You're Great at What You Do — That's Not the Problem
Interviewing skills and on-the-job skills are not the same thing. Here is what is running through the head of a prepared candidate vs. an unprepared one — and which one gets the offer.
🌟 You’re great at what you do. 🌟 That’s not the problem.
You’d be a rockstar at any company. That ain’t the problem.
The problem is that it’s time to find a new role, and you haven’t interviewed in years.
The problem is that interviewing skills and on-the-job skills are not the same thing.
You can wing it. Or you can prepare like you mean it.
A scenario
You’re in a high-stakes interview for your dream job. The interviewer asks you a question about your accomplishments.
Your job right now: convince them you’re great at what you do, in five minutes or less.
If you haven’t prepared well, this is what’s running through your mind
- 😳 I’ve been rambling for 10 minutes and I haven’t even gotten to the good stuff yet.
- 😳 I don’t think I’m making any sense — hard to explain if you weren’t there.
- 😳 I wish I could remember the details here. It happened so long ago.
- 😳 Shoot, I just thought of a better story I could have told.
If you’ve prepared well, these are your thoughts
- 👍 Awesome — I have the perfect story for this question.
- 👍 I could talk about the people-related challenges or the technical ones — both demonstrate me being great at the job. Given the interviewer has an engineering background, I’ll demonstrate a little tech depth.
- 👍 I’ve got the facts, the data, the high-level bullets. I’m so glad I practiced this one.
- 👍 I told the stories I wanted to tell, and I enjoyed the follow-up discussion. I gave it my best — and that’s all I can ask for.
No need to ask. You already know which version makes you stand out from the competition and get the offer.
🌟 You got this. It takes time and a great preparation plan. But you got this. 🌟
