One question is running through your interviewer’s head: “Can I trust this person?” You never want your interviewer to think, “Something doesn’t feel right.”
I once had an interview where my interviewer said, “I like you, Nick. I think you can improve our call center metrics and increase our CSAT scores.”
Being young, slightly cocky, but intuitively knowing I’ll not get hired if my interviewer didn’t like or trust me, I replied, “Don’t just like me, trust me.”
Yes, I got a second interview, resulting in a job offer, which I ultimately declined.
Being likeable (Being likeable supersedes your skills and experience.)
Your communication skills
If the employer doesn’t trust you, all the above is irrelevant. Everything, especially when starting a relationship, begins with trust. Trust translates to confidence in. The opposite of trust is distrust, aka. doubt.
As a job seeker, you must look, speak, and behave in ways that’ll establish trust with employers. Don’t just focus on selling your skills and experience, which, to reiterate, are meaningless unless the employer trusts you based on these five “Will you?” questions:
Will you…
Deliver results? (primary question)
Be easy to manage?
Not be a disruption to the existing team and the company?
Be reliable?
Show professionalism and integrity?
Hiring is based on trust. When a hiring manager gives you the green light to be hired, they trust your ability to do the job, obtain the results required, be reliable, be manageable, and work well with the existing team.
There isn’t a hiring manager who hasn’t been taken in (read: made a fool of) by a candidate who said all the right things and then failed to deliver. When you’re being interviewed, you can be sure that your interviewer has been fooled by a candidate at least once and isn’t looking to be fooled again, which you should empathize with.
Among hiring managers, stories of candidates who didn’t walk their talk are all too common, explaining why hiring processes have become more “stretched out.” Therefore, to gain a competitive job search advantage, make building and establishing trust your primary job search strategy, not simply trying to sell your skills and experience, which I can’t overstate, are worthless unless the employer trusts you.
Holistically, the hiring process has two touchpoints that provide you with opportunities to build trust.
First touchpoint: The application process. (Approaching the employer.)
A hiring manager posts a job online. Within 24 hours, they receive 100’s, if not 1,000s, of resumes, all from strangers. In this context, it is easy to understand why networking and being referred will shorten your job search. Who’s more trustworthy, a candidate who’s a stranger or a candidate who was referred? Having never met Bob, I don’t know him. However, suppose Mary, whom I’ve known and trusted for seven years, refers Bob to me. In that case, I’ll regard Bob as more trustworthy than a non-referred candidate who’s literally a stranger to me.
Whenever I advise a job seeker, I emphasize the importance of not being a stranger to employers as much as possible. Although it may not always be possible to network into a company, you have the ability, by using LinkedIn and other social media platforms, to create a personal brand and establish yourself as a SME (Subject Matter Expert). A low-hanging fruit for building trust is becoming known within your industry and profession. We tend to trust those we know, even if we only know them by their reputation.
Presenting your results numerically, while your competition is just offering opinions (“I’m a team player,” “I love to sell,” “I’m a JAVA coding Ninja.”), establishes trust. Your LinkedIn profile and resume should be void of opinions and solely populated with results you’ve achieved. (“In 2023, I managed an Inside Sales Team of 15 agents, generating $17.6 million in sales. The average order size was $4,250.”)
You can further establish trust by offering documents supporting your claims about your skills and accomplishments. (e.g., productivity reports, 360 feedback, performance reviews)
Proof = Trust
Second touchpoint: The Interview(s)
The first touchpoint lays down the foundation for trust. Establishing trust occurs during the second touchpoint: when interviewing.
When interviewing, be honest, clear, and specific about your skills, experience, and career goals. Never make contradictions or exaggerations. Above all, be your authentic self. Authenticity is the primary driver to creating trust. I don’t speak for just myself when I say, “I tend to trust candidates whom I believe I’m interacting with the real them.
I’m not implying that the times you weren’t hired were due to your interviewer not trusting you; many factors go into making a hiring decision. The harsh truth is that while your interviewer may have trusted you, they trusted the candidate they hired more.
A great interview is one where you leave your interviewer(s) feeling they can trust you; therefore, a few days before an interview, begin asking yourself, “What can I do to get my interviewer(s)—most likely a stranger, even if you were referred—to trust me?”
Nick Kossovan, a well-seasoned veteran of the corporate landscape, offers “unsweetened” job search advice. You can send Nick your questions to artoffindingwork@gmail.com.
HOUSTON (AP) — Brian White scored in the second half to rally the Vancouver Whitecaps to a 1-1 draw with the Houston Dynamo on Wednesday night.
Houston (12-9-8) took a 1-0 lead into halftime after Ezequiel Ponce scored on a penalty kick in the seventh minute of stoppage time. Ponce’s third goal this season came after Amine Bassi drew a foul on Whitecaps midfielder Pedro Vite following a video review. It was Ponce’s sixth career appearance, all starts.
Vancouver (13-8-7) scored the equalizer in the 73rd minute when White, who entered in the 60th, used assists from Fafá Picault and Ryan Gauld to find the net for the 13th time this season. Picault’s assist was his fifth, matching his career high for a single season. Gauld’s assist gives him a career-best 13 on the season.
Yohei Takaoka, who had clean sheets in his last three starts, finished with one save in goal for the Whitecaps.
Steve Clark saved three shots for the Dynamo, who remain one point behind Vancouver in the Western Conference standings.
Houston, which was coming off a 4-1 victory over Real Salt Lake, has allowed just 33 goals this season.
Vancouver — 6-2-2 in its last 10 matches overall — leads the all-time series 10-9-6.
