Signium International

(1)    Above all, be yourself.
This precept implies, above all, that you are sincere with yourself as well as towards others.  An executive should never pretend to be someone he/she is not during an interview, hoping to appear a better fit for the position in question.  He/she should not deceive about his image, knowledge, availability, personality nor the description of his/her management style or skills.  Neither should he/she appear to be someone he/she isn’t, even when one senses that his/her cultural and personal fit with that of the hiring company supposes almost 60% of the overall decision for the recruitment process.

Why are these cultural aspects so important?  In our experience we have seen time and time again that in the mid-term, the success or failure of any given executive who incorporates into a new project tends to depend on when he/she feel “good about it”, integrated and has been able to connect with the company’s employees and its identity.  That said, if you are introverted, be introverted.  If you have an aggressive management style, show your colors.  There are no right or wrong personalities generally speaking.  All depends on the professional profile that the hiring company desires and coherency with its corporate culture.

(2)    Stay calm and relaxed.
Going to an interview in a nervous state is always negative. The interviewer often interprets this nervousness as a weakness, lack of control or insecurity.   One way to help face an interview in a relaxed manner is to arrive with the idea that you are going to a business meeting.  An executive should understand that interviews are his/her level are just that, a business meeting to meet a person with whom he/she will strike up a conversation to exchange business information.  The job of a headhunter during the interview does not lie in deciding whether the candidate is sufficiently qualified technically speaking, -if he/she wasn’t he/she would not have gotten this far- but rather to decide if the candidate fits into his/her client’s philosophy and project.

(3)    Organize your major quantifiable achievements and do so concretely.
A frequent error in this sense tends to be that the executive has not previously prepared this merit relationship and when he/she tries to explain them he/she does not do so within the time constraints of the interview or in a proper manner.  The professional should be aware that he/she has a little more than an hour to “sell” him/her self, and in this sense, the best manner is with concise answers to the questions asked.  Going through each miniscule detail of each position that the candidate has held since his/her career began does not bring added value to our client (this information already appears on the candidates CV).

However, it is of great value to our client that the executive describe his/her previous achievements in quantifiable terms such as the completion of objectives, employee growth, increase in earnings, etc.  In addition to this data, the candidate should explain how these figures were reached.  At this point, it is the best moment for the executive to complete his/her presentation, bringing to light his/her strongest qualities in management related areas such as people management skills or crisis resolution.

A job interview for an Executive is somewhat different from the model used for more junior positions.  For example, the length of a senior candidate interview tends to range between and hour to an hour and a half, and in the case of more junior positions these do not tend to go over forty-five minutes.  This difference in time lies in the very nature of the selection process.  That is to say, the higher the position solicited, the more time is dedicated to each of the aspiring candidates, and fewer are the candidates interviewed. At the same time, another of the characteristics that varies from Executive interviews from others is the way in which it takes place.  First of all, the interviewer begins by delving into the interviewee’s personal circle.  Specifically, our interest lies in learning what personal and professional relationships might be present in the interviewee’s direct environment which could suppose a conflict of interest for our client.  In the same way, we always try to learn from the beginning the candidate’s underlying motive for change: more power, responsibility, “a change of air”, etc.  Different from those professionals lower down the corporate hierarchy, an Executive generally does not seek change for economic reasons.

Immediately following, the interviewer asks the candidate to concretely describe the main quantifiable goals achieved during his/her professional career.  Above all, we look to understand his/her management skills.  As per the specific training and technical skills needed for the position, these are dealt with concretely. It happens this way because the interviewer tends to understand that the merits and goals previously described by the candidate imply he/she has these technical skills, although sometimes they are not the most important ones for the position. In this sense, the most valued aspect, and that which is most kept in mind by headhunters during the interview, is the candidate’s potential fit on a personal and cultural level with that of the client company’s.  This aspect can be so important to the process that its influence over the final decision, once in the interview stage, can be as much as 60% of the decision.  As per the remaining 40%, other elements come into play such as professional references and general impressions.  Finalist candidates are always asked to provide various references from direct superiors in all of his/her more recent positions.  Basically, the question that sums up the conversation with those references is: “If you had the opportunity to work with this person again, would you hire him/her again?

Regarding my previous statement of “general impressions”, the greater or lesser importance of one’s first impression in any given recruitment process will depend on the particular sector for which the positions is needed.  In my experience, although it is obvious that certain first impressions will initially position a candidate favorably (or unfavorably) in the interviewer’s mind, this first impression should not stray far from the candidate’s true identity.  “To be one’s self” should be the first-most premise kept in mind by any Executive or professional during a job interview.