Transcription
Here are three secrets that will instantly elevate your interview performance. In the second round or later round interviews, do these three things and I guarantee almost none of your competition is doing this. And failing to do these things could result in another job offer slipping through your fingers.
I'm Mat Man, a human resources leader and job search strategist who turns job seekers into job shoppers. You may recognize me as a top job search instructor on Spotify and LinkedIn Learning, the host of Job Shopper, or you may have seen me on Bloomberg, ABC, Wall Street Journal, and more. Subscribe because what's the best that can happen? You land more job offers and absolutely adore your career. The proof is in the putting of the thousands of comments I've gotten on my interview prep videos of people saying this was the one channel that resulted in more job offers. And stay to the end because I reveal an example of how to use what happened in the first round interview to help you in a lot in later round interviews.
Secret number one: Expect skill and behavioral evaluations. You need to be preparing for second and third round job interviews completely differently than the first round interviews. For the first round interview, the focus is on making sure the job logistically makes sense for everyone involved, that you have the baseline skills, and that the role matches what you're targeting. The later round interviews are typically with a hiring manager or a team member who has more context about this role. They are usually asking you deeper questions or evaluating your skill set.
When it comes to evaluating your skill set, be ready for skill evaluations, role plays, scenario questions. Such as, a skill evaluation could sound something like, "Can you walk me through creating a pivot table in Excel and how you would analyze that data?" Or, "How do you approach giving constructive feedback to a peer or direct report?" Then, a roleplay question could sound like, "Your customer support manager and I'm an irate customer who received a defective product. Resolve my issue." And then, a scenario question sounds like, "Midway through a project, a key team member leaves unexpectedly. How would you ensure the project stays on track?" Of course, which question you get depends on your profession. So I recommend looking it up using AI or brainstorming the types of questions your profession would get so that you're ready for it. Hint: start with a job description.
Another very common approach is the interviewer will ask you behavioral based questions, which usually sounds something like, "Tell me about a time when," or "Give me an example of." What they're evaluating is they want to hear examples from your professional experience and stories so that they can picture what it would be like to work with you. They're trying to daydream about you. I have very in-depth videos on behavioral interviewing, which have millions of views and thousands of people saying it completely changed the way they interview. And so I will link those videos here so you can have a deeper dive. What types of questions are you usually asked in the second and third round interviews? Are they skill tests, behavioral interview questions? And also, let us know in the comments what profession you are because I'm interested to hear what kinds of interviews all of us are experiencing across different industries.
Secret number two: Prepare excellent questions. One thing that a lot of job seekers don't realize is that interviewers always notice the questions that candidates ask. I have had so many hiring managers come out of interviews and when I ask them how it went, they start gushing about how great the candidate's questions were, which I find interesting since job seekers spend so much time focused on how to best answer questions. When really, they should spend much more time understanding how to make the interview a conversation. That is a deeper topic that I do a lot of coaching on in my private coaching program through a process called job shopping. The concept of job shopping is that instead of chasing after companies, companies start to sell you on the opportunity. And that's a big part of making the interview feel like a mutual conversation.
But of course, if you don't have the skill set of making the interview into a conversation, you can also prepare questions to ask at the end of the interview, which is always an excellent thing to do to get you started. I have a download of 15 questions that are excellent to ask in the interview. And keep in mind, you are in the second or third round interview now. So it's great for you to use that list of questions to come up with questions that are specific to this opportunity. So what did you learn in that first round interview? There's usually a lot of great things you can ask. Since often the first round interviews with the recruiter or human resources, AKA is someone who doesn't have the same context about the role that the person in later round interviews does. So possibly in the first round interview, the recruiter mentioned that this role is open because the agency has new corporate clients that are signing on in the next few months. Okay, great. So now in this later interview, you can ask some detailed questions about what types of clients they are, what kind of projects the team will be working on, and the ways that this role will work with that client. This will result in a more engaging conversation.
Secret number three: Use the first interview to your advantage. So many job seekers don't use the first interview to their absolute advantage to blow the later round interviewers away. The biggest secret to master the second and third round interviews is to use everything you've learned from the first interview to your advantage. So you will get the answers to future interview questions if you listen carefully. Listen to the way that first interviewer describes the role and they're going to emphasize certain things in the job description that you didn't realize were so important. Whatever they emphasize as most important, that is what you're going to focus on in the second interview when choosing to talk about certain accomplishments from your past or certain strengths to align it with specifically what they are looking for.
Additionally, here's a job interview hack that impresses the interviewer. So in your first interview, you can ask about, or sometimes the interviewer even volunteers, this information about the goals of the role and the company at large, as well as the industry context. You can then bring these insights into the second interview, and this will portray you as highly informed, researched, and knowledgeable. Such as the recruiter might say something like, "Yeah, the industry is having to make a lot of manufacturing changes due to the recent legislation." And then when you're in your next interview, you could make informed questions or statements that sound something like, "Given the recent legislation that has impacted the manufacturing process in this industry, how does that influence this role and the company at large?" Instantly, you appear head and shoulders above other candidates.
Now, you may be listening to this and be highly irritated because you say, "Melanie, I already had my first round interview and I forgot to pay attention to all of these things. What am I supposed to do now?" Well, first of all, my friend, make sure you're subscribed so that you don't miss notifications to watch my videos so that you never miss a sweet tip. But I'm glad you now know this tip because now every first round interview you have from now on will be elevated. And a workaround is you can email the recruiter you've been working with and ask them what you should expect in this next round interview. Worst case scenario, they don't give you a clue, which puts you back in the same situation you would have been if you didn't ask. But frequently, the recruiters will give you this information. Such as they will tell you what kind of interview it is, such as you'll be asked behavioral interview questions, or this will be more of a skills evaluation or culture fit evaluation. Many recruiters are happy to share this information because they legitimately want you to do well in the interview. They're not trying to find the candidate who's the best at interviewing. They're trying to find the person who's best at the job. So if they are able to help you prepare yourself properly in the interview, they will share some context and advice if you ask. Be sure to hit a like on this video and subscribe to this channel. You've got this. Wi-Fi high five.