Job Interview Preperation
Happy Father’s Day everyone! Since it’s Father’s Day, I won’t be getting much work done on my sites. My Dad coaches my younger brother’s baseball team and they have a double header - I’m going to the first game, then going to the mall to find a present (impossible) bringing my sister home for a church function and then lounging around until we eat Father’s Day dinner at my folks place. Since our family eats really late (9pm sometimes 10pm) I’ll have a few hours before dinner to do work.
In those couple hours, I’ll be preparing for a Job Interview that I have on Wednesday. It’s a marketing position with a lot of responsibility but I’m unsure of how much it pays. Either way, I really want to the job because I’m pretty much disgusted with my current position doing sales in the radio industry. For lots of reasons I really don’t have the time to get into. I got an e-mail last week saying they were impressed with my resume and invited me to meet with them for 2 hours and afterwards I would take a “test”. How many people are applying to this job? Who am I competing with? Will I get an offer? I’m incredibly confident I’m going to get the job and I don’t really know anything about it yet. I have a great strategy and if you have a job interview, I suggest you try this out as well.  What is it?
Well the 2008 Presidential Election is around the corner and in reading about different candidates and their stances on various issues I thought to myself, “all these people are really doing is applying for a job.” And what is the one thing that frustrates me more than anything about their websites? On each issue, they don’t state what they are GOING to do to make improvements they simply cite their experience and state that since they have such a glowing record in regards to that issue they’ll certainly do a great job once elected President.
Interestingly enough, that same issue probably makes the task of hiring a full time employee a very tough job. Looking over resumes, who everybody is fluffing up to make them sound like all that and a bag of chips, can sound misleading. Granted, they want to see my “portfolio” or “work examples” but I’m going to take it one step further. They’re expecting me to bring in “stuff” from previous jobs but I’m going to absolutely WOW them… I’m going to put up a website showing what I WILL do once I’m in that position.
Part of the job description includes utilizing the internet, blogs and social media to generate traffic, increase exposure and build the brand. I have a TON of experience in this field, but it’s the type of thing I do in my spare time… for fun. So I spent $1.99 on a dot info domain name using relevant keywords for the company’s industry (found a great name actually) and I’m going to make a fully functional wordpress site to showcase my initial marketing ideas I would hope to initiate. One thing I will do is document every step of installing the blog and optimizing it for SEO purposes to show them I really know what I’m doing. Then I’ll be visiting their site and their competitors sites to come up with specific ideas I would hope to put into practice that could really build the marketing efforts up. I’ll also feature some “out of the box” ideas that, while some may be a bit impractical, suggest that I can “think big” and can open a dialogue and engage in debate to create some fantastic initiatives they might not think of without me.
This is a tremendously proactive approach and that’s exactly what employers want to see: taking initiative, following through and commanding ownership of your projects. I’m not sure if other people have done this in the past but I’m telling you, it’s going to work and I honestly think if you play your cards right, you could get 90% of the jobs you apply for using this tactic. Why? Because you’re going the extra mile… your competitors won’t be doing this and you’ll stand out from the crowd. While others might make efforts to “stand out” nothing will be as comprehensive as a website based around your ideas and plans for that specific position, which inherently showcase your abilities for the position. Essentially, you’ve already started working for them and you’re doing the work now to get paid later. It shows committment.
Unfortunately, there are a few wildcards. I still have to compose myself well, be likeable, conversational and find my “groove” in terms of discussion. But on the flip side, I’m in sales so talking is my job and with this website I create I’ll have an unlimited amount of talking points that would help establish well over 2 hours of marketing conversation. Two more wild cards though are their timeline and the salary. They’ll have to do their “due process” and interview enough candidates to get a good idea of who is out there… hopefully I can impress them enough to make a quick turn around time - sorry bout it but I pretty much hate my current job. And because of it, I’m willing to take a salary decrease but I’m really interested in the pay grade, benefits and scope of this position’s responsibility. I hope I’m not overqualified - that’s the only thing I can see scaring them away. And I’m not saying I’m some kind of genious, but you never know, this could be an entry-level type of position where they just heaped up the responsibility/requirements to lure in a sucker like me. But because the company is a huge, reputable company I can’t see this happening.
That reminds me, I have to bring my suits/shirts to the dry cleaners so I can look super fresh and clean for the interview. Wish me good luck and keep your fingers crossed for me… the interview is this Wednesday.
In the meantime, have an awesome Father’s Day and make sure you at least call your pops and tell em you love him. That’s right… real men can say “love” when talking to other men. It’s your flippin father - you owe your entire life to the man, show some respect. And if you can, go to the mall, pick up a card and present and go have dinner with your old man. In fact, maybe you should register HisName.com and make a fan site for him… or create a wordpress blog that automatically updates with feeds from his favorite news sources and topics. And then monetize it! Haha I’m playing around but I guess in summing this whole thing up, the skills I’ve learned in the past year are helping me in much more than just website building. I can apply these skills to my everyday life for everything from getting a job to giving a killer unique present.
Now the fun starts… I have to spend the next couple days building a new website that I can’t even monetize! Actually, that’s not a bad idea… I can monetize it after I get/don’t get the job…. hmmm, nice now I’m really motivated to put some good work into this.
Here goes nothing!
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2 Responses to “Job Interview Preperation”
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I don’t understand why you’re looking for a job unless you’re unable to make money online.
I don’t make enough to support a full time income. Right now this is nothing more than a hobby that over time will grow into much more. I’m planting the seeds but the crops haven’t grown yet.
Plus, theres a lot to be said for making a good salary at a secure job. Ask anyone who has had their biggest money making site drop in the SERPs from #1-#3 to off the first page for their top keywords. Time to buy cup o noodles and tuna fish.
In addition, I have a college degree with 2 majors and a minor - none of which are computer related. I’m putting my education to good use in my current job while acquiring more knowledge on my own with internet marketing. I enjoy the balance.