Recently, a colleague of mine sent a job applicant I referred to him to a final interview with one of his clients and cc’d me on his confirmation note.
Although he was going to speak with him to prep him for the interview, I took this as an opportunity to offer advice to the job hunter.
This is what I wrote:
This may be obvious but in my many years of doing recruiting I have learned to never forget to remind people of even obvious details before they interview; after all, people are often distracted from their work days and forget to do obvious things.
The reminder I have for you is that there is no such thing as any interview being a formality; each one, particularly a final interview, is a chance to “sell” your ability to help solve their problems and help them feel good about hiring you.
Even when you aren’t, always think and act like you are competing with someone else for a job; after all, even when you aren’t, you are competing with the idea “that there is someone else out there better.”
Jeff
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