An intensive guide in job-hunting, specifically the interview process.
Tags: Personal, Observations, Long, Comprehensive, Guide, Self-improvement, Career, Psychology, Analysis, Decisive
As someone who has failed countless interviews, I have learned almost every possible way to mess up the interview which can lead to them not giving you a call or you quitting the job.
This article is a comprehensive analysis of the role of HR in society and the individual whose solutions shall give a practical guide that will allow most people to reach a favorable outcome in dealing with HR.
I admit that I haven't finished reading any book about HR, and all I have is basic knowledge and experiences of how they work. But this is more than enough information for analysis.
The reason for the existence of resume is to provide a convenient way for jobseekers to apply for a job and for the hiring people to screen candidates. However, HR people rarely believes in resume, and that's why interviews exist.
The job seeker must have at least a decent and honest resume. The exact reason HR invites qualified applicants for interviews is less than the confirmation of what you have written on your resume, but more about the exact reason why you believe that you'll be able to do that job.
You sent that job application, therefore it is assumed that you have a strong conviction and reason to do it. The HR people want to know what exactly it is that made you apply for the job. No, they don't need the answer "Because I can do it", they want to know the "WHY", what makes you think you can do it?
Is it become some ghost mysteriously gave you superpowers and told you to apply for that job? Then tell them.
Is it because you're extremely poor and just want some food on your table? Then tell them.
Is it because you have so many certificates, experiences, and degrees that the job would be a piece of cake for you? Then tell them.
While it's true that some answers give you higher success than others, it's more convenient for you to remain honest unless you have a degree in Deception.
Some duckers just won't like you no matter what you say or do. And that's why going extra miles to create an elaborate lie is extremely impractical.
So go ahead and don't be shy at bringing out all your weapons at the interview. Don't spare a single bullet.
If they ever accepted you, then they won't have to underestimate you, and if they rejected you, then you can happily apply for another interview knowing that you did everything you could.
I've noticed that even when you know most of the theories and the important things, if you're not an expert on something that you have enough experience or maximum level of knowledge about it, you're treated the same as those who know nothing.
Being a jack of all trades without a certificate is difficult. But getting a certificate just because someone just doesn't like or trust you is even more stupid.
From what I have read in most job hunting books, even the most qualified and experienced people are not exempt from being rejected in job interviews. Just as how graduating college doesn't guarantee you a job, getting certificates doesn't guarantee you a job either.
In the words of the greatest author of the job-hunting series, "interviews are all about self-presentation, always take getting licenses, degrees, and certificates as a last resort". This is one of the things that will always remain the same in the ever-changing environment of job-hunting.
The real question here isn't "how competent or experienced you are", or "how can we trust you", but rather "how can you make yourself be liked by the interviewer?"
The most accurate metaphor for a job interview is that it's like a date. A two-way conversation for both people to get to know each other.
Do you think the other person would like you just because you are flaunting all your accomplishments and experiences? No! People who can't say anything other than to brag about themselves are a walking red flag.
Do you think the other person would like you if you'll only anxiously sit there and answer their questions without asking them any questions? No! By doing that, you'll only set yourself up for their pity and even if you're accepted, you'll be treated as an intern who'll do anything they want.
How you show yourself to others reveals how you want other people to treat you.
Regardless of whether you have any experiences or skills, if you show yourself as someone timid and average, you'll be treated as someone who is average. This not only apply to job interviews, but applies everywhere in society.
People can't read your mind or see who you really are. They can only see what you let them see and so they'll treat you according to what they see. The same rule applies: they'll change your treatment to you if they see that you have changed.
So if you want to be treated as a respectable, genuine, and honest human, then act like one, and treat them the same. Treat others how you want to be treated and present yourself how you want to be treated.
This is the core principle for proper self-presentation.
Therefore, for a successful date or job interview, you have to:
A job interview is not:
Rather, a job interview is a place to show the best parts of yourself and learn more about the company. That's all there is to it.
Annoyingly enough, there are always a bunch of duckers who underestimate your skills and accomplishments, then looks at you as if you were a "useless trash" whenever they heard that there's something you cannot do.
For the sake of this article, let's say they are just actually extremely nice people with some trust issues and that I'm exaggerating the negative things based on my experiences.
Without intending to, these good hiring people would suddenly ask questions about your personal information and background. Life is difficult, so if you're honest, you would inevitably tell them some negative realities you have experienced.
Now, look here. At this point, your mind is looking at the past and framed negatively. Feelings of self-pity and criticism bubble over the surface of your heart.
After the background checks, they'll start looking and scanning your resume again, sometimes unintentionally understating your achievements, saying you only graduated high school rather than senior high school, and that you have no direct experiences.
At this point, your feelings of self-pity and criticism reach boiling point and the vapors of desperation slowly cloud your brain, making you underestimate and lower the value of yourself, even making you forget the things you can do.
Afterward, they'll start asking the stupid questions: How important is it for you to have a job?
No one in their right mind would say that it's not important. So you'll say that it's very important to you for some reason.
At this point, the vapors of desperation have filled your entire brain and clouded your vision. You have been completely and unintentionally psychologically framed to become desperate and do everything they want.
