Edition #4: Poker Face
Are you "going all in" during your interview?
You may be thinking, why Engineer’s Gate?
It’s the entry point to Central Park for the New York City marathon.
My favorite place & my favorite event to bring everyone together.
I’m a New Yorker, avid marathoner, and technical recruiter looking to give back to the city & industry that made me.
I moved to New York City for love on a $15 bus from Boston with 1 taped up suitcase to my name. Now I’m a successful business owner, wife, and mother with a mission to get you to a better place.
Each issue explores:
Reframe of a common interviewing & hiring scenario
Life in New York City
Running insight of the week
Join the journey.
Reframe
It’s the end of the interview. You’ve enjoyed meeting with everyone. You can do the job, you want the job, you can learn and become more valuable for future jobs.
Do you reveal all of these feelings or do you show a poker face?
What I’m about to tell you, use with care.
It’s powerful.
Only reveal your feelings if you want the job offer.
Keep in mind, you’re not the only one interviewing for the job.
Think of all the time invested & spent on interviewing.
I hear from hiring managers daily on why people haven’t been right so far before I take over a search.
Many could be prevented on resume review, and the rest boils down to taking too long to find why you’re a fit for the job in a non-obvious way that can be explained.
Remember playing telephone as a kid in school?
One person starts off with a message and whispers it to the next person, who whispers it to the next person and so on down a chain of people.
There was 1 time the message remained the same out of 100+ attempted.
As a person interviewing, your first job is to manage a game of telephone making the message easy to hear, understand, and repeat.
Now apply human psychology.
We’re all people with basic human needs driven by a mix of nature & nurture.
We tend to like people who like us.
If you have 2 people you are on the fence about, 1 person tells you they like the job and gives a specific reason why.
The manager now has a quick sound bite to share when going for approval to hire you.
The other says thanks and leaves.
The manager has more work ahead coming up with the reason why they should hire you.
Put yourself in the manager’s shoes, who are you more comfortable putting your reputation on the line for to get the approval to hire?
New York City
Living in New York City, we get to test new concepts first as they turn from idea into reality.
Case in point, the Brick Lab at the Lego Store on 51st Street & 5th Avenue.
It’s an immersive & interactive experience bringing the physical & digital worlds together.
The only one in the world at the time of this writing.
What makes it special?
Build a character out of an exclusive box of bricks you get to keep. Fun, rare pieces.
Put the character into a special 3D scanner.
See the character appear in the scene and move it around with the flick of a finger.
Want to see what that looks like?
Step 1: Build the characters
Step 2: Put into this 3D scanner
Step 3: Move your character in the scene
You get 2 choices for the scene: Space (see above) or New York City (see below)
Make your reservations here
Pay $15 at the store.
Pro Tip: Skip the line to get into the store on the weekends by making your Brick Lab reservation online ahead of time. Let the attendant at the door know you’re there for Brick Lab and be prepared to show the email reservation.
Running
Good running starts with good walking.
Get the shoes you wear most often. Take a look at the soles. Where do you notice the most wear?
We tend to shift weight to our heels when we walk, putting more pressure on muscles to keep you upright.
The concept in Chi Walking is to align your shoulders, hips, and ankles letting your skeletal structure do the work
You want to land balanced on your whole foot, instead of on your heels.
For a first hand look at learning the ChiWalking technique check out this article: https://www.seattletimes.com/pacific-nw-magazine/with-the-right-lean-and-swing-you-can-walk-and-run-better/
This is my favorite quote from it:
“Most people walk leading with their pelvis and strike the ground with their heels first. ChiWalking teaches you to lead with the upper body, using the dual forces of gravity and the movement of the road under your feet to propel you forward. Instead of using so much muscular effort to walk or run, ChiWalking teaches you to use your body and those two forces to your advantage. The focus is also meditative.”
The thing about the Chi Walking & Running system I connect with the most is that it addresses the whole person. Both the physical & psychological.
Combining 2 worlds to play & work in.
See you next Monday!
Keep Moving,
Jen
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Have a question, contrarian thought, or extension of a point you’d like to share?
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I read every one.
> Only reveal your feelings if you want the job offer.
I see it extending more than just job offers.
"Reveal your feelings if you want X" in general works quite well for most X