1) The MOST important part of interview prep is to develop a thesis 🖋

An interview thesis consists of three items: why you, why this company, and why this role. If you push beneath surface level, these three items can tell a compelling story.

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You would be amazed by how many people walk into a job interview without a thesis. When I say “thesis,” I mean a clear understanding for three main things:

1. why you want to work at the company you’re interviewing with
2. why you want the specific position you are applying for
3. why you are the right fit compared to the sea of other applicants interviewing for the same role

I call this your “personal pitch” and a staggering amount of interviewees walk into an interview without thinking about these things ahead of time. The narrative of a job interview only works if you know what you want to express in the limited amount of time you have.

It’s not a game of ‘they ask questions, you provide answers’- you need to know the content of your interview and the narrative behind why you’re there before you walk in the door.

(I’m not saying you need to come into an interview and command the room and run the show. What I’m saying is that if you’re fully prepared for an interview, you’ll know your talk track and main selling points ahead of time, and will be easily able to respond to wherever an interviewer takes you.)

Beyond that, your personal pitch is guaranteed to fall flat if it is shallow or surface level. Your personal pitch should be a deep and well thought out narrative that aligns what you’re passionate about with what your organization is passionate about.

Let’s break down each of these pieces I mentioned above, and explain why all three are super important in your ability to tell a compelling story.

1. Why do you want to work at this company?

There are an infinite number of great companies to work for. You need to know the specific reasons that the company you are interviewing with is far and away your number one choice. You need to understand their mission, understand their values, and connect those things to your own mission and values. At a high level, you should know why you care about what this company is working on.

You must do research on the company you’re interviewing with, and you must understand their vision and cultural values. Without those items, any connection you claim to have to a company runs to risk of sounding superficial. Doing your homework in this regard is critical.

As an example, when I asked candidates “Why do you want to work at Dropbox,” citing recent funding rounds, or the company’s growth, or company prestige (seemingly extrinsic motivators) did not land well. When they cited a passion for the collaboration space, a love of the Dropbox product, or a belief in Dropbox’s mission and a desire to contribute to it (intrinsic motivators) I was much more optimistic that the candidate wanted to be there for the right reasons.

Further, ‘being there for the right reasons’ is a measure of the type of teammate this person will be. People interested in extrinsic motivators, as opposed to intrinsic, are more likely to be self centered, and operate in a way that prioritizes what’s beneficial for him/herself over what is beneficial for their teammates, or organization at large.

2. Why do you want the specific position you’re applying for?

If you applied to a giant corporation, they would have roles in a million different functions- engineering, sales, HR, marketing, finance, etc. You need to understand why you’re passionate and qualified for the position/function you’re applying for. If you’re applying for a finance role, this has to go beyond having a college major in finance. It needs to reflect a fundamental love or passion for finance, along with a solid rationale.

As a caveat, don’t say something superficial like “I figured finance majors make a lot of money,” or essentially, “I’m looking for an accounting role, and this is a great accounting job.” It should be something deeper, something that reflects who you are as a person.

If you put yourself in the shoes of a potential employer, they wouldn’t want to hire someone that didn’t care about the nature of their job, for obvious reasons. That candidate is a risk to quit six months in, and pursue the thing they actually love once the reality and slog of a full time job with full time responsibilities sets in.

3. What sets you apart from the sea of other candidates for this role?

The point here is not to prove that you’re the best or most qualified person in the world with the best resume and best test scores. Just focus on the defining characteristics that make you unique, the characteristics that you deeply believe you’re elite in.

When I helped my little brother prep for his sales interviews, he felt like there were likely people who got better SAT scores than he did.

However, he knew for a fact that there were very few people who understood how to grind through challenging tasks, and work as hard as he could. He knew how to set a goal and work his butt off until that goal was achieved. And even better, he was prepared to share examples.

(For example, he went from a benchwarmer in 8th grade basketball to an All State Varsity Player as a high school senior. He was prepared to tell that story of his focus, hard work, and dedication, and used that as evidence to back up his claim that he was willing to grind in this role.)

By understanding how to communicate what your X factor is, and by sharing examples, you’ll be able to communicate the things that set you apart, and most importantly, quickly establish with an interviewer who you are.

“Ohhhhh, this is the kid who is going to leave his heart on the field every day and give it everything he has.”

“Ohhhhh, this is the kid who is just crazy smart, and figures out how to get things done more efficiently than anyone else.”

“Ohhhhh, this is the kid who has been a high achiever her whole life, and can’t stand to see a job done poorly.”

Final thoughts

A job interview is a selling process. To sell effectively, you must do your research on the people and company you’re selling to, and you must understand your product’s value proposition. You also have to be able to answer the question “why you, why now.”

In a job interview, you are the product. Your accomplishments are the features of that product. By equipping yourself to answer why you, why this company, and why this role (and by having examples to back those things up), you will have mastery over your own personal pitch, and will be a far more effective seller.

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