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Entrepreneurs On Fire

Turning Tough Tech Interviews into Wins with Jonathan Corrales

22 min episode · 2 min read
·
Jonathan Corrales

Episode

22 min

Read time

2 min

Topics

Career Growth, Productivity, Investing

AI-Generated Summary

Key Takeaways

  • Consistency over motivation: Job seekers who maintain daily schedules for applications and networking get traction faster. Those on the market for weeks versus months show one key difference: they never skip two consecutive days, even when unmotivated.
  • The 3-3-3 method: Dedicate three hours minimum daily to job search activities, submit three applications minimum, and complete three networking outreach actions. Schedule these tasks on your calendar like workouts to create a sustainable routine.
  • Preparation demonstrates work habits: Research the company's customers, competitors, and colleagues before every interview. Presenting this knowledge shows hiring managers exactly how you'll show up to work daily, requiring minimal supervision and delivering immediate impact.
  • Portfolio requirements for juniors: Entry-level candidates must now demonstrate capabilities through portfolios. Coders need active GitHub repositories with sample projects. Non-technical candidates should create pitch decks positioning themselves as the number one hire for specific companies.

What It Covers

Jonathan Corrales, founder of Ready Aim Interview with 20 years software experience, shares strategies for succeeding in tech interviews based on insights from interviewing 1,200 job seekers over two years.

Key Questions Answered

  • Consistency over motivation: Job seekers who maintain daily schedules for applications and networking get traction faster. Those on the market for weeks versus months show one key difference: they never skip two consecutive days, even when unmotivated.
  • The 3-3-3 method: Dedicate three hours minimum daily to job search activities, submit three applications minimum, and complete three networking outreach actions. Schedule these tasks on your calendar like workouts to create a sustainable routine.
  • Preparation demonstrates work habits: Research the company's customers, competitors, and colleagues before every interview. Presenting this knowledge shows hiring managers exactly how you'll show up to work daily, requiring minimal supervision and delivering immediate impact.
  • Portfolio requirements for juniors: Entry-level candidates must now demonstrate capabilities through portfolios. Coders need active GitHub repositories with sample projects. Non-technical candidates should create pitch decks positioning themselves as the number one hire for specific companies.

Notable Moment

Corrales shares his first post-military interview mistake when he confidently told the interviewer he had zero questions, prompting the response that they were rooting for him but needed candidates who demonstrated genuine interest and engagement.

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Episode Transcript

Light that spark fire nation. JLD here, and welcome to Entrepreneurs on Fire brought to you by HighLevel, the all in one sales and marketing platform. Today, we'll be breaking down turning tough tech interviews into wins. To draw these vibe bombs, I brought Jonathan Corrales in the EOFire studios. Jonathan is a tech industry veteran and founder of Ready Aim Interview, leveraging twenty years of software and hiring experience to coach professionals to ace interviews and negotiate top roles. And today, we'll be talking about standing out in the world of tech, preparing for interviews in today's world, breaking out as a beginner, knowing when you're ready, the common interview pitfalls, and, oh, so much more. And a big thank you for sponsoring today's episode goes to Jonathan and our sponsors. Are you ready for the ultimate all in one platform for entrepreneurs, marketers, coaches, and agencies? Build funnels, automate follow ups, manage clients, and even white label your own software. Say hello to our featured partner High Level, and visit highlevelfire.com to start your free trial today. Jonathan, say what's up to Fire Nation and share something that you believe about becoming successful that most people disagree with. Yeah. Well, I'm excited to be here, JLD. Thank you very much for having me. Yeah. You've got to do a lot of stuff manually at first. Put in the reps, Fire Nation. And that's why we're talking about turning tough tech interviews into wins, and you don't do that by just winging it. And I wanna start by talking about standing out in the world of tech. I mean, the tech job market feels more crowded than ever, Jonathan. So what separates the candidates who break through from those who actually get overlooked? That is a very good question, and I've spent the last two years trying to figure out the answer to that. So, I've interviewed about 1,200 people now in the last two years, and I asked them questions about their job search and what's working for them and what isn't working for them. And the one common thread that I see from job seeker to job seeker that's that's getting traction is that they are on some sort of schedule. They are doing their applications. They're networking with people, but it's consistent. It's what they're doing day to day. They're not taking breaks. Even when their motivation wanes a little bit, they'll still go in and and and put in the work even if they're just going through the motions. And I've seen that very consistently for the last two years, not just for the job seekers that I've interviewed, but also for my clients. So that is definitely one easy way to stand out is just be disciplined, have a schedule, and stick to it. Well, I love preparation. I mean, it's really what I've hung my hat on in the last thirteen years, 4826 episodes as of today. So let's talk about preparing for …

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  • Jonathan Corrales, founder of Ready Aim Interview with 20 years software experience, shares strategies for succeeding in tech interviews based on insights from interviewing 1,200 job seekers over two years.

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