Nobody cares about you, not even the hiring manager. In an interview your only job is to make them look good and everyone misses this. They want the praise for using “their abilities (not your’s) of finding you, whilst minimizing the risk of bad options.

So who’s this for/TL;DR SMV is everything, weighted by a number of categories but without an income or a means of providing for yourself, you weaken your own abilities. I've created this guide and timed this piece as a number of you will be graduating shortly, or will be making use of the summer hiring season. I’d say this guide is applicable to most roles and is more of a “starting out guide”, as later down the line you will be headhunted or referred if you do well.

The Problem:

No one prepares you well enough for the world of careers, I asked my Dad as a young lad for help with my first position, his advice “just put your name on a piece of paper with your credentials”........ Thanks...... one job please.

Then you have “career specialists” in Colleges/University who lack the credibility and savviness to offer any actionable advice. This is where I come in, I’ve failed a fucking lot but I have this shit nailed to a T.

It took me on average 200 independent applications, 40 telephone interviews, 10 assessment centres and 10 + face to face interviews before I got my first job. I’ve also interned in a HR & Recruitment office during a summer and have seen the process first hand. Essentially I have real world experience and I will guide you to the best position to demonstrate your skill set.

Grab their attention
(skip this section if you can get your foot in the door)( for full C.V. and cover letter layouts/tips use google )

Your profile is the most important section of your C.V. If it’s shit and bland, aint no one reading your life history, fuck off.

You can only fall into two categories (or a blend of both), revenue growth or revenue protection. Your profile must demonstrate you have the capabilities of this. E.g. a Graphic Designer is in revenue promotion as you are creating the product.

Instead, jump straight in and demonstrate your capabilities, but back this up with evidence and benefits.

“Fully accredited QSA technician with .....” , “Recent Maths Graduate who attained a 1st and is look for a job in..... ....”,

State what you’re looking for, what they will benefit from (with evidence) and something that allows them to qualify themselves to you.

“Seeking a role in management that will make use of my discipline, evident in my experience within the army. I look to join a place that has career progression options and .....”

With the Cover letter, read the jobs person specification and note the buzzwords under the “must have” column. Include them within your cover letter, as they will use a script to pick these applications out to read first.

Psychometric tests

Should you be given a psychometric test “google the personality type of a (enter profession). Learn the characteristics and use this for the test. Circle only the extremes e.g. if you have 1 = Strongly agree and 5 = Strongly disagree these are the only 2 numbers you should circle ( anything in between produces weak results).

Assessment Centres

Within an assessment center you are getting marked on how often you speak, the impact of your opinion and how you interact with others.

The tasks are always timed and typically use a pen & paper, grab your phone (to keep time for the group) or the pen and make yourself useful. With the Pen and paper you dictate who gets to speak and ensure everyone gets a turn. Be diplomatic and encourage others to voice their opinions. Your opinion doesn’t matter but your leadership does, just conclude what was said and as you have the notes, you’re naturally in power of the outcome.

Interview prep

Use Linkedin to look up your interviewer(s) a couple of days beforehand, this will leave them a notification that you have viewed their profile showing you’re being proactive.

From this day on every interview you go to, you will create a company profile and bring a pen and paper.

A company profile consist of 3-5 pages and it’s used to show you’ve researched the company/position you’re interviewing for. This includes a title page, company overview, person overview (you), FAQ

Title page: their logo, interviewer's name + position, position you’re interviewing for, your name, date, their address and their number.

Page 1 : A brief overview of what their organisation does as a whole, what their aims are of the year, what your role is in the organisation and how it’ll help them make/protect money, what makes them better than their competition, who their competition is, how they differ from their competition, what their business model is, how much they turned over last year, how much they’re worth on the stock market ( if applicable), any recent acquisitions, what their year on year growth is.

The best way to gather this info is to download their annual reports and read the directors report and the balance sheet. For the UK simply search the company's name in this, for other countries you may need to buy an experian credit report.

Page 2 : Personnel profile - This helps you, understand you. It displays all of your achievements so you can draw From this list, adding credibility to any claims you make from questions.

Give 3 examples of times you have demonstrated one of these attributes: Leadership, Motivation, Overcame a challenge, Worked under pressure, Organizational skills, Ability to learn .

