How to Boost Your Confidence During the Job Interview

Welcome to roadmap to the executive suite podcast, a place where we talk about accelerating your careers all tailored to the ambitious woman. We're here to have fun, feel empowered and get actionable steps to get you closer to your dream job and salary, no matter where you are in your career. I'm your host, Claudia Miller, Athena, career coach and corporate trainer who helps ambitious women get the jobs they want, almost getting them up to $100,000 in salary increases. I've been featured in Forbes MSNBC, and Business Insider put me there Top Global list of top innovative career coaches, and the creative 90 day job offer program where I teach career driven women like you my proprietary strategy on how to land a job you love in less than 90 days, all while getting 30 to$100,000 in salary increases, no matter if you're just starting in your career, or you're ready to pivot into the executive suite. My clients have been able to move to the next step in their careers successfully pivoted into new industries without having to take a pay cut and broke it into management without any prior experience. I'm coming to you with a new episode every week on Thursdays with mindset job search, interview skills and sound negotiation advice with actionable strategies you can implement today to help you get ahead in your career. Now let's get started with this week's episode. Welcome to this week's episode, where today I'm going to be talking about how to boost your competence during the job interview. So overall, it's almost impossible to not have your competence taken hit while you're job searching, whether you're starting out in your career years freshly graduated, or you're already a seasoned professional with years of experience under your belt and lots of achievements and degrees. Overall, I've seen it that it impacts everyone. And just know that you're not alone. So this episode, I'm going to be sharing with you some tips and what you could do about it. If you're a cop, this has taken a hit while you're job searching. Because if you don't work on your competence, it will leak into your resume, your cover letter, your LinkedIn profile, and especially in your interviews. And when you're not confident and it leaks in your interviews, that's when it could cost you the job. It's worth 1000s of dollars because you're not positioning yourself as a top that after candidate. So why do we lose confidence while job searching? Well, it could be for multiple reasons. But what I've noticed from flying to job seekers that I've talked to, is that before they even start job searching, they've either already been passed up for promotions, multiple times, they find out they've been grossly underpaid. Even though they've been performing at an optimal level. They've been doing the job of two three people. And so like they just can't keep up, when in reality, they've just been used and abused and or the job of two to three people. They haven't received a salary increase in such a long time. And they're not being approached or grew for the next promotion, even though that they're deserving of it. And there are opportunities within the company. They've been demoted in Title due to reorg changes or acquisitions, yet they have equal or more responsibilities. Or if they've come back from maternity leave, and they're just left to feel less than, like they did the performance as take the dip or anything. They weren't groomed for leadership roles. They took maternity leave and now there have been demoted or just kind of put off to the side. And the list goes on. This is just like a short snapshot of what occurred and seen from clients and some job seekers I've spoken to. Now when they start job searching, they start getting out of manage rejections for roles that they know they're a great fit for. And even for those of they're overqualified for their to qualified or under qualified and I've just not given a chance. They get lowball salary offers. They go through rounds of interviews and never hear back from the company. And I've given them a reason why or if they filled the role or not. They get approached from recruiters and then are ghosted without a reason why after they submitted their resume, never hear back from this recruiter. And the list just goes on. And just me list hanging going through this list has been filling down and I've already been job searching. But it just seems like everything is just stacked up against the job seeker. And like I said, with whatever has been happening at the workplace, and then what's really happening while their job searching. There's a lot of factors that impact our copies. So what's the right thing to do? Well, my favorite quote is from Glenn Turner, which is worried is like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do but it's you know where we lose confidence because we worried that there might be something wrong with us. were wondering, are we selling ourselves did we think we're better than what we thought we were maybe we're not as brave, maybe we're falling behind. Maybe they're hiring younger talent, effort fields, filling the same roles, but for less pay. Yet, when I speak to the younger talent, they're say, they're gonna hire me for the roles that I want, because I don't have enough experience in the industry. So I hear both sides. And it's all about focusing and worrying. And because we don't know or we feel like, there might be something wrong with us over on the job search process. My advice to helping you increase your competence during the interview is to focus on what you can control. So there's no use of focusing on things that are just