The Key question at the end of 1st interview

“What are your concerns, if any, about myself for the role?”

So the interview has gone fairly well and you are keen on coming back for a 2nd interview - What next?

It’s really important that before you leave the room, you try to get some kind of gauge on what they liked about you and also most importantly any potential concerns.

Some cagey interviewers won’t address this fully – but many will so it pays to ask.

The key reason for asking this is that once you have left that first interview and the interviewer’s mind is made up about whether they are going to invite you back or not, it’s really difficult to change their mind from a “no” to a “yes” once you have left the room – in some cases, especially for interviews you have applied for directly, you may not receive detailed feedback, so it’s key to explore the feedback directly, in an environment where you have the opportunity to discuss and potentially overcome any concerns there and then.

Although YOU feel the interview has gone fairly well, at this stage it’s only a gut feeling/guess, what is really important at this stage is what the hiring manager/interviewers are feeling about your suitability for the role.

Don’t leave anything for chance or assumption – invite open discussion on this where you can cross check their thoughts on yourself – there may be something the interviewer didn’t pick up on or hasn’t been covered in enough detail that you have the chance to discuss in more depth.

How to address the answers to this.

“No concerns”

Obviously the answer you are looking for is that the interviewer doesn’t have any concerns about your background for the role – If so, the natural follow on question could be

“How likely is it that I will be invited back for 2nd interview?”

Logic says that if there are no concerns that it should be “no brainer” to at least invite you back, this

• “How near a fit am I for what you are looking for?”
• “How do I compare to other candidates you have seen so far?”
• “What parts of my background do you feel fit particularly well for this role?”
• “How likely is it I will be invited back for a 2nd interview at this stage?”
• “What are the next stages of the interview process and what are the timescales for these?”

If the answers are positive, you should be invited back for 2nd stage

In regards to any concerns that are raised, there are 2 types of concerns you can have positioned back to you, both of which are handled in slightly different ways.

Concerns to overcome

Interviews can often digress into different areas, run out of time if going well, or perhaps end up focussing on some areas instead of others.

It’s your job as a candidate to ensure that the interviewer hasn’t missed out on any understanding of your background which could be a deal breaker for an invite back for 2nd interview.

As a result, on asking about concerns, you may receive a concern which is easy to overcome directly by simply re-affirming or re-discussing part of your background around this such as

• Targets
• Products sold / type of accounts managed
• Geographical areas covered
• Use of technology in your role (i.e. CRMs or reporting systems)

It may even be something more complex or from an assumption by the interviewer - such as that you moved jobs a few times over the last few years.

To the interviewer this could be perceived that you choose to move fairly quickly – in reality it could be that these were down to redundancy, relocation or even a speedy career progression due to your success and development – each of which may shine a different angle onto these concerns, and overcome them.

The key really is to not assume that the interviewer has all the details they required to tick all of the boxes in regards to yourself - so don't leave this to chance.

Concerns to quantify

The 2nd type of concern is one which could be a fairly accurate statement by the interviewer – perhaps something in your background that would be preferable for the employer, but hasn’t been a deal breaker for them inviting you to first interviews.

Some examples would be

• “You have sold our product range before but not for the last 2 years”
• “You are currently operating at a more senior level than this role”
• “You live slightly off patch”

Such concerns are facts so you cannot overcome them directly, as with the first type of concerns, but can quantify them.

The first thing to address is that FOR YOU it’s not a problem, and that you don’t see it as an issue for yourself.

i.e. – You still have a strong grasp of the product range, positive reasons you are looking for a step down in level or that you don’t mind travel and have perhaps travelled a lot in previous roles.

The next stage is after doing this is to QUANTIFY IT with the interviewer – Ok, they have established it as a concern, but if you have blown them away during the rest of the interview or with your discussion around the concern, then the answer may be that it’s a “minor concern” or not really much of one at all – in this case, again there is a good chance you have jointly established it’s not a deal breaker for invite to 2nd interview.

Strong open questions provide a subtle close

Strong open questions at this stage can also gain a lot more insight than closed questions which could generate a “Yes” or “No” answer and also do not highlight as strongly your fact finding techniques.

The other added bonus to this is that questions at the end of an interview are also a subtle form of “closing a sale” with the sale you are looking for being an invite back for 2nd interview.

On a sales call you would always generally always close out for something at the end of an meeting, whether it’s the ultimate goal of a sale or commitment to buy, or even something as simple as a follow up call or further meeting – It’s also a demonstration of your ability to do this (as long as you do it well!) in a different scenario.