Three weeks ago I received a tweet from a highly talented and motivated aspiring marketing professional. She asked me to walk her through some interview preparation for an informational interview she had coming up the next day.  This may be one of my single most favorite things to do (It was the subject of one of my recent blog posts).

She explained that she had an informational interview with an organization that she knew would be great to work for given her background and interest in their organization.  She had done quite a bit of preparation to learn about the organization, the interviewer, etc.

We went over things for about 15-20 minutes after which I asked her to let me know the outcome the following day.

The next day she informed me that things went very well and that the interviewer was so impressed that she referred her to some other high ranking industry people for jobs in her field.

Since then, she has had two companies interview her and has more to come.  We spoke again yesterday to talk over her upcoming interviews. We discussed her approach to one of the interviews and she explained that she had interned at a company that had a number of similar responsibilities to those she would be tasked with at the company she was interviewing with.  This was all that she needed in my opinion to paint the perfect picture for this perspective employer.

She then voiced her frustration with the fact that a number of her friends had already gotten jobs and she has yet to do so. Something I should let you in on, she’s an accomplished competitive athlete with a great commitment to doing what it takes to win. It’s apparent that she has the same commitment and preparation when it comes to her job search.  I reminded her that she’s doing all of the right things and appears to be in contention for multiple jobs.  All of the jobs she is pursuing appear to be ones that she’s very excited about.  I also explained to her that given the current economy, most people looking for their first job are willing to take a job that may not be one they are excited about (Please see my previous blog entitled “Job, Career or Passion – What are you looking for?” ).  She has the luxury of multiple interviews in multiple roles that she’s passionate about.

As the conversation was coming to a close, it was apparent that something was still bothering her.  I spoke to her about all of the positives that were a result of her great preparation and follow through. She’d done everything right in those interviews and as a result was awaiting multiple follow up interviews and potential offers.

All of that success and still all of that doubt.  This is an example of a young, motivated, and talented future success story who in my opinion needs to believe that all of her hard work will pay off.

In a prior blog post I talked about how precious interviews are (Interviews Are Precious…Are You Preparing Enough To Get The Job?).  With all of the hard work and preparation that is needed to secure an interview in this highly competitive employment market.  It’s about time we took a deep breath and gave ourselves some credit for getting this far.

As things move forward you have to exude the confidence that got you to this point.  If not, as the old saying goes “Fake it till you make it”.  At the end of the day, companies hire confident people.  You deserve all of the good things that are happening to you today and the offer letter is right around the corner.