out of our control, we have no power, there's nothing we can do. And it just leaves us in a very debilitating state. And, and a feeling of worry and frustration. So here's what I mean, when I say let's focus on the things we can control. We want to treat job searching like data gathering. If you're not getting callbacks in your resume, you're not getting any requests for interviews, based on the jobs you apply to. There's something wrong with your resume, that can be easily fixed. Work with a professional resume writer and work with a career coach, that cannot be that is an easy fix, don't approach it 300 jobs. And then say there's something while with my resume, the rule of thumb is for every time job that you apply for, that you know you're qualified for, or at least qualified at 60%. For every 10 jobs you're applying for, you should be receiving two to three interviews. If you're not, there's something wrong with your resume, not wait until you've applied to 100 200 or 300 interviews, or 200 jobs to then say, oh, there's something wrong with my resume. Let's be proactive, and let's focus on it. job searching is data gathering. That's what we're doing throughout the whole process. Now, let's just say you are getting interviews for every 10 jobs you're applying, you're getting two to three interviews, or more. Well, what is happening, you know, what is happening through the interview process? Maybe Are you getting zero offer support, you're getting, like offers with very low salary. So we want to ask the reason why. So if we didn't make it past the interview process, why is that? Are they looking for you to relocate or going to the office or move? Maybe it was a location thing? I mean, I just had a client where they were told or asked, yes, the roll is remote, but we still want you to fit in this area. And because of that, because she didn't live in that state, she just didn't move forward in the interview process. She's also not looking to relocate for a remote role. So it's nothing that it's a problem with her. It's just wasn't a good fit, and the company was just not very good at communicating. So you could check off to say that it's not my fault, or nothing having to do with me, can't control that. I'm going to sign that off. Did they offer you a little salary? My question will be well, did you apply for the role that offers a little salary? For example, I didn't expect to make$100,000 applying for a call center raffle? There's no not being offensive, right there be saying there are types of roles that we know what the salary ranges, are we being considerate of the role in this marketplace. So if we're applying for Director of software engineering, and we're getting offered any $1,000. That is not a problem with you, or anything that is just a company that doesn't know the value of a director software engineering. They're either not willing to pay for it, or they need to ask for a lower title for it to meet that salary with those responsibilities. Now, maybe there was a company freeze, and they just stopped interviewing and they can't hire for this role. Okay, well, then I'm not going to worry because I didn't get that job. It was just a company freeze that is out of my control. check that off. Are you the top candidate? Or did you make it to the last round and you just didn't get the job offer? And start asking yourself? Well, why is that? Can I ask interview feedback? Can I ask them know, what could I have done better? What were they looking for? And then you can focus on your interviewing skills, if you're not a great interviewer and you know that work on your interviewing skills or work with a professional like myself. So interviewing is a learned skill, and it's something that you can work on. And I know this because I've worked with lots of clients in their interviewing skills where they're introverts, they don't know how to sell themselves. They're uncomfortable, but they absolutely hate those behavioral questions. And after working together, they nailed their interview, they're told that they're the top sought after candidate. I've had clients when they're told there's a five interview process. And after that interview, they said, You know what, we're going to forfeit the last two interviews. We want to extend that job offer we want to bring you in, those things can happen. Now remember, the best person doesn't always get the job is the best interviewer that gets the job. Think about it. How many of you Your coworkers are managers, how did this person get this job? Why am I the one training them on how to do their job, even though I report to them and they're way higher? I know a lot of us have those situations, or we're wondering how did this person get this job? Again, it's not the best person that's qualified, that gets a job. It's the best interviewer that gets the job. And interviewing is a learned skill set. You can work with the professionals that I work with my clients, I'm having mock interviews, and we practice and I help them Easter interviews. So again, if you're just on a good anywhere, there's an answer and a solution for it. Work on that other data. Now, let's just say you're applying to 10 jobs, you got two to three interviews of those resumes performing right. Now you have about, let's just say at this point, five, six interviews, and none of them accepted job offers. And all of them are, you're qualified for and you have all the skill set, and you're just not getting it, you're just not great interviewer work on that. That's something that can be fixed and focus on the solution, not that you lost those opportunities. Next is always keep your pipeline full. So what I mean by that is