Today was an overly exciting day at the office.

It started out normal enough; early morning wake up and shake fist at alarm clock, brush teeth, locate and don real pants, drive 45 minutes to the office listening to an audiobook about how to live a more creative life, etc. etc.

I logged in, plugged in headphones to listen to electro-swing music to dance embarrassingly in my clandestine cubicle with no visible neighbors. Steaming cup of paris tea in hand, I began trudging through emails, firing off questions, troubleshooting problems for about an hour or so.

Then I noticed sort of a weird smell. It was like someone had left a curling iron on.

No, that wasn’t it. It was more like, someone had left a curling iron on top of their hairbrush, slowly melting it into a pool of molten sludge.

Weird.

While I sat contemplating the exact aromas I was experiencing, I also, like any sane self-preservation motivated human being, …kept working? Yes. Like a complete square, I kept typing, and chatting with co-workers online, commenting on how the floor of my building “sure did smell weird.”

After an amount of time I choose to not admit to you, one of the engineers stood up and said “OK, that’s it. Everyone out!”

I stood up and saw the plume of smoke that had started creeping down the hallway towards my corner cubicle, and started shoving my stuff into my backpack (also not protocol for an evac.) I then followed the other lemmings down the stairwell and out into the parking lot, with the others shooting me death stares that I’d had time to pack up my stuff for a swift departure, as opposed to standing in the parking lot for an indiscriminate amount of time waiting for the fire trucks to arrive.

On the way out of the building, I heard others saying that the fire alarm hadn’t been pulled…because no one knew where it was. Bonkers! Who’s going to save me when I have electro-swing blaring in my ears and I’m too emotionally invested in my olfactory experiences than the cause of them?!

What caused the smoke you ask? I still have no idea. One woman said something was burning in the first-floor kitchen and it filled the whole building (what?), another person said there was a short circuit on a ballast….which is used in roofs, or is some sort of gravel…or is on a ship.

So I have no idea.

All in all, it was an ideal experience for capturing lessons learned. Lesson one, if you smell something burning, make sure your third-floor office building isn’t slowly burning to the ground around you while you send off superfluous email correspondence – your life is more important.

Lesson two – maybe take note of where the fire alarm is, in the event lesson one is required.

Lesson three – …maybe just work from home from now on. It’s very peopley outside and it smells like burned plastic.

Let’s face it. You’re kind of a big deal. You may not shout it from the mountain tops, but you know what’s up in your working world. People come to you for answers, and because you are reliable and a known commodity…Now we just have to teach you how to convey that to someone that doesn’t already know that about you, without sounding pompous like a member of the Channel 4 news team.

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“Phonaphobe” or not, you’ve now passed the dreaded phone interview with flying colors, but to be fair to the other candidates, they couldn’t just hire you on the spot at the end of the call (even though they totally wanted to right?)

 

Project Introvert Interview is entering stage 2.

 

Let’s discuss the 5 Tricks to Acing the in Person Interview:

1. More Homework:

Now that you’ve secured a little more information about the position you are gunning for after the phone interview, and you have some back ground information on the company, it’s time to dive deeper into the job descriptions and find a way to map them directly to your skill-set.

In the meeting you’ll need to provide solid trace ability from your personal experience to the job requirements. Confidently outline how you exceed the minimum requirements with x, y, and z.

2.  Know Your Audience

Ask the recruiter or scheduler for a list of names of the folks who you will be meeting with. They won’t always provide it, but if they do you can do some research on Linked in or online about their backgrounds, and try to weave some specific attention grabbing comments into your conversation.

If you can’t get a list of names, ask for the forum – is it a panel of folks all asking you questions at once? Is it a series of one on one interviews? Knowing the interview format up front can help mentally prepare you for the day and the duration of time you’ll be spending there.

3. Practice Confidence.

You know you are legit. You know what you are worth. Practice reciting these facts to yourself in the mirror so it doesn’t shock you when you sound like a total bad ass when it comes out in the interview.

This is challenging for me. I have a definite comfort zone and although after a while I am comfortable with all my co workers, it is challenging for me to jump in head first with a group I don’t know and convince them that I’m worth their time. With anything though, practice, practice, practice.

