Do you think interviews are all the same? Think again.

Countless times, we have had initial conversations with candidates that have been a great interaction for both parties. But, when it comes to discussing the next steps, we offer a free service of interview training and the majority of candidates decide that their use for the "recruiter" portion is over and they do not want to take us up on the tool.

I get it, if you are good enough to be put forward for the next round, why would you then need to prepare even further? Did we not just cover your experience in initial screening and determine that this is the right opportunity for you?

Sort of.

There is only so much that can be uncovered in a 30-minute call. When you take away the first five minutes of awkward icebreakers and the last five minutes of "next steps". Do you really think that we could know all the specifics about your particular expertise and background?

Here are six more things that should be considered:

1) What about the other applicants?

Basically, we have given you access to participate in the halls of the colosseum for the coveted title that is your next opportunity. But, have you thought about how you are going to best the rest of the Gladiators that are also hunting for that title? Now is the time to find your specific strategy and select the tools that will set you up for victory.

2) Are you focused on the right things to talk about?

Think about it this way, we aren't arguing that you don't know what you are good at. Rather, we are saying that there are 20 other things that you are fantastic at that you may feel are not important. However, these seemingly minute details may make the difference between you and another candidate (who we also usually know about). Because we, as the direct connection to the Hiring Manager, know exactly what they are looking for.

3) We don't offer this to hear ourselves talk, rather, we have your best interest at heart

I'll be honest here, it would be so much easier for us to skip this too. We aren't doing this to add an extra step (in sometimes an already lengthy process). But rather, we are invested in the best possible chances of success for your application. We do this because we want to set you up with the highest chances of a job offer.

I can honestly say that 80% of our candidates who do not take us up on this tool, do not end up progressing to the final stages of interviewing. And the other 20%? Most of the time they have personal or professional contacts with the company and have already been vouched for by an outside reference. We want to help you to always be a competitive option in the eyes of an employer.

4) You get hired for your expertise, trust us on ours.

It is in your best interest to have further conversations with someone whose profession is based on defining and learning all of the characteristics (and specific experience) that a Hiring Manager is looking for.

Yes, you will probably know more than us when it comes to; technical development, international branding strategy, sales and prospecting, growing specific teams at scale, and even strategic placement for a very specific business function. But, have you ever received interview feedback that "you were not experienced enough" even though your resume clearly shows an extensive history in the space? RedBeard sees that feedback and tweaks it to "the position was given to someone with more relevant experience". What is the main difference here? These candidates were well prepared for specific topics that catered to the needs of the role and the hiring manager, which made them more attractive for that particular position.

5) You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink

Now, are we going to feed you answers to make sure you say all the right things? Definitely not. Our objective is to help you uncover which unique examples of yours would add value to a conversation in the context of building your personal narrative in an interview scenario.

We did this work to make things easy for you, not because we want to slow down your interview process. We are on your side! But more than that, we will most likely know if the candidate before you also used "Presidents Club - Top Sales Achiever" as their stand out achievement. We spend all day looking for the best of the best, which is why we were talking to you in the first place ???. Not saying that your top achievement is not credible, but really to find out "why" it was so significant and how this can relate to the particular role that you really want to land.

6) We take what you say seriously, but did you actually mean what you said?

From our point of view, you finished a call with us saying "this is my ideal role" and that you are ready for the next steps. What I would like to ask is if this is really your ideal next opportunity, why would you not use every tool at your disposal to ensure success?

??? ?

In saying that, we know your time is valuable and we are here to work with you. Sometimes scheduling can be hard (don't get me started on timezones!), which is why we also have a set of online tools and references at your disposal all looking at the above! Coming to our training with this knowledge prior really can save you time in the long run. Instead of covering these general topics, we can really get into the nitty-gritty of your specific application. Trust me, the candidates who come prepared, always finish ahead of the rest.