Part 4: Todd arrives for his first day at work

For this blog series, I’m going to focus on a coaching client of mine who has seen the highest highs and lowest lows in the past year. In Part One, Todd was fired from his job as an animator with a major movie studio. In the second installment, he began a job search that would bring him back to his roots as someone who drew for a living. Once he learned, in Part Three, he would have to change careers, Todd got a job and was ready for a new professional adventure.

When seeking out a new adventure, it’s good to have some parameters. The world is a big place and you can easily get overwhelmed if you don’t narrow down your choices based on passion, ability and work/balance life. Todd (and his wife) decided to stay in Los Angeles because she had a good position with a financial firm. Equipped with only a film studies degree as old as the TV show Seinfeld, Todd knew he’d probably have to stay within the industry somehow.

Taking one afternoon off from his job search, Todd attended a viewing, lecture and short reception featuring animation that was nearly 100 years old. He may not have been competent to make new animation, but he knew everything about the old and loved talking “old cartoons.”

Apparently, his questions and reception conversation impressed the lecturer, who was the film archivist of a very impressive museum in Los Angeles. The day after the reception, he got a call and was asked if he’d like to be an assistant archivist, focusing on animation and musicals.

You’d think this was the end of a happy story, but I got a frantic text from Todd the Sunday night before he was set to begin his new job. He was scared to death. When we’re young, we start new things all the time, but it had been over 20 years since Todd had a “first day at work.”

In order to calm him down, I urged him to do the following:

Begin building a relationship with the boss: This is the person who has your fate in their hands. Recognize that they are going to tackle problems and opportunities different than your former boss. You’ll need to figure out some very basic things like: how they like to receive information, how often you should be checking in with them and how they define goals. Try to leave all of your judgment at the door.

Prepare an elevator speech intro: The “elevator speech” concept is one where you have to pitch an idea to somebody important, but you only have the ride in an elevator to time to get it done. On your first day of work, you’re going to meet a lot of new people. Try to remember their names, but admit if you have trouble with that. More importantly, have a 10-to-15 second speech of a few sentences about yourself prepared because a lot of people will request you “tell us about yourself” that day. If you’re practiced, it won’t cause anxiety.

Just take things in: And this is a good idea for at least your first month. The best leaders appreciate a new perspective on things, but understand how they do things before chiming in. For Todd, he knew the content of the films, but not the job. I urged him not to try and reinvent the wheel on his first day. There will be plenty of time to suggest changes later.

Take notes: You should never have to ask anything twice. On your first day, or your last.

Part 3: Todd learns his real worth in the world

For this blog series, I’m going to focus on a coaching client of mine who has seen the highest highs and lowest lows in the past year. In Part One, Todd was fired from his job as an animator with a major movie studio. In the last installment, he began a job search that would bring him back to his roots as someone who drew for a living.

Apparently, there was a time in the world when almost every newspaper had their own editorial cartoonist. Todd thought it would be a wonderful change of pace to draw political cartoons for an adult audience. Then he found out with the exception of a small handful of major newspapers, that job was all but extinct.

Sticking with the newspaper world, Todd submitted a comic strip he had been brainstorming on the side for years. Every newspaper told him they purchased their comics from a distributor and when Todd contacted one of them, he was told of the audition process. Only one out of around 2,000 submissions ever became a comic strip. Todd didn’t like those odds.

The odds of acceptance were much better at the greeting card companies, but considering they would only pay $500 for the rights to art on a card, Todd knew he couldn’t afford that job. He had no interest in fashion design and didn’t have the certification to become a high school art teacher.

After two months of learning the hard way that the old-fashioned way of drawing was not going to pay his bills, he realized that he had to find another line of work. As his coach, I was excited because I knew his drawing days were behind him before he did. It was time for him to explore other passions. Todd and I went to work brainstorming what he cares deeply about. We looked at a few other variables as well. Here is a brief template we used to determine his next step:

List your passions: I knew that Todd liked to draw and he’d mentioned different fishing trips to Northern California to me in the past, but I had no idea what Todd really cared about. We talked about what he wanted to do as a child, and different things that had piqued his interest while he was busy as an animator. We talked about his values and ethics and if social justice should play any role in his next move. I actually got to know him so much better as a person.

Research, research, research: Once Todd established a basic list of things that excited him, he went to work learning more about positions in that field. For instance, with the fishing, there are dozens of jobs that could utilize his skills from opening a bait and tackle shop to being a guide for tourists looking to fish. Todd looked at organizations and companies he was interested in and researched different employment opportunities. Since one of this non-negotiables was that he didn’t want to return to school, he had to research what skills and training were part of every job, too.

