The Way of the Wall Street Warrior

CHAPTER 5Strut Like a Peacock: Your First Impression Might Be Your Last

The interview process can take several rounds and will make you feel like you're a cast member in a reality game show, fighting for a coveted role while sizing up your competition. Your mantra has to be that you don't need to outrun a bear, just the other people it's chasing.

Rick Heitzmann, one of the founders of the venture capital firm FirstMark and former Houlihan Lokey banker, remembers as a kid working at a basketball camp run by Jay Wright, now the basketball coach of Villanova. Jay would say, “How bad do you want to be good?” and would tell the campers, “If you're tired, there are others who will gladly take your spot, so work as if you want it!”

I hope the campers remembered that advice, because for many jobs there will be thousands, if not tens of thousands, of wishful sycophants just like you competing for the same position. That means from the moment you walk in the door, you've got to stand out. You've got to show them the wow and do it quickly. From the first second you meet their gaze, you'll be sized up the way a tourist inspects Michelangelo's David. (Eyes up; get your mind out of the gutter.) In an instant, you'll be judged by what you're wearing, how you behave, how gracefully you shake a hand. Your interviewer will make a snap decision about who you are, your fitness for hard work, and your moral character.

Once again, I'm not making this stuff up. It's based on science and a very specific ...