How To Covert The Interview Into A Productive Conversation?

“Talk to someone about themselves and they'll listen for hours.”

– Dale Carnegie

Turning the interview into a conversation will help you build a deeper, more meaningful connection with your interviewers, leading you to get hired faster. 

One of the easiest ways to turn the interview into a conversation is to ask the interviewers clarifying follow-up questions about the challenges they experience in their roles, and why they are hiring for this role.

When interviewing, I think of the interview as a doctor diagnosing a patient's health problems. Doctors don't jump and prescribe medication to patients right away. They get to know what's going on through conversation and questions. Think of yourself as the doctor diagnosing problems for the company’s issues. 

Use questions and conversation to understand what sort of problems the company is looking to solve by hiring for this position. Most companies go into hiring mode when the companies experience high workloads or are looking to expand. 

When you do this, you will differentiate yourself as a candidate who actually cares for the work and the company, rather than someone who is simply looking for another role. In some cases, they may be reluctant to open themselves up through conversation. 

In interviews, I would ask clarifying questions to understand what the primary reasons are for why they are hiring for the role. I ask questions about what sort of challenges lead them to looking for someone for this role.

Get to know what specific problems the interviewers are trying to resolve by hiring for this role. Then, you can talk about the past experiences, how you faced similar issues in your past roles, and actions you took to make those companies better. 

Questions to turn an interview into productive conversation

Here are some of the questions to consider asking during the interview to turn the interview into a conversation:

• What are some upcoming projects I’d be working on? 

• What current goals are the company focused on? 

• Can you tell me about the team I’ll be working with?

• What problems and challenges are you facing that you are trying to solve with this role?

• Can you tell me about the number one issue or set of issues I can help you solve in this role?

• What does the 30, 60, 90-day plan look like for this role?

• What are some of the challenges I could face in this role?

• If I were to start next week, what sort of projects or issues would be working on

Note: Choose 3-4 and plan to ask during the interview.

Much love!