Identify goals: There’s nothing wrong with deciding that you want to make a boatload of money and there’s nothing wrong with deciding you want to right the ills of the world. Your goals are uniquely yours. Where would you like to be in a year, five years, or ten years. Are the choices that you’re making now going to help deliver you there or will they sidetrack you? Keeping your eye on the prize, whatever that may be, will help guide the search for a job.

Part 2: Todd Looks For His Next Gig

For this blog series, I’m going to focus on a coaching client of mine who has seen the highest highs and lowest lows in the past year. In Part One, Todd was fired from his job as an animator with a major movie studio.

Todd took his severance pay as a lump sum, put half of it into a low-risk, medium-yield investment and figured he could live four months in Los Angeles without a job on the rest. He thought this would give him plenty of time to find a new job.

When you’ve done one thing for over 20 years like Todd, it can be almost unfathomable to consider moving to a new organization. He thought he was going to retire a little early in 10-12 years, get his pension, and finally move back east with his wife.

The only thing Todd knew was that he was not going to stay in movie animation. Along with disliking the digitally animated product, he also never learned how to do it quickly. Making a lateral move to another studio was pointless.

I don’t sit with my clients and pour over job boards, but I did try to get him to focus on what might be important to him and he realized it was the opportunity to continue to draw. He thought he could rekindle his passion for animation if he was allowed to draw.

He dove into looking for a new job. Make sure to see the next entry to find out what happened to Todd! Until then, some of the ways he looked for a new job included:

Headhunters/Recruiters: Since Todd is in a specialized field of an industry that’s already difficult to break into, some common ways of finding jobs wouldn’t work for him, such as job fairs, which don’t exist in his industry, or standard job listing sites online, because the entertainment industry has their own specialized sites for that. He contacted about a dozen headhunting agencies known for placing people with specific skills in positions in Hollywood. If there was a job that would fit his skill set, they would know about it.

Referrals: In the entertainment industry, this is probably the most popular way for non-rookies to find work. Within the industry are dozens of small communities and Todd let those from the animation community know that he was looking for work and if any of them heard of opportunities, he would appreciate if they could put in a good word for him.

Networking: Another Hollywood favorite, networking is a great way to meet a lot of new people at one time. Some groups create networking opportunities, hosting different nights to bring people together, but there’s always a networking opportunity if there’s a person standing in front of you.

Cold Calling: Not in the sense of a salesman who is looking for leads, but simply getting his name out there to people who may not have realized he existed. Todd had a resume and a DVD of five minutes of his best work made. He shipped out around 50 of them to studios and production houses big and small. You never know when somebody is looking exactly for what Todd could offer, and now more people would know he was available.

Part One: Todd Gets the Bad News

For this blog series, I’m going to focus on a coaching client of mine who has seen the highest highs and lowest lows in the past year. Let’s start at the bottom.

I’m thankful I’ve never been through and pray I never have to experience it, but divorce seems like one of the most difficult decisions people reach and then execute. Almost never done in haste, a divorce is knowingly and willingly walking into the great unknown. You’re trading in the life you know for a chance at a better life.

The only thing I can think of that comes even close to divorce on a professional scale is when somebody gets laid off or fired. Laid off is the equivalent of, “It’s not you, it’s me.” And a firing is the organization saying, “We’re better off without you.”

Being fired can come as a great surprise, as it was for one of my clients who I’ll call Todd in this example. Todd, for sure, was unhappy with his job. He had been seeing me for about two months trying to get a passion back for the industry he worked, animation for a major movie company.

As anyone can see, the technology for animation has changed greatly in the last 20 years. It finally reached a point where Todd was either uncapable, or unwilling, to keep up.

Nonetheless, as he was walking into the tiny office he shared with two other animators on a Tuesday morning, he was intercepted by his boss, the next-level boss and a person from Human Resources. After being shown metrics that proved he was failing in his position and presented with a severance package most only dream of, he was allowed to gather his things, say goodbye to his officemates and leave.

When it came time for our Zoom call the next day, Todd shared the news. He also shared that he’d never been fired before. He’d quit, he’d been laid off and another company went under, but he never was fired. I urged him to do the following:

Don’t Take it Personally: I know it’s hard to do this when being singled-out and terminated but try to recognize that those above you in the corporate food chain determined that their organization would either operate more efficiently without you, or that the resources devoted to you could better be used on somebody else. Todd simply didn’t have the skills to keep up in the fast-paced digital animation world. If you’re making animation, that’s not the guy that you want to have working for you.

