Hello, and welcome back to “Gracie Meets…”! I’ve invited Mr. Chris Solomon back onto the show today. Last time he was on the show, he and I talked about applying for a job. But this week, we’re going to be talking about interviews. Take a listen to learn all about preparing for an interview!

Show Music: 2019 07 25 cello pizz 01 and 250109 rhodes 02 by Morusque used under Creative Commons License CC BY.  No alterations were made to the original composition. 

Cover Art: Kyleigh Kinsey. Instagram: @ato._.noodle 

TRANSCRIPT

Gracie Solomon  00:11

Hello, and welcome back to Gracie Meets… I’ve invited Mr. Chris Solomon back onto the show today. Last time he was on the show, he and I talked about applying for a job. But this week, we’re going to be talking about interviews.

Chris Solomon  00:23

Hi, everyone. Thanks for having me back, Gracie.

Gracie Solomon  00:25

So let’s jump right into this. Is there anything a teenager can do to make themselves the in quotes “better hire”?

Chris Solomon  00:32

That’s an awesome question, Gracie. I’m glad you asked that. So we’re gonna look a little bit at marketing. So when a company has a product to sell, how does it generate buzz for that product?

Gracie Solomon  00:46

Um, Marketing?

Chris Solomon 00:48

You got it. So when you’re applying for a job, though, you’re the product. I hope that makes sense.

Gracie Solomon  00:56

Product?

Chris Solomon 00:57

Well, not exactly. In other words, from the moment you begin looking for a job you’re working, your product is you. So just like any company, you have to market your product. But how do you market or advertise yourself to generate buzz? I like to call this the attractive traits model. Now, I’m not an expert, but I have held quite a few jobs in my day, as well as being a manager in the military. So I’ve seen examples of people who have done the right things, and unfortunately, the wrong things. We want to do the right things, and make the manager take a chance on you, especially when you are a total unknown. In fact, we want the manager to take the chance on you over all other people who may be applying for that same job. So we have to market ourselves to make us the more attractive hire. We can do that by following the attractive traits model.

Gracie Solomon  01:52

Oh, I see. So what kind of attractive traits would a manager want to see?

Chris Solomon 01:57

All right when a manager is looking for someone to hire You want to appeal to some of the traits that are demonstrated by successful employees? Right? There are five traits that everyone, I don’t care who you are, everyone can demonstrate, to help make themselves stand out. And they are punctuality and dependability, pride in yourself and your work, professionalism, confidence. And lastly, attentiveness. I listed all these in this order for a reason. They flow with a sort of timeline of the interview process.

Gracie Solomon  02:29

Those seem like some great traits that I feel would get anyone’s attention, like, especially at school as well, because these things all like have some great things that people like. So and you also mentioned them in an order so why don’t we start with punctuality and dependability?

Chris Solomon 02:49

Okay, so this one is such a hot topic with employers. If they hire someone, they’re depending on you to be there to fulfill your role in the workplace during your scheduled shifts. How can they be sure you’re going to fulfill your end of the agreement? Well, the easiest way is to show them from the very beginning. There was a saying in the Air Force, if you if you’re early, you’re on time. If you’re on time you’re late. So this is basically saying leave early to arrive before your interview time. 10 minutes is a good goal here. If you arrive 10 minutes early, the manager will see that you’re punctual and it shows that they can depend on you to be there for your shifts. Now, could a person who is less than punctual or dependable show up early? Sure, and it happens more than employers would like to admit, unfortunately, but you’re not one of those people right?

Gracie Solomon  03:38

Right. So what about pride? I’ve heard of pride before but not really in a good way. So how would this be a good trait?

Chris Solomon 03:47

Alright, so with pride, there are two areas and they’re both super easy to show to a prospective employer, pride in yourself and pride in your work. This is as simple as dressing for success. You represent yourself and your family the second you walk out your front door. If you dress and baggy pants and a ripped t shirt while it may be trendy, it’s not the image that companies want to portray to their customers. Just as when you strap on that iconic chick fil a red Polo and oval name tag, you represent that manager, that store, and in fact that whole corporation.  Don’t get me wrong the dress code for example, Hot Topic versus the dress code of Walmart versus the dress code for the US Air Force are miles apart in nearly every aspect. Again, like I told you on our last few visit, the old saying here is dressed for the job you want, not the one you’ve got. If you want to work at Hot Topic, you may dress a little different for that interview than you would if you were interviewing for a position at Walmart. A good rule of thumb though, is with all of them remove any multiple piercings guys should remove all piercings all together, cover any tattoos, maybe do your hair so it doesn’t look like he just rolled out of bed, etc. Again, I must stress that while these things may be trendy and socially acceptable at school, they don’t always translate to an employment world. Don’t be afraid to ask if you’re unsure. The same goes for pride in your work too.  Be proud of what you’ve accomplished. If you’re proud of something, you don’t want to hide it right. So far your work has been limited to school or sports or your musical instruments. All these things can be used to show that you have pride in your work.  Player of the Week, outstanding ratings in solo competition, straight A students, all these things you should be very proud of. And hey, they may actually help you land a job.

Gracie Solomon  05:41

So we should put ourselves out there but not boastfully.

Chris Solomon 05:43

Yeah, yeah.

Gracie Solomon  05:44

How do you explain professionalism?

Chris Solomon 05:48

Okay, so we can say that all these traits discussed so far makeup professionalism, honestly, but to me, there’s one extra thing here and it’s insanely simple too.  One thing that anyone can do to show someone they are professional, make eye contact. If you can make eye contact with a manager during your job interview, arguably, one of the most stressful situations that a high schooler could be in, the manager can reasonably assume that you will do the same for their customers. You can put aside any fears or stressors you have to make that eye contact. Remember, you represent the manager, the store, and the corporation when you’re wearing their uniform. You don’t want to lock into a death stare and awkward gaze but making eye contact shows you are there and listening and ready to respond when needed. It’s pretty easy, right?

Gracie Solomon  06:40

Yeah, I have trouble making eye contact with people because, like, I just, it’s awkward and but I’ve learned not to look straight into the person’s eyes, but instead of looking at their nose or their forehead to help ease some of that anxiety and I feel like confidence also has a lot to do with that, too.

Chris Solomon 07:02

So what do you need to do to build confidence? It’s one word. And it’s really simple. And that’s practice. That’s right, just as you gain competence and multiplication by drilling math facts, and you gain confidence in you, you can gain confidence in interviewing by practicing with a mock interview. And the cool thing about this is anyone can help you, your friends, your siblings, whoever, honestly, even yourself in a mirror is good here. They taught us that in the military, look in the mirror and give a speech, look in the mirror and do a presentation that you have to do; it’s practice. Just know though you will never be 100% ready for an interview. Even being 36 years old interviewing with the current company that I’m with, I was nervous. The cool thing about this though, the manager knows you’re nervous too. So don’t stress out about being nervous.

Gracie Solomon  07:51

I remember I had to interview to get into the athletic training program at school. And it was my first real interview for something that I wanted to do. So it was very nerve wracking. But after practicing for a couple of days, I felt pretty prepared. One of the things I knew the coach was looking for was attended this and I know that that’s one of your attractive traits that you mentioned. So if you want to explain that.