Knowledge Fight Interactive Search Tool

Feb. 20, 2015 - Freedomain Radio - Stefan Molyneux

17:38

2916 Get Hired Now! | Get The Job That You Want

Job interviewing never seems to get easier - but Stefan Molyneux provides some essential tips and perspective to help you get the job that you want. Get hired now!

Large

Audio Only |

Scroll

Time	Text
	Hi, everybody.
	My name is Stefan Molyneux.
	I'm the host of Freedom in Radio, which is the largest philosophy show in the world.
	And I promise you, my friends, I'm going to spend the next few minutes working as hard as humanly possible to give you the edge that you need to land the job that you want.
	Why should you listen to me?
	Come on, vaguely British accent.
	Do you need more?
	Of course you do.
	And the answer to that is that I have spent 20 years off and on as an entrepreneur.
	I've been a chief technical officer, head of marketing, and I've interviewed literally hundreds and hundreds of people, hired and occasionally fired.
	And I really know what the view is like on the hiring side.
	Now, my experience is intact, but these tips will work for any job that you're going for.
	So, let's get started turning your life around.
	Number one, when you go for a job interview, You are not asking for a job.
	You are not asking them to pay you money.
	You are offering them a profit.
	This is so fundamental and so important.
	Let's say you go for a job and it's about $30,000 a year.
	You are not asking the company to give you $30,000 or to pay you $30,000.
	You are in fact offering the company $30,000 to hire you.
	The reason for that is, it's a rough rule of thumb, but it costs about double Your salary to hire you, to give you a computer, a cubicle to heat and maybe benefits and whatever it is that's going on.
	At the time, of course, it costs to hire you and the possibility that you'll leave and so on.
	So when you go for a job and they say, you know, we'll pay you or the job offer is $30,000.
	The job salary is $30,000.
	Do not think that you are subtracting $30,000 from the company.
	Make it clear to the manager that you have some idea or some understanding Of the reality that you will not cost The company, $30,000.
	You will pay the company $30,000 because you are going to add $60,000 of value for the $30,000 that it costs to pay you.
	That is so important to understand.
	Everyone who's a decent manager understands the profit and loss scenario and they know that they can't hire anyone who costs the company money.
	They can only hire people or at least keep those hires if it makes the company money, if it reduces costs or increases income in some manner.
	So if you go in and you say to the hiring manager, okay, so this job is $30,000.
	I'm going to roughly assume I have to produce $60,000 worth of value.
	How is that going to be measured?
	How do I know if I'm providing enough value for the company to keep me on?
	Because you want to make money from me, I want to make money from you, and there's no job security that matches just providing massive amounts of value.
	So how am I going to know in this job that I'm providing enough value to more than cover my salary?
	That tells something very important to the manager, that you understand that you are not consuming company resources, but you are producing or creating company resources.
	That's really important.
	So he's going to know, or she's going to know, when you ask that question, that you understand more than the code you're making or the latte you're creating or whatever it is.
	He's going to know that you understand that you need to provide value to the company and that the decisions that you make as an employee are going to be relative to creating and providing value to the company.
	So that's so important.
	You're not going in there begging for money.
	You're going in there offering money.
	You're going in there offering profit to whoever is going to hire you.
	Now, of course, your skills are important.
	There's no question about that.
	But enthusiasm, a willingness to learn, intelligence, a broad spectrum of generalized business ideas are all very, very important.
	When I was hiring, I would sometimes reject people who had university degrees and instead hire people who had been enthusiastic about what I was hiring for since they were like 11.
	And those people worked out very well.
	So tangible, practical skills are certainly important.
	And there is that kind of, do you fit the alphabet soup, particularly in tech, of the hiring requirements?
	And where you have deficiencies, of course, then you say, where you have deficiencies, but...
	Generally, you know, when you graduate from school, your skills are pretty useless within 6 to 12 months.
	And so you have to be willing to learn to create and so on.
	So speaking in terms of coding, which was sort of my background, if you are involved in coding groups, if you're involved in personal projects, if you're keeping up your coding skills, that's all very important.
	It shows an enthusiasm and a willingness to learn that is going to really translate well to hiring you.
	Because when people hire you, They're looking for value in the long run.
	And the longer you stay, the more money they're going to make from you, assuming that you are productive, because they don't have to spend more money going to hire someone else and letting you go and severance packages and blah-de-blah.
	So the best way to show a manager that you're a good long-term investment is to have momentum in the field that you're applying for, even if you don't have a job, even if you've never had a job in that, even if you've never been educated in that field.
	Just say, look, I create this ad.
	I create this add-on, I program this, I program that, I'm part of this group and that group, and I volunteer, teach coding to kids, whatever it is, right?
	So it shows that you have enthusiasm and momentum within the field.
	You know, there's an old saying in business, which is, if you want something done, give it to the busy person, because the person who's not busy is kind of being avoided by everyone because they're not usually very competent.
