Author Topic: Interviewing for a job tomorrow with no title yet  (Read 2100 times)

ETBen

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Interviewing for a job tomorrow with no title yet
« on: May 04, 2016, 07:54:08 PM »
How would you approach, beyond the typical interview questions? This is my fourth round of interviews with this company.  Tomorrow I interview with 2 VPs and a Director for a yet unnamed position.  Good company, solid financials, prominent, healthcare.  So its not like I am being led along.  Its a competitor. 

We discussed up front that of the job title was not appropriate and we would work that out. They know my comp expectations.  They know what I expect as a title.  This is at least an Executive Director level role.

I know what they are trying to execute.  Still not enough details but I suspect they don't know those yet either.  The budget was recently approved for this division so they haven't formalized all of it yet. 

My approach is to discuss what I think they need to execute (leadership and program) and why I'm right for that.  I already have discussed some of that model with them.

Axecleaver

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Re: Interviewing for a job tomorrow with no title yet
« Reply #1 on: May 05, 2016, 02:52:06 PM »
Good approach. If you're interviewing in the fourth round with two VP's and a director you probably already have the job, and these are the last set, where as long as you don't screw up, it's yours. So a conservative approach is preferable.

Get the interviewers to do most of the talking in the interview. Have stuff to say, but if you can keep them talking, their perception of you becomes a thoughtful person who is a good listener. It sounds silly, right? But it works. Especially at the late stage of the interview process.

Come with questions, most importantly. What does success in this role look like after a year? Write down the answers: they will be wildly different between the people you're talking to, then you can use this to get to reasonable metrics later. If any of them will be your boss, "How can I help you achieve your goals" and "What is the biggest problem you're trying to solve right now?"

I'm also a big fan of asking "How am I doing?" late in the interview. The body language you get in the next half second will tell you if you have the job or not. This did backfire on me once. I was interviewing for a contract PM job for the 5th time in two years. This was after two regime changes, at least seven PM changes, a mass firing of over half the technical staff, and a technical platform shift that required a total restart and flushing millions of dollars down the drain. So, they needed me more than I needed them. The VP told me that he didn't like that question, that I should just let things happen naturally. His body language showed that he wouldn't have hired me anyway. Predictably, didn't get that gig.

ETBen

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Re: Interviewing for a job tomorrow with no title yet
« Reply #2 on: May 05, 2016, 06:40:43 PM »
Thanks!  I can't tell how I did but I'm a terrible critic of myself.  They definitely need me more than I need them. And I asked about the year end success metrics bc it is difficult to measure a return on this initiative.  I don't know if I presented enough as an executive to them, although I certainly know and demonstrate my stuff. Also o realized about 15 minutes into it that I was being interviewed for a VP not a Director.  This has been unclear until today bc of they're very early in launching it.  So after beating myself up for a while, I'm now feeling like whatever happens, happens. I know I did well for the VP in that division, a few things to improve.  I dont think I convinced the VP of Talent enough.