Why Brilliant Executives Fail At Job Interviews

One of the hardest challenges that you may face as an executive may not be in the boardroom, but on the ‘other side’ of the table in the interview room, as you go for your next big role. Its a problem that can creep up on many executives, as during a successful 5 year stint enmeshed in a top role you can fall out of touch with or simply forget the art of interviewing, leaving you woefully unequipped when its your turn to impress the interviewer. This oversight afflicts many otherwise brilliant executives. This is why I thought it would be useful to provide some coaching on executive interviewing. You can find these tips below.

1.Its packaging that sells the product.Being a brilliant executive is also not enough, you need to sell yourself, which not enough executives are doing as shown by a Career Advisory Board study which found that many executives and senior candidates were not presenting the right skills at interview; that is, their packaging was all wrong. The study showed that candidates were wrongly promoting operational talents like ‘work ethic’ and ‘self motivation’ when hiring managers wanted to see big picture traits like: ‘strategic,perspective,globaloutlookandbusinessacumen‘. Its not that the candidate did not have the big picture qualities, they just didn’t prioritize them in their communication. And so one key element of success at interviews is knowing what interviewers want to hear and focusing your communication accordingly.

2.Research the company.Just like you might research the company and buying manager in preparation for a sales pitch or B2B negotiation you should do the same for interviews. Why? Having a knowledge of the employer’s corporate: culture, values, dress code, strategy, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats will enable you to develop a more tailored interaction and answering strategy in the context of their business. For example, you might be aware of their recent, possibly troubled product launch in Asia for example and you could then highlight how your 3 successful launches of a similar product in Asia can help you bring added value.

3.Research the Interviewer.Thanks to social media, there is a huge a amount of personal information about all your potential interviewers online and you should study it. Knowing the: personality, style of dress, likes, hobbies, interests, dislikes, books read, management philosophy, management hero’s, mentors etc… will make it much easier for you to identify with and build a rapport with your interviewer and show you can fit into the culture. And do you know the expression that, ‘customers like to buy from people they like’? Well, well research from the Kellogg School of Management of professional services executives shows that interviewers are choosing people who they like and feel they can be friends with and this can be more important than skills. So, research the interviewer with an aim to rapport building. Warm call ,don’t cold call.

Also, be aware of any weaknesses in your application and try and anticipate what concerns the employer may have and have prepared responses ready to counter these questions.

And the final point to make is to leverage your connections as a Federal Bank of New York Study shows that referred candidates have a 40% greater chance of being selected.

Good luck in 2019!