As a finalist for an interview, how do you prepare and try to “close” and separate yourself from competition? – Kevin, strategic sourcing
Ace that final round job interview
Great job interviews are less about finding the magic bullet that will get you hired and more about mastering solid interview technique. This includes matching your specific background to the specific job at hand, being consistent and compelling throughout the hiring process and showing enthusiasm and genuine interest in the job. (You can read more tips in a previous post, The Ultimate Guide To Ace Your Job Interview.)
Here are three real-life examples of candidates that were not the leading candidates during the hiring process but ended up getting hired. As you read their stories, reflect on your own interview preparation: can you do what they did? Are there skills or attributes that are lacking in your interviews? What support do you need to fill any performance gaps?
The high-energy candidate
For a head of regional sales role at an investment management firm, the final rounds came down to four candidates – all of whom came highly recommended to the global head of sales. Three of the four candidates were familiar to the global head, and he assumed that one of these would get the job. But the person who ended up getting hired was actually the unknown candidate.
All four candidates interviewed well and had strong backgrounds. But the eventual hire distinguished herself with her high energy throughout the process. She had taken a red-eye flight to get to the eight-hour final interview day and was just as refreshed at the 4p meeting as she was at 9a. She stated outright multiple times how much she wanted the role. The global head of sales was the ultimate decision-maker, and he saw a “hunger” in this candidate that made the others seem lacking.
The consistent candidate
The importance of energy and enthusiasm doesn’t mean you have to be a big personality. A VP of development role for an environmental non-profit also came down to four candidates – three of whom had either already worked with the Chief Development Officer or came directly referred to the CDO. Yet, it was the fourth candidate, who was unknown personally but added to the process based on some candidate research, that ultimately got the job.
This VP had the most consistent interview technique. There wasn’t one magic bullet, but instead it was how unanimous the feedback was from all of the interviewers that she met (a total of six rounds, including four senior executives). Each of the other candidates had either an entire interview fall flat or a specific response that raised a red flag (don’t go negative even when you’ve had a negative experience). It made the decision-makers fear that those other candidates, while strong overall, were flawed.
The visionary
Sometimes a candidate is a long shot because they are missing a part of the job that the prospective employer says they want. Yet, there are enough other positive aspects about the candidate that the missing piece ends up being inconsequential. Such was the case for a general manager, who came out of the energy industry, but was hired by a food manufacturer – and beat out a senior executive from the exact same food sector as the hiring company!
This GM couldn’t win on expertise about the industry because he was legitimately an outsider. However, he matched what background he did have (substantive people experience, track record for launching, growing and turning around various businesses) to what this particular company needed (a strong people manager, ability to get results with new, growing and troubled lines of business). The candidate who ultimately got the job sold the company on his vision for how he would approach the role. The lack of direct industry experience became inconsequential because they bought into his vision and wanted him to achieve at their company what he had done for others.
Vision, consistency, energy
Do you have a plan tailored to your dream company for how you will get results in the open role? Do you have the stamina, the portfolio of stories to share and the poise and concentration to endure rounds and rounds of probing questions? Does your dream employer know how much you want to work there?
