How to crush your interviews

I've been publishing a series of posts outlining the strategies we're using to get people $100K+ compensation increases.

The steps are as follows:

• Step 1: Identify the right role
• Step 2: Get 10+ interviews a month
• Step 3: Pass interviews
• Step 4: Get and close on an offer

I explained how to do step 1 here and step 2 here. Here's how to do step 3: pass interviews.

Build an offer thesis

Firstly, understand that the purpose of an interview process is to build an argument for why the company should hire you. This argument is called an "offer thesis," and it requires you to answer the following questions.

1. Value: How much value will my role create?

"This role will drive $10MN in value because it is responsible for shipping a software product to a market with a TAM of $1BN that we can capture 1% of."

2. Process: Can I execute well on the responsibilities needed to drive this value?

"I will be able to do this role well because I previously shipped a similar product and captured a similar market share."

3. Alternatives: Am I one of the few people who can do these responsibilities well?

"I'm the only promising candidate this company is considering because shipping this product requires domain knowledge."

4. Budget: Does the employer have the budget to spend money on this role?

"This buyer has indicated that the company intends to spend 1% of its top-line revenue on this department, since it's a high-priority initiative. Since this company has $1BN in revenue, it intends to spend $10MN on this department."

5. Alignment: Does the employer and I align on 1 through 4?

"I know that this employer agrees with me on 1 through 4 because we've had a conversation about each point."

In one line, your goal is to be able to say something like:

"This company wants to hire a ROLE-TITLE to ACHIEVE-X, which will drive $Y-VALUE by doing RESPONSIBILITIES. I am one of the best candidates for the role because of UNIQUE-VALUE, and this company has X-BUDGET so they can afford me."

In practice, this is hard to do and most people don't get offers this way, but using it as a guiding framework will help you ask the right questions as you proceed through your interview processes.

Keep two goals in mind every interview

• Goal 1: Collect data for your offer thesis.
• Goal 2: Progress to the next interview stage so you can continue to collect data.

A. Go through this process on each call

1. Rapport: Build rapport with the person you're speaking to. Opening with friendly questions and demonstrating that you're human is important.
2. Goal identification: Identify what the person you're speaking to is trying to learn. Ask questions like "What are you hoping to learn from this conversation?" or "What are the main qualities you're looking for in this candidate?"
3. Objection handle: Identify what concerns the person you're speaking to has about you. Near the end, ask "What are your main concerns about my background?" or "On a scale of 1 to 10, how good of a fit do you think I am for this role?"

B. Optimize your tonality and non-verbal cues

There's nuance to how your tone should vary that's difficult to articulate in an article, but as a general rule:

If you tend to not pass because your interviewer doesn't think you're talented enough:

• Speak more slowly
• Speak more concisely
• Deepen your pitch
• Smile a little less
• Nod in agreement a little less

If you tend to not pass because your interviewer doesn't like you:

• Speak more quickly
• Use more words
• Lighten your pitch
• Smile a little more
• Nod in agreement a little more

Here's an example of an offer thesis that helped a candidate get a $100K+ offer increase.