The second interview is also an opportunity for another supervisor or manager to evaluate you as well as an opportunity to probe for more detailed information. It’s also the time in which the company is measuring you against your competition. So you need to be very sharp and very enthusiastic. Here are some tips to help you in your second interview.
Round one is over. Now, on to round two! Interviews that have multiple sessions can feel like running through a gauntlet. Acing those interviews can even appear insurmountable too. So what does one do to ensure one’s chances of securing that job? If preparation is key for the first interview, then, it goes without saying that it stands as the same for the second.
What do second interviews consist of?
The second interview means that the submitted resume and CV match the job description. With that, a heartfelt congratulation is in order for successful candidates! However, the same preliminary success of receiving that call back from the hiring manager also applies to other prospects as well. Sometimes up to four or five interviewees are short-listed for round two.
A second interview is usually called to assess a group of people who are equally qualified and capable of working in the advertised role. Interviewers compare candidates based on additional dimensions of personality, preparedness, and soft-skills that they know enable a candidate to excel in the job. They’re looking for the right fit, so prospects need to come sharp. Preparation for the second interview at this time has to be worth double the effort when compared to the first interview for a job.
Would-be candidates should review the job description carefully (there is no room for cursory glances here) and should try to glean details that can help them stand apart from a small highly-qualified group. The key in this instance is to cultivate top-level ideas that showcase a sensibility for planning ahead and excelling in the role. This is second-level interview preparation! By highlighting individualistic abilities, candidates stand to further illustrate their expertise and experience with a future-focused motive.
Common second interview questions asked by interviewers that candidates can expect and take advantage of include:
1. How do you see yourself contributing to the achievement of our department goals with our small team?
2. What new work methods can you introduce to our team to better prepare us for project-associated risk?
3. Where do you see yourself in the next 2-3 years, if you were to remain with the department in this company?
With the prep carried out before the second interview, these questions can be easily locked down.
A second interview also includes a tour of the workplace. Here interviewees are introduced to the team on the floor. Navigating this scenario can seem littered with landmines. Greeting employees, shaking the hands of strangers, and focusing on making a good first impression with a multitude of strangers is quite the task. In some cases, the second interview is where candidates have more interactions with different people across the business. Mini-interviews! Talk about pressure! Round after round of questions are scheduled and often times are repeated in different ways by different “guest” interviewers in the work tour (depending on who forms part of the line-up). Maintaining cool and answering creatively shows a sense of endurance and professional flexibility, all of which are needed just in case this other aspect of a second interview, a presentation, is required.
How to prepare for a second interview.
A presentation is by far the most daunting. If a post is strategic or managerial in scope, often times, hiring managers and executives will request a presentation based on an industry-specific brief. A simple set of items will be defined and will require further extrapolated ideas from the candidate. In order to carry out such a presentation, candidates will definitely need to put in additional work the week of the second interview specifically for the questions you might be asked during the assessment. in some cases, there could be some common interview questions that may come to you.
Candidates need to research the client portfolio to better understand the importance of the second interview. A business’ list of clients, case studies, or work highlights can be easily found online. This information can be further used to inform the methodology behind interviewee presentations. These presentations are not just about furnishing the interviewer with generic answers and ideas though. Employers want to know that candidates possess the initiative to drive results.
Asking the right kinds of questions about the business’s agenda, even when giving a presentation, demonstrates a interviewees ability to analytically review project processes and adapt learnings in new ways. Here are some good questions that candidates can ask the interviewer in the second interview process to showcase this skill for consideration:
1. What are the board reporting and update cycles like in the office? Weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly?
2. How are proposals for ideas drafted and vetted? Are small teams formed from members of different departments?
3. What learnings has the company discovered to be the sweet spots to their success? How do you recommend I scale and replicate them within my role?
In order to ask the right kind of questions, like those mentioned above, it begs that candidates conduct the necessary research on the business. This in turn also informs the prospect to gather information for presentation. Because making presentations in interviews calls for in-depth knowledgeability in the role and the company goals, they should be simply designed for the second interview and place emphasis on the information to be discussed. Kept short, simple, and sweet, the best presentations shine. It should not distract with too much animation or unnecessary flourish and should drive the conversation between the interviewer and interviewee based on the content and context of the information researched and ideas formulated.
Expert advice to succeed in a second job interview.
- Offer new information.
- If you talked about your experiences and accomplishments the first time, now talk briefly about your ideas. You want the interviewer to know more about you, just as you want to learn more about the company.
- Give new examples of what you have accomplished. This can be especially effective if you’ve done additional research. For example, in the initial interview you talked about your results as a manager in your present job; now talk about your results in previous jobs.
- Ask more specific questions.
- Let your research show. Prior to your second interview, you should learn as much as possible about the company, its operations, procedures, and basic management philosophy. This lets the interviewer see that you are serious about the job without going on about how much you think you would like it. The interviewers are also looking for increased knowledge of the company and the position for which you’re interviewing.
- Some companies use IQ, aptitude and personality tests. Group discussions and group exercises are not uncommon and are often used by the Civil Service, the armed forces and some of the larger business companies. In a panel interview, you may be invited to meet a panel of three or four people at the same time.
- At the end of the session, there should be an opportunity to ask questions about job requirements and salary.
- Bear in mind that the company must be genuinely interested in you to call you for a second interview. Undoubtedly, you made a good impression in your first interview; now is your chance to reinforce that impression.
What to wear to a second interview.
We have previously discussed how your appearance matters in your career. In the second phase interview, this also applies. However, sometimes an office may not require such a strict dress code. Prospects can ask about the dress code policy (a simple and direct form of research) and dress to suit. If it’s casual and the culture is start-up style, the interviewee can feel free to dress the part. If it’s corporate, the interviewee should dress with consideration for more conservative attire.
Second interview common mistakes
What happens when candidates are not prepared? Some common pitfalls that interviewees make is not taking the time to review the job description a second time as well as not looking to the company’s digital footprint for business history, performance, awards, and accolades. These simple steps, make a marked difference between the candidates that do the pre-work. Yet, sometimes, poor research preparation isn’t the only mistake that candidates can make in the second interview. Here are some points interviewees should consider dotting the i’s and cross the t’s:
1. Get ready to talk about money and salary expectations. Second interviews will include package negotiations and that includes salary and benefits. There are online tools that can be used to compare the industry standard for specific roles and can be used to better determine the range in which a candidate is willing to pitch and negotiate for the given role. You can also ask advice of colleagues that know about the position to better identify a suitable range for the job.
2. Don’t talk as if you already have the job. Exercise humility and be genuine. Interviewers wish to connect with candidates in a second interview and a cocky personality isn’t a winning trait that people would wish to work alongside.
The purpose of the second interview and its hard-hitting questions and scenarios are intentionally challenging. Interviewers want to identify what separates one candidate from the rest in the group. Selling oneself is vital at this stage. The resume and CV do its job of getting a candidate in the door for the first interview, but personality and good habits will seal the deal.
