The Successful Vagabond Technique

There is a very simple key to successful interviewing which I learned from a couple who successfully traveled around the world on a sailboat. While not requiring a great deal of money for their journey (most of their needs were supplied by the wind and the sea), they did occasionally have need for provisions. So when they made a stopover in the port of a distant land, they would often seek short-term work, usually just enough to replenish their supplies. To compound the difficulty of this task, they were always foreigners in a foreign land, seeking limited-term work, and asking at or above the local prevailing wage. Yet they were always successful.

Their secret? Confidence. Simple confidence. Confidence in who they were. Confidence in what they could do. "I can do this job and do it well." They did not go begging for work. They would walk into a company with confidence that they would be able to make an immediate contribution. Confidence that they would be profitable employees. And their confidence came through loud and clear. They found work in every port, near and far.

Every company, whether in the U.S. or abroad, seeks confidence when considering hiring new employees. If you lack it, you will be refused. If you show confidence, it will cover for a multitude of shortcomings in other areas. Lack work experience? Confidence will overcome. Confidence is the great counterbalancing factor for entry level college grads.

When I am interviewing college students for entry level opportunities at my company, one of the first things I look for is confidence. The confidence factor is one of the most quickly recognized skills in the brief on-campus interview and one of the most highly reliable predictors of future performance.

So how do you gain this confidence? Through preparation. Knowing who you are and what you can do. And practicing. Over and over. Until you are not only confident in yourself, but also able to project that confidence to others. I must also be confident in your ability to do the work. Then, and only then, will I be willing to invest in you.

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