5 Ways to Prepare for Your Second Interview
I was asked to write a follow up to my previous article, 5 Ways to Prepare for a Job Interview, so here we go!
First of all, congratulations! You made it past the first interview stage. Now its time to quickly start processing how you can continue your success at the next level. So here are five ways to prepare for your second interview:
1. Try to find out the Reason for the Second Interview. The two most common reasons for a second interview are (1) to have additional people within the organization confirm or deny how HR or the hiring manager already feel and (2) to dig deeper on a few question-marks that came up in the first interview. If you can discover the reason for the second interview, it will help you frame further preparation
2. Dig Deeper Into What You are Getting Into. Now it's really time for you to ask: "Is this the right company and position for me?" Continue your online research. If you can find someone you know who works there or knows someone else, that would be beneficial. I recommend staying away from online reviews as typically these are outliers with negative only experiences. Try to find out what the culture is like, how people act day-to-day, and so on.
3. Prepare Questions that really get the Manager talking about Vision. This is a long-term decision. You want to ask questions that get at the long-term vision of this organization. "What is this organizations growth strategy? Organic, aggressive, through acquisitions, etc?" "How do you believe this division/department will look like in five years?"
4. Get to know them on a more Personal Level. You are going to be spending a lot of time with these people. Take time to get to know them on a more personal level. An easy way to do this is to ask about their weekend. Or if they took (or will be taking) vacation. Opening up and sharing about yourself will also open the door. That way you can find out about their family, hobbies, etc. It is a factor many people sadly ignore engaging.
5.Prepare for Harder and More Specific Questions. The company hiring you wants the best person that is a technical fit, organizational fit and cultural fit. See the list of questions from my previous post. Thinking of answers ahead of time helps you be concise and generate examples - that's what will win you the opportunity.
Finally, be sure to read over my last post 5 Ways to Prepare for a Job Interview. It will be a good reminder for going into the second.
All the best!