How Much Am I Worth? - ~24 Hours Of Waiting..
I'm Great At Sales, But I Suck At Selling Myself.
I have worked as a salesperson many times in my life, and I was my own boss for several years when I worked as a freelancer too, so that gave me even more experience... But I've never been good at selling myself.
However, despite the awkward feeling and the echoing silence around the room when I've been getting questions like: "What are your strengths?" during interviews, I've always been able to come up with good answers.
I have probably never given a straight answer for such a question in my life, but my answers has always been good enough for people to accept it for what it is, and it has also given people a better understanding of how I function as a person. How I see things, and that has worked in my favor many times.
“You are shrunken down to the size of nickels and dropped to the bottom of a blender. What do you do?”
Dive right in. These questions that many candidates find a little bit odd often lead to pauses. Elite candidates do not get taken aback – elite candidates will separate themselves by how they think on their feet.
When the interviewer asked, “You are shrunken down to the size of nickels and dropped to the bottom of a blender. What do you do?” Wilson and Vaughn did not hesitate.
“You take her flat on your back just like this,” Vince Vaughn.
“Just lay back and enjoy that breeze.” Owen Wilson.
*Cite relevant experience. Whether you are determining what to with your life as a nickel in a blender or estimating how many golf balls can fit in a school bus, life experience can frame the Googleyness discussion. When the interviewer asserted, “Once this blender is on, it’s on forever,” Owen Wilson cited life experience to get him out of the blender:
“Respectfully I got to disagree. We sold blenders and even the best model in the world are only gonna run maybe 10 or 11 hours. So we’re getting out and when we do we’re better off for it because whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”
**Refine the conditions so you are talking about what you want to be talking about. With abstract questions, many details simply cannot be conclusively known. The interviewer will either choose to let you speculate, or flush out the hypothetical scenario for you. (note: the interviewers, not surprisingly – based on their lack of abilities to flush out the hypothetical situation – do not make another appearance in the movie)*.
Study this exchange to see how they complete their effortless transition from the blender to saving lives:
“It’s not so much getting out of the blender, it’s what happens next,” said Vince Vaughn. “That’s the question.”
“You’ve got two nickel-sized men free in the world. Think of the possibilities,” said Owen Wilson.
“I mean, on top of my head, and I’m just speculating, sunglass repair,” explained Vince Vaughn. “We’d be hell on those little screws.”
“Maybe stick us in those submarines that they put in people’s bodies to fight diseases,” concluded Owen Wilson.
By diving right in, citing relevant experience, and refining the conditions of the hypothetical situation, Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn displayed their attitudes for changing the world and their aptitudes for being great talkers.
I have never been asked this specific question, and even though I probably never would have been able to come up with that amazing line about making butter out of cream, like Frank Abagnale Sr did in "Catch Me If You Can":
I still produce answers that are nifty, correct and that shows my character in different ways. It might be easier to give a straight answer for some, but I've always been a thinker. I like to think "outside the box", and I guess that comes out of the experience I have gained from finding solutions for my clients needs, amongst other things.
I was at an interview today, regarding the job they offered me not long ago, and it went well. However, they will call me tomorrow with an offer, as they needed time to crunch some numbers about my salary etc.
They are basically looking into how much I am worth, and I will have to tell them if I agree to the offer or not by tomorrow...
I hate the wait, and I will most likely agree because I can't see why they would try to lowball me. So, if everything turns out good, I'll be working full time as a psychiatric nurse starting on January 13th.
