--- title: President Obama Learns How to Interview With Stephen Colbert description: President Barack Obama will need a new job in January, and he turned to Stephen Colbert on Monday night for some interview practice canonical: https://time.com/4534681/stephen-colbert-president-obama-job-interview/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-10-18T12:09:17.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T01:15:04.965Z article:section: Politics og:title: President Obama Learns How to Interview For a New Job With Stephen Colbert og:description: "Fifty five—tough time to start over for a man" og:url: https://time.com/4534681/stephen-colbert-president-obama-job-interview/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Obama Learns How to Interview For a New Job With Stephen Colbert twitter:description: "Fifty five—tough time to start over for a man" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # President Obama Brushes Up on His Job Interview Skills With Stephen Colbert > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Oct 18, 2016 12:09 PM UTC  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Oct 18, 2016 12:09 PM UTC President Barack Obama will need a [new job](http://time.com/4526075/hillary-clinton-barack-obama-campaigning/) in January, and he [turned to Stephen Colbert](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRQLU3IwNYs) on Monday night for some interview practice. Colbert, in character as an office manager named Randy, gave the President some advice on sharpening his interview skills, using social media and reaching millennials. “Fifty five—tough time to start over for a man,” said Colbert, referring to Obama’s age and inquiring about why he hadn’t been promoted in eight years. “I’m leaving because it’s required by the 22nd amendment of the United States Constitution,” Obama said. “OK, little tip: When you say staying at your job would be unconstitutional, what employers hear is that you stole office supplies,” Colbert quipped, before cracking a joke about [birtherism](http://time.com/4496792/birther-rumor-started/), asking where Obama was born and if his resume was “the longest form of this resume available.” Colbert also gave Obama a choice between two snacks that might ring bells for followers of the presidential election. “I have two choices for you here,” Colbert said. “Would you care for an extra fiber nutrient bar, which has traveled to more than 100 countries, or this shriveled tangerine covered in golden retriever hair, filled with bile that I wouldn’t leave alone with the woman I love?” “I think I will go with the fiber nutrient bar,” Obama said. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4534681/stephen-colbert-president-obama-job-interview/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4534681/stephen-colbert-president-obama-job-interview/"},"headline":"President Obama Brushes Up on His Job Interview Skills With Stephen Colbert","datePublished":"2016-10-18T12:09:17.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T01:15:04.965Z","description":"\"Fifty five—tough time to start over for a man\"","url":"https://time.com/4534681/stephen-colbert-president-obama-job-interview/","keywords":["Barack Obama","Television","White House"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4534681/stephen-colbert-president-obama-job-interview/","name":"President Obama Brushes Up on His Job Interview Skills With Stephen Colbert"}}]}] ```