Last night at our Founder Friends event, a guy walked up to me with the kind of opener you don’t forget.

“This might be a little weird — but I’m interviewing for an internship right now, and the hiring manager told me to come find you and ask what I should say to get the job.”

I laughed. Then I asked him the obvious question: “Okay — what’s your current plan to sell yourself?”

He took a beat. “Well, I bring a founder mentality. I’m a fast learner. I—”

I stopped him.

“That’s not the approach I’d take.”

Here’s the thing about that pitch. “Founder mentality.” “Fast learner.” Every candidate says some version of it. None of it actually answers the question the person across the table is asking, which is: what’s it going to be like to work with you?

What does every boss want? They want someone who makes their life easier. Full stop.

So I told him: forget the resume words. Walk in and say, “I’ll do anything I can to make your life easier. I’m willing to do whatever it takes.” Mean it. Then go prove it.

That’s the line. That’s the whole pitch.

Later in the night, I ended up talking to the founder who was doing the hiring. I told him about the conversation. He grinned.

Turns out earlier in the interview, the candidate had said, “I’m good with people and building relationships.”

The founder’s reply: “Cool. There’s a Founder Friends event tomorrow night. Come meet me there and show me.”

The whole thing was a live test. The kid didn’t know he was already being interviewed when he walked through the door.

Two things I’d want any young person to take from this.

First, on what to say. Stop pitching yourself like a LinkedIn headline. The person across the table doesn’t want to hear about your “mentality” — they want to know if you’re going to take work off their plate or add to it. Be the first one. And then, more importantly, actually be that person on day one. Anybody can say the words. The ones who get hired again are the ones who go find the unsexy thing nobody else wants to do and just do it.

Second, on what to do. If you tell someone you’re good at something, assume they’re going to check. Especially founders. We don’t have time to take claims at face value. If you say you’re a great writer, we want to see the writing. If you say you’re good with people, we’re going to put you in a room full of people and watch.

The good news? Both of these are within your control. You don’t need a fancier resume or a better school. You need to be useful, on purpose, in public.

That’s the job. That’s always been the job.