How to Make the Best First Impressions

[Music] hey mom yeah I'm pretty nervous for this interview I spent all weekend knowing my content so I'm ready to crush an interview no I don't know who I'm interviewing with I just know her name is Tammy she's a part of the firm but don't know much else sorry I gotta run I'm walking into the way right now hi Brett hey Tammy how's it going good how are you doing oh I'm doing good it's a beautiful day in Palo Alto is the weather always this nice November yes it is it is their first time here

yeah yeah I'm from the Midwest and it's snowing already there got it well welcome here so I'm looking at your resumes like how many do you think this is going well so far show of hands how many of you think it's too early to tell hmm let's see what our participants think right how do you think it's been so far as unless you guys son I feel think things are going pretty well I complement to the weather talked about the city and now I'm right across the Saturday interesting fami what's your opinion I've had 10

interviews today I don't feel a special connection with this guy he doesn't stand out Wow did you just did you just see how in the first 10 seconds itself there's such different opinions of how it's gone among the two people first impressions in an interview are critical where they say don't judge a book by it's cover that's actually what we do most of the time first impressions are usually formed within the first 17 seconds of meeting someone and then they're only reinforced with time with high correlation research from Amy Cuddy shows that 80% of your

first impression is based on two traits strengths how capable and competent is this person and warmth do I trust them thing is it actually starts before it starts your preparation can key you up for success for the rest of the interview consequently you can also put you on your back foot so that you're always kind of struggling to catch up so let's take a look at a couple things we can do to enforce good a habit building to set you up for your best success first let's check our online presence right if you wouldn't mind

thank you when was it you thought you first saw Tami and she first sight when Tammy walked down those steps open the imaginary door and saw me say no I think that that's maybe true but more likely probably is that she did her research and she saw this this is a this is a beautiful picture of you and I think it's take a look okay good looking at nothing we can do to improve upon this but please let's think a little bit about the production value that we're putting into this the lighting is a little

bit off you can't necessarily do any better than this when it comes to light the slide but there is more you can do for a high resolution camera let's see if we can do us put you into the Brett you can be you're looking good right another thing you might want to think about is dressing appropriately I was hoping you might come walk me through some of your thinking when you're not dressed I know that Tammy's firm was business casual so I thought it'd be good to match business casual and be a part of the

team I can see that anyone agree yeah I might I might suggest one one other thing maybe consider that if they're gonna be business casual let's just you up just a little bit one step above anything feel a lot more confident you're already on stage from the second you come in can I borrow your phone for one though okay I like this I'm gonna give this back to you as soon as you are done with the interview you can use this to call it uber when you're done when they see you using the phone it

looks like you're not there you're not ready let's set you up for the best success you are here you are present yeah okay so remember like think about all of these things before you go in remember that there's going to be some habit building that happens and we want to make sure that you're set up for your best success because it starts before it starts and now let's prepare you for what it's like in a waiting room Brett would you please act like what you did before I have three quick tips for you to help

you to differentiate yourself professionally in the waiting room first try to plan to stand up standing up based on author Peggy Wallace gives you more power and confidence standing up gives you more energy because it's so much better than if you would have watching the couch when you're nervous in an interview your default will be to take refuge in thinking in that comfortable couch in the waiting room instead of sitting there you can look at the view out of the window read about the art on the wall I read about a magazine like while you're

sending seniya has one other benefit when someone you meet comes in sending out gives you a more fluid transition into greeting them because you start out as their equal rather than from below them from a sitting position the second tip we have for you is to make small conversations they have you with people in their receptionist or there can be other candidates in the room this helps you stretch out your vocal cords so you can you can deliver a more clear and resonant voice and hopefully the admins will see that you are a friendly person

and you're a better fit for the company's culture convert them into your allies the star tip we have for you is to master the meet and greet you won't be able to immediately have this high energy as soon as you see someone in the first millisecond therefore prepare the mentality for solid first first impression think about what you want to do to be confident to share thisi azzam and show that you're a polished greet them with the open gesture a firm handshake and a direct eye contact breath this practice this Haley much better isn't it

so as you can see there's three quick tips for you to prepare in the waiting room as we said it really starts before it starts now let's talk about preparing Brett for the interview Brett come on in have a seat I have three tips for you first have engaging conversation for your interviewer and prepare for that do your homework beforehand look up what they work on where they went to school or college what the hobbies are see if you have any commonalities with them or shared experiences talk about those to build connections second let's talk

about posture friend when you sit with your leg up against your knee and slouching back you can make a casual attitude at a bit of arrogance let's fix that why don't you sit straight and try to project confidence it's important to maintain eye contact with your interviewer so that they built rather it builds trust when you look away from your interviewer and talk they might think you're not being genuine third it's important to mirror the energy in the room practice this beforehand if your interviewer is low energy or tired don't be too peppy if your

interviewer is high energy try to match their level you want the interviewer to be comfortable with your energy level and not be awkward so to summarize three tips do your homework on content have engaging conversations have a confident body posture and mirror the energy level in the room remember it starts before it starts now let's see if Brett has learned through this process Wow I walk into the waiting room I don't have my phone out I'm so prepared hi Brett hey Tammy I'm so excited to be interviewing with you today well welcome yeah I noticed

by looking our LinkedIn that we have a common connection how do you know RJ Miller oh my god we went to GSB together oh he's my neighbor you have any good stories about him at the time at the GSB total eye total eye let's talk about it okay wasn't that so much better let's ask our participants how that felt Tammy how did that land on you I've had pain you know via today I won't forget which one Bret is Bret how did that for you I felt that went a lot better I came in focused

I wasn't distracted on my cell phone and we made a common connection I got my nerves down and ready to go with it so I know as we go through this most you think these are just two role plays sadly monthly half-goat in that first role play you saw that was me - the whole Linkedin photo I walked into the interview wearing this but all the other candidates had ties on I thought I wanted to match the people I was interviewing with I did talked about the weather because I spent all my time researching and

preparing for my content my interview all the other candidates we had these crazy connections with their interviewers and they did their homework I walked into that we had that interview room I was nervous I did put my leg up it hid my nerves I thought the portrayed confidence but when I got the feedback after the interview they told me that I crushed interviews I was the most qualified candidate for the job but I didn't get the job because they felt I didn't take it seriously that really hurt me because I really focus on this interview

but like they just mentioned the first 17 seconds are super important and I think that's what set me behind on the back foot fortunately the story has a happy ending because I learn from these mistakes didn't make this air twice got a job that was better for me two weeks later signed and thank you and just our hope for you going for us when you go into that interview do focus on dress you know do focus on during your research on York interviewer practice that Hochberg before you walk in because when you can if you

do that you're gonna start off on the right foot when you go into that content and you will learn that I learned the hard way that it really does start before it's nice thank you I want to thank you very much for sharing that abysmal failure without significant mistakes with that we'd love to open up to some questions [Music]