The rules of the interview game change as you continue.
Screening vs. round 5 with a panel are drastically different.
Therefore your goals, stories, and questions need to change throughout.
More people walk into last-stage conversations and treat them like round one with high stakes. Same story. Same answers. Same energy they brought to the screener.
That’s the mistake.
I worked with a client this week who had three active late-stage processes running simultaneously.
Here’s what we worked through for each one.
The first was an in-person with a hiring manager where the real question wasn't whether they liked him, it was whether HE actually wanted to be there. That kind of ambivalence reads in the room whether you want it to or not, so we had to work through what he actually needed to believe about the role before he could sell anyone else on it.
The second was a 4th and 5th round with a VP of HR and a Global GM at a family-owned company where leadership comes from a different cultural background. The preparation there wasn't just about his stories, it was about understanding how decisions actually get made in that room, and what respect looks like to people who built something from nothing.
The third was a facility tour with a full leadership group. And here's what most people miss about those: the walk through the building is the interview. The questions you ask in the hallway, how you treat the people you pass, whether you show genuine curiosity about how the operation actually runs all of that is being evaluated before you ever sit down. You also need to be ready to handle pushback live! And in this case, it came.
This is the part nobody talks about.
Everyone prepares for the first round. Star method, elevator pitch, tailored resume. That stuff matters, but it gets you to round two.
Late stage interviewing is about preparing for the moment leadership pushes back, connecting their pain points to your past accomplishments, and making it clear that YOU ARE THE ONE.
The VP of HR is thinking about retention.
The GM is thinking about whether you make their life harder or easier.
The hiring manager is thinking about whether they can actually work with you.
And, telling the same story to all three of them is a missed opportunity.
The candidates who close offers aren't the ones with the best answers. They're the ones who figured out what each person in the room actually needed to believe, and built the entire conversation around that.
You're not being interviewed at round four. You're closing.
Prepare like it. 🤝
One question for your career this week:
Does what you’re saying you want match what the company needs?
Before you leave…
Open AI, Salesforce, Snowflake, and Anthropic are all fun names to say that your clients are interviewing at. While those are cool, outside of that there are 5+ other interviews happening across 6 professionals in my community as they decide the next move for their career.
The next move doesn’t always have to be shiny on the outside, might just need to be right for you and your family.
This is my focus with folks 1:1 in Conversations > Applications.
Have a day ✌🏼
Dominic
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Stop typing what you could say in 10 seconds.
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Another awesome career focused newsletter that I recommend!