Lastly, dress to impress – I typically lay out my outfit the night before so I’m not struggling to pick something in the morning. Provide yourself enough time to get ready and look your best. This will impact how your carry yourself throughout the interview.

4. All the World’s a Stage

And there is a new player in town. Interview time is go time. At this stage you have to push past your comfort bubble. You know the position and it’s requirements, you have sufficient information on the company and you have an idea of either who you are meeting with or the format. Now it’s time to put on your best smile and award winning personality. Even if you are shy and timid – this is your time to promote your excellence and why this company should bring you on.

Highlight key accomplishments in past positions – For example if you are going for a job in Project Management, discuss a deliverable you completed on time and on schedule.

I typically inject some humor or sarcasm into the conversation to calm my nerves (otherwise my heart beats so loud I miss some of the interviewer’s questions.)

Wrap up the interview with a solid set of questions for them – this shows you have a genuine interest in the position and the company and the team will know it is worth their time to answer you. Remember that they are not only interviewing you, you are seeing if this is an ideal fit for you and somewhere you want to spend 40+ hours a week!

Be sure to gather contact information from the interviewers to enable you to accomplish step 5.

5. Reminding That You’re Baller

Presuming you didn’t get escorted from the building before the conclusion of your interview, you can feel relieved it went well! Now it’s in the company’s hands to determine if you are an ideal fit for the position they are hiring for.

Always send a thank you note or email to the individuals that you met with, and the recruiter, thanking them for their time. Try and refer to a specific topic you covered during your visit, so they remember exactly who you were and why they liked you.

Send these notes within 24 hours, unless the interview was on a Friday, or late Thursday, at which case I suggest sending it Monday morning so your email is at the top of their inbox and not buried in the depths.

After the in person interview is completed and the company decides to move forward the real fun begins! We, boys and girls, will get to discuss the calculations of opportunity cost and the terrifying art of negotiations.

 

These tools and tricks work for me, what works for you?!

 

I can’t stand talking on the phone. I don’t know if it’s because I overdosed on phone calls during my high school years, or my disdain for the evolution from dependable land lines to the ever unpredictable cell phone (this probably has a lot to do with my cow-town-no-tower upbringing.)

Despite my distaste for telephonic chit chat, I somehow have developed a knack for it. Daily conversations over the years with stakeholders, counterparts, customers and peers have enabled me to get a feel for people’s reactions based on their voice, and how to steer a discussion the path I want it to take.

Outside of work, talking on the phone is like having dental surgery without any of the fun numbing stuff.

Job interviews are always stressful, but to me, phone interviews are more daunting than in person. I can’t guide the conversation since I don’t know all of the details, and I’m at the mercy of the next question coming from the other end of the line. On the phone you have to avoid awkward long pauses where at least in person, I can throw in a witty or smart comment while I rattle through the list of optimal responses in my head.

To help other phone-aphobes (honestly thought I just made this up but there are others like me and even a hashtag!) like me, I’ve compiled a list of 10 steps to nailing the dreaded phone interview, and land you the in person! Project Introvert Interview has begun!

1. The Initial Call

When the company first calls you to set up the interview, give yourself a few days time for research and preparation – Unless you are on a first name basis with the owner and know the company’s history like it was your own, you’ll need some time to pre-game.

Make sure you get the details of the position you are being interviewed for. If you applied for more than one, make sure you know which one you are going to be talking about!

2. Research and Preparations

a. You’ve scheduled the call and you know the position you are in the running for. Now its time to compare the position’s specific requirements to your skill-set (which you’ve done most of the heavy lifting on your cover letter right?!)

b. Research the company history, so that you can show you’ve done your “due diligence” and are familiar with the company’s strengths. In the conversation you’ll want to point to a specific company fact you learned, and how your abilities will help.

c. You’ll also want to look up the recruiter on LinkedIn, so you can picture the person you are talking to on the phone (Don’t mention any specifics that you’ve learned on their account that they don’t offer up or it might be a smidge creepy and Big-Brotherish.)

