How to Start Every Job Interview Answer the Right Way

The Power of First Impressions [0:05]

• Interviewers and life in general size people up very quickly.
• The initial moments of an interaction are critical for forming an opinion, similar to how book covers or movie trailers immediately capture attention.
• You must "strike early" and "strike often" to make a powerful impression from the outset.
• The way you present yourself, from your handshake to your initial words, significantly impacts the interviewer's perception.

"And your interviews are a lot like that. Your interviewers are sizing you up very, very quickly."

The CAR Technique: A Framework for Impactful Responses [02:58]

• A formula called the CAR technique (Context, Approach, Result) is introduced for structuring interview responses.
• The focus is on the "C" for Context, which is the crucial first part designed to immediately grab attention.
• Getting the context right allows the interviewer to make favorable inferences about you and give you the benefit of the doubt.
• The CAR technique involves:
  • Context: Setting the scene with the problem or opportunity.
  • Approach: Detailing the steps taken and then adding color/details of the activities performed.
  • Result: Stating the outcome and additional benefits achieved.

"I know that there are a lot of different formulas out there. I like mine the best, as you would imagine, and I call mine the car technique."

The Importance of "Context": Selling Transformation [06:00]

• The "Context" phase is more than just a situation; it encapsulates the initial problem or opportunity.
• Employers purchase transformation, not just skills; they want to know how you will improve their lives and their business.
• Great sellers, and by extension, job candidates, "sell to the gap" by addressing a problem and offering a solution.
• The best way to start a story is with the result, as it's the most captivating element.

"So in your in in in your terms as a job seeker, I want you to remember that employers buy their transformation. They don't buy your skills."

Starting with the Problem or Opportunity [07:50]

• The first principle of context is to start with the actual business problem or opportunity.
• This might be losing money, needing to expand revenue into a new market, or any other significant business challenge.
• Starting with the problem or opportunity is crucial because the result is the most captivating part of the story.
• Providing concrete numbers, like potential revenue of "$50 to $60 million in the first year," immediately captures attention.

"You want to start with the actual problem or because I didn't want to take up another quote card or here a little uh index card or the opportunity or the aspiration."

The "Great Eight" Business Goals [11:02]

• The "Great Eight" are the eight most important goals that any organization aims to achieve, regardless of its industry or size.
• These goals include: generating revenue, marketing, customer attraction, customer happiness, company growth, risk management, employee happiness, cost reduction, and process efficiency.
• Any work an employee does should align with at least one of these categories.
• Understanding the "Great Eight" helps frame business problems and opportunities in a way that resonates with employers.

"These are the eight most important goals that they want to achieve. They everything that any one of you does falls in at least one or more of these categories."

Your Role: The Hero of the Story [14:15]

• In an interview, your job is not just to answer questions but to provide the information needed for them to make a hiring decision.
• You need to show how you will operate in their environment and how their lives will change as a result of you being there.
• Stories should be assembled to paint a picture for the interviewer, focusing on how you would do something and how you know to do it.
• Not all parts of your history are relevant; choose scenes that effectively convey how you operate and solve problems.

"Your job is not to answer their questions. Okay? It's not. I don't know who told you that, but that's not the case."

The Problem with Reporting History [15:23]

• Most people tend to "report their history" by recounting every detail of a project, rather than focusing on the core problem and solution.
• The story should start with the real problem or opportunity, not with your first activity or when you joined the project.
• The interviewer needs to understand the magnitude of the problem you tackled, not just the steps you took.
• A common mistake is starting the story in the "third chapter," missing the crucial setup of the problem.

"What most people want to do is they want to what I call report their history. I don't care exactly how it happened."

Vivian's Power Story: Identifying the Real Problem [17:09]

• A case study illustrates the mistake of starting a story with an activity rather than the problem.
• Vivian was asked to integrate two systems that weren't talking to each other, which she initially presented as the problem.
• Further probing revealed the root problem: $50 million in claims were being paid incorrectly because the systems were not communicating, leading to financial loss.
• The systems not talking was a symptom, not the initial business problem that initiated the investigation.

"The problem isn't the systems aren't talking to each other. That's just where it's broken. The story starts with what? With the business problem because we were losing money."

The Art of the Context Opener [21:21]

• The context should be presented in the grandest fashion possible, detailing the business problem or opportunity.
• This provides importance, heft, and captures the interviewer's attention by highlighting the gravity of the situation.
• You should also foreshadow the result and clarify why you were selected or took on the task, using keywords that align with the job description.
• This opening should ideally take 15 to 20 seconds to deliver effectively.

"The context itself. What is the context? Now, some of you might know the STAR technique where there's an S and that stands for situation."

Why This Approach Captures Attention [26:05]

• Starting with the big business problem/opportunity, priming the result, and using relevant keywords immediately highlights how the interviewer's life will change.
• This demonstrates that you are a strategic, big-picture thinker who understands the overall landscape, not just a task-doer.
• It gives you "heft" and "cache," making you appear more important, trustworthy, and responsible because you are tackling significant problems.
• The gravity and level of the problem you solve, not necessarily the time or money it took, is what makes you stand out.

"Because number one, it immediately points them to how their life is going to change."

Action Items for Your Interview Story [30:36]

• Develop a "power story": the most representative story from your past that aligns with what the prospective employer needs.
• Identify the "Great Eight" item(s) relevant to your story.
• Practice your opener until you can deliver it clearly within 20 seconds, aiming to be halfway done with your response in the first minute.
• Always lead with the result; anyone suggesting holding it back is giving bad advice.

"I want you to come up with a power story. If you don't know what a power story is, come my channel and look for power stories."