How to stand out in a job interview is the question everyone’s asking me right now, and almost nobody’s asking the right version of it.
Last episode I told you about a client who named the belief that had been quietly costing them the job. This week I’m picking up right where that left off, because naming the belief was only step one of a five-step process, and step two is the one most candidates skip completely.
Here’s what’s changed this year: half the people walking into interviews are handing hiring managers the exact same answer, because they got it from the exact same place. ChatGPT can write you a polished response to “tell me about yourself.” It cannot give you a memory. And a hiring manager sitting through six or eight interviews in a day isn’t going to remember your polish. They’re going to remember whatever you left them with after you walked out, something my colleague and EQ expert Sylvia Baffour calls your Emotional Aftertaste.
So how to stand out in a job interview stops being a question about wording, and becomes a question about which memory you’re willing to actually bring into the room.
In this episode, I walk through two real client stories that prove this in practice, one from a career-change candidate applying for their first manager role, and one from a client applying for a full scholarship to a top graduate program. Neither got picked because their résumé was flawless. They got picked because of one specific moment from their life that had everything to do with who they actually are.
I’m not spoiling either story here. What I’ll tell you is that one led to being chosen for the job, and the other led to a full ride at UCLA. Both came from the same exercise, which I walk you through step by step before the episode ends.
If you’ve ever walked out of an interview replaying every answer, or sat across from someone in a performance review struggling to explain why you deserve more responsibility, this is for you. How to stand out in a job interview and how to stand out in any room where someone’s deciding whether to choose you turn out to be exactly the same skill.
This is Part 2 of Be Chosen, Not Ghosted in a Tough Job Market. Press play. Bring a pen.
