepared, first and foremost. Do not apply for every single job on the market. If you are not qualified for that job, do not apply. Why? Because you will be jumped over by finding somebody else's qualified. All you're doing is wasting time and the potential employer's time with your resume that has nothing to do with the scope of the job they're hiring for.
Speaker 1:For example, in the last couple weeks, I posted a job on Indeed. I received over 300 responses for this one job. Now, this was a mid-level management position that paid a mid-level salary and I had over 300 responses. Out of those 300 responses, I only contacted 15. Out of the 15 I contacted, I interviewed seven. Out of the seven that I interviewed, two advanced to the final round, and then we finally initially hired and extended an offer and hired the one individual. So, the point being, during that whole interview process, what did I see?
Speaker 1:Well, first of all, if you're not sure how to dress for an interview, for an interview, it is best, and always best to dress to impress, overdress. You cannot go wrong by over-dressing. However, you can go wrong by under-dressing. So first, we talked about making sure you have the right resume. Second, remember not to apply for every job. Spend your time applying for jobs that are in your wheelhouse, meaning it's something you've done. Your resume states that you've done it. You've had either the experience or the education to back up your credentials. So ensure that you are focusing on looking at the jobs that really fit your need. So then you apply for those positions and then even follow up with a nice little Indeed message or LinkedIn message or wherever you are responding to the job ad and say just let them know the hiring manager that I applied for this position and my background is such I look forward to potentially hearing from you. Then, guess what? The hiring manager sees this and goes and looks at the resume and nothing is worse than if that resume has nothing to do with the scope of job you're hiring for. But if it does, then there's a good chance the hiring manager will respond and try to set up an initial interview, and that's what I did. So, for example, we recently hired for this position and the gentleman actually even contacted me on Indeed and when he contacted me on Indeed it refreshed my memory of that individual and then we ended up communicating and we ended up hiring them, as I mentioned. But the key is is when you interview, interview for the jobs that are specific, specifically catered to what you do.
Speaker 1:Third is dress appropriately. I cannot tell you how many polo shirts or I had one individual show up. Look like he just came straight from the clubbing of the 1990s when I used to club, and that's not appropriate dress. Appropriate dress is maybe a nice collared shirt tucked in jacket pants. If you don't have the jacket, wear the tie. You don't necessarily have to wear jacket tie, collared shirt and nice slacks, but you should have a combination of jacket, pants, collared shirt or collared shirt, tie, pants, good shoes. That is a good segue to show that I spent the time. I dressed appropriately.
Speaker 1:Number four bring a resume with you. Yes, I understand the hiring manager has a resume, but have a portfolio. Have a resume ready, even if the hiring manager has one. Why? Because it looks like you're prepared and then, when you go through the interview process, don't ask those key questions what is my salary? What are my benefits? Don't ask those questions on the first interview, because then it looks like you are worried about what you're going to get versus what's the company is going to be able to expect out of you At the end. It is all about finding a good fit, a fit for the organization and a fit for the potential employee. But by you asking the salary what are the expectations that I can receive? All you're showing is that I am here because it's all about me, the potential employee. This is a two way street. We are talking to each other to see if we can form a relationship that is going to be fruitful for both parties at the end of the interview process and and if it is, then an offer will be extended and potentially accepted or counter offered. That is why, when you're going through the interview process, ensure that you answer all the questions. You have the right questions for the hiring manager.
Speaker 1:This is your time to ask about key points that you would like to know about the job. You know what the expectations are, what will you be doing, what kind of candidate are you looking for, and those type of questions. But please don't have a list of questions and sit there and read off the questions. Why? Because it looks like you can't think while you're going. It means you have practice, you've looked at your questions and you don't have the ability to think off the cuff. Hiring managers want to know that you can think off the cuff, besides regurgitating questions that you found off LinkedIn or Google. They want to know that you can go. Okay, it's like an interviewer. An interviewer is not going to typically sit there with a list of questions and ask you one after another after another, unless it's corporate and they have a strict regimen. But again, a hiring manager should be able to ask questions based on the responses of the interviewee in order to determine what the next question will be, because if you're getting a good feeling about the candidate, you want to know more, and it's going to be more than regurgitated questions that are being asked.
Speaker 1:So what have we talked about today? We talked about making sure that you have a good resume, and I'll tell you, I've seen horrific resumes. One was one of the worst resumes I have ever seen and I'm being very generous and nice this was from somebody that was looking to be an operations manager, but it looked like they were trying to over market themselves by. I can't even explain in words how much effort they put in to making this resume, but how awful it was. I would much rather see, as a hiring manager, an awful resume that maybe they just started on the job search and it doesn't look very good, versus spending a lot of time on something that just is awful and it looked like they spent a lot of time. So of course, I had no interest in moving forward with that potential candidate. But, more importantly, if you can't put together a good resume, buy a software, use an application you know on the internet, use a resume maker, find somebody that you know locally that can put together a resume and then you can kind of put it together to to make it more you per per job.
Speaker 1:Again. You want to concentrate on the particular job that you want and curtail that resume to fit the scope of that job. Don't apply for any and every job. I understand, maybe you were a caretaker, you babysitted, you did some stuff in nutrition. It has nothing to do with operations. So therefore, as a hiring manager, when I have 300 plus resumes, am I going to consider you? No, that's why, the Gen Z and Millennials, you have to put your foot forward. You have to put your best foot forward to make sure that you set yourself apart from the other candidates.
