Train as you fight. You don’t know how you’ll do in combat until you get there. Just about any war veteran, I’d wager, would agree with that statement. The same is true with interviews. You cannot assume that you’ll do well if you’ve never done it. It’s like we always said, “Train as you fightâ€.

For those unfamiliar with that statement, it’s another way of saying, make your training as realistic as possible.Train as you fight. You don’t know how you’ll do in combat until you get there. Just about any war veteran, I’d wager, would agree with that statement. The same is true with interviews. You cannot assume that you’ll do well if you’ve never done it. It’s like we always said, “Train as you fightâ€. For those unfamiliar with that statement, it’s another way of saying, make your training as realistic as possible.

This is why we have created a community for transitioning military veterans and military spouses to connect with experienced interview coaches who come from a range of industries so that you can experience a live job interview with the benefit of a supportive post interview debrief. Our goal is to impact at least 10% of this market with tangible, impactful practice that builds confidence in the interview environment and the skills to Nail That Interview.  This is why we offer our diagnostic, free 3-interview package to service members and affordable interview packages to our non-military colleagues who are at-risk and also in need of building these skills. This is a chance to pick out all the “low-hanging fruit†issues with your interview skills. They may be easy to fix, but you won’t know until you have a trained expert observing you in a simulated, realistic interview situation.

While it’s crucial to prepare for an interview by doing research and reflecting on your experience, anyone who has had a job interview and not received an offer can tell you that it’s one thing to know your stuff, but it’s another to sound impactful telling your story. How many of us have felt a sudden case of nerves get in the way of communicating a simple message, or walked away from a conversation realizing that had you just quieted your thoughts you would have had so much more to offer the conversation? Neither of us are risk takers, but we’d happily bet that 100% of us have experienced these sorts of situations. And if you haven’t, well, you haven’t yet had a job interview where your future and perhaps your family’s future feels like it’s on the line.

Now, I know there are some skeptics out there. I suspect some of you are questioning the value of this service….you can just wing it, right? I mean, an interview is just a formal conversation, right? Again, train as you fight. You wouldn’t train for combat simply by listening to friends talk about it or by reading about it. There is value in the intellectual lessons of reading and discussing, but nothing will prepare you more than experiencing the emotional and physical reaction of a real interview with a stranger.

And we’re not relying on just our experience to be passionate and certain about the value of interview practice with Candorful, we’re relying on the data that we are gathering from all our clients:

• 100% of our Transitioning Military and Veteran clients confirm that there is great impact on their interview confidence and skills after experiencing 3 interviews and receiving supportive and truthful feedback.
• Adjectives used to describe their experience tell the story: Eye-Opening, Authentic, Enlightening, Insightful, Motivating, Excellent, Genuine, Revealing, Heartfelt, Rewarding, Constructive, Professional, Confidence-Building, Valuable
• Clients have landed jobs at Amazon, Disney, Facebook, Capgemini, McKinsey, Wexford Group, Kaiser Permanente, PetroChem, CACI.

And you know what’s really cool? We’re not alone in this desire to bring a live virtual reality interview to you. Over the last few months Candorful has received warm support from some very special people and organizations. • Kudos to EY and Amazon for supporting our vision and circulating our mission. The result is that we have a strong team of interview coaches from both these organizations ready to help you. In particular, thank you to EY’s Angela Sorrell and Amazon’s Beau Higgins.• Kudos to AcuityScheduling for stepping up when you heard about our mission to help us set up a great scheduling platform so that we can help our returning Service Members. Think you Kristin of Acuity Scheduling.

• Kudos to Zoom for not only being an easy to use live video conferencing service but for upgrading our Interview Coaches so that we will be able to also supply panel interviews to our clients. Thank you Rick Drum of Zoom.us
• Kudos to WilmerHale for helping us navigate the initial stages and legal hurdles of incorporation and Non-Profit Status as well as navigating Trademark law and, thus, our name change from ShortList to Candorful. Thank you Jenna Ventorino and Mike Bevilacqua
• Kudos to all the great people, who have reached out to us when they heard about our mission, to volunteer their services as interviewers, content developers, partners and advisors or to simply thank us. You keep us energized!

Continue to train as you fight, for your living.