Get It in Writing: Every job interviewer is going to wonder why you are no longer at your last place of employment. If you can have those reasons in black-and-white to show an employer, that will potentially put you in a better position.

Grieve and Decompress: Todd devoted over 20 years of his life to this studio. Many there became his extended family. He never imagined he would be let go. It feels like a betrayal of sorts. It’s like a death or the end of a relationship. Don’t make any rash decisions or moves until you’ve had time to sit things out for a bit and process what happened.

Be Grateful: For 20 years Todd worked on some of the biggest animated features that came out of Hollywood. He met amazing people and was compensated well. All he wanted to do as a child was a job where he could draw pictures all day. Todd achieved that dream and while that’s bittersweet in retrospect, he should think of everything the studio and its executives were able to provide him and his family for two decades.

If you’ve been considering talking to a career development coach but feel like you may be seen as a black sheep or stick out like a sore thumb, I promise you that you’re losing valuable time. There’s a proper track and a place for you out there. The real question is if you want it enough to talk to somebody like me who knows how to help.

But before you talk to me, prove it to yourself. Check out ArnelDuvet.com and take the career satisfaction quiz. Don’t tell yourself you’re just having yet another bad day. Maybe it’s time to consider making a change. Take this quiz and we’ll calculate your score and let you know if you’re satisfied where you are or if it’s time to follow your destiny.

Christmas Can Live in Your Heart Beyond December 25

In the nativity story of Jesus’ birth on Christmas, the Three Wise Men were led by the Christmas star to visit the baby. It is from this star that, even 2000+ years later, we put a star on the top of our Christmas tree. It is said that this star represents hope, love, and miracles.

I’ve been writing a lot lately about fear and its debilitating effect on leadership, and what that can do to an organization, but I’d like to step away from that at the end of the year to reflect upon our lives and world in general. Let’s instead focus on the hope, love and miracles that are possible.

There’s an energy around Christmas that is unlike any other time of year. I’m not talking about the frantic energy you feel at the stores as the day approaches or the inundation of holiday movies and music that you couldn’t escape from even if you tried. No, I’m talking about something more pure, more genuine. It’s an energy of love where we seem to care about our fellow man more than we do any other time of the year.

Here's a perfect example: We see news footage of people buying or donating presents for underprivileged children, or helping to prepare meals at a local food pantry – but usually only at Christmas time. Is it that the news only covers these kinds of events around Christmas, or is it that, for many of us, we only extend ourselves out at certain times of the year. We act patriotic on the Fourth of July, we act neighborly at Halloween, and we act with additional kindness at Christmastime.

We seem to save these special occasions to give the best of ourselves. Why? Why is it that the rest of the year we allow things like socioeconomics, political beliefs and simple everyday life get in the way of connecting with our fellow man. Why do we wait until a specified time of year to show the additional kindness and spirit of love that lives inside each one of us every day of the year.

While everybody focuses on Christmas as the most important holiday this time of year – and it arguably is – I also like looking forward a week to New Year’s Day. As somebody who works as a career mindset coach, I appreciate that New Year’s comes with the tradition of creating resolutions to hopefully be better people in the New Year.

This Christmas, when you’re feeling that energy – that spirit, I hope you’ll keep it going straight through the New Year and I hope you’ll extend it deep into your everyday life no matter what date the calendar suggests. We don’t need special occasions to be good to one another.

The Three Wise Men knew to follow the Christmas star. Something in them send that hope, love and miracles would be found if they would just follow. Find that Christmas star and follow it all year long.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Recalibrate Your Fear with These Techniques

We talked about the phenomenon of Analysis/Paralysis, or “paralysis by analysis” in the last blog, which happens when the leader of an organization ceases to be effective because their inner decision-making system has gone haywire. If you missed it, I urge you to take a look.

At the end of that blog, I said that I believe it all comes down to one thing – FEAR. Most leaders are Type A personalities and fear is not a bad thing, generally, for this group. Facing it, fighting it, and winning is often what drives them, but leaders are humans, not robots. Eventually, thriving on fear can turn on you and the challenges of the workspace can get to be too much. It’s OK. Mental health is thankfully, finally taken seriously in more companies worldwide than ever.

Even those leaders who don’t succumb to mental health issues can still go through bouts of fear that they are doing the right thing and if they can make the best decisions for the team, the organization and themselves.