Then for the last confirmation question: What is your expected salary?
Most of the time, you'll feel that you have no choice but to answer "minimum wage" because you have already been nudged to believe that you have almost no value as a human being.
Since you're completely hopeless and desperate, they will now attempt to become your savior and say "You are extremely lacking, but I see potential in you! We will hire you, but under one condition, you must agree to do everything we tell you to do".
To further twist the knife into the bone, they'll unintentionally say that you are still lacking and therefore your wage should be further decreased.
Of course, they'll also ask the question "is it okay for you to have lower than minimum wage since you don't have much experience anyway? We'll increase it once you have completed probationary."
At this point you're basically dead and hopeless, you have been completely and unintentionally nudged into believing that you're a worthless and useless human being, so you'll answer that it's okay.
Under normal circumstances, you won't make that answer, but this series of leading questions have framed and poisoned your mind to answer that way. Either you'll quit your job the next day or you'll suck it up being their slave for months.
This is the Desperation Trap. Regardless of whether these people intentionally nudged you or not, you ought to be firm and careful in job interviews if you don't want to find yourself being someone else's slave someday.
Most of the time, they'll only ask you closed-ended questions, avoid direct confrontations with you, and don't give you a chance to ask questions. That's when you know they're setting you up for the trap.
To effectively counter this trap, it's important that you recognize that you're being trapped so you can answer their closed-ended questions in an open-ended way.
Make sure to prevent yourself from spilling any negative information that can potentially make them see you as a desperate job beggar. You're not obligated to answer all of their questions and you always have the right to remain silent.
Another thing, when you're asked about the tricky questions like the expected salary and importance stuff, try to give your answers in terms of ratings, ranges, and numbers, so you won't fall directly into their trap.
Remember both your target daily and monthly wage ranges before the interview.
Keep your defenses ready by having active listening skills and negotiation skills at your disposal. Slow down the heat of the moment by reflecting, deflecting, parrying, summarizing, and paraphrasing their words. This is all so you can fight on the front lines without worrying about the rear.
Most importantly, take an active role in the conversations by telling them exactly who you are and what you want, then insisting on it. Make sure that the flow of the conversation is focused on the "things you can do", rather than the "things you cannot do".
Lastly, keep this in mind: You are not a job beggar or a slave. You are someone with something to offer. And if they reject your offer after all the discussions, then your business is done here.
They are not the only ones who can pressure and make someone uncomfortable in the most professional and polite way possible, you can do it too.
Spare nothing, spare no one, show no mercy. OPEN FIRE!
You see, in any company, there are lots of processes involve to turn effort into money. Those at the end of the corporate food chain are those production workers who create food, field agents who sells stuff outside, and store people who sell stuff inside.
These workers at the end of the food chain are the ones who usually do repetitive and mundane work then get paid very little.
Consistency and order are ideal for them since it protects them from being ordered to do things outside their job roles, while chaos and lack of proper communication from their superiors invariably turns them into a slave.
This is the barren lands where most people who are unlucky enough not to finish college, don't have any reliable connections, and cannot present themselves outside of society's expectations ends up gathering some experiences, skills, and achievements until they get promoted.
After all, the most convenient and easiest way to turn a person into a pile of cash is to make them work for something big, directly converting their efforts into money, then give them something tiny which increases slowly over time to make them stay.
To take advantage of others and call it generosity, this is what some people call "business".
Just kidding, that's a very cynical way to look at it. We can also say that making use of unused human potential by placing them within a hierarchy with the sole purpose of producing profit using the products or services specified is what they call "business".
Just like how scientists are turning solar energy into electrical energy, employers are simply turning people's unused time and energy to reaching their own dreams and gaining profits.
There's nothing wrong with that, except for those who assume that other people are nothing more than resources to be managed and slaves to be trained.
One thing I have realized in the professional industry is that they call jobs that involve thinking "hard" and only for those who have graduated college. And they call the jobs that involve manual labor "easy" so they should be only for those who believe they are "talentless".
I was surprised, I thought it was the other way round. As someone who has been thinking every second of my life, thinking is the easiest and simplest thing to do. So I wonder what makes thinking jobs only for those who have completed college.
Whenever I open social media, I always see some people who are at a meeting, discussing strategies, and making policies where I think to myself "huh isn't that the place where I belong? I was practically born and raised to do those things, why am I not with them? What am I doing here? I'm pretty sure I can do better than them."
The answer is obvious, it's because I'm not only unlucky, but I'm also restrained that I can't show my real abilities to others, and I'm also isolated that I have no one to show my abilities to. I know I'm partially responsible for that.
Hmm so Thinkers are actually very important people in the society who stands at the top of the food chain, but most of them are either born lucky, has rags to riches backstory, or an entrepreneur from birth.
What about those free thinkers who are disconnected from society? Those thinkers similar to me who are unlucky, restrained, and isolated at the same time? I wonder what happened to them.
Did they really die not being able to use nor share their knowledge? Did they ever became rich and powerful at some point? How did they manage to reconnect with society? Or do they even exist at all? I can only hope that they are doing well.
