LTPR: A Lesson From Army Survival School For Job Interviewing

I went to the Army’s SERE C course (Survival, Evasions, Resistance, and Escape) in January 2010. It was extremely cold then, and I recall losing 20 pounds during our few weeks being “out in the woods,” but nonetheless, it was an incredible course that revealed exactly what you’re made of.

SERE C is part of the curriculum to join the Army Special Operations and don that coveted Green Beret; many of the lessons of SERE training are classified, but in general, the program teaches participants the intricacies of evading capture, survival skills, and the military code of conduct (click for wikipedia).

While there are numerous (hilarious) stories from our time in training, one particular lesson sticks out to me now, when there is (and will be) a ramp up of job-seekers  interviewing for new positions.

In one of our SERE classroom sessions, we were taught a very valuable acronym that I remember to this day. Its application now, however, isn’t to prevent us from divulging classified information, but rather to stay cool and composed in high-stress situations, (like interviewing for a job!). 

LTPR - Listen, Think, Pause, and Respond.

LISTEN- In any job interview, your potential employer will obviously be asking a lot of questions. These questions are designed to understand a very specific aspect of your work life, perspective, achievements. Remember to listen to the question! 

If in an interview you are asked, “tell me of your greatest failure,” don’t tell them a story of how you climbed Mt. Everest but lost your sunglasses (although that can be brutal), like you are “humble bragging.” Your interviewer is wanting a story of failure, but most importantly, how you bounced back and prevented this from happening again.

THINK- Upon receiving a question, think about the answer and even the selection of the right story for those behavioral questions. Your answer should support the overall avatar of you that you want your audience to perceive. For Veterans, if applying for a VP of Ops for a bottling plant, your time as the MWR officer in your unit may not be a very applicable story.

I recently told a group of Veterans that story selection is a critical component in interviewing. Imagine that you’re on “The Voice” and you’re standing in front of millions of viewers for your one shot. YOU BETTER BE SINGING YOUR BEST SONG! PERIOD.  How many times have we seen the unfortunate outcomes when contestants are told, “Ehhh, great voice but not impressed... you should’ve picked another song.”?

PAUSE- This is a critical step. I’m not talking about imposing a 10-second awkward silence as you're scrambling to answer a question, but rather, get your audience used to you taking short pauses before answering any question from the beginning, even if it’s a simple answer, as if you were composing yourself to answer after deep thought (pause intervals may vary). This way, if you are truly tripped up by a question, you can stay relatively consistent and not appear… well stumped!

RESPOND- Lay out your answer clearly, concisely, and in a composed manner. An amazing tool when interviewing at all levels: STAR format. Situation-Task-Action-Results. My best recommendation here is to be cognizant of your interviewer and make sure you’re actually engaging her with the details, not just boring them to death. Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse!

Following simple tools like these acronyms can help guide your thinking and presentation when in uncomfortable and stressful situations. They help you control the narrative, and not leave it up to chance. Though you may not be using LTPR in a literal life or death circumstance, your performance in that interview may have life-changing implications!

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MilSpec Talent is a boutique recruitment group that connects High-Impact Veterans to our client companies in various industries. Our Veterans typically have 3-15 years of private sector experience, in addition to their successful track record of Leadership.

Freddie is a West Point grad, Kellogg MBA, and former Green Beret who’s served in conflicts world-wide.

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