	And I always prefer to hire people who are currently in motion, not just sitting there waiting.
	You know, all I do all day is send out resumes and blah, blah, blah.
	I want people who are actively engaged in the field that they're in, regardless of whether they have a job or not.
	So that's important as well.
	Be in motion.
	Be invested.
	Have hobbies that enhance your professional skill set.
	And that will go a long way.
	So that's number two.
	Number three...
	Know the business of whoever you are being interviewed by.
	And I don't care if it's a job at a coffee shop.
	You have to know the business.
	People would show up, you know, in my office and be kind of passive.
	You know, well, here's my skill set.
	Do you have any questions?
	And so on.
	And I would always say, do you have any questions for me?
	And if people didn't have many questions...
	I never got a sense that they care.
	Listen, everyone who's a hiring manager really cares about his or her business.
	That's foundational.
	So a company I co-founded and we grew, I really, really cared about that.
	It was very, very important to me.
	And if you appear indifferent to me, the hiring manager, somebody who's either founded the company, co-founded the company, or at least has worked hard to rise up within the company, we care about our company.
	And if you are indifferent or passive about what we're enthusiastic about, well, just think about going to see your favorite band with your deaf grandmother, right?
	She's not going to add a lot to the enjoyment of the experience.
	So if...
	You can't be enthusiastic.
	I wouldn't even bother going to the interview.
	That's just my particular choice.
	But find some way to be enthusiastic about what you do.
	Every company or organization that exists is satisfying someone's need, is satisfying or pleasing someone in some foundational way.
	It's making someone's life better or easier or cheaper or healthier or whatever.
	It's doing something to help people.
	Otherwise, it would not exist because nobody would give it money.
	So find a way to be enthusiastic, not about, well, I need this job or I like coding and so on, but look at the end goal of what the business is.
	What is out to achieve?
	How is it actually making people's lives better?
	And that's really, really important.
	Again, this could be part of a coffee shop.
	You know, a coffee shop is making people's lives just that little bit better, especially now when it's like minus eight trillion outside having a warm coffee in your cup holder can really help.
	So find some way that the company is making the world a better place, making people's lives better and easier, and recognize that that is your end goal.
	Ask about what are the fundamental drivers for people to buy your product and service.
	Ask that of the hiring manager.
	Because you always want to be offering yourself up as someone who understands that you're going to be measured by the value that you provide to customers.
	The company is a vehicle by which you make customers' lives easier and better.
	Even if you never see or talk to a customer, you have to find out how what you do is going to make people's lives easier and better.
	Because that's what they're going to pay you for, make people's lives better.
	And that requires that you really focus on the end customer.
	Now, of course, if you have a customer-facing role, easy-peasy.
	How is customer satisfaction measured?
	How will I know that I'm really satisfying customers?
	That's important.
	If you have a sort of back-office role, R&D programmer, or something like that, then you need to ask, look, I mean, it's a long way for me to a customer's smile, right?
	And what I need to do is make sure that what I'm doing ends up with some customer...
	Having a better day and being willing to pay for that better day.
	So how am I going to connect these dots between what I'm doing back here and the customer who needs to be happy in order for the business to flourish and thrive?
	You can ask about how the business has been growing.
	You can ask about what do you do that's different from the competitors.
	You can ask what the competitors do that you consider a challenge.
	And you can ask that, of course, because the concerns that are in the hiring manager's mind New competitors moving in or something like that and new features coming out in some mainstream product that might mimic what they're doing.
	Those are the concerns that are going to need to be part of your thinking as an employee.
	The more you can communicate to the manager that you understand how business works, the more that he or she can trust you.
	That you are going to make intelligent decisions about how you allocate your time and resources focusing on that elusive customer smile rather than, well, you gave me this list of things to do and I just did it.
	Like I'm like a robot that the manager programs.
	Now, a competent and intelligent manager wants someone who can really connect the dots and knows how to measure.
	How you prioritize your time relative to making a customer happy.
	Because a good manager is always looking to find someone to replace him.
	You can't move up very easily unless you can groom a replacement, unless you can mentor someone.
	Be that person that the manager wants to mentor.
	Be that person that the manager says, hey man, in two years this guy could be sitting in my chair and I could be sitting in the VP's chair because he's mentoring me.
	So all of that is really important.
	Now, You may think, well, what about the really insecure managers who don't want to hire anyone who's competent, who just want a bunch of drones?
	I can't help you much with that other than to say, I don't really think that you want that job unless you're like eight minutes away from starving to death.
	But if we assume you have a roof over your head and at least a little bit of time to look, go for the managers who are going to be enthusiastic about your understanding of your contribution to the bottom line.
	And so...
	The goal of making customers happy makes everyone happy.
	The more customers you make happy, the more income you get as a company, the more you can grow, the more you can increase people's salaries.