If you find yourself getting paralyzed by fear in decision making, it’s time to take a step back and consider one of these 5 recalibration techniques:

• Take Time Out – The oft-repeated stories of the Kennedy Administration taking time out during the day to throw a football around are favorites because if the President of the United States could spend 15 minutes detaching from his day, certainly you can as well. Maybe a 15-minute walk, call home, time spent reading, etc., is what is standing between you and those A+ decisions. The law protects workers with these kinds of breaks because they are healthy. Just because you’re an executive or leader doesn’t mean you’re immune.

• Look At the Evidence – What is the decision you’re fearful of making and look at the possible outcomes and what evidence suggests your fears are legitimate, or overblown.  This is also a great opportunity to step outside yourself and consider the advice that you would give to someone else in your position who is facing a similar problem. When the issue is hypothetically on someone else’s shoulders, does it seem easier to address?

• You’re Not Perfect – You know this is theory, but can you accept it in practice. You will make decisions along the way that will be incorrect. You will make decisions that make sense in the moment but are mistakes further down the road. You can never have all your bases covered. Trying to make sure every last detail has been covered is impossible, so take a moment and recognize that you’re only human, mistakes will be made, and if they are, they will be corrected.

• Talk About It – Just because your name is higher on the organizational flowchart than another doesn’t mean they can’t be valuable to bounce ideas around. Think about it. Are you in your position because you, alone, have to come up with the best ideas, or were put in charge to identify and implement the best ideas? If you’re worried that something you’re considering won’t work, talk to someone who understands your fears and can also provide important feedback.

• Reward Yourself – Eventually, you’re going to have to decide, take a stand, and pull the trigger. You did it! You survived. Let your hair down and celebrate a job well done. Maybe it’s a stop at the bakery on the way home, or renting a movie, or a long bubble bath. Knowing that there’s a treat at the end of a tough decision might just make it a little easier next time.

Assessing ‘Paralysis by Analysis’ at the Executive Level

The French writer Voltaire once penned: “With great power comes great responsibility” and this is certainly true of most management roles out there, but let’s be honest, we’ve all worked for a boss who didn’t live up to that famous saying.

Assuming it’s not strictly ignorance or ineptitude that challenges an organization’s leadership, what is it that causes perfectly capable people of suddenly being unable to make quality decisions?

In a nutshell, it’s a phenomenon known as Analysis/Paralysis (also sometimes called Paralysis by Analysis). It is when a group or individual enters a state of thinking where they are unable to make a rational, effective decision often because of the overwhelming, sometimes conflicting amount of data causing a tendency to overanalyze the situation.

Business process and leadership writer Lon Roberts identified three types of Analysis/Paralysis:

• Analysis Process Paralysis: A leader is unable to make decisions because they find themselves in a cyclical loop reviewing pertinent information over and over, for fear of making the wrong decision.

• Decision Precision Paralysis: This takes Analysis Process Paralysis a step further. Instead of the leader getting stuck going over the same information again and again, they continue to draw new conclusions that raise additional questions, that force more analysis. Also, a cyclical loop, this causes the leader to continue to explore possible outcomes without settling.

• Uncertainty Paralysis: Most leaders understand that they cannot control the outcome of a decision, but there are times when some leaders don’t want to reach a conclusion without 100% surety. In this case, the information available to reach a decision is not sufficient to reach an acceptable conclusion for the leader, resulting in the Analysis/Paralysis.

According to the book Leadership and Management in Learning Organizations by Clayton Smith, Carson Babich and Mark Lubrick, there are six decision making processes that challenge leaders and sometimes end up with Analysis Paralysis. They are:

• Bounded Rationality – This is essentially the inability to make a decision because one does not have all the information needed to make the correct decision. The Catch-22 is, of course, nobody will ever have all the information because we are constantly learning. The idea that there is still more to learn before making a decision can cripple the leader from ever resolving the issue.

• Escalation of Commitment – This is the inability to change course after having made a poor decision or reached a faulty conclusion. Depending upon the leader and their internal make-up, the wrong decision may be followed simply as a way of “saving face.”

• Time Constraints – With almost every decision comes a deadline, but time constraints can also mean a snap decision has to be made in the moment. If there is too little time to collect necessary data to reach a decision, a leader may be unable to reach a decision at all.

• Uncertainty – Obviously, none of us are ever sure of all our decisions, but for leaders, especially after making a few missteps, Analysis/Paralysis leads to a level of decision-making reticence where, if an outcome isn’t all but guaranteed, it won’t be followed. When no outcome can be determined, the decisions are left unmade.

