I just received my Phase II testing results and I passed!!!!!
Your guidance and tough love along the way helped me tremendously. I want to thank you for everything!
The day before my interview (when I arrived in Atlanta) I felt confident and I was even a bit excited. I couldn’t wait to tell them all about me. During the interview, I was still a bit nervous but I was able to answer every question confidently. By the end of the interview I was certain they knew much more about me than the last time. I even finished my interview a bit early. I was prepared!!
Thanks again!!
03/11/20
I just wanted to drop a note to let you know I passed! I can’t thank you enough for the help and guidance you provided, as this was my 2nd attempt at the FBI phase II…so my last chance!.
I also want to thank you for accommodating me as I was crunched for time when I reached out to you, but we were definitely able to do what we needed to do!
I also want to thank you for combining 2 into 1, as I had both the DEA & FBI interview within the same week. The only thing I regret is not reaching out to you before my first interview over a year ago.
Your critiques & direction is what got me through this one. I was able to polish up my stories to “tell the story”. It was night and day difference in comparing my first attempt with this one.
I felt like they “got to know me” during this round….and confidence, confidence, CONFIDENCE! I was even able to introduce some southern humor to lighten the mood & to poke fun at myself a bit, which seemed to lighten their demeanor as well.
I felt like the lack of confidence and not getting to know the person was my hindering factor for my first round/failure, but with your style of teaching and the materials we discussed….prepped me to portray the real me.
I passed the DEA interview before my FBI one, so that gave me a boost in confidence in and of itself…but going into both with the knowledge gained from your coaching was definitely the deciding factor with both of these.
Now…if you only had a coaching strategy to pass that pesky PFT….I’d be a satisfied customer.😊
03/05/20
As promised, pass or fail I would update you accordingly.
I passed!!!! Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!!!
I could not have done it without you. You did for me what I have failed in consistently within my own efforts alone.
My interview this time around compared to the last was night and day. I know it seemed like I wasn’t listening to you, but I soaked up every bit of advice you threw at me and followed it to the “T.”
It wasn’t a perfect interview. There were a couple of questions that I wasn’t able to discern which factors they were going for as it wasn’t so clear cut; but like you said, “just tell a story. Anything is better than a zero.” I did exactly that.
The rest I delivered were great. Some questions I answered powerfully because I was prepared.
I was nervous but like you said, I came in there with all the confidence in the world.
I was “Mr. Personality” from the beginning and I made them laugh a lot.
My 5-points felt like my moment and I delivered!
All in all, I did what you said; it wasn’t perfect but I walked out of there not knowing if I passed or not, but without a doubt I left knowing that they truly got to know ME – the person.
This was a huge win for my life Carole. Thank you!!!!
2/03/20
I hope all is well. I wanted to let you know that I received a passing score! I can’t thank you enough for your work, support and encouragement. From your personal coaching to the exercises, it made a difference. It helped me gain more confidence in myself and allowed me to sit back and pause after each question to give me time to paint the best story. I can also say that this interview was better than my first, especially with regards to laying out the SAR (20/60/20).
Again, thank you for your time and support! It was truly a pleasure working with you.
I recommend you to anyone else who finds themselves struggling with interviews.
01/29/20
Got the news last night. I PASSED!!! Thank you again for all your help. I know you continue to search for the reasons some pass and others do not. Of course, I do not have that answer, but I can share with you what I think helped me pass the second time.
1) I left my “suit” at the door. I am an attorney, no doubt about it. But I spoke to the interviewers like I would to some friendly colleagues after work, not like I was talking to a panel of judges.
2) In preparing I always had emotional intelligence in the back of my mind. I was thinking about opportunities in my stories to discuss my feelings and the feelings of others and how this impacted my decision making. I do not think they are looking for robots.
3) I spent a lot of time, as you know, working on my “why.” And I also went back and listened to the recordings of our sessions. I also sent you a lot of stories and applied your criticisms. This really nailed the story telling formula and proportions into my mind.
Other than that, I think the rest is just putting in the time to find and practice stories that match the eight factors. Having a couple stories for each factor, even if you have to morph them is a safe bet.
I think just sounding prepared gets you further than most people think.
Thank you again. Regardless of whether I make it through the rest of the process, it was a victory for me to beat this the second time, and I can’t thank you enough for all your help.