This is Find Your Dream Job, the podcast that helps you get hired, have the career you want, and make a difference in life.

I'm your host, Mac Pritchard.

I'm also the founder of Max List.

It's a job board in the Pacific Northwest that helps you find a fulfilling career. Every Wednesday, I talk to a different expert about the tools you need to get the work you want. Many candidates only answer questions in a job interview. That's a lost opportunity, because when you engage a hiring manager in conversation,

you stand out from your competitors, make yourself memorable, and build trust and credibility.

Casey Bale is here to talk about three steps to build connection in a job interview. She's a career coach who helps

introverts and non-native English speakers get more fulfilling jobs. Casey joins us from Fairfax,

Virginia. Now, Casey, here's where I want to start. Let's start with connecting in a job

interview. What do you mean exactly when you talk about connecting in a job interview? Sure. For me, connecting in a job interview, what do you mean exactly when you talk about connecting in a job interview?

Sure. For me, connecting in a job interview is really knowing your experiences, skills, and values very well,

and then finding a way to relate those things back to the role, the interviewer, or to the company.

And it's also about how you interact with the interviewer in a way

where they can feel understood. And there's more of a comfort level and trust that starts to build

where you can start seeing each other more as future colleagues. And I do think that this

connection piece is sometimes overlooked during an interview. And I think that's just in

interviews, sometimes people get nervous. And so when they're only focused on delivering the

best answers possible, sometimes we don't realize that there are other opportunities that

come up that can allow them to build deeper connections.

Why do you think many candidates do focus on just providing an answer and that alone?

What's going on there?

Yeah, so I think it's surrounding, you know, the definition of an interview where you think that it's just the interviewer asking you questions.

So people spend a lot of time just focusing on trying to present themselves in the best way possible.

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