continue getting interviews, continue applying to jobs. And even after you received a job offer, continue applying because we know that a company can always pull back their job offer. So you want to continue interviewing, and you don't want to stop applying or networking. Like I said, you want to continue getting more interviews and getting that pipeline full. And there are multiple reasons why. So one of the reasons is that, let's just say you have one ena and you're putting all your eggs in this one basket, and you're super excited. And this is your dream company. And for whatever reason, they just don't hire you. Maybe they did a hiring for you. Maybe there's a policy change. Now they're nervous, and they don't want to hire for this right? Now, all of a sudden, you're feeling down. Now you feel like you got to start from the beginning. Now you feel like you're hopeless and defeated. And now you're gonna start, go back to the drawing board and then continue applying to jobs, you're going to have more time to lament, and feel sad about it and lose your confidence because you don't have any other opportunities. But same scenario, now you have five interviews lined up at five different companies. But one of those companies, you interview, you don't get the job, well, that's fine, because you still have four other opportunities. Plus, you're still going to spend time interviewing or networking, applying to jobs that where you can add in more companies to your pipeline. And you might potentially come back to five opportunities again, or even more, because you're continuing to do the work. So now you don't even have time to lament or feel sad that you lost that job. Because you still got to prepare for those for other interviews. You don't have the mental capacity or time to say like, oh, layer, why did they hire me? Why did this happen to me? It is this the wrong time to be job searching? Because they're gonna say, Okay, that didn't work. Okay? Why stop are other ones, I need to focus on that I have a few interviews, what is the next one I need to prepare for, and then you are just going through it, you're working your way, there's no more time. Because again, we're keeping that pipeline full. So you make sure that you're always continuing to apply to jobs, want to continue interviewing. And like I said, even after you accept the job offer, I still recommend still continue interviewing and see where that goes. Because a company can always pull back their job offer and say, sorry, we changed your mind, we are no longer having this position. And I'm sorry, that we have to do this. So again, we want to mitigate risk. We want to make sure we take care of ourselves during the job search process, they can pull back the job offer and we can pull back our offer acceptance. So it goes both ways. So you want to make sure you keep that pipeline full. Then you want to ask yourself, why didn't you get the job, you don't know why you didn't get the job as to get on a 15 minute call. There's nothing wrong with asking for feedback. Now, most recruiters or hiring managers are not going to feel comfortable giving you feedback through email, or over email. They put them at risk. And it's just not cohesive. But they're more than happy to be honest with you, if you get on a call with them, you are tend to be more open when it comes a whole call because again, it mitigates risk. So ask them, you know, looking to, you know, improve my interviewing skills, you have feedback on what I can improve, or, you know, was there anything that I was missing certifications or background? Ask for that feedback. You want to know why? I've had clients where they're told me know a lot, we actually just ended up going with an internal candidate, because they needed someone to know the system and it was a proprietary system. Okay, that is clients control. They can't vote on them. Okay, that's good to know. Right? Now, they're told, hey, you know, we noticed that it's really imperative that you know, this was the pig skill set, let's just say like SQL, it's imperative that for this job, you need to know SQL. And we need you to start ASAP with that knowledge, then you can say, Alright, now we know what skill sets we're missing. Now you can go on LinkedIn learning or any other learning platform or YouTube, I learned SQL on a week at, that's something that can be fixed. Again, we focus on solutions, not things we can't control. Now, we can't control if policies change, and it's disrupting the market, we cannot control if there's a hiring freeze within this company, or we can't control we have missing skill sets, or our interviewing skills, or just the opportunities out there. So we want to make sure that you start focusing on that. Next, it's also important that if you're not sure how to navigate job searching, I know pipelines where they've been at their company for 510, sometimes 15 plus years, they haven't had to create a resume, no, longtime, they haven't started or interviewed in a long time, because they just didn't promote it, or they've had to interview with someone within a company that they used to work for, but you know, is a very tangible interview process. Well, they work with a professional, they're career coaches that help you through that process. So for example, when I work with my clients with career coaching, I help them with Hey, here from A to Z, the job searching process. If you need clarity, here's how we get clarity on what roles are the right fit for you. Once we identify the right roles, here's how we write a customized resume cover letter, LinkedIn profile. This is how you network here, the people that you need to start networking again, get