Eric Schmidt helped build Google.
In the book he wrote with Jonathon Rosenberg, called How Google Works, they talk about their “LAX rule” for choosing the best new hires.
It’s a company house rule that every manager was encouraged to follow.
And the reason I’m telling you about it now is that a lot of hiring managers, especially younger ones look up to Eric Schmidt. They’ve read How Google Works, and they use this “LAX rule” for their own hiring decisions.
It goes like this:
If the hiring manager was trapped in LAX because their flight was delayed, could they endure 4-5 hours talking with this candidate?
In other words…
Is this person interesting?
Are they easy to get along with?
Do they inject passion into the conversation?
Are they someone he/she could see themselves spending 8-10 hours per day, Monday-Friday being around without pulling their hair out?
If the answer is not a resounding “YES!”, they don’t get hired.
It’s as simple as that.
Here’s why I’m telling you about this “rule”:
For a manager to hire you — and this counts for just about all managers, not just Google followers — they need to be able to picture you belonging to their team and fitting in with the culture and group dynamic.
But when you come from a different generation, you don’t always share those common life experiences, landmark events, etc. that are vital for creating a sense of connection.
That doesn’t mean you won’t fit it.
It just means you have to make a special effort to establish common ground.
Here are some tips to help you with that:
Next time you have an interview and you suspect the hiring manager may be significantly younger than you, try to find out what their interests are.
Stalk them on Facebook.
Read their LinkedIn profile.
These will often show you what kind of books they read, what music they listen to, what movies they loved, who they are inspired by, etc.
Take some time to read up on these topics.
When you walk into the interview, you’ll now have plenty of common ground with the interviewer — and making small talk will be easy.
Result?
Hopefully, by the end of the interview, the hiring manager will be able to see you in his or her team, making a difference, and fitting in with the culture.
