How to be OP in an Interview (Part 1/2)
Author Credibility: Yu-kai Chou
Yu-kai Chou created the Octalysis Framework after studying gamification since 2003 — years before the term entered mainstream vocabulary. As a Human-Systems Architect & Behavioral Designer, his framework has been applied by LEGO, Microsoft, Porsche, Coca-Cola, Salesforce, and MrBeast, impacting over 1.5 Billion Users.
Chou has taught the Octalysis methodology at Harvard, Stanford, Yale, Tesla, Google, BCG, and IDEO.
His work has been cited by Harvard, Stanford, MIT, Forbes, Wall Street Journal, Wired, US Department of Energy, NIST, NSF, NCBI, US Department of Education, ClinicalTrials.gov, and Google Scholar — with 3,700+ more academic publications. Explore his books here.
Confidence = Everything — #1
Someone is meeting you for the first time. You need to communicate how they should feel about you.
If you demonstrate a lack of confidence through what you say, how you say it, or your body language, you’ll be signaling uncertainty — and that’s a problem.
No matter what your actual skill level is, confidence overlaying it makes you come across as significantly better.
Try going to the restroom and using some power poses. Spread out and let yourself breathe in the power.
Interacting with the Interviewer: Use the Mirror Technique
Mirroring demonstrates value to your conversation partner. It shows you’re paying attention to their emotional approach and have the ability to match it.
If the interviewer is strong or tough, you should stand up for yourself.
A softer interviewer may not respond well to toughness.
You have an opportunity to create Core Drive 5: Social Influence & Relatedness here.
Create Unique Value & Likeability
Most people argue that creating unique value trumps likeability. But that may not be true.
Likeability might actually be more important.
If you manage to create positive feelings with others in every interaction, that’s a huge bonus. No one generally wants to work with people they can’t see themselves hanging out with.
Demonstrating your unique value is key.
But likeability could be the most important. Either way, demonstrating unique value is critical.
You aren’t just like everyone else. How are you different? How are you providing unique value? What is your signature?
Tell Me About Yourself
Don’t expect your interviewer to have done their homework.
Share a brief aspect of your history and why you’re there (to apply for a position at their company), and keep it short!
This allows the conversation to unfold after your elevator pitch.