Job interviews

Many of my clients are often puzzled and surprised when they do not get through an interview process and don’t end up with an offer, despite their “dynamite” interviews. When I ask them about the details of those interviews I am often surprised by their ignorance about what to say and how not to say it.

When clients get a call for a job interview I strongly suggest that they work with me for practicing their interviewing skills. There is so much riding on how well you do in an interview that most underestimate its real importance. They also think that merely working hard on giving the right answers, especially in their area of technical expertise, will get them the job offer they are seeking.

After the initial job-response process is completed, including the phone-screening interview from a recruiter, you are invited to meet with the hiring team, which often includes the hiring manager. Many of my clients are looking for a change because they do not like their current manager. Somehow, they often assume that almost anybody else would be a better manager than what they find in their boss. They are often wrong! Some are also looking for a different work environment from what they experience at their place of work.

I often work with senior executives in transition. Some are out of work as a result of an M&A activity, and some are just looking for a better opportunity outside their company. Regardless of the client’s station, I have a fairly well defined transition process so that clients can leverage this transition into a more appropriate landing; in the process they learn some skills that will serve them throughout their lives.