Job interviews are funny things. Two parties are involved, but all the time is spent gathering information to support the hiring manager’s decision framework. Jumping through their hoops. But the best conversations happen when candidates demonstrate their own decision framework. in an interview, total strangers are trying to figure out your motivations, so when you share what you are looking for, it makes them more comfortable. It's safer when both parties are thinking hard about the hiring decision.

The least effective way to impress an interviewer is to share your own high opinion of yourself. Confidence is good, but when it slips into boasting, the hiring manager will simply think, “Eh, maybe. I’ll be the judge of that.” And most hiring managers will find it off-putting.

During this time of social distancing, our clients are conducting video interviews instead of meeting candidates in-person. So here are a few tips for a productive video interview.

If you are an employer scheduling the interview, we recommend planning an extra 5-10 minutes at the beginning of the call to test technology and work out any kinks. You might also want to offer alternate times (i.e., after your kids are asleep).

For candidates, best practices include:

Whether you are the hiring manager or the candidate being interviewed, hiring is personal, now more than ever. Candidate behavior has changed more in the past 5 years than at any time in the past 30 years, but few employers have updated their hiring practices. This creates some real challenges on both sides of the interview desk, and more than a few opportunities to gain a real competitive advantage.

Too many people forget the key to a great interview: what the interviewer remembers about you.

The vast majority of what happens in any given interview is pretty forgettable...for the interviewer. As the candidate, you have one experience of the interview question. When the interviewer asks about your greatest weakness and you cleverly reframe a strength by saying, "Gosh, Jim, you know sometimes I work too hard." You probably feel like you nailed it.

When you're looking for a new job, an interview offer is exciting. It's a chance to make your case for why someone should hire you. But very few people know how to interview well, and virtual interviews are even harder. (We devoted an entire webinar to that topic, see it here.)

Do you need to make the jump from a declining industry to a thriving one? Or have you decided that it’s time to make a significant career change, jumping into a field where you have very little experience?

Interviewing is fundamentally an exercise in risk management. As a job seeker, your goal is to reduce any appearance of risk in hiring you.

You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him.

—Malcolm S. Forbes.

It is possible to tease out how toxic a potential manager will be from your brief interactions in an interview setting? It’s certainly not easy, especially since their toxicity is often odorless and hard to detect like carbon monoxide. Yet teasing out the truth of the manager’s behavioral tendencies is an important element of your interview strategy. Like with determining cultural fit, fully preparing for this aspect of the interview is vital, because you’ll come well-informed on the basics and can spend more time asking pointed, tough questions to tease out the truth.

So you landed the interview, did your company research, had great rapport with the hiring manager and breezed through the interview questions.  You gave a proper, firm handshake, and left the interview feeling pretty good about yourself. Then they didn't call you, or a month went by...and they turned you down. What gives?