Your Interview Stories Aren't Landing - Here's Why

I'm gonna talk about 3 top interview storytelling mistakes that I see. So I did a really good job of storytelling, and I believe it was the number one thing that landed me the job offers and attracts clients to me now as a business owner, because the thing that we don't know is that the brain remembers the story. I have worked with people, I have hired people because of the stories that they have told me. So they hold so much power that learning how to tell them is really a good investment of our time, because if we could even just do this one thing really powerfully, our interviews would be exponentially better. So stay tuned. I'm going to tell you the 3 mistakes people make. So the number 1 mistake is being too vague. In other words, not being specific enough. So for example, I was, I worked in HR for 5 years as an HR manager, and I sat in hundreds of interviews. And the thing that I saw most of the time was people being too vague. So we'd ask them a question like, can you give me an example of a time you handled confidential information? And the person would say, every day, all the time, as an answer, right? And that Is an example of a very vague, very blah answer that gives you nothing. It just says, okay, yeah, you say that, but like, we need a little bit more here, right? A good example of that answer might be, oh yeah, I was in charge of all the confidential files. I had to make sure that the passwords were changed every 3 months and that everybody changed their passwords. I also had to make sure that all the file cabinets were locked at the end of the day, and it was my responsibility to make sure that all that information was kept secure. And if anybody did get access to it, I would be the one responsible. So I took great care in making sure that all security measures were taken, right? So that would be an example. Which one instills more confidence in you to hire the person who answers in way number 1 or way number 2, right? It's like, yeah, every day, all the time, right? It's the same thing as the other example I gave, but the second example gave detail, right? So another example of this is like the, the mistake is being too vague, not being specific enough, is say you're going to hire someone to climb Mount Everest, okay? And say that you have never climbed before and you know it's going to be a challenge. And you're going to be interviewing people to help you climb and get to the top successfully. And the one person says this to you. They say, oh yeah, it's so great. You're going to love it. I believe in you. We're going to do this. And, you know, it's going to be so fun. And, you know, you might need to pack a few things. Like I would just pack a few socks, maybe a first aid kit. Other than that, you don't really have to worry. We've got it. I've got it. Don't worry. I've done it before 1,000 times. It's okay. I got you, right? Maybe a decent answer. Okay, maybe. Second answer. This is the power of specificity, okay? The second person says, okay, here's a map. This is the first stop. At the first stop, we're gonna need this, this, and this, and this. Here's the list and the brands to buy. Go to this store and get it. Then we're gonna stop here, and at this point, you're gonna have these things happen. So we're gonna need the blister things just in case you get a blister, or, you know, we're gonna need these specific things. Next, we're gonna need to make sure that you have these medical checks done, okay? Because we wanna make sure that you're in the best physical condition to take this on and that you can do it. Okay? And then we're gonna wanna make sure that you have the correct camera to document the pictures with, cuz not all the cameras can sustain these altitudes, right? Some of these things happen where this breaks or that breaks, right? There's a level of detail you can go into. You don't have to go into so much detail. You just have to go into enough detail that the person starts to trust you. Okay? And you can see how that's happening here with my 2 examples, right? So the first example is a lot of rah, rah, rah, right? And the second is more specific, right? And like, I'm not an expert on Everest. I've never climbed. I never have a desire to. But the example I'm using is because you could get a lot more detailed on Everest, right? You could have a lot more information and a lot more facts, but you don't need to present all of them to have someone start to trust you, right? They start to think, okay, this person knows what they're talking about. Okay, like, who would know that these types of cameras break at a certain altitude unless you've been there, right? So, and that's just an example. I don't know if that happens, but let's say you start to say these things and then they start to connect the And they start to say, okay, yeah, this person, they have done it. They're not just saying that, right? So just like with the HR example, lots of people are way too vague, and this really doesn't help them in interviews. And they don't know they're being vague, right? They just think, oh yeah, I confirmed that I could do the thing. Why didn't they hire me, right? But they don't give you that feedback necessarily. And then the feedback you can't really rely on anyway, but that's another video. So the second thing people do as a mistake when they're telling stories is they don't talk about anything vulnerable, anything that might, you know, show their human side. And then all they do instead is talk about how great they are and how awesome their results are. They're trying to come across maybe as perfect. Anybody? They might be hesitant to talk about situations where they have experienced embarrassment or experienced disappointment or experienced failure, right? And so when you're afraid to talk about those things because you think someone is going to judge you negatively, you lose an opportunity To show your strength of character and show how you respond to those things. So we need you to talk about those things because we can't know otherwise. We can't know what kind of person you are when things don't go perfectly. We can't know what kind of character you have when you make a mistake or someone else makes a mistake and you're affected by it, right? We don't know that. So as an interviewer, as a hiring manager, we don't connect those dots to trusting you. We just think surface level, oh yeah, they seem nice, they seem great, they seem like they have everything, but there's something missing there, right? So that's where the connection piece comes in. When you share something vulnerable about yourself, you instantly evoke more trust from the other party. An example I like to tell is I actually have lots of mistakes and failure stories, and I might make another video on all of them, but the one that comes to mind was when I answered the phone. I was a receptionist at a law office. I answered the phone quickly, and it was a A person yelling on the phone. They were very angry because bills hadn't been paid for a property that was being developed by the firm I worked for, by my boss. And they were like, tell the owner of the firm that there's a lien on the building now and that he better pay up or we're gonna do this, this, and take this legal action and blah, blah, blah, right? I'm like, okay. And he's like, give him this lien number and give him this information. So I got off the phone and then I buzzed into the firm owner and I just said, hey, I