- No matter what happens or who you know, you are going to be put through the company hiring process. Even if all your best friends are in the mix, it's still the process. So be ready to do it. And don't make your friends look bad either.
- Every single call follows a particular format. Behavioral based questions seem to be very rare these days, but answering them is easy when you have years of experience and no time spent studying them. If the opposite is true for you, pull up the list of the 150 most common of these questions, and get your scripted answers together so you are prepared.
- Excitement sells. Stand up during your next video interview. Practice sounding exciting and discussing yourself so even if you're exhausted no one will know. Also, always preface the interview with letting the other person know you are excited to talk about the role. And don't forget to tell them it was exciting to talk about the role when done.
- Think of it this way. You want to take every opportunity to let someone know you are interested in them and that you are the best person to speak with going forward. Companies at the top tiers of their vertical do this.....constantly. Follow their path.
- Every step of the interview is a particular part of the process. While some people (recruiters) are way more knowledgeable than others, understand that the interview process is specific and you need to know your ICP and personas at every single stage of the interview process.
- Example. Ask a recruiter the following -- tell me how the company collaborates with you when it comes to getting a job filled instead of just asking about a general description of the company culture.
- Don't ask -- What percentage of team is hitting quota (they may in fact know this, but remember to keep your discovery relevant to your persona).
- Build your templates. Interview prep is time consuming but it should not be. You should have a prep template for a recruiter, for a sales manager, for a VP, for a founder, for a CEO, CTO, etc. Everyone that would be a part of the interview process. From there, it's just filling in the requisite information. It's likely this template will be the same for everyone, or maybe not. It's your call, but work smarter, not harder.
- Do yourself a favor and research these types of positions and people to prepare further if you aren't sure. There is no such thing as being over-prepared. 5 pages of notes and you use a single sentence....that's what got you to the next stage.
- Tell me about yourself. This question is coming. Very few don't ask it. This should be prepared and more than likely consistent across all or the majority of conversations you have with people. Edit this statement and make it applicable to the company, the vertical, and even the specific persona you are speaking to (just like you might an email sequence).
- Don't forget to document all the jobs and save their JD's manually. You might need this info in the future. There are roles that get back to you a month or two later that you completely forgot about.
- If you aren't sure, go ahead and make a call with a recruiter. Funny how often they might have something you want compared to what they reached out to you about. Don't be a jerk to people and show how good you are.....it works.
I don't know if I forgot anything, but please add your additions below.
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