Welcome back to another episode of the corporate Cowboys podcast my name is Alex as always your host thank you for joining me today’s proof of life is Saturday April 1st 2023. now if you’re not familiar with the format of the podcast yes every episode I guess after season what five six after
Season six or seven I don’t know there 30 minutes free consultations for you to take advantage of and listen to take notes and apply what you learn in a way that edifies you and helps you grow professionally helps you develop become or build towards becoming the consummate professional that’s what
We’re all striving for really that’s what we aspire to become so if you’re not familiar with the formats of this it’s coming across questions online or questions that get sent into us where we’re able to read them to you the listener and walk you through them given whatever facts
Were able to derive or even infer from the questions themselves you see if we had of these hypothetical clients in front of us then we could ask them questions plenty of questions follow-up questions this would be a very uh wholesome a very fulfilling very satisfying interview at
Least it’s what I’ve been trained to do and having been a career consultant for a number of years now I believe my experience speaks for itself so that being said I want to give a disclaimer anything we put across anything that we convey messages that tickle your ears should not be construed
As legal advice in any way shape or form unless you’ve retained us or engaged us to represent you legally or Advocate on your behalf right the corporate Cowboys do not condone any wrongdoing and we do not promote any wrongful activity though you can interact with us you can find us online
On Instagram that’s at corporates Cowboys with a z and find the podcast on patreon as well that’s the corporate Cowboys podcast you can subscribe to any one of the tiers that are available or multiple if you are so inclined and are feeling generous you want to write To Us by all means
Send us um items of Interest that’s P.O box 3372 Rancho Cordova California 95741 there are a couple of donation links out there I’m not going to list them for you but there’s a cash app of PayPal and mo what not keep this podcast free for you the listener
If you want to engage us directly personally our rates are more than reasonable I I don’t so much advertisement promotes because the podcast is free for you to take advantage of I mean you really want to connect with us directly personally that’s it’s on you to want to do that right
The information and the advice that we give we can’t tailor because we don’t have the hypothetical clients in front of us so if the shoe fits you could potentially lace it up if it’s too tight too loose then I mean that’s something you want to
Be cognizant of you want to be aware of that going in to this podcast going into every new episode that you listen to all right today’s question comes from r slash career advice and they’re asking should I interview in person just off top I want to say yes
Yes but but this is assuming that professionals are are capable of categorizing interactions whether they are in person you know face to face whether they are on the phone or over text over email something written something verbal something visual something audio maybe you’re on a phone call some type of conference call right
Now as a professional you have to be training yourself to be well-rounded and use any number of mediums that you think might be of benefit that you think you might be working with in your day-to-day professional life right I mean we don’t all start off as smooth criminals as hustlers in person
Working hand to hand person to person that’s kind of how I was trained I’m old enough to not not have had a cell phone to not have been born with one right but to understand the benefit the um the completeness the holistic interaction that happens when you communicate with
Somebody when you interact with someone in person right the saying goes that if communication is a hundred percent in any given interaction then it’s about 70 percent what you say and 30 percent what you see what you hear what you feel right 70 of what’s verbal I may have
That backwards it might be thirty percent of what is verbal and seventy percent of what is not right given the setting given the environment given circumstances but if I recall right and I could Google it now but but the point stands that in any given interaction Communication in and of itself is both
Verbal and non-verbal right it’s what you say how you say it when you say it but also the non-verbal of how it’s being said the intonation that you take on the clothes that you wear the face that you make this all gives Credence to what you mean by what you say right
So if we’re ever lacking on the verbal or the non-verbal then your mind your brain actually goes into overdrive to fill in what they could possibly mean when they say this one thing but you’re only hearing them over the phone you pull out more information than just that
30 percent of what you can’t see that 30 percent becomes something you rely on you depend on because you don’t have the other portion of what you could see of what you could feel all you’ve got is a voice over the phone so that thirty percent becomes everything when you’re working in person
You get I’m not going to say the complete picture but about as complete a picture as you could get I mean the only way you get it better the only way you can improve on what you have and what you’re looking at is to be a competent interviewer
Is to be a consummate professional in your interactions and know what it is you are seeking know what questions you will be asking going in to the conversation so when our hypothetical clients is asking is it’s better to interview in person should I interview in person I mean the straightforward answer is yes
Why would you pass up the opportunity unless you have it figured out in your mind how to communicate over uh email over the phone over a zoom to compensate for the information that’s not being exchanged when you are not in person compensating for that information that’s not being exchanged and be able to
Benefit from it if you’re interviewing for a job how else will you overcome will you compensate for the information that’s lacking for uh lack of another of a better term how else would you wait makeup for the information that is not being exchanged in order to get a job