to know you're the templates on how to reach out to them. And what questions to ask, here is how you interview and let's set up the mock into recession one on one so we can grow play. And I can let you know what you do really well, where to make improvements, and even a mock salary negotiation session. This is where I roleplay with my client, and having them get practice when it comes to negotiating their salary, and how to make sure that they are able to create a compensation package. So if the company can't fulfill us, or meet us at the data range we want, how can we still get to that salary, with benefits or additional perks that we can get from the company. But again, there are solutions out there. This is how I work with my clients or other career coaches there as well, where they can walk you through every step of the process, if you're really scared about going back and job searching, and you're not sure how to even go through this process in a competitive and saturated marketplace like it is now. Things have changed. Now there's algorithms there's, you know, the ATS system and all these other things. And you're like, I don't know, if I'll even get hired, what if I'm too old? Or you know, there's such thing as ageism? What if I'm too old? What if I'm not as qualified as I think I am, work with a professional so that way they can help you in selling yourself getting a little bit more clarity of what jobs are a good fit for you and what's you know, normal in the marketplace at this point? What are the interview process like and helping you prepare for it, again, focus on what we can control. Then the next thing is, you want to make sure that you make a list of achievements and read it as much as possible. I know sometimes we forget all the great things that we have done. And we focus on a few short moments of defeat, and ignore our cumulative achievements. For example, you didn't get the job offer. And because you haven't managed 300 people or you've managed 120, don't feel like you're less than or feel like you are not as good as you think you are, you're not good enough. Because of that moment, when you look at your achievements, you have accomplished so many great things. I have many clients, I'll make a list of achievements that we use through multiple marketing materials, like resume cover letter, LinkedIn, interviewing skills, but it also helps me their confidence. Like I said, If I asked you what you did, I'm pretty sure you're not going to know, I wouldn't even know I don't even know what I did last week, I would have to refer back to my calendar. So it is total natural and normal for us to forget all our achievements that we did a month ago, three months ago, 612 or 10 years ago. So we want to make a list of achievements and refer back to it as much as needed if you need to read it 10 times a day, because it meant that kind of a day, then do so you just need to read it once a day. And that's it. But we want to continue reminding ourselves all the great work your role in salary to not define your value. And if you want to have a competitive advantage and say like hey, I just need help and guidance and feedback. Someone that can walk me through that step. Then again, hire career coach, this is something that I work with clients with and that remember, didn't get the job offer doesn't make you less than it just wasn't a good fit for whatever reason, and sometimes it is out of our country. All, it's out of our control, don't even worry about focus on building up that pipeline. And if it's something you can't control, then there means there has to be a solution, figure out that solution and focus on solutions. So, overall, this is my advice on helping you boost your confidence. Again, we want to focus on what we can't control. And if you're not getting the jobs, for things out of our control, like policy changes, like I said, hiring freezes, the company just got acquired, or they're acquiring the company that is out of your control and don't have that impact, you're confident instead saying, hey, it just wasn't a good fit. It just wasn't meant to happen right now. Let me focus on what I can't picture. And I need to focus on these other interviews as well. So if you're interested or want to know more about how to play with me or work with me, I've included a link. And like I said, I walk my clients through every step of the process, I want them to be as easy as comfortable and for them to have as much support as possible. That's why my clients, every time they work with me, no matter how low and self confidence, they start, they for sure leave feeling very confident, getting jobs sooner than they thought, Wait, salary increases harder, they expect it. I've had clients and said, Get up to $140,000 in salary increase, I've had clients get over 75% If salary increases, even at a senior leadership level, like directors, they're making 200k and they still get a lot of those increases, cuz that's how much they've been grossly underpaid this whole time. So if you're interested, feel free to check out the link. But let me know which one of these interview tips or these competence tips were super helpful on which remastered favorite Alright, take care. Did you know I have started 100% free Facebook group dedicated to making job searching easy for career driven women and help them master their interviewing networking inside negotiation skills. And we're doing free weekly trainings covering everything from how to sell yourself to increasing your salary by 30% minimum. Plus you'll be in there with a network of other ambitious women. So make sure to join us by texting us the word join 28449951523 And we'll see you there