What’s Your Jam?

You need the bread, the jam, and the final piece of bread!

Do you constantly rehearse what you’re going to say when you have to talk about yourself in the interview? Do you second guess yourself on what to say and what not to say?

If so, read further to learn how to share “What Your Jam” is through some creative thinking, a little preparation, and an investment on your part. If you’re not willing to make this time commitment, bye Felicia! 

Now, for those of you still with me, let’s get you ready to sell yourself like a rock star!

Situation: You’re preparing yourself for the job market, you polished up your resume, jazzed up your LinkedIn profile, selected a couple of interview outfits, and you already joined a couple of networking groups. Feeling great! You get the call, and you land an interview with one of your favorite companies that you’ve been following for a long time, and it’s tomorrow. You haven’t started preparing for interview questions just yet. It’s a panic mode in full effect. Hives are popping out. Stop! Put the breaks on, breathe, grab your favorite adult beverage, grab the laptop, and a notebook. Oh, and don’t forget the pen!

Ahead of time, you prepare for the interview by researching the company, reading the latest news, checking out their culture, vision, and learning about some of the leadership team! Go to Glassdoor and read what others are saying but take it with a grain of salt. Prepare a list of questions and don’t forget to ask them when it’s your time! Put that interview hat on and interview them just as hard as they’re interviewing you. This is your career, and you deserve to be happy doing what you love and with the people, you love, while making a difference in people’s lives. 

It’s interview day and regardless of the fact it’s a phone, zoom, or in-person interview, your investment in the research should not be different.

The first slice of bread aka Laying the Foundation

The first few questions of an interview are typically breaking the ice, introducing yourself, preventing yawns, and truly engaging the interviewer in what you have to say. It’s laying the foundation for the rest of your interview. 

Potential Questions: 

• Tell us about yourself?
• What do you know about our company?
• What interested you in this position and our company?

If you didn’t do research, you’ll fail at question one. It will show quickly, and the room becomes much smaller. If you did prepare, it will be your opportunity to shine. Share all you know, insert keywords, phrases, or cultural words the organization uses. You’ll know this because you read them on the website, in the job description, and in other places you researched. They’ll detect very quickly you are serious about them, you get them, and you want this opportunity! The words will roll off your tongue and seep naturally into your responses. Don’t forget to research the role so you can share what interested you about the role. Now it’s time to jam!

The Jam aka Putting That Sales Hat on and Be Ready to Sell Yourself

You’ve got their attention, they’re making eye contact with one another, and you notice some signaling. Wait for it! They like you! But don’t let up and lose your ability to maintain their attention. After all, you’ve only answered a few questions. As the questions come in, make sure you listen well, repeat the question as you respond if you’re nervous, and the floor is all yours. 

Before all of this, you should know yourself very well by now. You should have done your homework on digging into your past experiences, your strengths, and areas for opportunities. You should know your jam! If you don’t, I highly recommend you call me or work with a coach to help you identify what your jam is! 

As you respond to answers, don’t be afraid to story tell your way through, but don’t bore them. Make it exciting, interesting, and highlight your abilities to the best of your ability. Dig deep and make sure you use concrete examples and real-life situations to describe how you worked through it, improved something, and positively make an impact and difference in something or someone.

If you need help, try searching behavioral interview questions and practice a few with a trusted friend that will give you honest feedback to help you be successful and inspiring to the interviewers. 

You’re wrapping up the interview and it’s time to close it out, the second slice of bread that seals the deal.

The second slice of bread aka The Closing 

Open that book and ask all the questions you prepared for them, at least the ones you haven’t already asked throughout the interview. Again, this is your career and your opportunity to make sure you know all you can know about the role, the team, the culture, and everything else. You should have at least 5 questions to ask, but I would prepare a few more in case there are multiple interviewers. They all need to be asked different questions. Challenge them to think and share their experiences with the company and people within. 

Make sure you obtain contact information so you can send a personal note to all parties. Please don’t copy the same wording into each person’s card. If Mary sits in Jim’s office and notices you sent him a thank you card, she might pick it up and read it and see the exact same thing. It’s great you sent notes to each, but take the time to personalize it, reiterate something they shared in the interview, validate something you shared (another selling opportunity for you), and be genuine by standing out.

Now, get that sandwich down! Best of luck to you on your interviews!

BONUS: Sample of Communicating “What’s Your Jam?”

Interviewer: Janelle, at the end of the day what’s your jam?

Candidate: Blackberry jam, peanut butter and wheat bread All joking aside. I’m a Corporate Recruiter and working with people, helping them solve problems, making a difference in their lives, and working towards the vision is my jam! But also, I can do that through the human resources department at this company and that is what interested me in this role. Working for a company that values its people, cares about the community, and values diversity and inclusion aligns with my personal values, and that is also my jam! 

Interviewer: Great!!! That’s what I wanted to hear!

I wish you the best of luck in your preparation for your next interview.