In order to secure the promotion or the salary the compensation so our hypothetical client writes here I got a job interview for a huge opportunity it’s a huge opportunity right now me personally professionally I’m thinking why would why would I not want to interview in person I feel it’s best
It’s best to be your real self your authentic self your complete self whenever possible especially especially if you’ve got these opportunities that you don’t want to crash you’ve got these opportunities that you don’t want to trash right say you do interview over the phone or uh over a digital platform Zoom right
And your interviewer likes you your interviewer enjoys your company the interaction the interview they offer you the position and then you have to show up in person right there is a chance slim chance if if if Slim Right there is the potential for them to regret their decision because
You show up in person and now they perceive a different set of values a different quality of information when they meet you in person versus when they speak to you over the phone Brew Over Zoom I mean if you can manage it by all means
Show up in person if you can’t manage it like I said before you have to figure a way to compensate for it and still secure the job and that’s going to come down to you utilizing what your interviewer can hear or can see the emotions you can evoke in your interviewer
And that takes at times a higher order thinking and if you find you you’re the listener find yourself in a position where you need professional perspective then reach out to us if a friend that you know an associate’s a family member if they find themselves in a position where they’ve got to decide
Well should it be in person well how should I prepare for a zoom interview share this podcast have them reach out to us we’re more than happy to help and set something up our rates are more than reasonable and in doing so you the listener the hypothetical client until you become
An actual client you invest in yourself in developing professionally without having to wait for your job to do it for you for your manager for a light bulb to go off over their head and say oh maybe we should train Alex maybe we should educate Alex maybe we should provide them with some
Formal education some additional knowledge and understanding to develop them professionally I mean some jobs do look out for their employees and some jobs do not it then falls on you the listener the employee it behooves you to seek outside resources to supplement your professional growth the developments you want to see and yet
Can’t find within your organization that’s what you retail that’s what that’s why you reach out to experts folks who’ve been in the field who dug the trenches in a witch corporate war is now conducted so they continue here I got a job opportunity for a huge I got a job
Interview for a huge opportunity right I was given the opportunity to do virtual or in person I mean they were given the choice not the opportunity right I was given the choice I was given the opportunity they write to do virtual or in person and I live three hours away
Which they are aware of hmm is there enough of an advantage to make the drive and go in person and will it make me look better and that’s it that’s the end of the body I feel if we had this hypothetical client in front of us we want to know I
Mean we want to know what the position is what industry they’re working in what level it is what position it is that they are interviewing for are they entry level something supervisory a manager an executive but more often than not it’s it will be advantageous beneficial to show up in person
Meet them face to face shake their hand because more often than not your employment agreement will ask for some days in the office right even if your work from home it might be hybrid so it’s best to get your face in front of your manager so that your manager
Knows who they’re dealing with who they are interviewing the personality that they are onboarding and bringing into the fold again it’s not that you’re putting on a mask or a front when you’re interviewing uh virtually when you’re not in person it’s not that you’re being fake right
And though you still somewhat put on an act even in person and after one chalk it up to striving to attain that state of consummate professionalism foreign I don’t know what I was taking so long to think about it is absolutely worth it for you to show up in person
Let them know what you are about let them know who you are be able to explain and describe to them the benefits the positives what makes you an asset to the team so that that way they know what to expect if they should call you if the next meeting should be over Zoom
They know what to expect why because they know what they hired you on for they know who they hired it’s it’s something specific and it’s very detailed but but it should not Escape you the quality of communication that you should be able to provide when you’re interviewing virtually versus in person
Let’s take a look at some of these comments here I mean it was a pretty short body and I feel in general the answer is yes you want to take advantage take advantage it’s not that you have the choice or the opportunity to interview in person it’s that you want to take advantage
Of the in-person presence of showing up to work and interviewing with the manager I mean you want to go beyond just consummate professionalism you want to think like a corporate cowboy I mean if you are taking this job to learn what it’s about to learn the ropes the infrastructure the organization the hierarchy
If you’re really about that corporate War then you want to show up in person that’s going to amount to added reconnaissance who your manager is and who their manager is how tall they are what they look like in person whether or not they might sound different in person versus over Zoom
It’s all relevant and these are factors you want to take into account these are all elements of professional interaction that you want to uh evaluate to understand your manager to understand the organization as far as hierarchical chain goes and be able to plot your next move whether it’s
