Do you understand what an interview is?

I don't think most people do.

We all interview and job search. Most of us also drive a car.

That doesn't make us a NASCAR driver.

But because someone went on an interview and aced it (or didn't) they're a pro.

And because they've been writing on LinkedIn for 10 years they have a large following.

And many of them make statements to justify you not getting the job with things like: companies need to be better - you need to give a candidate an exception for this or that - that qualification is stupid.

And it is literally idiotic for everyone but the person who has 5 million followers because of these excuses they peddle.

It's nice to have an excuse as to why I failed - someone or something else to blame it on.

But it is doing you - the job seeker - a massive disservice.

I take the opposite approach because I've interviewed over 6,000 people in my career.

I've seen who wins and loses. And it isn't the people making these excuses. It's the people believing that they can go into a room - be prepared - and win someone over. That they have some control over how the process plays out.

But to answer my question: an interview is a competition between you and the other people they're interviewing.

Go in and win it.

How do you do that?

You practice.

You prepare.

And then you demonstrate that practice and preparation when you're in the seat.

I have candidates go to lengths I couldn't imagine to get jobs and the get the job or job offer every single time.

And you're competing against them. Some of them have all of the below and you have your resume. Who do you think wins that?

They make charts.

They make 30 - 60 - 90 day plans.

They walk in with letters of recommendation.

Secret sauce: They try and come up with solutions to a problem a company shared with them earlier in the interview process.

They're aware of current events at the company.

They're passionate about why they want to work for you.

When the hiring manager mentions Bob they know who Bob is.

And they get the offers. Do they get every offer? No.

But they get more than the excuse person.