	That is the jet fuel that powers the business engines, right?
	So ask, how am I going to be measured on making customers happy?
	I think that's really, really important.
	You're going to get these questions like, well, what are your weaknesses?
	What are your weaknesses?
	And my approach has always been that the more I can express my weaknesses and what I'm doing about them, the more self-knowledge I can show.
	So my weaknesses are I get tunnel vision.
	When I get focused on something, I work at solving a problem rather than reconnecting my time investment back to customer satisfaction.
	That's a problem.
	My time management can sometimes go out the window and sometimes I can...
	I can be scattered.
	I'm just sort of giving you my desk to be a mess.
	These are the things that are sort of true about me.
	And so that's why I need these business principles, right?
	To draw me back to, wait, wait, wait.
	Is what I'm doing really going to add value to the business?
	Is it going to make customers happy?
	Be honest and don't be shy about listing off your drawbacks, your challenges, because we all have more weaknesses than strengths as a whole.
	There's an infinity of things I'm not good at and a few things I'm fairly good at.
	So understand your weaknesses.
	Do you ever make commitments that sometimes you have to work too hard to fulfill?
	Well, yeah.
	If you're customer-facing, that's pretty much a constant temptation, particularly in the software field.
	So be honest about that and say, you know, this is where I need mentoring.
	And if they say, well, where do you want to be in five years?
	That's really going to depend on how much value I can add.
	I'm I'm fully committed to creating at least double my salary within the company in terms of value that I add.
	Where that takes me, I don't know.
	I mean, if you're more interested in hands-on, then stay hands-on, but maybe be a team leader or something like that.
	All of these things will help you stand out because there are so many people who come in and kind of sit there like potatoes.
	I hate to say it, it's kind of true.
	Sit there like potatoes, ask a couple of questions, and it's the entire work of the manager.
	And a competent manager does not want someone who is like a potato.
	You know, like, here's your potato.
	You move the potato.
	The potato stops.
	You go and move it again.
	You want somebody who's in motion, who's going to think...
	For themselves and who's going to constantly realign their priorities with providing value to others.
	So remember, remember all of these things.
	You are not asking for a job.
	You are offering money.
	The bribe that you're going to give for someone who hires you is double your salary in terms of value to the business.
	So know a little bit of something about the space that they work into.
	Is it a new space?
	What are the competitors?
	What are the competitors doing?
	What are the major concerns that the manager has about long-term growth within the company?
	Are they about to change technology platforms?
	What's their relationship like to vendors?
	And so on.
	And if it's a startup, what's cash flow like?
	Is there relationships with lenders and banks and so on?
	Because cash flow is king, particularly in startups.
	You might have $10 million coming in In three months, but your payroll is every two weeks.
	So just really ask those questions so that the person understands that your skill set is there to serve the customers, which serves the business.
	If you can bring all of those questions, if you do your research ahead of time, and if you are curious and intelligent, read about economics, read about the Harvard Business Review.
	I mean, just go to the library and thumb through it and read up a bunch of stuff.
	What is the philosophy of the business with regards to disputes, with regards to employee knowledge of profits and losses and salaries and so on?
	Is it they publish everybody's salaries or is it more private?
	You know, just these philosophies are important because it's really important to...
	Recognize and communicate to the hiring manager that you are also looking for a good fit.
	You know, you don't want to be that guy, like the guy at 2 a.m.
	in the bar with the beer goggles on who's wandering around to all the women left over saying, hey, you want to go for a coffee?
	Hey, you want to go?
	There's no standard there.
	He's just looking for cleavage to fall into, right?
	And you want to be not skeptical in a hostile way, but you want to say, I want to make sure that this company is a good fit for me.
	Because the more that you can communicate to the hiring manager that you're interviewing him, the better and more attractive you're going to look.
	So if it's just like, I really need this job, can I have this job?
	People are like, ooh, you know, this is not somebody who's got any standards.
	But if you are, and I want to know if, you know, this is what I prefer in a company, I'm just curious where you guys are, then that's going to communicate to the manager that you are not a passive slave drone who's just going to It's going to be like pushing string to get any kind of spine out of you.
	You want to be someone who is evaluating the company and whether it's a good fit for you as well.
	So I hope that these tips really help you.
	If you take this approach and if you can find a way to be enthusiastic about what it is that people are going to provide you in terms of jobs, I can virtually guarantee you that you are going to float up like some cosmic bubble to the top of the churning sea of resumes that most hiring managers, particularly these days, are seeing.
	So if you have any other tips, please put them in the comments below.
	Give me your feedback.
	I'll put the great tips into the next version of this.
	But very, very best of luck.
	I know, I know, my friends, it is a terrible and tough job market out there.
	That is all the more reason That you want to stand out.
	And if you take this approach, you will stand out in a very positive way.
	And please let me know how this works out for you.

▲