• Biases – We all have certain ideas, beliefs and values that impact our everyday decision-making, but when these intersect in a negative way with the process of decision making at an organization, a stalemate may occur. The most common bias found in a workplace is usually confirmation bias, the concept that our beliefs are worthy of more attention and outside beliefs needed play a part in decision making

• Conflict – Nobody likes having their ideas challenged, but a leader who is conflict-adverse may hesitate to make the correct decision for fear of dispute with others. Conversely, a leader who over-embraces conflict may simply be hurting the decision-making process but searching for differences with others to avoid making a final decision.

I can appreciate all these types of Analysis/Paralysis and why they happen, but from a 50,000-foot viewpoint, I believe it simply comes down to fear. Effective leaders cannot operate under a cloud of fear. But what to do when fear takes over? I’ll address this more in my next blog.

Is a Lack of Courage Holding You Back in Business?

We’ve talked a lot about getting hired at a position the last several weeks, but what happens if you decide to venture out on your own? Surely, you’ve done your homework to see if there is space for you in the marketplace, whether you’re looking to be a plumber, therapist, or give music lessons to little kids. We could make a list of 101 different issues you’ll face as someone launching their own business, but first and foremost, you need one key element. Courage.

In early October 2008, just weeks before the US Presidential Election that would see Barack Obama become the first African American President, then-President George W. Bush stood in front of America and explained that we were on an economic cliff and unless something was done to pull us back, we may fall off.

The crisis was caused by a collapsing housing market and shortly thereafter an automobile industry on the brink of failure. Stock prices across the board plummeted and other global economies faltered. Many companies were casualties of what became known as The Great Recession.

Deloitte released a report in 2016 after studying the rebounding, yet not exactly robust, Canadian economy for six years. It found that there was one major factor lacking in the leadership of companies of all sizes: Courage.

It’s almost as if many of the decisionmakers at the 1,200 organizations examined suffered a kind of PTSD from the economic fallout. The irony is that the organizations that were deemed courageous (11%) or evolving into courageous (30%) were also the ones who were seeing the best results and most success. Cowardice does not create cash.

Deloitte identified five qualities that make a business leader courageous:

•  Be provocative and challenge the status quo

• Take calculated risks

• Do what’s right

• Start with yourself

• Unite to include

I’d take this even a step further and say that in a world where technology is changing the rules and methods of how we do business, it’s important to create a culture where change is seen as a positive challenge, not an anchor leaving a business slow-to-change behind.

A 2018 article on Inc.com highlights this idea, stating: “Pain will often come, not from the changes but from your resistance to those changes. By shifting mindsets, opportunities are created for both people and business to thrive.”

Courage comes from inside

As a leader, you have to be a courageous person for your company to thrive. If you’re holding on to ways of the past, believing that things “will come around” you haven’t been paying attention to the world. Despite people wishing for “the good old days” be it in the economy, social realm or political world, it doesn’t happen. It never happens. Progress always wins the war. Always.

One of Deloitte’s indicators of courage is to start with yourself and I believe that’s where the culture of courage within a workplace is going to succeed or fail.

In 2011, Peter Voyer wrote in the Ivey Business Journal: “Leadership must start from within – from within the leader’s heart – where real courage resides. It is not simply a case of memorizing a list of do’s or don’ts and applying them to a particular situation... It’s hard to argue that other traits such as integrity, honesty, altruism, communications skill and decisiveness are not qualities of a good leader. But leaders could not display these traits if they didn’t have courage.”

I could bombard you with 1,001 quotes on leadership and courage, but ultimately, it’s up to you to look inside your heart and determine what you are made of in there. Do you find a person who is willing to “saddle up” as the cowboys used to say and see what’s out there on the open range known as the marketplace, or do visions of 2008 still haunt your dreams and affect your decision making? That answer may be what determines your success as a leader.

Thankful for the Chance to be Thankful

As a boy growing up in Haiti, we didn’t celebrate Thanksgiving. Oh, compared to some of the families I saw, I certainly had a lot to be thankful for: a mother and father who were deeply in love and displayed, in their very different ways, what hard work and dedication to self, family and God, truly meant. I was lucky enough to attend a private school. In Haiti, with government unrest always on the agenda, you never knew if the public schools were going to be open, so one of the only ways to get an education was to pay for it and our father made sure we never went without.

