Blog 25:  When you are in an interview and asked . . . What would you do in your first 100 days?  Answers that matter.

different coloured tins of paint
©Home Murphy Bros Decorator Cork

i have had this interview question come up in a few caddying encounters of late.  i guess the ‘100 Days’ question must be the flavour of the month when it comes to interviewing professionals and executives.  This question is particularly included in management and leadership interviews.  Even if you don’t encounter this question in interviews, this blog will hopefully help you identify what’s most important when you enter a new role. 

Let’s get the interview context right first.  If you have arrived at the interview stage for a job application, you’re down to the last few.  What is the panel looking for? 

Someone who is hungry, humble and smart

  • Hungry to grow and achieve, hungry to get good results,
  • Humble; there is a humility at your core.  It doesn’t need to be all about you, but others, the team and the organisation.
  • Smart, how’s your emotional intelligence?  How are you at understanding others – customers, suppliers, your colleagues and management, yourself?
executives going for a job interview
©CEO World magazine

And what’s the tin of paint got to do with it?  Think of an interview as tipping a tin of paint over on your way out the door.  What colour do they get see?  Black?  Red?  Green?  Yellow?  When you walk back out the door, what impression do you leave? 

Humility?  A hunger to improve their organization and yourself?  High emotional intelligence?

Now let’s get to this question “What would you do in your first 100 days” which seems to be in vogue . . .

sign that says 100 days
©Insurance & risk management

Here’s what the mainstream are saying about the way to approach the first 100 days:

Linked In’s suggestion:
Set out your first 100 days on the job action plan.
-Meet all targets.
-Have a voice in your team.
-Initiate a new project, process or practice.
-Get recognition.
-Build at least 30 strong professional connections.
-Create a brand for yourself.
-Get at least 10 people who can rely on you or your work ethics.
-Target top 3 important factors for your industry and learn
-Take lead role at least on one project/presentation
-Do beyond just “your job”
CMI Career Confidence propose:  
-Make the most of your induction
-Get to know your team
-Set out to develop a winning team
-Get to know your managerIdentify the criteria against you will be judged
-Be aware of the culture of your organisation
-Develop a broader understanding of your organisation and your role within it
-Develop your personal management style and identify
-Develop a personal development plan for yourself

©Linked in ©CMI Career Confidence

That feels exhaustive. Perhaps there is a simpler, more effective response when confronted with the question: “What would you do in your first 100 days?”

Build Trust

What builds better outcomes? TRUST

What kicks performance in organisations?  TRUST

What does that look like?

trust word cloud

Paul Browning’s book Compelling Leadership is an excellent text on the impact of building trust.  He also provides practical examples of ways that you can build trust in your organization from being visible to communicating decisions to being consistent and predictable.  Next week’s blog will drill into a practical application of Compelling Leadership . . . not only so you can provide examples of how you would build trust in your first 100 days, but also so that you can improve the outcomes of any organization you are a part of . . . by building trust. 

Build trust in your first 100 days.  If you can build that foundation, then you have a platform for success. 

Woman alone on row of seats waiting for interview
©Ambition UK

Good luck with that interview.  

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