Very few people, including the most senior executives, are trained to conduct a good hiring interview. And no one admits to being interview challenged so there is little room for people hoping to hire the best to learn how to do it.
Which means execuctive candidates often encounter people whose interview techniques leave them feeling diminished. Some companies encourage interviewers to be abusive or disrespectful of candidates believing they learn how people perform under pressure and also believing they can discover people who can take the heat.
The actual dynamic is that interview tactic, one that forces the candidate into a wall or no win role play is a sure fire way to discover who pushes back. Who has lowered self esteem and who, therefore, will work 24/7 to win the approval of the company. You are most likely to discover this sort of behavior in start-up or early stage companies with young CEOs.
While this works for some companies, especially those whose success is determined by hiring young people whose identity is their job, it doesn’t work for most confident senior executives. When you find yourself interviewed by people who learned to be abusive to candidates and are now CEOs or other C level executives, and you are feeling uncomfortable; that is data you can use to evaluate the position. You have just learned about management style and how it makes you feel.
Sure you feel awful because the interview went badly in your eyes, but that is not important. There is no win in this interview for a mature, confident candidate. It is designed that way. What is important is you learned a lot about the company, the corporate culture and their willingness to be abusive to get what they want. The interview worked; you discovered this is the wrong environment for you. In the words of the Great Monty Python, “Run Away.”
Job Search Advice for Executives multiplies daily. Fact is, there is nothing new under the sun. Executive Job Search is the most conventional, tradition bound and unchanging facet of business. In fact, when candidates veer from the path of the ordinary, they often lose out.
Hiring authorities are very good at pattern recognition; they know what has worked in the past and they hope to replicate if going forward. This means no outside-the-box thinking, no fancy resume formats and no tricks.
One sales candidate sent a stiletto shoe with a audio taped resume to the CEO with a note, “Got my Foot in the Door.” While the action was remembered, even repeated, the CEO didn’t want to hire a clown. He wanted a three-piece suit sales exec like the rest of his quota busting sales team.
The reason hiring authorities stick to the conventional is, it works. The traditions became traditions for precisely that reason. So if you are tempted to wear a polka dot tie or sing your resume, keep in mind, you will be remembered, but not hired.
Executive interveiws are very different from interviews for individual contributors. Aside from different interview questions, the answers to common questions are different. To move from candidate to prospective employee requires you listen to what is really being asked.
Carl, a CFO candidate complained the CEO asked him the same question three different ways. What Carl missed is the CEO was not satisfied with the answer the first time and worse, that the answer to that question was the gate to being taken seriously.
In another situation, Suzanne noticed every person who interviewed her asked the same question. She said it all felt so rehearsed and she gave the same answer each time. What she missed is the answer to the question was very important to the company as a whole and that the answer needed to be different depending on who was asking.
The VP Marketing wants to hear how you will create products he can leverage into existing markets, the CFO wants to know how those products will affect shareholder value and the Sales VP wants to know how customers will respond. But they all asked the same question: What strategy do you feel fits a good product life extension program?
When a question is asked repeatedly, understand it is very important. When several people ask the same question, know to answer in terms of their agenda. Any pat answers will be dismissed. Practice is the best remedy for solving this interview puzzle.
Just because you are right doesn’t mean you get the job.
It’s a temptation, a trap. During an interview you are asked your opinion on challenges facing the employer. It is easy to assume they want you to offer a solution. They don’t.
If you offer a solution, it appears you assume what worked in another company would work for the prospective employer. Every employer believes his or her company is unique, their problems and therefore solutions, more so. Alarms go off when an employer sees stock solutions to what they believe are highly specific problems. In reality, employers are more interested in observing how you solve problems than hearing a solution from your past work life.
How can you get your ideas across? Below are ideas on how to sell prospective employers on your experience without telling them what to do.
1. Ask what has been tried to date and the results.
2. Ask why it did or did not work and what resources are currently available.
3. Alternatively, list what you would need to know before you could have a comprehensive solution.
4. Ask what outcome they would like to see and discuss in detail.
5. Tell them who you would talk to, what data you would use and what problem history you would need to offer a solution.
6. Tell them about another experience where you solved a similar problem and acknowledge the situations are no doubt different.
7. Tell them what resources you used, the solution and the results of the solution. Make certain the employer understands you know you don’t have enough detail to say this will be an appropriate solution for them.
Interview Advice: Don’t make the mistake of thinking you will get the job based on what you know and how smart you are. In reality, people are hired to solve a variety of problems, not just the current one. The real goals for an employer in an interview include assessing how you solve problems and work within a corporate environment. The safest way to convey both? Ask, don’t tell.
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