Make the job interview about the pain

Dear Liz,

I don't mind interviewing with an HR screener, it's the hiring manager meetings that spook me. Any tips?

Thanks,

Valerya

LIZ REPLIES:

Dear Valerya,

Congratulations! If you are sailing through screening interviews, you are ahead of the game. For many people, the hiring-manager interview is easier, because you and the hiring manager already have something in common (you both work on the same kinds of problems).

The HR screening interview is hard for a lot of folks because in that situation, you don't typically have business pain to anchor the conversation. It is easy for the discussion to devolve into a "so, do you have skill X? What about a Y and Z?" type of deal.

Once you get to the hiring manager, you can use the pain-spotting approach to zero in on what's most pressing about the job opening the manager is looking to fill. What isn't working? What are the stakes, in other words?

Here's how that could go:

HIM: So Valerie - uh, Valya - um, how do you pronounce your name exactly?
YOU: It's Val-LEE-ree-ya; it gets easier once you say it a couple of times.

HIM: Thanks, okay, Valerya, can you tell me about yourself?

YOU: For sure! I've been in the field for about ten years, and... gee, I don't
want to keep you here 'til midnight; can I ask you a couple of quick questions
in order to tailor my comments?

HIM: Shoot.

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