Published by Kim Thompson on May 8, 2022
Employers make decisions about candidates using a variety of filters; some of those are obvious like failing to answer a question or overwhelming the interviewer with too much information. As for the executive candidate, they are more likely to be screened on presence than an impressive background.
To ace an executive interview, it helps to know most hiring decision-makers will evaluate you on five key areas; impression, communication, employment history, cultural fit, and critical thinking skills. All five areas are taken into consideration, but as an executive candidate, your communication style will speak volumes about how you interact with others and will lead the organization.
Making a good impression with a potential employer takes about six seconds for your resume and five minutes when interviewing. The amount of time you have in forming an impression seems minuscule compared to the work it takes in preparing for an interview. A recent CareerBuilder survey of more than 2,000 hiring and human resource managers indicated that 49 percent of employers know within the first five minutes of an interview if a candidate is a good fit. By fifteen minutes into the interview, 90 percent has formed a solid impression.
Before during, and after an interview, the impressions you make count, and as an executive candidate, you need to be prepared to make others around you feel comfortable. Those being considered for leadership roles need to display exceptional communication abilities and that includes being ready for small talk as well as discussing big-picture strategies, all within the same time frame.
Here are some ways to help you ace an executive interview:
• Keep in mind experience and credibility with a proven list of accomplishments will get you through the door, but the most important aspect is your ability to be a strong cultural fit.
• Always show respect and good listening skills to everyone you meet, the way you interact with support staff is often the best screening process. As an executive, your title can create anxiety for some and your behavior often highlights how confident you are with power.
• Questions for an executive candidate are often broad-based, such as “How will you support our values and visions for the future” rather than task-specific. Executives are selling their ability to lead with good judgment and business acumen as well as their presence in representing the company to shareholders.
• Practice your interview answers by being clear and concise. Start broad and then narrow down to a specific accomplishment that proves your results. Show the interviewer you have a strong command of language and understood the question.
• Pay attention to the needs at hand, always match your answers with the business challenges being faced and back your responses with results.
• Executive candidates should demonstrate a high level of emotional intelligence, you must validate your ability to be flexible, adaptable to business needs, diplomatic, and collaborative. You also need to convey your self-awareness and have exceptional relationship-building skills.
• Demonstrate your ability to think strategically when formalizing your answers. Speak as if you were using bullet points by streamlining complex business issues into concrete examples that everyone understands.
As an executive candidate, you are likely to meet with numerous interviewers, including members of the board. Expect interviews to last an hour or two with each interviewer wanting to gauge your leadership response and connect with your style of communication.
It’s not uncommon for interviews to take place over dinner, and while the meeting might seem informal everything you do is being evaluated. Your choice of food, the way you interact with the wait staff, and the manners you use, all have a part in shaping impressions.
More than likely an executive search firm will be involved in the recruiting process as well, but it’s up to you to communicate well and send an executive perception.