What to expect from a second grilling, sorry I meant job interview.

I had an interesting email today. My emailer wanted to know what she could expect  from a second interview. She had a first interview with her potential direct manager. The interview was reasonably casual and covered questions around why she wanted the role, the skills she could bring, her salary expectations and what the role involved. She was then invited in to a second interview with a large panel. She was worried about going over old ground with the first interviewer who was going to be on the panel.

So what could she expect from a second interview? My answer was this:

The first interview sounds like, as we say in the trade, a “screening” interview. The interviewer sizes you up for a broad match. Do your basic skills fit? Does what you want, match the company’s offerings in both the short and long term? How much money do they need to pay? Do they like you enough to push it any further?

The second interview if it’s with a panel has to be structured. More than two people in an interview, without some sort of a script, spells chaos.

To prepare for the second interview, I would go back to the basics. You’ll have insights from the first interview. But think about what you now know about the challenges of the role. Then come up with some really meaty examples to show you have the skills. Talk through your answers so you sound confident.

For a second interview like this you probably will have some of the same screening questions. So just be prepared to answer them again. Be consistent. The first interviewer will have briefed the others, but you don’t know what he or she has said.

Don’t think you can’t go over what you have said. But if they ask the same questions about what you want, add a bit more. You will have gained some insight from the first interviewer about the role. So you can preface any answer with that knowledge. For example: “I understand from my first discussion with so and so, that you offer abc in this role – I have had a further think about that and this appeals because xyz”

That way you’ve shown that you have listened to what’s been discussed.

Interview panel members always seem to ask at the end of the interview “do you have anything further to add?” (As if they haven’t grilled you enough!) Most interviewees forget to tell people that they actually want the role. Give your elevator pitch here, by all means. But don’t forget to tell the panel you’d like the role. And sound like you mean it!

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