(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.