Climbing The Ranks: The Interview

Maybe to meet your life goals you need a bit more money. At some point you will likely have to interview for a position that, to be frank, will have a huge impact on the rest of your life so no pressure.

Here are some brief pointers for nailing that interview, and in effect, moving one step closer to your middle class dreams.

1. The absolutely most critical thing you can do to succeed in an interview is be yourself.

This isn't like some Dad at his son's baseball game this is a matter of pure logic.

There are no negative outcomes to being yourself during the interview. I see it like this:

• You and the employer think you (and your personality) are a good fit. You get the job, you enjoy it because who you are was deemed a good fit for the company.
• You do not get the job. This is better than getting the job because if you did, you would probably hate it. You would have to be someone else in order to succeed, and while people can change, a significant change of personality is not likely to occur before you are beaten down and quit or are let go. You come home to your partner and complain all the time. They begin to resent you. You are tired, you don't walk the dog. Your dog begins to resent you.... don't get to that point.

The other key advantage to being yourself is when you get oddball questions or questions that do not have a correct answer. "If you could be a kitchen appliance what one would you be?" "What do you think I ate for breakfast this morning?" "How do you make a tuna sandwich?" All amazing questions that separate the men/women from the boys/girls. These gain you points for things like good under pressure, fast thinker, good critical thinking skills.

2.  Practice practice practice

Practice with a spouse, with a friend. Practice walking around talking to yourself like a crazy person. Practice talking to your dog as you walk, which unlike talking to yourself, is completely accepted as sane.

If you don't practice you will struggle. It will take you too long to answer questions which will be awkward and also a waste of the limited time you and the employer have to determine if you're a good fit. There are tons of practice questions around online and if you don't nail the basics you will likely be out competed by other candidates. "What's your biggest accomplishment?" "Tell me about 'x' on your resume." "What's your biggest weakness?" "What do you do in your first 30 days?" That stuff is the easy stuff.

3. Answer the fucking question

Seriously, this is really hard for people. Go at it like this:

• What you did (one or two lines)
• How you did it (one or two lines)
• What was the outcome (one or two lines)

 Let the interviewer prod for more details, but the fact of the matter is they don't want to hear your life story. They asked a question because they want an answer. Build on something on your resume, never repeat your resume (they already read it). Or pick something not from your resume... speaking of which

4. Have a bank of experiences to pick from

You've done a bunch of stuff in your career. When you were practicing you noticed you kept coming back to the same 5-6 stories. This is probably enough to get you through your interview but probably have a few backups. If you have about 10 career highlights you should expect to get through any "Tell me about a time..." questions.

5. Mention how you used Google to do something

Seriously, you have a nearly infinite wealth of knowledge on the internet and if you cannot use it, a company will pick someone who does. If no questions are leading to the ability to mention Google, work it in. I like the "Tell me about a time you needed to learn a new skill." Best answer (for me anyway) is "I needed to do 'x' so I got on the Google and watched a Youtube video." Don't care if it's work related or not. Shit, tell me about how you wanted to make real French Toast (aka pain perdu... which is something you can mention you learned on Wikipedia for bonus points). "I wanted to make french toast to feed to my pet turtle so I typed 'how to make french toast' into Google..." You are a winner.

6. Send a thank you email

Like number 3, this isn't that hard but apparently it is. I have received one thank you email for all the interviews I have done. A thank you email does a few things for you:

• Shows you know how to play the game (because you are supposed to send a thank you email)
• Shows you are a nice person because you should be thankful. This is the rest of your life we're talking about
• Gives you an opportunity to highlight things that make you great for the job or something you might have missed
• Keeps you fresh in the employers mind and/or sets you apart from other candidates

7. Be excited... B - E excited

But seriously, they will know if you're in it because you want it or because it's a job. The more excited you are for the job the better you will perform.


8. Ask good questions

Remember being in this position is not just about you getting the job. It's about making sure you actually enjoy the position. Plus asking good questions will translate to the interviewer as "Wow this person really prepared for the interview, they must really want this job."



Well hopefully this helps you get that next big career move. If you have any additional interview tips feel free to give a comment.

Potential Cost Savings: Vacation, it doesn't mean getting on a plane

It's 4pm on a Friday. I am in my cube at the office, I receive a text from a colleague: "get me the hell out of here!". But what is a middle class person to do? Vacations are expensive.. oh no wait they're only expensive if you make them that way. Let's play....

Get me the hell out of here: the wild and wacky game of cheeky vacation planning!

Here is a model vacation: head to Florida for the week. I'm going super budget so tickets are $357 for two adults. I'm at the Hyatt place (4.3 stars... not bad) for $93 a night. I'm renting a car for $35 a day because I got a screaming deal. Grand total:$1250 for the two of us.

This is $67 a night? Yes please.

Not too bad for a family vacation... except check this out. I
already have a car payment so I'm going to put that bad boy to use. I see the alternative path puts me through some place called Ludington that I've never seen. I would like to check it out: it's by the water it's probably nice. Hotel is $93 a night or I could camp at the state park since I drove there but it's summer so forget that! In Traverse City uhhh . On the lake for $67 a night?
this is a fucking no brainer

"But I'm scared because airbnb is not equal to a hotel!"

Ludington State Park: looks like fun

Look bro: you're rolling two deep so you should be alright. Airbnb also has ratings. Look at that nice couple. I'm telling you guys, I was afraid of airbnb too, but it's so much better than a hotel. Your host knows local places to go, you can chat it up or they will leave you alone. It's a great way to see a city and to save some money.

Vacation number two: $512. If your living the dream and do not have a car, the bus will set you back $120 round trip for two bring the total to $632.

What's the point? When I was a kid, I lived in Grand Rapids and we would fly to Florida for our yearly vacation. Now that I'm an adult on my own I go on vacation as well (remember, we're fulfilling our need for mental health). When I look back on my childhood I wonder why we didn't spend more time going to places that were a two or three hour drive away. And we were a family of four: think of how much we would have saved on plane tickets. I suppose it depends on what you want out of a vacation. My parents wanted to go somewhere warm and sit on the beech. I'm more of an exploration guy so for me, the Ludington +Traverse City is a no brainer. Time to see two different cities, $600 extra in my pocket so when I see a cherry pie that looks on point, I have no trepidation in dropping $15 for it.

The key for me is to set your middle class expectations aside and take a look around you. Forget the standards of Florida, Vegas, San Fran and think three hour drive/bus trip. You'll get the same sense of discovery but also the peace of not having dropped an arm and a leg for it.

You can start here by copying and pasting this into the google: "weekend trips near [insert name of place where you live here]". Or pull up a map and take a look. Here's the one I made for ATL. I recommend making one of these and emailing it to your significant other with "pick one" in the subject line. Boom: you got yourself a cheap and fulfilling location.



10 points to anyone who makes a local vacation map and posts it below. Thanks for reading!