Submitted by d_dagostino on
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Hello.. I am interviewing for a consulting position that is industry specific. I am uniquely qualified for this position having spent ten years working in the industry and an additional ten years consulting to business owners in this and related fields. I have achieved verifiable, high level results. I would direct report to the SVP of Opperations who is second only to the CEO. I have already interviewed once with him and subsequently taken an online personality/ cognitive evaluation. In the first interview I was asked many of the questions that are discussed in the podcasts and as a result I was very prepared. Job history, strength, weakness, specific examples, where I want to be now, 5yrs from now, etc.. I have a second interview next week with the same individual. This is throwing me for a loop. What new questions might they be asking since its with the same individual?? Also, I am supremely confident I am the absolute best candidate for this opportunit, period. But the salary is below what I've made in the past and what I make now. I want the position anyway because of the upside, additional freedom, travel, etc.. But I'm not sure they feel confident I will stick around. Also, as qualified as I am I think I bombed on the cognitive and abstract portion of the questionnaire. I am an intelligent person but this was so abstract it was beyond me. I don't believe that has any bearing whatsoever on my ability to perform at the highest level however having listened to the podcasts I understand what they were looking for and in a consulting position this could really hurt me. I am not worried about the questions there is no real answer for, but several had real answers and I just had to guess. Badly I presume. How should I handle.. Just be honest and express my feelings about my abilities? Please help.. Thanks!
Hey!
Breathe! You sound like you have lots of questions and you're starting to stress out. That's not helpful to you, so start by breathing :-)
The second interview isn't likely to be a lot different from your first interview. He may ask more questions about your experience, exploring different areas which are important to the role. For a role such as this, it's hard to ask about all the areas you want to and in sufficient depth to be sure that a candidate is a good hire. A second (or even a third and fourth) won't be unusual here. The preparation you've already done should stand you in good stead. Go over your history, think about the skills needed for the role, and rehearse your answers. Think about what you didn't cover last time and therefore what else he might ask.
For the question about whether you're overqualified, listen to this podcast series: http://www.manager-tools.com/2013/10/hiring-overqualifieds-part-1 Once you see it from the hiring manager's point of view, you should be answer his questions.
Thirdly, don't worry too much about the questionnaire. If you hadn't answered sufficiently well, they would cancel the interview. Questionnaires are not generally dispositive (ie a deciding factor) in these kind of roles. And, many of them are designed to be impossible to answer or to long to answer in the time they give you.
I hope that helps!
Best regards,
Wendii