Also include a more in-depth overview of what you did in your previous role and how this has helped the organization reach it’s goal.

Include a fact that makes you unique and interesting and don’t put “travelling” - Yawn ! (Side note if you take time out to travel, some businesses may see you as a flight risk. It’s better to build up a career history before travelling)

Page 3: This includes questions that you want to know from the interviewer themselves. Five questions will suffice and I will touch on questions in the next section.

From doing this exercise you will learn all about them and how you can fit into their bigger picture. Bring it along and if they ask you any questions you are unsure of, simply ask “do you mind if I refer to my documents for a complete answer ?” - It’s not a memory exercise.

The Interview

Arrive an hour early and enter the building fifteen minutes prior to your interview.

Greet your interviews and make small talk about the weather, a certificate you noticed they had, where they’re from etc. This will put both you and them at ease, then thank them for taking the time out of their day to meet with you.

Place in front of you a notepad and pen, the company profile and 2 copies of your c.v.. They will begin to ask questions and simply answer them in a 3 stage format.

What the situation was, how you handled the situation and what were the end results.

The questions will follow a theme of background inquires, your portfolio of work (if you have one) and specific examples.

You may get “thinking on your feet questions” such as “state your opinion on whether Hitler was an effective leader”, “if you were a vegetable, what vegetable would you be”. These questions test your personality and free flow ability. Just stay calm and stick to polarised answers but display your reason ( show your working).

Some questions may be asked to see how well you handle under pressure. They are seen as attacks by some people, such as “ I don’t believe a person of your background would qualify for this position”. In which case you smile and politely say “ I appreciate your concern however you knew what my background was before bringing me forward to this interview, do you accept someone from my background is capable of doing this job ?” If they say no, you walk and you’ve made them look like an idiot. If they say yes continue as normal.

They may ask if you’re interviewing elsewhere say yes but make it look positive. “I’ve only applied for you and X company as I know you both do/offer Y”.

When you ask questions it should be based off something that naturally intrigues you. If you’ve read their company accounts you can talk about their recent losses/gains and what they see in their foreseeable future.

What does their best employee do and what makes them so great ? - shows willingness to succeed

Why do you need this position filling ? - After finding this one out I have turned positions down

How sociable are you guys ? do you have any sports teams ? - they’re looking for a person - organization fit and you’re showing this

Should I be successful in this interview have you any advice for doing well here ? - Willingness to succeed

If you’re feeling confident ask “What made you hire your last employee ?” - They will tell you everything you need to pass the interview. Should you demonstrate this criteria, the only way to resist you is to resist themselves.

Closing question :

From everything i’ve seen here today and from researching your company I feel it’s natural to ask “Would there be anything that would stop you from bringing me to the next stage ?” - It’s a bold question that flows organically, if they say yes, it gives you a chance to discuss their concerns. If they say no, you’re in. More than likely they’ll say “ well I have several more candidates to interview, so I will be weighing you up against them” and in which case you say “that’s only fair, I just really like your organization, in the meantime let me know if you need anything else from me.

Other

Use chewing gum to alleviate nerves prior to interviews.

Phenibut I’ve found to be succinct in helping to deliver presentations and mitigating any overwhelming anxiety.

Be interested in them, be interested in the organisation.

If you have no experience use google to find a list of companies you would like to work for, then use linkedin to find people in your ideal position. Inmail them and ask for advice. Inmail the HR department and ask about unpaid work experience, or a person specification for your ideal role.

Learn from experience and see each interview as a learning opportunity and don’t be too invested in the job. - Outcome independence and abundance mentality.

If you live in a city with a population of <1,000,000 move yesterday.

Conclusion

Remember the hiring manager is only interested in making themselves look good. You’re in a revenue growth or protection role, so this should be the core of all of your C.V./ Answers. You only have a limited number of seconds to grab someone's attention and to commit them to reading your full C.V. Make a Company Profile and bring it to an interview, you will stand out and you will learn everything you need to know about the role you’re applying for. Ask questions that benefit them and their purpose. Importantly don’t sweat it too much, jobs are plentiful when you get the basics covered and If i can get one with my shocking grammar, so can you !