Just finished another hiring board, and here's what I would like candidates to know.

LinkedIn is full of excellent information about preparing for an interview and what to expect during the interview process. When I was looking to transition into a new career, I read several articles, watched videos, listened to podcasts, and consumed any information that I could find. My general thought at the time was that I would have a competitive advantage through information consumption.

Looking back at that experience, I recall feeling overwhelmed with all the information, opinion, advice, and options on how to prepare. So much so that I was worried about which advice was the best, and somehow at the same time felt that so much of it was the same. Now, fast forward to today, and I feel like there is some information missing from all the guidance out there. I wanted to write down a few thoughts to share, especially after having chaired another board with an international organization and hiring new staff. This was the fourth board I chaired this year since joining the organization earlier this year, and have thus far conducted around 50 interviews. In short, I wanted to share a few thoughts from the perspective of sitting on the board and hosting candidates for an interview.

Being nervous is normal. We are nervous also.

A lot of information you read is along the lines of "be calm, confident" and "communicate clearly," and that is usually coupled with "ask questions," etc. That's far easier said than done, especially when you're nervous. But I would also like you to know that being on a board and interviewing others can also make us nervous. Maybe not entirely in the way you are when being interviewed, but we want you to be successful at the end of the day. When I sit on a board, I fully expect candidates to be nervous, and that is completely fine, and personally, I don't hold that against a candidate. In fact, being nervous and still doing well is a good quality. Candidates who are nervous but able to keep composure and communicate are doing well. When candidates get so nervous that they lose track of their thoughts, narratives, and competency based interview examples, I also get uneasy. I see the candidate is uncomfortable, that things are not going well, and I get nervous.

We are all human at the end of the day and no one on the board wants you to fail. We have a healthy degree of understanding when candidates are nervous. It makes me cringe when candidates fail. I prefer to feel like we are having a virtual coffee and discussion rather than a formal discussion as that will bring out the best in everyone. I realize how that might sound. It isn't so easy to do as a candidate, but practice, repetition, and the use of good competency based interview examples will help you feel comfortable during the interview.

Yeah, you need to prepare.

This sort of goes without saying and is well known in all the advice you read about preparing for job interviews. And yet, there are still candidates that are not fully prepared for the interview with knowledge of the organization. In terms of international organizations, this would also include information about missions, mandates, and the country or location you are applying to. On top of that, it is very beneficial if you can articulate and summarize the information concisely rather than just reciting the entire mandate. We will be able to tell if you are familiar with the organization by demonstrating an understanding and not memorizing text.

You will be successful when you can take the time to be comfortable with the information about the organization, so much so that you can communicate what we're doing and why, while not giving the appearance that you're reading text off a paper in front of you. The (un)fortunate thing about international positions is that the hiring process takes months, and you will have a lot of time to prepare for an interview. In my experience, the timeline from application submission to hire is about a year. In most cases, when you are called for an interview, you will have a few weeks to prepare. As long as you keep up with the organization over that period of time, you will have a few weeks to refine and study before the interview.

All candidates being equal, your examples set you apart.

Consider this example for a moment. You chair a board with 10 equally qualified candidates, and they have all just completed the interviews and did well. Unusually, they all have the same university education level, the experience of 10+ years, and all the required certifications, language skills, etc. How would you set the candidates apart and then subsequently rank them between one and ten, eventually selecting the best candidate for the job?

It's not easy to rank equally qualified candidates where all metrics are essentially the same. That is where you examples you use during the competency based interview will help us make the decision. If you are not familiar with a competency-based interview, you can find more information. During the interview, we will ask you a series of questions, for example 6-10 questions, which will provide you an opportunity to demonstrate your professional experience through your historical examples. In this case, we are looking for examples that will allow you to communicate the experience needed to perform future tasks within the organization. The examples you use do not have to be extremely detailed and technical but complex enough to highlight the skills needed to do the job. You will find all the competencies listed in the application document to guide your selection of experience and examples. Most of the board's questions are on topics such as diversity, conflict management, teamwork, project management, and managing deadlines, amongst others. I would also like to emphasize that our questions are about competencies. When you look at the competencies, you find they are more personal, not technical, and used to get a glimpse into how you interact in a work environment.

To Conclude

I would say my overall point here is that when we convene a board, it is because we need people in the organization. We want qualified candidates, and we want you to be successful on the interview board. The board itself is human, and we recognize when candidates are nervous, and we give a lot of latitude for that. In fact, all of us have been there. So if you can get to a place where you find comfort in a conversation, and back up your application with good examples that illustrate how you work, then you will be successful and on your way to a new career.

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