Monthly Archives: January 2019

The Quickest Way to Start off an Interview on the Wrong Foot

Do you want to know the quickest way to start an interview off on the wrong foot? Don’t reciprocate when the interviewer asks how you are.

That’s it! It immediately causes a sense of unease in the interviewer and makes them question your social intelligence. It causes a weird pause where the interviewer is kind of waiting for you to ask, but you’re just sitting there staring at them.

Compare the two following conversations:

Interviewer: Hi, Applicant! How are you doing today?

Applicant: Good.

– – –

Interviewer: Hi, Applicant! How are you doing today?

Applicant: Good! And how are you?

I’m not even going to harp on the fact that the grammatically correct answer is “well” instead of “good” because that isn’t nearly as big of an issue as not reciprocating is. I’m not saying you need to over exaggerate your interest in them as a person or be insincere, but you should show the basic manners of reciprocating a basic “how are you?”

So, don’t dig a hole at the beginning of an interview that you’ll have to win your way out of. Ask your interviewer how their day is!

Even better, ask before they ask you.

Dance with who You Came With

Yesterday I did 800s at a pace slower than I used to run mile repeats. They were sufficiently hard with a nice dose of weird.

The comparison game makes getting in shape difficult. Thanks to my diligent logging, I can look up the splits of past workouts and see the difference with just a few clicks.

In the middle of my workout yesterday, I tried a new mantra.

You’ve gotta be good with where you are and what you have.

It reminded me of the saying, “You’ve gotta dance with who you came with.” I have to run intervals with the body and fitness that I have right now, not what I had in 2017 because apparently just wanting to be faster doesn’t make you run faster.

Once you accept where you are, you’re better able to see the benefits of your effort. Each workout builds a little more fitness and gets you closer to the times you want to run. There are no shortcuts to get there, and the process will be a lot more enjoyable if you’re at peace with where you are and what you have.