Interview tips

Preparation that actually changes the outcome.

Experienced candidates rarely fail on knowledge. They fail on structure, being unable to describe their own work in a way an interviewer can evaluate quickly.

Checklist

Before, during and after

Before

Prepare six stories from your own experience, each ninety seconds long
Know your numbers: team size, budget, revenue influenced, cost saved
Research three things, what the business sells, what changed recently, why this role exists
Decide your compensation answer in advance, as a range with a reason
Check the format: panel, technical, case study, or a conversation

During

Answer the question asked, then stop, do not fill silence
Say 'I' when you decided something and 'we' when the team delivered it
Give the situation, your action and the outcome, in that order
Admit what did not work; interviewers trust candidates who do
Ask about the problem the role exists to solve

After

Ask what the remaining stages are and when you will hear
Send a short note only if you have something specific to add
Tell your recruiter honestly how it went, including what you fumbled
Keep other processes running until you have a signed offer

Common questions

How to answer the six you will always get

Ninety seconds, structured as: where you are now, the two or three moves that got you here and why you made them, and what you are looking for next. It is a positioning question, not a biography.

Give a forward-looking reason, scope, trajectory, the kind of problem you want next. Criticism of a current employer, however justified, reads badly in an interview and rarely helps you.

Name a real one and, more importantly, what you have put in place to manage it. The tactic of dressing up a strength is transparent and costs you credibility.

Answer in terms of capability and scope rather than titles. 'Running a function of this size, having built X' is far stronger than a job title you cannot control.

Give your current fixed and variable, state your expectation as a range, and say what would make you move at the lower end. Deflecting reads as evasion.

Always yes, and make them about the work: what does success look like at twelve months, what has made this role hard to fill, how does this team make decisions.

If you interview through NM

You will not walk in cold.

Before every client interview we brief you on who is interviewing, the format, what they are assessing and the questions they typically ask. After every stage you get feedback, whether or not you progress, and specific enough to act on.

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