How To Make a Great First Impression In Your Job Interview - Interview Tips

Bryan I just wanted to thank you for all of the excellent material you have created for job seekers. I was recently interviewing for a desirable position and used a number of your videos to better prepare myself. I'm happy to say I received nothing but positive feedback during every interview round and was just offered the job. Thanks again, and keep the videos coming.

Health condition that makes for excessive sweating including the hands :( interview handshakes are scary in that case 🥺 What to do instead of a handshake?

Been enjoying your content over the last few months as I try to transition from a career in public education into instructional design. I have my first in person interview next week and it’s in your neck of the woods. thanks for helping me be prepared and make a positive impression.

Thank you so much for all this great advice and information 😅 trust me it’s life changing for the best ❤

As if you'd yake printed copies of your CV. Lol some of your tips sound like they're from an alien planet. It's a stain on them if they care so little.

"be a robot and show no signs of being human at all" got it, sure thing

The hand sweat comment, the need for direct eye contact, the absolutism in scheduling and demanding a thank you note, is all completly disgustingly ABELIST. I hope every one of your competetors gets the wonderful amazing neurodivergent people with abnormal skills and abilities you are completely skipping over for petty reasons! Corporate America deserves to fall

Maintain eye contact but don't look like a psychopath staring at people.

Arrive early but don't arrive 1 hour before. Ideally 10-15 minutes.

Just as a data point, I've worked for a few companies that were smaller (think open-concept office where everyone is crammed into one room) and they all complained whenan interview candidates showed up too early since there was 0 privacy in the office and they might be showing up at the tail end of a different person interviewing for the same position. On hindsight, all of those companies had other major red flags and weren't great to work at 😅

“Organic?” What does that mean, son? Learn to communicate clearly. Quit trying to be cool by using code words.

If looking nice and wearing a suit to an interview is a red flag for that company… then that company is garbage and has no class.

I had a zoom interview last week and took the firm handshake advice. Thanks.

I have psychopaths obsessed with me, they need to be in jail for multiple felonies and crimes

Here's a tip: Do not use Apple AirPods or AirPods Pro when using Microsoft Teams. You might experience incompatiblity issues when trying to use them for a Teams meeting. I now have Sony WF-1000XM4 which are similar to AirPods and they seem to work just fine for audio and mic.

I'd love to see a video like this for Zoom interviews since those are increasingly common both as companies shift post-pandemic practices and as more people start looking to relocate for new opportunities.

Do you agree? There appears to be one major exception to speaking negative about previous companies. Coming back to the traditional labor market after divorcing corporate America to run my own engineering for several years, the only way I can figure out how to convince the interviewers that I am not a flight risk, is doing something to emotionally distance myself from my commitment problems to the social order. No one seems to doubt whether or not I can do the work, but I'm batting 1 for 7 in final interviews. Are there any other ways to reassure interviewers of flight risk?

dress code, usually I would agree, let me give you a real world, went for a group interview from an agency for Shaw, for there 1st line customer services, was told by the recruiter dress smart casual, no need for a suit. I really didn't believe them, un heard of, got there about 30 people of all ages myself and about 3 others were all suited and booted, women wore office smart prof wear, the rest of the 19-25 y.olds wore a comb of t shirts jeans polo shirts. it was like a cattle show, they split us into groups to do all kinds of stuff, I DID feel very outta place, but I felt good in my suit, my document folder, I was confident and I knew it. I KNEW all eyes were on us and they gave us tasks and many I was really out of my comfort zone but didnt show, spoke up, answered first. Then after an hour a guy came in an asked for 10 names (out of the 30) to follow him, my name was on the list. when I was walking out the guy said "congratulations I'm going to take you for your verbal interview now" I also noticed EVERY SINGLE suited person got chosen. HE like my resume, I came across as professional and he was also taking about a tech support role.. I also did a similar interview with Pepsi, the guy before me was smart casual, I was FULLY booted, the interviewer menation in a positive way he loved my dress and said I was very proffesional, but they would have been happy with smart casual but THANKED ME for making the effort and what ever made me feel comfortable. THAT interview the recruiter was ringing me 5 minutes after I left the parking lot.... HOW you dress shows respect for the person you are meeting, you are saying I am taking time and pride as I respect you, your postion and your time ! I NEVER have and NEVER EVER WILL dress down for any occasion. It has ALWAYS worked for me

I'm pretty sure I lost an interview at Microsoft 15 years ago by simply wearing a suit - suits were common then and the recruiter didn't bother to tell me it was a casual environment. It was a long flight home.

I stopped trying to be accepted by companies... It's pretty much impossible and people gossip about everything. Nowadays it seems you either have to be a girl or a male celebrity to be accepted into anything...

Listen, Ill send the note if I think it increases my chances, but if you are a recruiter that dings someone for not sending a note I hope you burn in hell.

