A woman who owns a consulting company aimed at helping workers change careers has briefly explained the secret to a successful job interview.
Kendal Lindstrom, 25, submitted an essay about what was said to Business Insider earlier this year after she posted a viral TikTok video about his advice on March 11.
According to Lindstrom, she has always managed to get the job she interviewed for.
His best tip for impressing in interviews, which he briefly explained in his video and essay, is to come prepared to ask five specific questions of the employee conducting the interview.
“The questions I come prepared to ask the interview panel after my interview are what set me apart and make me memorable,” she said in her video.
Kendal Lindstrom, 25, posted a video on TikTok on March 11 and listed the top 5 questions she would ask an employee while interviewing for a job.
Lindstrom claimed in her video and in an essay she sent to Business Insider that she was never offered the job for which she interviewed.
Lindstrom, who lives in Scottsdale, Arizona, founded Doux in October 2023.
He described Doux on his LinkedIn as “a professional change management consulting firm with personal portfolio development and guidance to enter new, otherwise unreachable markets.”
Lindstrom explained in her essay that she founded Doux because she didn’t like being pigeonholed when it came to her career.
She originally wanted to be known as “the fashion girl” after graduating from college, which ended up not being the case.
While working in fashion, she also held positions in medical sales and as a technology consultant.
Lindstrom followed a formula before applying for her jobs: build a resume based on her chosen career, not her previous job.
She advises her clients to contact their hiring manager and that when it comes to an interview, “it’s all about follow-ups.”
Lindstrom, who lives in Scottsdale, Arizona, founded Doux in October 2023. Doux is a career change consulting company that Lindstrom founded after holding several jobs.
Before founding Doux, Lindstrom worked in fashion, medical sales and as a technology consultant. Lindstrom originally wanted to be known as “the fashion girl” after graduating from college.
Lindstrom made a deliberate effort to perform well at her job while working as a technology consultant.
He explained in his essay that it is primarily about how one presents oneself professionally rather than the answers one gives to the questions that are asked.
According to the founder of the consulting firm, she had the drive that the company was looking for in a candidate.
Lindstrom spent 30 minutes reading a training book his company gave him after each workday and tried to apply what he learned.
Then you would find time to go see your boss the next day and say, “This is what I learned yesterday.” Tell me how you’ve seen this applied in scenarios with a client.’
Her hard work over the years in all of her career options led her to participate in 10 or 11 interviews.
Lindstrom added that she believes she has never been offered a job after her interview because her goal was to make the employer feel like she had her best interests at heart and wanted to be a part of their company.
The questions you always asked an employer after the interview may also have pointed you in the right direction in the mind of a superior in the workplace.
Lindstrom strived to perform well while working as a technology consultant. She would spend 30 minutes reading a training book that her company gave her every day.
In his opinion, one of the decisive questions he always asks in a job interview is: “What is the company culture like and what do you do to actively maintain a positive environment?”
Lindstrom’s essay said that she wanted her audience to know that the question is important because it is part of what makes someone enjoy their job.
She believes that employees who take a job that makes them miserable will set themselves up for failure.
Once an applicant has an idea about the work culture, they can go ahead and ask, “What did the person who held this position before me do that was appreciated but not required according to the job description?”
Lindstrom suggested the question so applicants can imagine themselves working in the position they applied for.
He’s used the ‘assumed sales tactic’ more than once and even changed it once and asked the employer, ‘What are you going to miss most about this person?’
That interviewer told Lindstrom that her previous employee always bought Starbucks for her coworkers, to which she responded, “Cool, I guess we’ll buy Starbucks for the office all the time.”
This answer may have helped you get an idea of what the team would be like, which partly has to do with work culture and the third question: “How can I best adapt to the needs of my direct counterparts?”
Lindstrom believes a crucial question is, “What is the company culture like and what do you do to actively maintain a positive environment?”
Lindstrom suggested that applicants imagine themselves working in the position they applied for after asking the interviewer about a previous employee who worked in the job.
Lindstrom revealed in her essay that the question arose from wanting to understand the team of colleagues who could become coworkers.
This fact would help understand and identify how one would best fit into the team.
Lindstrom admitted that he has seen unhappy teams before in the workplace.
However, he added that no one really knows what it’s like until the first day on the job, and if it’s not good, they’ll have to decide if they should leave their job or stick with it until they find another one.
Relationships could affect a team’s success, which could be a partial reason why Lindstrom would ask “what is the current state of this department and how it is performing in reference to the bottom line.”
This question, which she says is about sales, also led her to ask questions like, “Am I entering a failing department?” or “Do you expect me to take the blame for something that is already failing?”
It could affect the company’s future, and before the interview ends, Lindstrom suggests the applicant ask, “What is the company’s three-, five-, and 10-year plan?”
Doux’s CEO admitted in her essay that she loves that last question because she’s never gotten a job and thought, “I’ll only be here for a year” or “I’ll only do this to collect a paycheck.” ‘
Lindstrom advised readers to ask about adapting to the needs of her counterparts in the workplace and that she has experience working somewhere with a dissatisfied team.
Even though these are her top five questions, Lindstrom clarified that all one needs or has time to do is ask one of them.
She reviewed the comments on her TikTok video from users who wrote that it was “too many questions” and one person even called her “high maintenance.”
Lindstrom wrote in her comments section that asking just one of those questions will leave the interviewer “blown away.”
The questions are based on Lindstrom’s personal opinions, but she hopes others follow her advice to succeed in their job interviews.