The Whitecaps remain on the road to play the Los Angeles Galaxy on Saturday. The Dynamo travel to play Austin FC on Saturday.
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Tom Pearce and Nathan Saliba scored in the second half — the first goals of their careers — and CF Montreal rallied for a 2-2 draw with the New England Revolution on Wednesday night.
“In the second half, the guys came out a little more ambitious and above all, more connected,” Montreal head coach Laurent Courtois said. “It was a great second half of resilience and fighting spirit. Nathan and Sam were impressive.
“Impressive in covering the gaps and compensating for the teammates, and the individual defending – yes it’s true, it is a lot of weight on their shoulders, but that’s the job.”
New England (8-16-4) jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the 24th minute on Bobby Wood’s third goal of the season. Teenage defender Peyton Miller notched his first assist in his fourth career start and sixth appearance and Carles Gil picked up his ninth of the season. Peyton, at 16 years, 315 days old, is the eighth youngest player in league history to record his first assist.
The Revolution took a two-goal lead in the 35th minute and held it through halftime when 19-year-old Esmir Bajraktarevic took a pass from Gil and scored his third goal of the season and career in his first full season in the league. It was the 73rd regular-season assist in Gil’s career, tying him with Steve Ralston for the most in club history.
Montreal (7-12-10) pulled within a goal in the 54th minute when Pearce scored off a free kick after defender George Campbell drew a foul on New England’s Mark-Anthony Kaye. It was the first goal for Pearce in his third career start and fourth appearance.
“Playoffs are the goal. Maybe it wasn’t in the best form, but in the end, we are picking up a point,” Pearce said. “We came into this game confident, ready to play our own game. Everyone tries their best, whenever the players are called on, we are always ready, and we are always giving it our best.”
Montreal scored the equalizer in the 68th minute on the first career goal by Saliba, a 20-year-old midfielder. Saliba has made 34 starts and 48 appearances with Montreal in his two seasons in the league. Campbell snagged his second assist of the season and the third of his career.
“It’s an incredible feeling, it’s a goal I’ve been waiting for a long time. I’m extremely happy that I was able to score it and that it can help the team take this important point on the road,” Saliba said. “Pearce’s first goal gave us really good momentum and we kept up the pressure to go for a second goal. We got more solid defensively, and we came back ready after halftime, to push for these 3 points.”
Aljaz Ivacic finished with four saves in goal for the Revolution.
Jonathan Sirois stopped four shots for Montreal.
New England beat Montreal 5-0 on the road on Aug. 24.
New England leads the all-time series 16-13-4. Montreal improves to 5-8-2 on the road against the Revs.
The Revolution travel to take on Charlotte FC on Saturday. Montreal returns home to host the Chicago Fire on Saturday.
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Adolis García hit a two-run home run in the sixth inning, Cody Bradford pitched seven strong innings after the worst start of his career, and the Texas Rangers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 2-0 on Wednesday night.
The win kept the defending World Series-champion Rangers alive in the AL West race, trailing first-place Houston by 10 games with 10 to play.
García launched an inside sinker over the left-field wall off Toronto starter Bowden Francis (8-5) after Wyatt Langford singled.
“He swings hard, he swings a lot,” Francis said of García. “I guess the velo was dropping during that time.”
Bradford (6-3) allowed five hits and no walks while striking out six.
The seven shutout innings are the most in a game during his two-year career. He was knocked out of his previous start after allowing career highs in hits (nine), runs (eight) and homers (three) in 3 2/3 innings in a 14-4 loss at Arizona.
“Throughout the week, you’ve got to try and digest what happened, see where I can make adjustments, whether it was just game plan went wrong or just poor execution, or a little bit of both,” Bradford said. “Then you flush it.”
Bradford was perfect through four innings before Alejandro Kirk opened the fifth with a smash back to the mound that caromed off Bradford’s left foot and rolled into right field for a single. It extended Kirk’s hitting streak to a career-high 12 games.
Spencer Horwitz’s double to left-center put runners on second and third with no outs before Bradford retired the next three batters.
Blue Jays manager John Schneider credited Bradford’s “deceptive fastball.”
“When you’re throwing 89, 92, you’ve got to have pretty good deception with that at this level,” Schneider said. “Kept us off balance.”
Kirby Yates pitched a perfect ninth inning for his 31st save in 32 opportunities.
Francis, who took no-hitters into the ninth inning in two of his previous four starts, allowed a double to Marcus Semien, the Rangers’ first hitter of the game. He gave up five hits and one walk in six innings.
Francis has a 1.96 ERA in nine starts with 54 strikeouts and seven walks since being moved back into the starting rotation in late July.
“I don’t even want to get complacent, on cruise control,” Francis said. “Just keep attacking.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Blue Jays: SS Bo Bichette was a late scratch with a right middle finger contusion suffered during infield practice. Schneider said the team will get back x-rays on Thursday. Bichette was activated Tuesday following a calf injury and played for the first time in two months, going 2 for 5 with one RBI at the plate. … INF Will Wagner (left knee inflammation) will have the knee scoped on Thursday. Schneider said Wagner should be ready to start spring training. Wagner, son of former major leaguer Billy Wagner, was acquired from Houston at the trade deadline.
UP NEXT
Rangers rookie RHP Kumar Rocker (0-0, 2.25 ERA) will make his home debut against Blue Jays RHP Kevin Gausman (12-11, 4.02) in the series finale. Rocker allowed one run in four innings at Seattle last Thursday in his major league debut.