And of course, I was thankful – albeit sad to say goodbye to this wonderful family – the day I left for Florida and my new life that would ultimately result in American citizenship and serving in the United States Navy. Maybe we didn’t have Thanksgiving, but I had plenty to be thankful for, and I still do.

Now I find myself with a beautiful wife, my childhood sweetheart, and two amazing sons who mean the world to me. I’m a successful coach and have the time and capacity to work on a couple of long-term side projects that are going to change lives. And I live in a country that does celebrate Thanksgiving, finally.

Before signing off, I’ve been following the news lately seeing massive layoffs in the tech industry and other signs with this ongoing inflation that our record-low unemployment is a bit of a mirage. I personally know several people who are looking for high quality jobs who can’t find suitable employment at the moment and it’s a shame because they are bright, capable folks who deserve a shot.

Are you thankful for your job? Yes, the hours can sometimes stink and in most workplaces, there’s at least one person (hopefully not the boss) who you wish you could just turn your back on a lot of the time, but if you’re gainfully employed and making enough money to support yourself and your family, I hope that on Thanksgiving – and every other day – you take the time to practice gratitude and are thankful for the job you have.

Yes, it’s true, unemployment is low. That’s because people don’t want to work at McDonald’s or in retail at the mall. Some of the incentives I’ve seen for part-time holiday help are unheard of, but very few people are looking for a job that will only last 10 weeks, even if it comes with $17/hour and a 40% discount. If there’s one thing that the pandemic did that we haven’t recovered from yet when it comes to employment, it’s given people a more exaggerated sense of their employment worth than they had before. That’s OK to have, but it’s also important to be grateful, especially this time of year, for what you have.

And if you’re one of those unlucky souls who is looking for the right job, don’t fret. It will come along. Ignore the unemployment statistics because they don’t mean anything if YOU don’t have a job. Be grateful for the things you do have and hopefully this time next year, you’ll be able to list a fulfilling, good-paying job among the things you are thankful for.

Finally, I’d like to let my readers know, whether you’re a devoted regular or just stumbled upon this blog for the first time today, I am very thankful for you. Without people showing interest in what I say, I probably wouldn’t have continued this very long, but I’ve been going on-and-off for several years now. I’m very thankful for you.

Five Ways to Give Yourself a Job Interview Edge

You worked hard over the years, leading to a good-looking resume and you nailed the cover letter. Now, just as you’d hoped, the organization you want to work for has contacted you for an interview. Maybe you’re a terrific speaker with a ton of confidence or maybe you’re a bit of a wallflower who fears the interview more than any part of the hiring process.

It doesn’t really matter which category you fall into because ultimately, it’s going to fall to the hiring manager to make the decision (unless they are just the first interview) on your professional future. What are some simple things you can do to stack the deck in your favor and land that position? Here are five things you can do to set yourself up for success at the interview for that dream position:

Show that You Understand The Position and The Company

Your resume is a great barometer of your experience before sitting down for the interview, but do you know who you’re sitting down with? Do you know what they do there? Do you understand the ins and outs of your daily responsibilities? The less that they have to teach you, the more likely your odds of being hired. In today’s day and age, you should be able to answer basic questions about the company and about the position you’re applying for.

Illustrate Why You Want The Job

There’s nothing hiring managers hate more than the answer, “Because I need the money” when asked why you’re interested in a position. What is it about the position that interests you? Will you learn new things? Will you lead a team? Will you travel? Anybody can come and punch a clock at 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Don’t just be another one of those people show them why you want the job.

Ask Great Questions

While there are organizations where the top brass surround themselves with sycophantic yes-men, most successful companies want outside opinions and perspectives with their new hires. They’re not just considering you for the position. They’re looking for someone who can see things in a way nobody there currently does. This isn’t to say you can make C-level changes, but the questions you ask in an interview often hold just as much weight as your questions.

Talk to People Who Work at the Company Beforehand

We all need a paycheck and appreciate job security, but on a day-in and day-out level, those of us who thrive are the ones who really enjoy our job and feel valued by the company. There isn’t any FAQ that can tell you if you’re going to thrive. The best thing you can do is talk to people who work at the company and get a sense of if it would be a good fit. Ask the hiring manager if you can have the contact info of a few people, or simply look them up on LinkedIn before interviewing.

Be Yourself

This is probably the most important of all of the other pieces of advice. No matter who you try to portray yourself as during the job interview, your real self will come out during the good and bad of your time with the organization. It’s best that the hiring manager see the real you, and if it’s not a great fit, it’s better they reach the conclusion during the interview instead of three months into the job… for both of your sake’s.