I went to interview and said I get a second interview and then the recruiter said I do no need to do a second interview due to onsite interview and then on Friday I got message that they chose someone else after interview someone else on Thursday
Why do interview say you get a second interview when the recruiter says something else

I went to interview and said I get a second interview and then the recruiter said I do no need to do a second interview due to onsite interview and then on Friday I got message that they chose someone else after interview someone else on day before

3 or 4 videos in a row. you are great. subbed. 👍

I just had an Interview and the employer made me do an Physically impossible task, and I actually managed to find a solution! He then told me that no one has ever found a solution to this seemlingly impossible task and i am the first one.
It felt like a prophecy became true for him.
The test was to put 2 metal balls on top of each other, and it is Impossible if you don't think outside the box.

3 mins!!!???? I guess I give the shortest answers possible.

About the Thank You note. What if you don't have the interviewers' emails?

Get liked by the interviewer. People hire people in their own likeness. And most companies are poor interviewers.

I've been on a million job interviews since finishing engineering, more than half of the companies need to hire again a few months later. I treat interviews just as big of a joke as the people giving them. Most of these tips has nothing to do with actual job skills, competency, and character. The reason this job interview bs has become such a neurotic ritual is because businesses have literally no ability or experience in training new people. If they did, the pasture would be much greener.

I've been on a million job interviews since finishing engineering. The first half, I was flattered, the second half will get a firm scolding if they start to ask experience questions and seem suspicious of my skills and competency. This is especially true, now that I have 2 years' experience. I was laid off.
8 out of 10 people I interview with seem like complete nobodies who think they are going to evaluate me for their rocket science job.

I am not good at names, so I’ll review the names constantly. I’ll practice good eye contacts more.

I was hired once because I sent a Thank you note. My boss told me that the others didn't and that he appreciated me doing it and it showed that I truly cared. Old School is always the way to go.

I'm introverted and I almost think I give too much eye contact.

Just curious, I am not sure about the handshaking due to COVID. Do you have any ideas 💡 about this? Thanks! My instincts say to feel the situation out? 🤔❤️🇺🇸

Regarding remembering names, especially if not given the list beforehand, is it good etiquette to distribute your job search business cards? Even if they don't have their card on them to exchange, if they apologize then you can say, "No worries. If you don't mind writing your name and email on the back of one of my extras then I would appreciate it. I want to make sure to send you a thank you email for interviewing me." Many may have their business cards handy, and then you have fewer names to remember.

What are alternatives to a handshake during a pandemic ? I don’t like having to touch germy hands 😷

So, how would you "formally" ask the email of the hiring manager, or even the people that are part of the interview? Any tips?

We're seriously still stuck on bringing physical copies of the resume for employer's who don't have it and obviously haven't reviewed it before hand? What does that say about the preparedness of the potential employer? I stopped carrying them years ago because I never had a good employment situation come out of an interview with someone who hasn't read my resume before I'm sitting in front of them.

Don't be ethnic. That's all anyone focuses on when I interview.

My confidence skyrocketed from watching this video. Why? Cuz it's all common sense stuff that I do naturally.

I once got across the finish line based on the thank-you note I sent after an interview.

Turned out to be a bad fit for me, and six months later we parted ways, but still - it can be important!

You know, the thing about not wearing a suit reminds me of something. I went to one of the top 3 tech schools in the US, the one in Atlanta. And a friend of mine majoring in aerospace engineering got what they called an informational interview with an old fashioned rocket company in Huntsville, Alabama. They told him to come on a casual Friday so he wouldn't need to dress up, just wear khakis and a polo, they say.
When he gets there, the receptionist at the front desk wouldn't even let him in the building or call the people he'd been talking too. It was a test you see, he was told that since he wasn't wearing a suit, despite what he'd been told, he must not take it seriously enough. Security walked him to his car to make sure he left.

Sadly, your first impression might not even matter when you have the manager of the department you're interviewing for(who clearly thinks you're a superstar candidate) on one side of the table, and a guy in a suit prattling on about "we're trying to make the workplace more FUN" on the other side...

That was a call back I knew I was never gonna get, thank God.

So you said don't complain about your current/previous employer... How do you recommend answering "why do you want to leave your current job?" when the real answer is "because it sucks"? 🤣

I have been unemployed for almost a year now and not one interview was in person. Everything is over the phone and I have had a couple over Zoom. Also lots of hiring HRS people. Only spoke to the actual hiring manager twice. And whats with the videos answering 5 questions that I have to submit before speaking to anyone. Sorry but your videos are not with the times. Still watching them tho. Need all the help I can get.

A thank you note?? So beg for the job? 😂 nah

Good advice generally but in my country its almost impossible to send thank you note. The hirer would not share his contact information during the interview process and if the interview is obtained through the recruiter they won't do it either as they have a few candidates prospected for the same job and they don't do things that doesn't help their own commissions.

Can you do a video on how to handle an Exit interview?

Just want to say thank you for all this incredible information you put out. Had an interview 2 weeks ago (after not having one for years) and after watching many of your videos, I was so well prepared that I crushed the interview and got offered the job! I managed to ask questions throughout, which i really believe helped (something id never done before) - they noted how interested I seemed in the position and really liked that I was keen. So thank you!