Are You a Red X Candidate?

I hire one of these, but not the other - which one are you?

Read Time: 2 minutes

 

We are only a few weeks into 2024 and already we have 37 transitioning teachers at various stages of interviewing with amazing organizations including:

  • IXL
  • Marsh McLennan
  • Newsela
  • Coursera
  • IBM
  • Michigan State University
  • Stanford University
  • Planbook

and many more.

Which has led to many hours of interview prep calls and post-interview 'Proof-of-Potential' slide presentation work with clients across the country.

This.

Makes.

Me.

Happy!

I have noticed some issues, though.

The most common issue I'm seeing with our transitioning teachers is a lack of confidence with interviewing.

Which makes sense since most of you have only interviewed for teaching positions and have not branched out into the wild world of work outside of education.

And that's ok!

Rather than wait for you to get through our flagship

 'Classroom to Corporate Career Kit'  program, I thought it could be beneficial to many of you who are struggling with interviews to benefit from the experience of our successful transitioning teachers right now.

Here it is:

Common interview advice is just that - common.

Research the company.

Dress professionally.

Be yourself.

Which is fine, if you want to be a common red ❌ in a sea of common red ❌'s.

If you want to stand out from the crowd, be memorable, and leave the interviewer feeling that you are a different type of candidate, you need to be a green ✅ in a sea of boring red ❌'s.

Here's how:

All interviewers expect candidates to have thoroughly researched the role and organization, dress professionally, and act natural.

What is not expected but will always help you stand out is to show up with your own agenda.

You want to qualify the role and interviewers to ensure they are worth your time and energy going forward.

The next time you interview, start with this script to stand out immediately:

"It's great to meet you.

I expect you have an agenda for today's meeting, and I do, as well.

My questions may get answered through our conversation, but to ensure we both get value from this meeting, would it be ok if I kicked things off with my 3 most pressing questions?

The Questions:

1/ Why are you hiring now?

2/ What are the 3 things you don't want in a candidate?

3/ If you could only ask me one question to determine if I am the right person for this role, what would it be?

The interviewer will either answer your questions directly right then and there or confirm their agenda and commit to allowing for time in the conversation to include yours.

Either way, you set the tone as a purposeful candidate, get your questions answered, and control the narrative as you build off of their responses to frame yourself as the right person for the job.

Of course, they won't offer you a position on the spot like I have in several interviews - but they will remember how you made them feel.

And how you make someone feel is exactly how you stand out as a green ✅ in a sea of boring red ❌'s.

Until next week...

Onward!