Hi ,

I thought I crushed my IBM interview in college. But I didn't get an offer due to this one mistake.

I was applying for a summer engineering internship and my career counselor helped me set up an interview at the campus career center.

He could tell how well the interview going from his office. "I heard her engage with you, react well, even laugh - you were having the best conversation I heard all day."

Two weeks later when they said no, I was floored.

My counselor helped me learn the reason. IBM wanted to hire interns who would turn into career employees. In my interview, she asked about my long-term ambitions and I was honest: I wanted to eventually start my own company (which I'm so glad I did).

I was a fit for everything they wanted in an intern except for the fact that I would someday leave the company, which meant I was not their IEP (ideal employee profile).

It was a big lesson for 20-year-old me.

But it helped me understand that it's really important to know what your ideal profile is and to create a rubric that enables you to filter those who don't fit.

That ideal profile goes for employees AND customers (ICP).

The right fit creates a much higher ROI and reduces nightmare clients. 

So today, as I build companies, I create an ideal buyer persona to help me filter out prospects who aren't the best fit. Here are 5 examples for a tech company, which you can modify easily for your line of business.