How to Get the Job (Even When You’re Tired + Talented): The Dream Chaser’s Honest Guide [Part 1]

Let’s talk about it. You’ve got the talent, the resume, the hunger — but no job offer. I’ve been there. This two-part episode is for every working entrepreneur, career switcher, or new grad navigating interviews, anxiety, and the “almosts.” I’m giving you the real deal: cues to look for, how to bounce back, and why your next offer could be one decision away.

•   Real tips.
•   Real examples.
•   Real confidence.

This episode isn’t just about landing a job. It’s about reclaiming your power.

P.S. If you felt seen by this episode, carry that same energy with you. The “Dear Dreamer + Doer: Today Is the Day”  mug is part of the Green Light Podcast Picks — the collection created to meet you where you're going. 

Transcript

 So I wanted to talk about something I'm really good at nine outta 10 times it works and I figured, let me pass this on to help someone who might be just getting outta college or whether you are getting back into the work field. And you just haven't had much luck. Like you're qualified, you're educated, but when it comes to speaking, that's what I really wanna focus on.

And just understanding some of the cues to know if they're really going to hire you or open the door to the next step. Some cues you could look out for, and it's not just about getting hired. Because I believe even if you don't get the job, there's something you can learn and then you can apply it to the next job for the sake of time and just my experience, I'm gonna stick to hospitality.

There are just certain cues that you just know, but I, I believe it can, it can apply across the board. So you already know you gotta get there on time. Right? That's important. You wanna set the tone? You wanna get there 15 minutes early. I say, if you can get there 20 minutes early just to kind of show your face, that's good because then you could fill out any paperwork that needs to be filled out, and then you can relax and just wait to be called.

This is not gonna be in imperfect order, so I'll try my best, but it, it's just tips that I think work. Now you're in there, you're early. Good. You filled out your information. I also would say, have your references ready to go if you need time. It's okay to write references upon request, right? Because it's really good to give your references to heads up that you're using them for this job.

You know, there's no rule you could, you could switch it up. You can use different references for different types of jobs. You might wanna be a bartender or maybe you're going to be a manager, a first time manager, or dive into real estate or what have you. Um, you definitely want to have your list of references, people that you can call that you know will be reliable.

So now let's say we've passed the. The, um, application, you're there on time. How's your hygiene? How's your outfit? This is very important. I, I kid you not, the nails have to be done. Females, um, males, it doesn't matter. Clean nails. If you didn't have time to get a manicure, just put a little clear, um, polish on it and it instantly gives it a finished look.

Makes sure it's moisturized. Your hands are moisturized and you put some clear polish on it, you're good to go. Cuticle oil for your cuticles. Yeah, that's good as well. Shoes, make sure they're not dusty and bring out, you know, some good shoes. I'm not gonna say to go over the top, but you definitely need to have something that speaks.

I take pride in my appearance now what I like to do. You can have a tote bag. Or a gym bag, you know, try to walk with a bag that's easy to carry. I find a regular little tote bag. That's the the way to go. You could put your resume folder in there. You could put your sneakers. When you get closer to the place of interviewing, don't do it right by the door.

You can do it around the corner and you can change your shoes, and you can put on your interview shoes right there. Now you're about to meet the person right? You're nervous, you're kind of going through this imposter syndrome. You're like, okay, I know I qualified, but how do I stand out? I had a, an inkling of who the person they just interviewed that looks like someone that they just interviewed because they just walked them out.

Oh my gosh. Now you're all in your head. Calm down, breathe. Inhale.

Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. One more time. Inhale. Exhale. And you have to do that. Okay? You are chosen. You have what they need. You know the qualifications. You don't have to be a hundred percent. No. One is, when you looked at the job description. They would tell you ideal, right? Doesn't mean that it is required or necessary.

That is ideal. Don't get in your head. This is not the time to get in your head. Okay? Now it's go time. All right. Here they come. Now you get up and they say your name now, right before this happens, make sure your resume is ready to go outta your bag. So you're not like stumbling, crumbling or anything like that.

It should be ready to grab at this point. It could be outside of your folder or outside of the envelope part, so it's easy to pull out and then you could present it professionally. There should be no coffee stains, lipstick stains, anything from your sneakers, no marks on your resume. Now it can go a couple of ways.

The latest thing now in everyone's order, offering you a bottle of water, say thank you. You know, say thank you. Don't say no thank you. Say thank you, take it. You don't have to drink it then, but you can have something going on the way. Hey, take, take it as a, a, a gift. You know, because they're lucky to have you.

You showed up, you're qualified. Take that gift. Besides, I always think like in case of an emergency, God forbid it's good to have a bottle of water, so they're doing a little small talk, you know, and everything like that. Everything's going good. Um, the small talk is going good. Now I will say a small talk is not bad, but if it's ongoing.

You find that the small talk turns into, um, from talking about the weather sports to now, um, what they like to do or asking you what you like to do? I think it's a little bit of a red flag because I'm here to interview for a job and you only have a certain amount of time. And the fact that we're talking about what I like to cook, what you like to cook is a red flag.

I remember when I interviewed one time for a hotel job and it was like. Something in the, the front office or something. Right. And the guy, he interviewed me, and I remember, he barely asked me anything about my qualifications. He knew me from a previous property. I didn't know him, and I wasn't worried about that part because I do my job.

Um, that doesn't mean everyone likes you. Right. So our conversation was just about. If you had to decide on your favorite meal to cook, what would it be? And I'm thinking to myself, why is he asking me this? And I'm like, okay, let me answer that. Then he was like, Coke or Pepsi. I was just like, this doesn't make sense to me.

