Second interview – how to crack it

You passed your initial interview with flying colours. You wowed your potential employers and came out of the interview feeling positive about the job.

Now you’ve been called back for a second interview. It’s serious. Your CV was liked and you clearly have the skills and experience necessary. Now it’s all about you, as a person.

Whatever you do, don't think it’s in the bag. Many people lose out on jobs through over confidence in their second interview. If anything, you really need to be on your toes and alert because there’s a good chance you’ll now meet senior management and be probed further. So what are the best ways to deal with a second interview?

As with your first interview, prepare well. Read the job description again carefully and learn as much as you can about the company and their future plans from annual reports and their website.

They’ll want to dig deep into your history and find out what makes you tick, what motivates you and your aspirations. You may be asked to go into detail about projects you’ve been involved in. The interview is likely to be less structured than your first and more conversational. So be ready to field more detailed questions about your career and your personal qualities.

Remember, they’ll be trying to work out how well you’d fit into their organisation. Will your personality gel with the team? Will you be able to embrace their company culture?

These are the questions they’ll be asking themselves about you. You’ll need to be prepared to express your ideas and talk more expansively about what you could bring to the company, your goals, and where you see yourself in five years time.

Arrive punctually and remember those firm handshakes and that good eye contact. Talk confidently and let them know how knowledgeable you are about their company and the markets they work within. Demonstrate too that you’ve really thought deeply about the role and what you could bring to their organisation.

Hopefully, after the interview, you may be given a tour of the company or the department where you’ll be working. This will give you a chance to see for yourself the kind of people you’ll be working with and workspace where you’ll be operating. You’ll have a good chance to observe and think about if it’s the kind of place where you would like to work.

Of course, this is also your chance to interview them and discover if this really is the next step for your career. The second interview is the time to grill them about future company plans, how they picture your role and where you’ll fit into the scheme of things. The key thing is to be well prepared, alert and ready to talk about yourself, your career and most importantly, what you could bring to the company.

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