3. Prepare a list of solid questions

a. It is very important that you ask meaningful questions to show your interest in not only the position but in the company. Some example questions include:

1. Questions about the customer / client
2. How the company assess an employee’s strengths / weaknesses from year to year
3. How soon they are looking to fill the position
4. When they are available to meet in person to discuss the position further.

4. Setting the Stage

Research is done! Now for preparing the interview itself! Be sure you have a quiet location where you can focus and not be distracted. Make sure there isn’t any ambient noise from the workplace or outside, as it will cause anxiety when you need to sound confident and sure. Organize your notes and highlight the important things you know you need to say.

 5. Use a land line

I’m not kidding. I still think everyone should have one. It’s been on our to-do list since we bought our house so in the meantime I’ve driven to someone else’s house to use their phone to avoid having a call dropped or static.

6. Energize!

Drink coffee or eat something sweet (not condoning sugar, PALEO BABY!) so you will be energized and sound upbeat on the call. Not too much to the point you sound like a crazy person, but somewhere between Prince Valium and the Tasmanian Devil.

7. Hydrate

Now that you are jacked up on caffeine…..Have water ready in case you get verklempt with a tricky question.

8. Just Say No to Salary Specifics

Try to avoid answering specific salary questions. If you can avoid telling the hiring manager how much you currently make or exactly what your range is you are going to have less trouble negotiating details later on. Step one is showing this new company how awesome you are, then later you can show them the price tag of what it’ll take to get you to sign on.

9. Think Happy Thoughts

Peter Pan knew what was up. Do your best Pixie impression by smiling and remaining excited throughout the call – this can be challenging while answering tricky questions, but make an effort to convey your excitement through the phone.

10. Finish Strong

Wrap up the call thanking the person for their time, briefly reiterate a strong point as to why you would be an ideal fit, and allude to the in person interview once more. By this time you should have a feel for if the person is interested in moving forward or if it’s not an ideal fit.

Hanging up after a phone interview victory is a beautiful thing. I typically basque in the wave of relief and diminishing aftermath of adrenaline.

If you didn’t schedule the “in person” interview while on the phone call, be sure to follow up the next day via email thanking them again for their time, and telling them you are looking forward to the next opportunity to tell them more reasons why they should hire you and give you lots of money….well, something like that.

Starting anything is challenging.

Typically I will have what I think is a brilliant idea, and I’ll start to run with it.  I’ll work out the details wayyyy far into the weeds, communicate the idea with a bunch of people who may not be as enthused as I am, then get burned out too fast and throw in the towel before the gun goes off to start the race. Aside from a record of most idiomatic expressions in an opening paragraph, I wanted to mainly paint the picture of my hesitation.

The goal of this blog is to reach out to all hesitant people like me, as well as help them explain to their bold and brave counterparts on just why some people are the way they are… And that it is OK.

That is not to say that all introverts are the same. We are not. I come from a long line of introverts – each one of us very different in our personalities, and our needs. I also tend to surround myself with a core group of friends who also share the introverted tendencies (what a shocker) and each one of them again is programmed differently.

I lean on the extroverted side of the introvert pendulum, and my husband leans towards the introverted side of the extrovert. Not sure if this transition has evolved through osmosis of us living together or not, but even though we are similar in a lot of ways, we often times have disagreements about what each other person wants or needs. These needs ranged anywhere from quiet time, to party time with the other person staring at them like they’d just grown a third eye ball at the request.

After one such heated discussion I realized that this is probably not rare, and that are other couples out there that may have the same situation.

This epiphany of normality also led to some conversations in the work place – with the people I tend to spend the most time with, week in and week out. They too are an eclectic jumble of personalities, each one performing their responsibilities in their own way.

This got me to thinking what personality type works best in which role, and how did each person present themselves and advocate their upward progression? What makes the ideal manager, or administrative assistant, or president? What skills do each person utilize to get the job done?

I’m not sure how far this will go. But for now I’m diving in using this blog side as a launching point and as a means to actively communicate with the world on the ways of the introvert / extrovert personality in relationships and in the work place…and hopefully shed some light on the stereotypes and misconceptions about each personality.

I’ll let Sponge Bob communicate my stance on this new adventure……