Moving further in or moving higher up or collecting as much knowledge and understanding of whatever specific piece of the industry or organizational operational or process that you want to collect before moving on to another position where you might be paid better the first comment here says they’re asking uh well our hypothetical
Client is asking is there enough of an advantage to make the drive and go in person and will it make me look better and the first comment here says definitely in person yeah I agree I definitely agree it’s easier to get across your personality to impress them hopefully
Three hours is a pain but if you can swing it you should try assume you’d be relocating for this wood be a long commute every day that is uh another point of consideration that we didn’t so much think about right if they live three hours away I mean did they tell us
Yeah and they live I live three hours away which they are aware of hmm then you’ve got to ask is the position itself hybrid or work from home right if they know you’re coming in from three hours away well do you know what position it is you’re interviewing for
And will you have to commute three hours there and three hours back every single day if that’s the case it may not be to your benefit to take the job you might want to uh reconsider or renegotiate to be able to work from home more days out of the week
This first commenter is right that is a lot of commute time that you’re sinking into this job I mean unless the job is absolutely worth it which we don’t have the biographical info to really give that informed of an opinion I mean if we did we would be asking
What our hypothetical client does in life the education The Experience they have the industry that they’re working in this position they’re applying for for what reasons how it will help them professionally it’s all relative it’s all related and it’s all important the second comment here says
I would always do an interview in person if possible you can judge them better and the other way as well I think they just mean vice versa right where every interview is two ways questions should be coming to you you should be thinking of questions to ask your interviewers
You’re interviewing one another after all to find a good fit whether or not you can work together whether or not there’s benefit to working together whether or not to hire someone it’s absolutely worth it to meet them in person to get your personality across which is something sometimes that doesn’t come
Over if you’re emailing or if you’re on Zoom right there could be noise outside there could be distractions inside of loss in translation or communication of some kind one never knows but in person you can take your time develop rapport without the fear of digital interference you can formulate follow-up questions and be
Sure that the candidate even either sorry either the employee or the employer the candidate is actually a proper fit an appropriate fit a third comment here says and I think this will be the last one they write you will be expected to work in person as well question mark you see they’re
Asking that question which is something that we posed earlier whether or not they’ll have to show up in person to the office or if this position is hybrid and they can work from home see those are additional questions that our hypothetical clients should be asking themselves as to whether or not
They want to show up in person or negotiate the interview to be able to relay and communicate your worth your value to the interviewer if you will be working from home anyways in that case it saves you a three-hour trip every day that you’re meant to go into the office
And this commenter continues the biggest concern here is that a three-hour commute is insane if it’s just for the interview and you’re able to work remotely it would be good to show up to show initiative and all of that and they say all of that but really what you’re showing is initiative right
And in some instances again depending on the organization depending on your interviewer depending on the industry the market it may not even be worth to show up in person it’s probably it might likely be worthwhile to just interview over Zoom and start work remotely working from home a second paragraph
This commenter leaves is but if this would lead to you being on site daily especially once you get a written offer could ask about relocation assistance because six hours of commuting is essentially a second job you’re not being paid for yeah that makes so much sense and I can appreciate the creative
Option the creative opportunity that this commenter has opened up for the hypothetical client it absolutely makes sense I mean if you don’t want to be commuting three hours to work in three hours back home that’s six hours total every day on the road if you don’t want to be doing that
You can treat the company as if it’s your own it’s who you’re applying to it’s who you’re interviewing for and if they could help you out with relocation expenses and by all means more power to you more power to you both you as the employee and the company as your employer
It’s very much worthwhile it’s I would say the equivalent of finding a company or a firm that will sponsor your your master’s degree your graduate degree some companies out there do that and so why wouldn’t they help you move closer to them so you don’t have to battle with traffic
They got you closer it’s a good business investment keeping those that you need that you care about keeping them close to you don’t hesitate don’t put off the benefit of interviewing in person especially if it’s a better option than interviewing digitally or virtually over the phone over email it’s the first impression
Granted that a lot of communications now take over take place online the first impression does matter and it continues to matter unless unless you have evidence to prove that it doesn’t if everyone works from home why would you be the one to show up in person and interview not just show up virtually
Interview virtually you do it right and there is training out there available if you do it right they will know who you are they will know what you do your reputation even much handle your business in person I’m Gonna Let You Go here a little over 30 minutes for a Saturday
It’s easy going take care of yourselves have a nice weekend sharpen your steel and boil it down take care
source
