Job Search Tips: Lessons from the Movies

Don’t be the next Dewey Cox!

Like a much smaller number of people than expected, I went to see the "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story" when it came out several months ago.

Heavily promoted, decently reviewed, with backing of known talent, the movie BOMBED. Much money was lost on this, to the surprise of MANY. It lasted about 3 weeks in the theatres and went to that great “it’s not yet a movie you can get at Netflix” oblivion very quickly.

And it ties in very directly to job search issues - and provides important lessons.

1. The movie wasn’t particularly funny for a “supposed comedy.”
Jokes were sporadic, to my taste. In fact, when the first 10 minutes of the movie were put online for public view, I went to the site for a preview. It seemed like a LONG ten minutes.

The Job Search Lesson - Things NEED to be as advertised. Interviewing, you can't try to be funny, offbeat or a different person from who you are. For one thing, people notice. For another, you'll be very uncomfortable. Be energetic and upbeat, but you need to be YOU!

2. To follow this movie, you would have had to seen "Walk the Line." This movie was an attempt to parody much of "Walk the Line," which I thought was a pretty darn good flick. However, not everyone saw "Walk the Line." So, jokes tied to it would have made no sense to the audience who hadn't seen the Johnny Cash biopic where Reese Witherspoon and Joaquin Phoenix had been so stellar.

The Job Search Lesson - Obscurity doesn't help. This is particularly true for resumes. One thing I've seen people do is go into what I'd call "acronym fever," and list a number of acronyms that someone reading the resume may not understand. In fact, I've seen such in a number of military resumes. Since the reader wasn't likely part of the same military unit, you need to "break down" acronyms into "every day" terminology.

3. The lead actor wasn't a "name" actor.
I'm not knocking the lead's talent, but who lines up to see a John C. Reilly flick? He was great in Chicago and in Talladega Nights as a SUPPORTING actor.
We often gravitate to that film with Will Smith, Will Ferrell (who would have been my choice for this movie) or Jack Nicholson - we know they are likely to be entertaining films.

The Job Search Lesson - You need to be a "name," and not just blend in. How? Well, from a stellar resume to great interview skills to an aggressive and effective job search.
That's what differentiates you from others, and makes you a "marquee" candidate!

4. The lead character wasn't that interesting (and this is the most dangerous “job search area.”)
Dewey Cox was a mix of a number of people who added up to someone we probably didn't care about all that much. Not a bad guy, not a great guy – yet, there was no magnetism in the character the way we saw Johnny Cash's intensity or Ray Charles’ brilliance in "Ray." Not much depth. In the movie, by the time the much advertised “Dewey Cox meets the Beatles” scene took place, I was getting bored. As a result, the "what happens next to this character" thoughts we might have when watching a movie turned into "I don't really care much about what happens to Dewey Cox" for me. Hard to pay as much attention, isn't it?

The Job Search Lesson - We tend to "hide" behind generic resumes and don't always interview as well as we'd like. You HAVE to be interesting to the employer. However, you don't need to entertain in order to do this.
How?
-Wear your best “professional” clothing.
-Arrive 15-20 minutes before the interview.
-Shake hands firmly, but not in “bonecrusher” fashion.
-Ask “open ended” questions about the job, company, training, etc.
-Let the interviewer speak! Don’t interrupt with your questions.
-Have great eye contact with the interviewer.
-Smile!
-Sit up straight and stand up tall.
-Show interest and pay attention! If your eyes wander around the office, you will seem to be “drifting” out of the interview. I’ve noticed such in candidates before, and you need to stay focused on the interviewer.

“Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story” was not an awful movie, nor stellar. It just “didn’t have enough” to make it as either a “critical smash” that doesn’t make money but people love for years (think “Shawshank Redemption.”) And it wasn’t a smash at the box office.
It was just there, and not for long.

You have much more to offer. Use these lessons to strengthen your “box office potential” to get great “reviews” from interviewers and top the charts by getting the position you are looking for!

(and special thanks to Melanie Lachs for her editorial genius!)