5 Must Do's To Slay Your Next Interview
Joe Mullings
Chairman & CEO / MedTech's Top Search Consultant / The Mullings Group Companies / Board Member / Angel Investor / Keynote Speaker
Do your homework
It is critical to understand the company business, intention, history and mission that you are interviewing with.
It is not uncommon for an executive to start out testing an interviewee with “Tell me what you know about our company and what we do?” It is often an opening and very fair question to see what research has been done in preparation for the interview session.
The more that you are able to articulate an organizations goals, mission and history, the more impressive you will be. It sets a serious tone and establishes a mindset of research, maturity, and preparation. All critical characteristics that are evaluated during most interview processes.
Get a list of the names and titles of who you will be interviewing with
Know who you will be meeting with and what their functional roles are in the organization. While the role and position description that you are interviewing for is clearly described in the job posting, the impact it will have on stakeholders who are interviewing you will be influenced differently.
Marketing, sales, operations, manufacturing all have different skills and experiences that are looking for from the role that best serve them.
Being able to research and understand the interviewers background and their current challenges that may be addressed by the role you are interviewing for is a competitive advantage.
Follow up in a timely fashion with a thank you email
Every interview should be followed up with a thank you message and it should be by email within 24 hours. Thank the person for their time, reiterate your interest in the role and even perhaps let the person know you were thinking about a specific challenge that the role may present and thought of different approaches that you might consider in addressing the challenge.
An important point here to keep in mind, do not cut and paste the same response to each member of the interview team. It is not uncommon for interviewing team members to share these “thank you” emails with each other and if it is a simple cut & paste re-gift, it will not play well.
Be prepared with meaningful questions
Sophisticated interviewers will judge you by the quality of the questions you ask.
You should be prepared with a series of questions for the interviewers. Have them written down on a pad and get at least 3 to 4 questions out with each interviewer.
Do not be afraid to have a series of questions that are similar but contextually appropriate for each person you interview with.
Be sure the questions are addressing the role, the challenges with the role, why it is open, and how it will impact the person you are interviewing with.
Ask why the role is open and what the problem is that the company is trying to solve with the role
People hire people to solve problems.
Ask early why the role is open and what problems they are trying to solve with the role.
Dig in and find out what the opportunities will be and what challenges the role may be able to take on over the 3 / 6 / 9 and 12 month period.
The role will evolve and the scale of it may be quite different from the first month to the 12th month.
Final thoughts....
Own the interview. Your mindset should be one of respect throughout the entire process. Having said that, you have to believe that you are in charge. They invited you in because they need YOU!
When individuals realize that they are in charge and can drive the outcomes of the interviewing process, everyone will win.
All the best in everything you do.
Joe
Chief Operating Officer @ OneDirect Health Network where we empower people to take charge of the rehab journey by offering innovative products and next level customer service.
2moJoe, thanks for sharing!
Vice President - Global Med Device Leader Building Companies and Careers at TMG
4yExcellent advice Joe Mullings. Glad you decided to go over 1300 characters 💪
🌍 EMPOWERING SCIENCE
4yGreat Advice! Joe Mullings "While the role and position description that you are interviewing for is clearly described in the job posting, the impact it will have on stakeholders who are interviewing you will be influenced differently." .... I learned that lesson last year. I had a final interview with three managers for a very interesting position that i wanted to land no matter what. And while i liked the product very much , i was getting strange weak signals over the previous interviews. And instead of trying to interpret those signals by reaching out and may be asking for clarification, I ignored those signals thinking I'm being over speculating . My expectations was wrong and it was a huge mistake not to prepare for the worst. It was a good lesson for me that I've to approach any interview as being in charge and not relying on the company to do the job the right way.
Strategist & Executor | Visibility ► Alignment ► Engagement ► Customer X ► Sustainability
4ySound advice as always. Spot on about "teasing out" what the pain points are the role is to eliminate or enable - you feel the interview tone change when you hit that spot.
Experienced Scientific Sales Representative | Driving Innovation and Delivering Results in Life Sciences Sales
4yJoe, you constantly provide sage advice. Well appreciated, Thank you!