And I went along and I can't even tell you what he asked me about the job. I can't even tell you. You know, the, the, the typical points they wanna know, how do you resolve conflict? What do you do when you work with a difficult employee? How do you, um, deal with the guests and this and that? Um, you know, the, the typical questions, nothing.

So instantly, even though I shook his hand and I asked for his business card, which is a good practice to do, I think it still, you know, separates you from the pack. Um. I sent, I followed up with the email of Thank you. Never heard, never heard from him. But I knew I didn't get the job because I walked away feeling lukewarm.

I walked away knowing that he used to be a chef, he's a foodie. Um, we have some foods in common, but I couldn't even tell you what we talked about in the job. And I will say, if you have to push back to have them focus on the job. I, I just know nine outta 10 times, I really wanna say 10. Um, you, you didn't get the job, and I don't want you to beat yourself up to blame yourself or anything like that.

Um, it's, it's whatever. It, it could be a plethora of reasons. It could be that they promised someone else the job. Um, they already. For whatever reason, they don't like you. They don't think you would be a good fit, and sometimes not for nothing. Sometimes the the hiring person or the person you would be reporting to, if they think that you're gonna show them up, they definitely don't want you.

If they think you're gonna come in there and run things or you know, you just have this thing about you, it's take it as a blessing. But this is about, you know, you really have a chance, but also bouncing back and continuing. There was a job one time I was going to, and I got the train schedule mixed up and I told them I wasn't gonna make it.

And the lady liked me in hr. She said, come anyway. And when I got there, I was like 40 minutes late. I knew I wasn't getting this job as much as I knew I was qualified, overqualified, because again, as a working entrepreneur, you take gigs, substitute jobs, or what have you to keep afloat, and I was 40, I was 40 minutes late.

You know, when I got around there, I didn't, I just checked out. I said, just for a good mental practice, I'm going to follow through. For the, for from my sake, I already spoke to hr. They already are expecting me and I'm just going to go through with the interview and fun fact, it was like an elevator pitch and I, I still think I did pretty well, but the fact remains is that I was 40 minutes late and I knew it wasn't going to happen and they were right to not bet on me.

Because I could be showing signs that if you are late for an interview or you got your trains mixed up or the train, what? It didn't even matter if you were late because of something, or you got something mixed up, disqualified, because how they're looking at it, you weren't responsible enough. You weren't responsible to check the schedule, you weren't responsible to make sure you left on time, and how can I trust you for this job?

So punctuality is very important, but I don't want you to beat yourself up if you are not. Perfect. Now let's talk about the, the questions in the interview. Tell me about yourself. Tell me about yourself. What I find that works is telling a story. If you are the type of person that's nervous practice, what's interesting about you?

If you weren't working here, what would be interesting to know about You? Think of an elevator pitch and you, you take what's in interesting about you and combine it with the qualities of the job, the responsibilities of the job they're looking for, and just blend it together for me, you know, I go into wow.

Once upon a time, you know, you could be creative. Once upon a time I went to this college and I thought that, and I graduated in this major and I thought I was going to be this. And instead, you know, life brought me here and I decided to venture into this area to focus on this. And here we are today. Boom.

And now you have their attention. You maintain eye contact. You weren't, um. You know, too wavy with your hands. You were just cool, calm, and confident. In fact, if it helps you, you can hold, like if they offer you coffee, take it, but don't really sip it just in case your bladder's weak and you have to go to the bathroom or.

You don't really like the coffee and you know your finicky about your coffee, something to hold in your hand, you know that might help you as well. The water actually holding the water bottle because it's full, so you won't be squeezing it like crazy and you can just press on it to just kind of relax you.

So now you've got that out the way. Make sure when you talk, you're maintaining eye contact and look away. Sometimes you know, you can look up, but look, you know, but make sure you are looking because you also want to see that they are engaged. So then you have the difficult questions, you know, everyone says, you know, so what's your weakness?

My weakness is that I'm a perfectionist. Honestly, I think they got so hip to that. I don't even think they asked that anymore. They just go right into tell me a time when. You had to work with someone difficult and how did you handle that, or whatever. Um, they just wanna know, you're, you're going to be professional.

You could say, now be careful with this question because, you know, by asking this question, how do you deal with difficult employees or something like that. They wanna know if you're part of the problem. So. You have to always keep your hands clean, always be like, well, um, for me personally, I've been fortunate to, um, not be part of that in the sense where it's not, it's never, it's not my battle because I know how to read a room.

I get along with people. If there's something that I feel should be addressed, I'm not gonna do it in the middle of service. I'm gonna wait till the end of the shift and just pull the person to the side and just see where they're at with it. But not like during the middle of the day where we now, you know, it, it affects operations and, um, the guests suffer and, and you know what have you.

They wanna know that you are focused and you won't be distracted by the petty. Now we all know there's always those coworkers, right? There's always something that can happen, but they wanna know that you are the person who's going to be focused and stay on course. So now this is assuming they're asking you these questions, that means they're interested.

Now that we're at this part, if they're asking you more questions in this detail, things are really getting deeper. Now it, so at this point, they're gonna ask you, do you have time? If they want you, they're gonna ask you if you have time. To see someone else, um, if they bring up, could you take a drug, a drug test or whatever, you're almost in.

If they ask you, you know, if someone were to ask, um, you, if someone were to describe you, what would they say? Of course you're gonna say something positive and focused. This is not the time to. Make it about your ego and be like, you know, I'm king, or I'm the queen, or, I'm the queen, be, no, you, you are the role that they need.

So if you are a manager, you're a leader, um, you know how to, you're focused, you know how to delegate, um, accomplish your goals, you know, your goal oriented, you, you know how to resolve. Problems.-Ooh, we need to get you a job or get that offer. So stay tuned for part two. You don't wanna miss this