just had a message for you. And he's like, what is it? And I'm like, there's a lien been put on your building here. And he goes, oh no, that's a mistake. And I said, oh no, it's not. I have the information right here. And he hung up abruptly. And I thought to myself, oh, that's weird. I wonder why he did that. Maybe he's busy. A few minutes later, I see him walk out with some clients, some, some new potential clients. And I'm like, oh shit. And they heard everything I said. And so I asked him after, I'm like, why did you pick up the buzzer if you were with these important clients? And he's like, I was waiting for an important, an important piece of information to come through. And I assumed that's what you were calling to tell me. And I was like, Oh crap, I didn't know, right? So I felt awful. I felt terrible. I'm like, he, he could probably lose these clients because I just shared this information out loud and I didn't mean to. And anyway, so that happened on a Friday afternoon. The whole weekend I'm like stressing about getting fired. I'm like making a case for myself so that he won't fire me. And so I come in in the morning and I said, look, I understand that you might want to fire me because of that mistake that I made. And I want you to know that these are all the reasons. Why you shouldn't. And he listened to my reasons. He wasn't too happy, but he didn't fire me. And I ended up moving on there, like moving ahead there, and ended up getting headhunted for actually another position for another firm. And it all worked out okay. But I talk about that mistake as a really big shifting point in my career because I talk about how I went in and I like basically fought to keep my job. And I gave some really, really good reasons. One of the reasons was, look, I made that mistake, but you can guarantee I'll never make that mistake again. Because I felt that, right? Like, and I would never want to feel like that again. But anyway, it was important that I share that because people could feel how uncomfortable that would be, right? They'd be like, oh yeah, I could totally feel how awful and embarrassing and just not happy emotions to feel over the weekend especially, and then have to go in the next morning and be like, I'm probably going to be fired, right? Sharing stories like that are really what connect you. And a lot of people shy away from those stories because they think, oh well, if they think I made a mistake like that, they might not want to hire me. And then I might lose the opportunity. But here's the thing, you lose the opportunity by not sharing those stories. Now, the caveat is you don't want to be still processing the emotions from that story. So if it's very recent and very raw, then you probably don't want to do it or talk about it. But you do want to share some vulnerable stories from your past because it will really help you connect, and it is one of the things that can really help you stand out. So let's talk about the third mistake. The third mistake people make is that they don't own the fact that they really did have the expertise, right? Or that they led the thing Or that they had the idea. So oftentimes they'll say, we did it as a team, or, you know, it was my boss, or he— like, they wanna give credit to other people in the sentiment of giving credit where credit is due. And that's great, but you— they're actually not owning their piece in it, right? So it— they're, they're actually coming across in a weaker position than they could when really they were the ones with the idea. Or maybe they didn't have the idea, but they executed the idea really flawlessly. So they don't really tell the story in a way that conveys that. So for example, if you had an idea for something and then someone else executed it and you said, oh yeah, yeah, but they were the ones who did all the execution, right? Like I didn't really do anything. I just had the idea, right? You're downplaying yourself, probably thinking that that's justified, right? Instead of saying it like this, like, oh yeah, I came up with the idea for this and this idea led us to creating $30,000 more per customer or whatever. And I did have help from the team to execute it, but the idea started and this is how I came up with it and this is how I thought through it, right? And you're talking about your thought process instead of emphasizing the team, which is what a lot of people would do. They would say, oh yeah, yeah, I had the idea, but then my team went and did it, and then they did this, and then this happened, and then it was great. But they're not really giving themselves the credit that is due, right? And that I diagnose as a problem with not owning your own value, because that just goes right over someone's head, right? They'll be like, oh yeah, it was just an idea, whatever it was. I was just doing my job. It wasn't a big deal. The team is who really did it, right? Instead of saying, oh yeah, I had that idea, and if I hadn't have had that idea, Then we wouldn't have blah, blah, blah, blah. So a question I like to pose to my clients a lot is, what would've happened if you were not there? And then they'll be able to clearly see exactly how they contributed to that particular project or result. And there you have it, 3 mistakes people make when telling stories in interviews that can definitely cost you the job offer. Review that video again if you need to. It's very important. I have an example document with 10 examples. For how to tell your own stories. There's stories from clients who have actually landed jobs through these stories that are in the example guide. You get fill-in-the-blank templates to do your own stories and 25 questions at the end so that you can come up with the content for your stories. And it's good to just have these stories on hand, right? Like I call it like the Friends episodes. You know how when they say the one with Ross's thing or the one where Rachel, whatever, right? Like you wanna have your stories remind— remembering like that. So I'll say like the one with the lean on the building or the one with The bus, right? And then that's how I'll remember my stories. So you wanna have a system to remember your stories, which I help you with. I have that downloadable guide for you to start with. And then I also have a 3-day training which walks you through A to Z of, of how to move to the next level in your career, whether that is you wanna make your first 6 figures or you wanna double your salary, whatever your goal happens to be right now. Um, I'll meet you where you're at, and I have a 3-day training that will help you to solidify how that's possible for you and do it in a relatively fast timeframe. So I've helped hundreds of people do this. Get signed up for that and you'll get the freebies as well. So you'll get that example freebie and you'll get some other stuff too, because I've had a lot of years to put together a lot of resources for you. And if you're interested in working with me, I will tell you how to do that once you get signed up. Give me a thumbs up if you like the video, thumbs down if you didn't like the video. Subscribe to the channel, give me some feedback, leave me a comment, and I will see you in the next one. All right, bye-bye!

I'll climb across the mountaintops. Swam all across the ocean blue, across all these lands, and I broke all these rules. But baby, I broke them all for you. Oh, because even when I was flat broke, you made me feel like a million bucks.

You do.

I was made for you.