60 Seconds & You’re Hired Summary

1-Sentence-Summary: 60 Seconds & You’re Hired! is a guide to getting your dream job that will help you feel confident in your next interview by teaching you how to impress your interviewer with being concise, focusing on your strengths, and knowing what to do at every step of the process.

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Do you remember your last job interview? Did it make you nervous knowing that you were about to sit in front of a stranger who would be grilling you? Interviewing potential candidates even makes employers nervous!

After all, they’re under pressure to make the right decision. Choosing the wrong person for a position costs the company. It’s hard for them to sift through so many candidates though, and after reviewing so many, the specifics start to blur together.

That’s why you must be quick with your responses in interviews, giving them in less than a minute. And that’s exactly what you’ll learn from Robin Ryan’s 60 Seconds and You’re Hired! With this book, you’ll have everything you need to ace your next interview and get that dream job!

Here are the 3 greatest preparation tips this book gives:

  1. Constantly refer to your top 5 skills throughout the interview to help your interviewer remember what makes you a good fit.
  2. Preparing beforehand will eliminate your fear and help you be as confident as possible when answering each question. 
  3. Take advantage of the golden opportunity to reveal your true character that interviewer gives you when they ask if you have any questions.

Are you ready to gain the confidence you need to get a new job? Let’s begin!

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Lesson 1: Help your interviewer remember that you are a good fit by consistently mentioning your top 5 skills throughout the interview.

We’ve already made it clear why you need to stand out from the crowd to your potential new employer. But how do you do that? It starts with helping the interviewer remember you by focusing their mind on your strengths.

If you think trying to get the job is hard, just put yourself in the shoes of the person reviewing all the resumes. It’ll be difficult for them to pick you out unless you prepare to do so. This is where the 5 Point Agenda comes in.

To begin, make a list of your top five most marketable skills. Don’t just list any strengths, focus on those that are specific to the job you’re applying for. A graphic designer, for example, would want to focus on their portfolio and experience building websites. 

Keep in mind that your list may be different for each job. Your primary objective is to focus on what you can do that matches the goals of the company. It might be a good idea to look at your potential new employer on LinkedIn and Glassdoor to find out what their values are.

Once you’ve got the list ready, practice so you can highlight all five in less than 60 seconds. Then, in the interview, continually mention each of these strengths so your interviewer remembers them.  

Lesson 2: Eradicate fear and boost your confidence to answer questions concisely by preparing beforehand. 

Preparation kills fear. Every time I have to give a speech, presentation, talk to a stranger, or answer an interviewers questions, taking the time to get ready calms my nerves. The reason this works is because when you’re in the interview you have no surprises. Nothing can catch you off guard if you’ve put in the work to get ready.

First, look for some of the most commonly asked questions in interviews and practice answering them. Role-playing isn’t always fun, but it does make a big difference in your confidence levels every time you do it. Also use your research to think of specific questions the company might ask about their products or services.

Next, remember the details of your best performances at previous workplaces. Again, focus on those that will set you apart to succeed should you be given this new job. The main goal of the employer is to determine if you’re a good fit, and being more specific will help them do that.

Last, get ready to market your specific personality as an ideal worker persona. You might not think it, but interviewers go in with biases that you have to fight. Millennials, for example, may be thought of as dealing with entitlement and technology addiction. If you’re older, the employer might see you as less innovative. Highlight your learning and communication skills and success attitude to combat these disadvantages.

Lesson 3: The question “do you have any questions for me?” is a chance to let your true motivations and preparation shine.

I still remember when, not long before an interview, my friend told me to take advantage every time an interviewer asks if I have any questions. Testing this out in my next interview, I asked what their ideal candidate was like, then talked about how I felt I was a good fit for that. Not long afterward, I found out that I got the job!

Many of us brush this last interview question as non-important. But employers use it as a chance to gain valuable information about your character, so you need to be ready for it. You’ll also want to use this chance to determine if the job is good for what you want. 

To get ready for this opportunity, write a list of 10 to 15 questions that you can take out when they ask if you have any questions. Doing this shows the interviewer your diligence in researching the company and thinking about how you can help it succeed. And if the interviewer answered any of your questions during the interview, be sure to say so. 

Last tip on questions is to never ask about benefits or salary during an interview. Employers use your questions to gauge your intentions. When you ask about money, it shows that you’re more concerned about pay than the actual job.

60 Seconds & You’re Hired! Review

Wow, the advice in 60 Seconds & You’re Hired! is golden! Working for myself, I don’t really do job interviews anymore, but if I did, this book would be my go-to for preparation to land the perfect job. This really gets me confident that if I wanted to, I could ace any interview!

Who would I recommend the 60 Seconds & You’re Hired! summary to?

The 24-year-old college graduate who is looking for their first job, the 50-year-old who was just let go from their company they had been with for 15 years, and anyone who is trying to land the perfect position.

Last Updated on August 24, 2022

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Luke Rowley

With over 450 summaries that he contributed to Four Minute Books, first as a part-time writer, then as our full-time Managing Editor until late 2021, Luke is our second-most prolific writer. He's also a professional, licensed engineer, working in the solar industry. Next to his day job, he also runs Goal Engineering, a website dedicated to achieving your goals with a unique, 4-4-4 system. Luke is also a husband, father, 75 Hard finisher, and lover of the outdoors. He lives in Utah with his wife and 3 kids.