At my most recent failed interview, (it failed not because I didn't get hired, but because they hired me as a slave) the interviewers are pretty shocked to know that I'm a natural psychologist and analyst. When they read my articles, they were like "D-did you wrote this?", "Are you sure you didn't copy it on google?".
That was extremely shocking for me. It was only then I realized that people only believe in what they see and nothing else. These people really believed that you can only have such skills if you have a degree about it in college or have a certificate for it.
It bothers me so much that the only honest answer I can give to their question "Where did you learn this?" is also the most suspicious one that's impossible to believe — "Because I have observed it for long periods of time, once I understood something, I apply it to my life then write about it.".
So the takeaway is that my thinking and writing skills aren't weird, but seems actually very important for people. Unfortunately, it's difficult for them to believe me so I must do something and I know what to do!
I'll show them my online portfolio if they have a laptop on hand, if they don't, I'll just show them by phone. If they won't believe me, then I'll laugh at them and show them hundreds of unpublished English articles on both simplenotes and notion on my phone.
If they're still underestimating me after that, I'll tell them that I've been writing these kinds of articles since 2020 and show them my online services, plus tell them my plans to open a business where I can give seminars and teach regularly.
Haha let's see if they still won't believe me after that. My next interviews are going to be a blast!
Just as how there are red flags when it comes to people, there are also red flags when it comes to organizations and companies. Watch out for these red flags:
Whenever you spot some of these red flags in the interview, be extra careful, and if the red flags keep popping up, be prepared to run away.
Remember that your safety and freedom come first before the job. Otherwise, you'll be wasting your time and energy since you'll be quitting that job so soon.
What's your expected salary?
My expected salary is between NNN-YYY per day, I honestly don't care much about salary as long I'm respected and treated well on my job.
What are your biggest weaknesses?
I'm impatient when other people take advantage of me. I won't hesitate to leave anything if they don't respect me as a human being.
What do you mean by respect?
It means following the discussed schedule, not being late to the meeting, giving explanations for their mistakes, and sincerely apologizing when they did something wrong.
Basically, giving respect is treating someone as a decent human being like yourself, not taking them for granted or taking advantage of them.
Can you do (insert things I can't do)?
No, I can't do that and I don't want to do that. However I can help you with this, that, and those. I came here to become (insert role) after all.
So do you have a problem with me not being able to do that?
This comprehensive guide seems like a major overhaul in my personality and would take some time before being completely implemented in the flesh.
Needless to say, we already got the skills and knowledge pinned, the only thing left to do is to show that we are willing to fail, willing to grow and gain experience. That's the hardest part.
You see, a person can read as many books and learn as much knowledge as they can. But the real challenge here isn't learning something, it's about having the desire to apply it to your life and experience it for yourself, even if it means swallowing a hundred failures along the way.
The interviewers, and most people in the world, stick to standard procedures and processes unless someone reminded them again of the reason those standard procedures exist.
Of course, it's only natural that these duckers would demand experience, degrees, and skills, while being fully aware that not everyone with experience and degrees is good.
The key to dealing with them, isn't about lowering their standards, but raising your own value such that you would be able to meet their standards and even exceed it.
Do you see what I'm getting here? What I exactly mean is that you have to somehow remind them in some way, that "No one will gain experience if other people didn't give them a chance to experience, and not everyone with experience will be fit for the job".
Or a better way is to make it less about them making a mistake and more about you, by making an accusation audit:
"From the looks of my resume and the way you are looking at me, it looks like you feel that I'm very unqualified and lacking in experience, someone who won't be able to handle the tasks required for the job..."
Now you get it. That's right, we have to first diffuse the negative tension that exists between their ideal candidate and yourself. They want someone who is a perfect prince charming who is capable in everything, you have to show that you understand, and as someone who's imperfect, you'll try to meet and exceed their standards.
A job Interview can be seen as a date, a negotiation, a practice for expressing yourself, or all of them, whatever works for you the most. Always show the best cards you have as soon as possible without needing to be asked about it.
We may not be able to completely control how the interviewers would act, but we can anticipate and accept their moves, then act accordingly. We are invited there for the interview after all, thus we have a chance to be successful.
You have the mindset of a winner, so bet everything you have on that chance!
Regardless of how I view and treated them in this article, it's important that we respect and treat them as human beings, just like us, and not villains who deserved to be ridiculed and punished.
The standards of this world may become more strict and secure, but it doesn't change the fact that we are all chaotic, emotional, and imperfect humans.
Any person with the right mindset and chooses the right words can reach very far whatever era or circumstances they're born into.
Keep in mind that none of these systems, stereotypes, and procedures can truly prevent a determined person from getting what they want. With the right uniform and words, you can enter and exit any place you want. The same goes for job interviews.
There are no requirements or qualifications needed to reach your dreams. You just have to do it, take it, and it shall be yours.
"It seems that the length of any article or piece of literature is directly positively correlated to the intensity of the emotions the author had for that writing."
"Job-hunting, like any other art form, requires patience, creativity, and skill."
"The willingness to fail, succeed, and experience is all it takes to live a fulfilling life."