Hi ,
In our last two letters, we’ve explored how a simple greeting can become a powerful practice for cultivating presence. First, by “letting the world come to you” with a pause and an internal check-in. And second, by “creating the field” and proactively greeting the whole person in front of you.
These practices are elegant and effective in everyday life.
But what happens when the stakes are much higher?
Where those first few moments of a connection can change the course of your career, like a job interview?
For many people, job interviews are a high-pressure performance.
You’re focused on your resume, your answers, and demonstrating competence, as you should be.
So are all the other candidates.
But what if you could do something different than them?
In the last job interview I had, I realized about 1/3 of the way into the conversation that, unknown to my interviewers, I was actually leading the conversation.
I didn’t plan it that way, but realized that because of my training in mindful communication, I was answering questions in ways that led the conversation into areas that were beneficial to the interview.
Plus, I had done specific practices learned from somatic psychology to help create authentic rapport and connection early on.
I literally thought in that moment, “Wow, this seems like an unfair advantage.”
So I wanted to share some of these insights with you.
You see, you can’t change what they are looking for or the number of qualifications other candidates bring to the table.
But you can change how they feel about you.
And it starts by seeing and relating to your interviewer in their context.
In the same way I’ve invited you to explore “what’s it like to be you?”, you can now use that same skill to invite “what’s it like to be them?”
When you greet them, you’re not just running an automatic script.
You’re taking a breath and seeing them as a human being in a role that requires them to meet with lots of people.
Think about it for minute.
If you were interviewing person after person for a position, what’s going on in your mind when you greet the next candidate?
It’s likely, “I truly hope this is the perfect candidate!”
Like someone adutiioning actors for a play, the director is praying, “I hope they they are fabulous.”
This is in stark contrast to what many people imagine.
They want you to be the right person, and as long as you don’t disqualify yourself, you’re in! “It’s yours to lose” is another way to say it.
So lean into this when you answer questions.
Answering questions as if you are already on the team.
“When I start the job I would…,”
“When I’m in the team meetings…,”
or “When working with the team, I would….”
And of course, looking at your interviewers as whole people.
Are they happy, sad, funny, nervous, aloof, angry, stressed?
This is about reading the “room,” in this case, a person or a panel. You can respond while taking your experience of them into account.
And more tip. Enter with the mindset that “they would be lucky to have me.” (without being arrogant of course)
When you really feel that way, it exudes a quite confidence that is hard to resist.
When you show up with this embodied awareness, you’re not just answering questions; you are creating the best chance you can to build a genuine connection and inviting them into a different kind of conversation.
These are just a few parts of The Unfair Advantage.
The rest is in a free private podcast I’ve created called, How to Have an Unfair Advantage in Your Next Job Interview with Mindful Communication Skills.
It’s a short audio program, crafted without AI, to help you look at job interviews in a way you never have before
If you’d like to listen for free, all you have to do is text the word UNFAIR to 425-584-5883.
Or visit this link to sign up.
(note: you will be prompted to download the Hiro.fm private podcast player is totally legit. Not a adverstising or marketing platform or spyware).
And if you’d like help framing this for you and your specific sceanrio, that’s what I do.
Stay present,
Brett
PS.
This sequence includes a key question you should not fail to ask when you hear “anything you’d like to ask?”. Answering this question requires the interviewer to imagine you as a success on the team, which is a very strong move to pre-condition their attitudes about you when they think about you later.