In all the advice available on the subject, it’s easy to overlook the fact that the interview process is about solving an employer’s problem. The interview should establish whether you’re the person who can help. If you don’t know enough about a company, chances are you can’t speak articulately about how you can solve their problem.
Preparing the ground is the golden rule for interviewees and can mean the difference between success and failure yet even strong candidates sometimes overlook this. “It amazes me the lack of preparation that takes place for interviews. I’ve never seen it more of an eliminating factor than it is today”, say Spencer Stuart’s Rick Smith.
A good fit starts with your consultant briefing
The single best thing you can do in advance of an interview is focus on the challenges you think you would face in the new role. This starts with the briefing you receive from a consultant.
The consultant’s role, says Smith, is to help both sides to discover whether there is a potential fit between a candidate’s capability and the company’s problem. “Nobody’s trying to sell anybody anything”, says Smith. “We’re really trying to help the candidate through their own due diligence.”
In addition to this verbal briefing, Spencer Stuart consultants provide candidates with write-ups that include background of the company and details of the appointment.
You then need to back up the consultant’s briefing with your own data. Research the company and its sector using analyst reports and the business press. Speak to current and former employees, if you can, to complete the picture.
Prepare your story
Next, draw up a shortlist of the challenges of the role and prepare case studies from your own career that demonstrate how you have addressed these challenges before. Smith advises literally writing these points out or rehearsing them with someone who can provide constructive feedback.
Your aim is to pull the facts together into cogent, compelling accounts of your behavior in situations similar to those likely to be encountered in the role. This will prepare you for the five or six items the interviewer is looking to probe.
Demonstrate your executive DNA
Bear in mind when pulling these stories together that research has shown that recruiters always look for certain traits when interviewing executives. These traits are a kind of “executive DNA” that you need to display at this level, in addition to the ability to deliver.
Communications skills are essential for most executive positions so highlight your experience of public speaking, lecturing or delivering presentations. Companies like their employees to be motivated so be prepared to demonstrate how you are a self-starter and have the appropriate persistence and drive for the position.
Soft skills are highly prized by companies so it is worth reading up on concepts such as “emotional intelligence” and preparing to demonstrate good interpersonal skills.
The inability to delegate has sunk many a senior executive. If you can, convince the recruiter you are able to unburden yourself of work while retaining responsibility.
Learn what’s behind the question
Once you are sufficiently prepared, you will be ready to handle any style or format of interview.
There are two principal interviewing styles.
In the traditional interview, conventional questioning is used to probe characteristics and traits. Often, you will be asked to describe yourself or say what you would do in a given situation.
Questions are likely to include the ubiquitous “Tell me why I should hire you?” or “What are your strengths and weaknesses?” and “Where do you see yourself five years from now?”
The problem with this approach is that candidates often expect such questions, delivering answers that are high on polish but low on insight.
The pressure on businesses to perform means that, more than ever before, hiring decisions are based on what a candidate can immediately contribute. Recruiters are looking for solid evidence that you can deliver from day one. This is driving the trend towards another style of interview which focuses on your behaviours.
Be ready to talk about your behaviour
As human behaviour is so repetitive, asking candidates to describe the way they handled a situation is a good indicator as to how they will perform in a role. Smith, who has written on behavioral screening, says recruiters are increasingly attracted to behavioural interviews because they have been proven to be a more statistically accurate predictor of future performance.
In a behavioral interview, questioning usually focuses on how you overcame a challenge or coped with adversity in the past. If you’re being asked about a specific situation in your past and what your reactions were, then it’s a behavioural interview, says Smith.
Typically you will be asked to describe how you used your initiative to achieve a certain goal and how fellow team members and peers reacted. The technique “gives the interviewer a much more likely feel for what the candidate’s behaviors are likely to be going forward”, says Smith. It’s also hard to bluff one’s way out of a behavioural question, so candidates tend to be very honest.
Prepare to answer any type of question – and to ask your own
In terms of format, the trend is currently towards a combination of both unstructured and structured interviews, says Smith. The higher up you go, the less structured it tends to be.
Of the two, the unstructured interview is easier to control. You may be asked to describe a few situations in which you had several tasks to perform at the same time and how you coped.
Such a question, common during unstructured interviews, is easy to answer. The clue to the answer is in the question, which is about dealing with pressure and stress. You can relate the answer to previous experiences and steer the question towards a planned response.
A structured interview is a different ball game. The questions are more neutral and often pose hypothetical problems with no obvious solutions, such as “What would you do if your boss gave you two tasks to perform and it was impossible to complete both of them within the deadline?”
It’s not clear what such a question is designed to determine, but how you answer it, will reveal something about your personality. It could be difficult to answer such a question effectively without drawing on specific, positive examples of how you managed priorities – and expectations – in your career.
Preparing your personal case studies gives you confidence to answer questions and ask them. Remember to ask the kind of questions that would need to be asked on the first day in the role. If you feel that one of your relevant strengths hasn’t come out, ask questions that enable you to bring up a pertinent case study.
Listen for cues
Attempting to steer the conversation is quite legitimate, but always make sure that the interviewer still feels in control. You must read the cues in the interview, says Smith, so you know whether the other side is really engaged in what you’re saying or whether you should back off and really let them direct you.
Listening to these cues also means looking out for warning signs. “If whoever’s interviewing you keeps having to go back and ask you about a specific situation you were in, you’re not articulating what you’ve done,” says Smith.
An interview is not a game of winners and losers. See it more as a high-powered information exchange to determine whether a potential fit exists – for both sides.
However much hangs on the outcome, the best advice is to be true to yourself and go in with your own style. “Either you hit it off with your interviewer or you don’t” says Smith. “If you don’t, it’s better to find out in the interview than when you’re in the job.”
Preparing for a command performance
- The interview is a meeting to determine fit, so the aim is to exchange high-value information.
- Research the employer's needs beforehand to identify how your experience is relevant.
- Prepare five or six case studies that show how you have overcome challenges, and the management qualities you used.
- Rehearse your case studies thoroughly so you can be as natural as possible in the interview.
- Ask leading questions that will give you the opportunity to cite relevant examples from your career.
- Listen for cues but don't try to take over.
- Be yourself.