Final Interview Mistakes That Will Send Your Candidacy Down The Drain
By Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter
3 mistakes people make at final interviews that will send their candidacy down the drain.
Why People Don’t Convert at the Final Interview
Here’s mistake number one, you don’t prepare in preparation doesn’t have to be a big dramatic thing, you can start off by just looking at the LinkedIn profile of the person that you’re meeting with. So you have a degree of comfort and have a sense of what their background is to do a Google search to see if there been any recent stories about the firm where, which specifically, if you have an executive candidate, you want to know about these changes, so you can read them in conversation, right? Well, if you’re a staff level individual, you don’t want to be familiar with some of them. Because if they cause any sort of concern, you want to have a conversation with your future boss about them. So that’s mistake number one, you don’t do anything to prepare. Number two is, and this is an awful one, but happens way too often, you start to feel bold, you start to feel a bit cocky, and you start making new demands at this interview that makes them scratch their head and go, Hmm, where did this come from? You don’t do it in the interview, if you change your thinking about the role, you don’t get all sorts of arrogant, what you do is you stick with the program so that this way, there no surprises, I want to teach them one of the big lessons in recruiting. And that is surprises are rarely good. After all, if you’re an employer and you hear a potential hire started to go crazy with money, or talk about getting much more time off than has been raised previously. Just makes you scratch your head and go where did this come from, in much the same way as if you’re a job Hunter, and you’ve been talking about one price, and suddenly they come in $30,000 less, you go ha, they’re no different. So if you start making crazy demands that come in, out of out of the blue, they’re gonna get turned off your candidacy. So that’s the second mistake people make. And another one. And this can happen at any point in the interview. But I’m just going to tell you, final interviews are particularly treacherous about this. Because in some organizations, the leadership becomes really good at helping you take your guard down. So the mistake here is becoming too casual and opening your conversations. I remember a story years ago, where I had a client who flew someone in for a final interview, it was a rare skill this person possessed, they were prepared to hire this person to relocate them. He met with his future boss. And she asked him a question. And his response was, I’ll go with the detail once I’m on board. Okay. It basically was a rude response in her mind. Even though what had happened was they were so friendly with one another was so collegial, that he forgot that she was there assessing him. And as a result, he got turned down for this role, they hired someone else, all because he became too casual. For you as a job Hunter, you have to remember that as much as they may be friendly and open, and all sorts of happy along the way. They are still evaluating and assessing you. And they are doing that every moment of the conversation and the pre conversation, the scheduling, the waiting in the reception, how you interact with a receptionist, because I’ll tell you, in organizations that have them. You know, one of the things I’ve heard time and again, is how candidates were obnoxious with the receptionist, and he or she comes back and saying Where did that come from. And people pay attention. And this is an individual that they know like and trust. And although they may not be performing the role, there’s a signal and the behavior there. So again, don’t take it for granted. There is no formality in Java. Everything is a way that their BS detector can go up and cause you to be rejected.
The Final Stretch: Getting TOP Dollar in Your Final Interview
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People hire Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter to provide No BS Career Advice globally because he makes many things in peoples’ careers easier. Those things can involve job search, hiring more effectively, managing and leading better, career transition, as well as advice about resolving workplace issues.
He is the host of “No BS Job Search Advice Radio,” the #1 podcast in iTunes for job search with over 2700 episodes.
One Thing to Get Before Your Second or Final Interview
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The Missing Ingredient in Too Many Final Interviews
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Repeatedly Rejected After The Final Interview?
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Very interesting take on the issue, Jeff.
Having dealt with a host of recruiters and prospective employers/clients, I have noticed some shades of each to a degree. It’s been my experience that the universal unwritten rule is to not drink your own Kool-Aid. Being self-aware is great and empowering, and knowing what you have to offer is never a bad thing…but trumpeting it before you walk into the room, or resting on it like a crutch in meetings is a death knell that too many overlook. They still don’t see the line of demarcation between confidence and arrogance. That is a costly thing to be ignorant of.
I would like to say that I haven’t seen the “too casual/too friendly” aspect though. Not personally at least. In fact, quite the opposite. Of those meetings that were hit out of the park, they were the ones where the most unrestricted dialogue happened. If you treat it like a deposition or interrogation, it’ll come off as one. It needs to feel organic. You’re interviewing them as much as they are you. People all too often neglect to remember that. Probably not a good idea to play “pull my finger” or tell vastly off color jokes in a meeting…but in my experience, they prefer the more direct folks over the meek/hide-in-my-own-shadow folks.
Though that could be broken down to, “What does Company XYZ want from an employee? Leadership or another bobble-head?”
Answer that in your first 2 minutes of the meeting and that should help you determine what mannerisms to adopt. And yes, you as the prospective employee NEED to suss out your recruiter in those first 2 minutes. You need to determine if they are placing a sheep or a wolf for Company XYZ and act accordingly.
Good vid though. Well done.
Thanks for the kind words. There is a lot to cover in a short video and I appreciate your take on the subject.
Very interesting take on the issue, Jeff.
Having dealt with a host of recruiters and prospective employers/clients, I have noticed some shades of each to a degree. It’s been my experience that the universal unwritten rule is to not drink your own Kool-Aid. Being self-aware is great and empowering, and knowing what you have to offer is never a bad thing…but trumpeting it before you walk into the room, or resting on it like a crutch in meetings is a death knell that too many overlook. They still don’t see the line of demarcation between confidence and arrogance. That is a costly thing to be ignorant of.
I would like to say that I haven’t seen the “too casual/too friendly” aspect though. Not personally at least. In fact, quite the opposite. Of those meetings that were hit out of the park, they were the ones where the most unrestricted dialogue happened. If you treat it like a deposition or interrogation, it’ll come off as one. It needs to feel organic. You’re interviewing them as much as they are you. People all too often neglect to remember that. Probably not a good idea to play “pull my finger” or tell vastly off color jokes in a meeting…but in my experience, they prefer the more direct folks over the meek/hide-in-my-own-shadow folks.
Though that could be broken down to, “What does Company XYZ want from an employee? Leadership or another bobble-head?”
Answer that in your first 2 minutes of the meeting and that should help you determine what mannerisms to adopt. And yes, you as the prospective employee NEED to suss out your recruiter in those first 2 minutes. You need to determine if they are placing a sheep or a wolf for Company XYZ and act accordingly.
Good vid though. Well done.
Thanks for the kind words. There is a lot to cover in a short video and I appreciate your take on the subject.
Lots of tip-toeing involved in the interview process. When the interviewer does things that temp us to “relax”, we shouldn’t fall for it.
+SW Sweetie that is very true. Interviewers do that for a reason and it is not to help you relax. Is it is so that you to open up and reveal things that you might otherwise not reveal.
Lots of tip-toeing involved in the interview process. When the interviewer does things that temp us to “relax”, we shouldn’t fall for it.
+SW Sweetie that is very true. Interviewers do that for a reason and it is not to help you relax. Is it is so that you to open up and reveal things that you might otherwise not reveal.