How to knock it out of the park during an interview

Everyone goes into an interview hoping to make a good first impression and most likely even get the job.  Or at least be offered the job.  But quite often people are not willing to put in the work ahead of time to know what it takes to truly hit it out of the park.  

I am helping to coach my son again this year in baseball, and I thought over the weekend about some eerie similarities between hitting a home run in baseball and hitting it "out of the park" during an interview.  Before you read any further please keep in mind that my son is playing on a 9U team, and I am NOT a professional coach by any stretch of the imagination.  So these are observations more than baseball fact (insert smiley face emoticon from your favorite mobile device here).

1)  Know what the pitcher is throwing.  Case in point, my son and I were at the fields on Saturday for some batting practice.  Early on I was throwing slowly down the middle of the plate so that he could simply make some contact.  By the end of practice we went to the outfield to play Home Run Derby to convince him to swing harder.  I also told him I would start throwing harder to increase his chances of getting it over the fence.  Granted that also meant he had to swing differently and more quickly.  In an interview a hiring authority may lob some easy questions for the interview as they're just trying to get to know you.  It is much more difficult to "knock it out of the park" in that instance.  But I'm here to tell you that some singles and doubles are okay.  On the other hand if they are asking some tough and direct questions, they are ready to play ball and you should be ready to swing for the fences with good answers.

2)  Be ready to strike out.  In baseball the notorious home run hitters also tend to strike out a lot.  That is because they are swinging for the fences on every pitch.  Once the pitcher figures that out they will adjust and throw pitches that are tougher to hit at all, let alone out of the park.  Similarly when you are in an interview and really trying to impress the hiring authority, it just may not happen.  You have to be able to shake it off, move forward in your search, and find another employer that will appreciate the hard-charging mentality.

3)  Be patient.  Every home run hitter knows they aren't likely to get a good pitch right down the middle on the first pitch.  The best hitters will battle through 10-12 pitches, fouling most of them off before they get "the one" that they know they can drive over the fence.  You may interview for 2-3 hours with a potential employer before they ask the one or two most important questions to really land the job.  And it could come at any time.  Bottom line is that you have to be ready to swing hard when that important question is thrown at you.

4)  Be sure to make contact.  As much as you need to swing hard to get a ball out of the park in baseball, you will have zero chance if you can't even get the barrel of the bat on the ball.  In an interview you can get nervous and start spitting out an answer before really thinking about it.  Take a deep breath, keep your eye on the ball, and make sure you actually make contact before dreaming about the home run.

5)  Be prepared.  This one seems obvious, but is often overlooked.  A good baseball player is going to not only go to all practices and games, but also take extra batting practice, will scrimmage with neighborhood friends at the park, will play catch with dad at home, and even watch some professional baseball to learn from the pros who are paid millions of dollars to do things well.  A prepared candidate will read some online tips from a major source, perhaps follow an author on social media, and will definitely try to learn a little something about the company before an interview.  There is an incredible amount of information available online, but it takes some effort before an interview to find those valuable tidbits.

More than anything you have to want it to happen.  I have told my son on numerous occasions that he will never hit a home run if he doesn't believe it could happen.  Go in with confidence and with some of these easy tips and you just might knock it out of the park.

Have you ever done this?  Any stories to share of how you knocked it out of the park during an interview that might help someone else about to "step to the plate" for an upcoming interview?