How to crush your interviews

I've been publishing a series of posts outlining the strategies we're using to get people $100K+ compensation increases.

The steps are as follows:

Step 1: Identify the right role

Step 2: Get 10+ interviews a month

Step 3: Pass interviews

Step 4: Get and close on an offer

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I explained how to do step 1 here

I explained how to do step 2 here

Here's how to do step 3 - Pass interviews :

Firstly, understand that the purpose of an interview process is to build an argument for why the company should hire you.

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This argument is called an "offer thesis" and it requires you to answer the following questions:

1. Value: How much value will my role create?

For example, you should be able to say the following or something similar to yourself:

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This role will drive $10MN in value because it is responsible for shipping a software product to a market with a TAM of $1BN that we can capture 1% of.

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2. Process: Can I execute well on the responsibilities needed to drive this value?

For example, you should be able to say the following or something similar to yourself:

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I will be able to do this role well because I previously shipped a similar product and captured a similar market share.

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3. Alternatives: Am I one of the few people who can do these responsibilities well?

For example, you should be able to say the following or something similar to yourself:

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I'm the only promising candidate this company is considering because shipping this product requires domain knowledge.

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4. Budget: Does the employer have the budget to spend money on this role?

For example, you should be able to say the following or something similar to yourself:

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This buyer has indicated that the company intends to spend 1% of its top-line revenue on this department, since it's a high priority initiative. Since this company has a $1BN in revenue, it intends to spend $10MN on this department.

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5. Alignment: Does the employer and I align on 1 through 4?

For example, you should be able to say the following or something similar to yourself:

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I know that this employer agrees with me on 1 through 4 because we've had a conversation about each point.

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In 1 line, your goal is to be able to say something like:

"This company wants to hire a ROLE-TITLE to ACHIEVE-X which will drive $Y-VALUE by doing

RESPONSIBILITIES. I am one of the best candidates for the role because of the following reason:

UNIQUE-VALUE and this company has X-BUDGET so they can afford me.”

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In practice, this is hard to do and most people don't get offers this way, but using this as a guiding framework will help you ask the right questions as you proceed through your interview processes

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Secondly, keep the 2 following goals in mind every time you interview.

Goal 1: Collect data for my offer thesis.

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Goal 2: Progress to the next interview stage so you can continue to collect data.

Both goals can be fulfilled by doing the following on each call:

A) Go through this process:

1. Rapport: Build rapport with the person you're speaking to.
2. Opening with friendly questions and demonstrating that you're human is important!

2. Goal identification: Identify what the person you're speaking to is trying to learn.
3. Ask questions like "What are you hoping to learn from this conversation?" OR "What are the main qualities you're looking for in this candidate?"

3. Objection handle: Identify what concerns the person your speaking to has about you.
4. Near the end, end with questions like "What are your main concerns about my background?" OR "On a scale of 1 to 10, how good of a fit do you think I am for this role?"

B) Optimize your tonality and non-verbal cues

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There's nuance to how your tone should vary, that's difficult to articulate in an article, but as a general rule:

A) If you tend to not pass interviews because your interviewer doesn't think you are talented enough to do the role, try the following:

• Speak more slowly
• Speak more concisely
• Deepen your pitch
• Smile a little less
• Nod in agreement a little less

B) If you tend to not pass interviews because your interviewer doesn't like you, try the following:

• Speak more quickly
• Use more words
• Lighten your pitch
• Smile a little more
• Nod in agreement a little more

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Here's an example of an offer thesis that helped a candidate get a $100K+ offer increase: Click Here