Job Interview and Coaching Session Insights 🎯
Introduction to the Coaching Session 📋
The session focused on job search strategies, mental preparation, and aligning personal values with career goals. Below, you'll find practical tips, reflections on interview experiences, and techniques to enhance your mindset for job searching in uncertain times 🌍.
Interview Experiences: Real Stories, Real Lessons 🗣️
Learning from others' interview experiences can refine your approach. Here are key takeaways from recent interviews shared during the session:
- Candidate’s Interview:
- Outcome: Went "okay" but faced intense questions from the interviewer 😓.
- Key Insight: Be prepared for challenging, in-depth questions. Practice staying calm under pressure 💪.
- Another Candidate's Experience:
- Context: Applied directly to the Geschäftsführer (GL) of an electrical company with ~500 employees. The job wasn’t advertised yet 📢.
- Process: Sent application, discussed salary expectations, and secured an interview within 2 days 🚀. The interview went exceptionally well, with the GL promising to consider the candidate.
- Tip: Apply proactively, even for unadvertised roles. If rejected, follow up with smart questions to gain feedback and show initiative 🙋♂️. Try alternative approaches if standard methods fail 🔄.
Overcoming Potential Obstacles in Interviews 🚧
Certain factors might raise concerns during interviews. Here's how to address them strategically:
- Parenthood Concerns:
- Having a young child (e.g., a 2-year-old) may worry some employers 😟.
- Strategy: Discuss it openly to gauge reactions and frame it positively, e.g., highlighting your organizational skills as a parent 📅.
- Unemployment Gaps:
- Unemployment can be a red flag if not framed correctly 🚩.
- Strategy: Present it as a period of growth, e.g., engaging in coaching (noting that quality coaching starts at €150/hour 💸) or upskilling (e.g., pursuing AI or cloud certifications ☁️). Transparency builds trust.
- CV Gaps and Relocation:
- Clearly explain any gaps in your CV 📄 to avoid misunderstandings. For example, mention a move from your home country to Germany as a bold, enriching decision 🌎.
- Highlight unique strengths your background brings, like adaptability or cultural insights, to make you stand out ✨.
- Certificates (Zeugnisse):
- Certificates are often overrated 📜. With many applicants submitting 3+ certificates, HR rarely has time to review them thoroughly ⏳.
- Insight: Some candidates write their own certificates (e.g., the coach wrote 90% of hers). Focus on a compelling CV, as HR typically spends 30 seconds to 2 minutes scanning it, prioritizing a sympathetic photo and red flags 🚫.
- AI in Recruitment:
- Many companies use AI to filter applications due to high volumes 🤖. Reduced HR staff means less time for manual reviews.
- Tip: Ensure your CV is clear, concise, and free of red flags to pass AI filters ✅.
Mental Preparation: Training Your Mindset 🧠
Your brain processes 20,000 decisions and 60,000–100,000 thoughts daily, using 20–30% of your body’s energy ⚡. Here’s how to harness its power for job searching:
- Understanding Your Thoughts:
- 20–30% of thoughts are negative due to evolutionary risk avoidance, focusing on survival and danger 🚨.
- Positive thoughts are a minority, but you can train your brain to prioritize them through neural plasticity 🧠.
- Fun Fact: Doctors can distinguish a positive or pessimistic brain by its physical structure! 😮
- Mental Training:
- Like a muscle, your brain can be trained to adopt a positive worldview 🌈. The coach, with a sports background, emphasized mental strength as visible and trainable, even mid-challenge 🏋️♀️.
- Long-term mental training is key—think of it as a marathon, not a sprint 🏃♂️.
- Iceberg Model:
- Only 1/7th of your consciousness (like an iceberg) is visible—your known thoughts 🌊.
- Below the surface lie beliefs, memories, and experiences. At the deepest level are traumas, which may require therapy to address 🩺.
- Example: Punctuality as a value reflects respect, learned from childhood (e.g., arriving 5 minutes early) ⏰.
