Question for you. Do you have a second interview
coming up with the hiring manager’s manager or possibly even higher up than that if a
small company? It could be a CEO. If so, definitely stay tuned for this video as this is
what I'm going to cover today. So, if you are new here to my channel, my name is Bill Benoist. I'm
a certified professional career coach in Silicon Valley, primarily work with individuals in mid
to late career professionals. That is, and this is a very common occurrence is interviewing with
the next level up. It's a second interview, and there's a couple of ways that I want you to
think about preparing for this interview. So, number one, and I've talked
about this in previous videos, your resume is what validated your competence,
right? They get on the phone with you, they do a phone screen, they're still validating
your competence, but when it actually goes for the interview, it's becoming a little bit more
about compatibility than it is about competence. They're still going to ask you so,me questions
regarding the competence of the position, but it really becomes more about compatibility.
And that is never more so, true than when you were interviewing at a higher
level. I mean, think about this. If you're interviewing as a project manager, as a software
engineer, as a financial analyst, whatever it is, and you're interviewing with a CEO, do you
think they're going to really understand your job that much? And it's often true, even
with just one level up from the hiring manager, because although they may be that overall
department manager, they don't really understand the nitty gritty and they kind of understand
that you will know more than they do about it. So, there's really not a lot you can prepare for
as far as like technical or operational questions, but there are ways that you can prepare for
this interview and that is understanding the compatibility and really getting engaged
with that person that's interviewing you. So, I want you to think about this in two
different lights. There are two different kinds of individuals that will be interviewing you at this
level. One would be what I would say, somebody who likes to be the center of attention and the
other person who doesn't like to be the center of attention. So, what do I mean by this well center
of attention? It means that they really enjoy talking not necessarily about themselves, but they
enjoy being the conversationalist. And if this is the case, what you want to be doing is never
number one, never interrupt them, but listen, and ask questions that they will have an enjoyable
time answering for you. So, it could be about the business. It could be about their position,
they enjoy talking, but then there's going to be others that really, they want to listen. Okay.
They don't want to be the center of attention. And this is where you can share with
them some really good stories out there of what you've done before. Let's say you
were in customer service, maybe some juicy stories about, you know, a difficult
customer that you had, or a really in fact, I scratch that. I don't want you to talk
about difficult customers. Think about one of the best customers that you ever worked with because
they like to hear positive things, not negative things out there. Um, you know, project manager,
you know, an example of something that really went well, you know, you don't have to get into
the details of such, but they're going to be interested in just hearing the story. If it's an
engaging story. So, you can kind of judge right. When you go in there, if this person is going to
be one who likes to be the center of attention again, you're going to ask them engaging questions
about the business, about the company, which means that you want to study and learn as much as you
can, not only about the company, but make sure you take a look at their LinkedIn profile and learn
as much as you can about them at LinkedIn as well. You know, Hey, I see that you, uh, went
to Harvard for an MBA. That that was a fascinating school to go to boy. If this person is
someone who likes to be the center of attention, they're really going to enjoy answering that
question. It's a process of getting engaged, okay? Member your resume, validated your competence, the
phone screen validated your competence. You had the interview with the manager becomes a little
bit more about compatibility, but also, they'll ask you a few questions about your competence, but
now at this higher level really becomes more about compatibility than anything else. So, either this
person is going to be wanting to talk or they're going to want to listen. And if there's somebody
that likes to listen and you don't talk a lot, it's probably not going to go your way. So,
you want to make sure that you have some good stories prepared, you know, in advance
because they may ask you a couple of questions. They're not going to be really deep questions,
but they could be behavioral type of questions. And they're going to be really engaged with the
answer that you give them. So, I hope this video was informative and useful for you. If you
haven't already subscribed to this channel, make sure that you do so, as I do upload new crew
tips and strategies every Tuesday, and I'd hate for you to miss anything. Thanks for stopping
by. And I look forward to seeing you next week.