Speaker 1:How do you do that? Simple, put together a good resume. Apply for jobs that are in your wheelhouse. It's like a batter that's getting ready to take a pitch from the pitcher. They're salivating on that pitch because they think that pitcher is going to throw them a fastball right down the middle. And guess what If that hitter is sitting on that fastball? That hitter readies it up and hits that ball as hard as they can. And guess what? They hit a home run. That is what it's like when you put together your resume. And you put it together for a specific job, for a specific company, you show interest and you show that you're investing time and energy, but not just sending it to every single one.
Speaker 1:You send out 500 resumes. You get two responses. They're the problem. The problem is, out of those two responses you got, that's what your resume indicated that you might be good at. But if you had focused your resume to the particular jobs, for what they're looking for and the keywords, you might have got five responses out of 25 resumes that you focused your focus on. So again, it's all about finding the right fit. So let's say you've got a great resume, you've focused your job.
Speaker 1:Now you got the interview. Okay, please, please. If you're less than five minutes early to the interview, you are late, trust me. The interviewer is looking at their watch, looking at their phone, looking at their computer. They received a calendar reminder 15 minutes before that. They are expecting an interview. Before that they are expecting an interview and all of a sudden you show up in front.
Speaker 1:It's less than five minutes before your interview.
Speaker 1:You are late.
Speaker 1:What does it look like? It looks like you weren't able to get on time. It looks like that you were prepared. So I always say if you're later than five minutes, then you are late. Is that old school? Yes, maybe some management you know, wouldn't consider that an issue, but if you want to be prepared to be successful in the job market as a Gen Z millennial, it is very, very important that you find a resume. Make sure it's good for the job that you're focusing on. Make sure you apply for the right jobs. Show up more than five minutes early for an interview. Dress to impress. You cannot go wrong by overdressing, but you can go wrong by underdressing and then ask questions during the interview and don't sit there and tell the interviewer that your life story that doesn't pertain to the job.
Speaker 1:We want to hear a little bit about you. We want to hear about your experience and how it's going to. You know, help us with that position, because we're hiring usually because we want to improve that position and we believe that you might have some of the intangibles that will help us continue to grow our operation. So focus on how it's relevant to the job. After, after the interview, make sure you know, after you've asked your good questions, you send a thank you note to the hiring manager. So that means get their information. You know if it's an Indeed you applied at, then send them a thank you on Indeed. Find them on LinkedIn. Send them a note If you can get their email address. Those are the things you want to do to make sure that they hold relevancy within your mind as the hiring manager.
Speaker 1:Hiring managers are busy. They're interviewing many, many people. They're looking at many, many resumes. So you have to stand yourself. You have to be able to set yourself apart from your competition. To stand yourself, you have to be able to set yourself apart from your competition. So what we've talked about is really getting in front and moving forward by beating those individuals behind you that want that same job. For example, as I mentioned, 300 people applied for this latest job that I posted and very few did we actually contact, very few did we interview and we ended up hiring one. So one in 300 got jobs.
Speaker 1:So when I hear people complaining I can't get a job, I haven't had a job for a year, I get it, but if you haven't had a job for a year, then you have to do something different. If you've been applying for every job under the moon, it's time to stop applying for every job. When you look at these jobs, look at your credentials, look at your experience, your education and determine would I be a good fit If you are a mid-level manager, you should not be applying for vice president or CEO positions. It's a waste of their time. It's a waste of your time If you have to answer questions and all of that and it doesn't pertain to the job. All you're going to be doing is getting skipped as they go and X out your application process. So if you really, really really want the job, then do some homework on your organization and make sure that you are able to get to the hiring manager and let them know that these are my credentials. This is my experience.
Speaker 1:I'm really excited about the opportunity of working for you and I would love to set up a time to discuss Then great, you might have a shot. But if you just keep sending resumes through the resume space and you don't receive interviews, two things your resume could be awful, which is likely the number one reason, but the number two reason is there's no relevancy to your credentials for the job and, ultimately, wasting your time. So I want you to be successful in the job market. I know you're talented, I know you have the credentials, but it's up to you to determine how you see yourself in the job market with the credentials you have. Success in the job market is through the process. You have to work the process. It's about working smarter, not harder, and that's basically the same when it goes to finding a job. So today, you've learned the lessons about making sure that you have a good resume, you're dressed and doing press, you're showing up on time, or even early, for the interview, you have a resume on hand to give to the interviewee excuse me, the interviewer you have all of the tools to be successful, you follow up with a thank you letter and you find ways to continue being relevant within that application process. So, again, it is great to be here. I wish I could have been here previously.
Speaker 1:Our goal is always to do a podcast each and every week, but sometimes, due to the demand of the job, it doesn't always work out like that. But trust me, I am here for you. My focus is on Gen Z and millennials. This is our 160th podcast, so please feel free to listen to the other podcast, as we're on YouTube, we're on all the different podcast platforms and, ultimately, I am here to serve the audience. So I want to thank all the listeners and your continued listenership, and I look forward to talking to you soon on the next episode. So, thank you, take care, and I look forward to talking to you soon. Bye, bye.