- Values (Werte):
- Values like punctuality, safety, freedom, respect, and excellence shape your decisions and reactions 🤝.
- Misalignment with workplace values can lead to burnout or health issues, as shown in hospital and insurance studies 😷.
- Exercise: Identify your top 3 job-related values (e.g., self-determination, reliability, trust) and evaluate how you live them:
- How do I already embody this value? ✅
- What can I do to live it better? 🚀
- What must I learn or stop doing to align with it? 🔄
- How will I measure my success? 📊
- Visualization and Vision Boards:
- Visualize your career goals (e.g., a dream job or office) using a vision board 📌. The coach imagined a penthouse office but faced a small home office during the pandemic 😅.
- Talk about your goals with others for 5 minutes to clarify your vision 🌟. Include aspirations like travel or upskilling (e.g., AI certifications).
- Sensory Influence (Neuromarketing):
- Your senses impact decisions. For example, the coach experienced a sensory dining event at Nymphenburger Schloss, where lighting and smells enhanced a tomato’s taste 🍅.
- Retail uses similar tactics (e.g., placing fruit at store entrances for health associations 🥕 or classical music to increase tips by 15% 🎶).
- Apply this to interviews: Frame your story positively to influence perceptions 😊.
Reframing Challenges: Lessons from Viktor Frankl 📖
Viktor Frankl, a Holocaust survivor and creator of logotherapy, taught that finding meaning in hardship enables resilience 🌱. Key insights:
- Job Loss as a Crisis:
- Losing a job ranks among life’s worst experiences, alongside war or divorce 😔.
- Frankl’s wisdom: “You are free to shape how you handle your crisis. You are not a victim but a co-creator.” 🙌
- Find purpose in tough times (e.g., using unemployment to pursue sports or certifications) to grow and find peace ✨.
- Actionable Steps for 2025:
- Enjoy unemployment by focusing on health (e.g., more sports 🏋️) or upskilling (e.g., AI/cloud certifications ☁️).
- Write down what makes you happy and set 3–5-year goals to achieve them 🚀.
Practical Coaching Tips 💡
- Address Weaknesses:
- With your coach, identify what might work against you (e.g., unemployment or parenting) and improve it 📈.
- Example: Frame unemployment as a time for coaching or learning, showing proactivity.
- Values Square (Wertequadrat):
- Every value has a countervalue (e.g., thrift vs. generosity; stinginess vs. wastefulness). Balance is key ⚖️.
- Large corporations offer more security, while startups provide flexibility. Find your fit 🏢.
- Penguin Analogy:
- Penguins waddle clumsily but swim efficiently 🐧. Find your “water” (environment) where your strengths shine, rather than trying to be a “giraffe” 🦒.
- Beliefs (Glaubenssätze):
- Beliefs form from childhood, parents, teachers, and media, shaping your worldview 🌍.
- Negative beliefs (e.g., “I’m not good enough”) can linger from “downers” in your life 😔. Don’t give them power!
- Steps to reframe beliefs:
- Identify the belief 🎯.
- Recognize distortions (e.g., viewing the world through negative “glasses”) 🕶️.
- Loosen the belief’s grip 🔄.
- Replace it with a positive belief 🌈.
- Live the new belief daily 😊.
- Use Byron Katie’s The Work questions to challenge beliefs:
- Is it true? ❓
- Can I really know it’s true? 🤔
- What happens if I hold onto it? 😟
- How would I feel without it? 😊
- Cultural Insights:
- Respect diverse values (e.g., honor in Japan) to avoid conflicts in multicultural workplaces 🌐.
Conclusion: Building Resilience and Clarity 🏁
Job searching is a journey of self-discovery and resilience. By aligning your values, reframing challenges, and training your mindset, you can approach interviews with confidence 💪.
Visualize your goals, address weaknesses proactively, and find meaning even in tough times, as Viktor Frankl taught 📚. Whether navigating unemployment or refining your CV, small daily steps lead to big career wins 🚀.
Crepi il lupo!