Whaddaya hear, whaddaya say? Welcome to episode 10 of the Career Consigliere podcast, your no frills, no BS forum for navigating the corporate job scene. Jimmy with you, for what we hope to be a highly informative and engaging half an hour, or so! Today, we close out the job interview process by exploring what happens in rounds 3, and beyond, should there BE a beyond. We’ll talk about how the third and any subsequent rounds usually go, what you can expect, and how you can prepare. We’ll also cover what you should do when the process is over, and how to walk the tightrope when it comes to following up. Here it is podcast land, so letttssssss get it!
As we beat to DEATH in the last episode, as should be very obvious by this point, round 2 is no question the hardest of the rounds in the corporate job interview process. It’s with the hiring manager, your would-be boss, and they’re going to GRILL you like a t-bone steak to get the information they want to know. So, if you’ve made it to round 3, that’s a REALLY good sign. Still no guarantees, so no popping the cork just yet, but it means your future boss has given you the stamp of approval, and they’re moving you further along. More good news: round 3 is usually easier than round 2, and any further rounds (should there be any), are even easier than that.
There’s one big caveat to this though: many times, during round 3 you’ll be asked to prepare a business case, or some other kind of presentation to showcase your skills. This doesn’t always happen, but if it does that WILL increase the difficulty of this round: (More hard questions, more scrutiny, etc.) In my experience you’ll be asked to do this about half the time. But business case, presentation, whatever they ask you to do, I still say round 3 is no match for round 2. We’ll get more into this later in the episode.
Once we make it to round 3, there’s really no roadmap anymore. Who you’ll be meeting with, how many more rounds there will be, and what they’ll look like is really a toss-up. I’ll say this up front: if a company is serious about you, and has an efficient hiring process, they won’t drag you around too much. Usually, from what I’ve seen and heard, 4 rounds is as far as it should go. If it goes beyond 4 rounds, and they’re constantly bringing you back to meet with this one, then that one, then the other one and it seems disorganized, I’d begin growing skeptical of how this company handles their business. Not to say it should be an automatic dealbreaker, but if you start seeing this be sure to read between the lines and really make sure the company is solid before you sign any dotted lines. Each interview round should make you feel like you’re progressing in the process, and they should start feeling more like formalities the further and further you get. Nonetheless, I’ll walk you through what I’ve seen personally, and what clients of mine usually report as the “typical” process.
Lots of times, especially if you’ll be working in-person/hybrid, or even if not, but the company happens to have a local office near you with team members present, they’ll bring you in-person for the third interview. Even if they offer you the option to do it virtually, if it’s not a crazy inconvenience for you to do it in-person, definitely opt for that. Guys, sometimes the old-fashioned way is the best way. If you go there for the interview in person, you get SO much that you don’t get virtually. You get to see the place: is it nice? Is it a run-down craphole? You’ll see and hear people around the place: do they seem nice and productive? Or are they sitting in the breakroom miserable and complaining about management? Does the place project the image of a successful organization, or are there boxes stacked up everywhere, yellow stains on the ceiling from cigarette smoke back in the 80s, and way more empty cubicles than a healthy company should have? It’s things like this that paint the picture of the kind of organization you’re joining, and you can’t get this virtually.....you just can’t.
For simplicity’s sake, let’s assume that you’re going there in-person, since it’s way easier to set the scene that way. Plan on spending at least half the day there – they’re going to book you with multiple people to make the most out of your visit. You’ll get there, and you’ll meet with the hiring manager again for about 15-20 minutes, and they may or may not ask you a few more interview questions. But if they do, it won’t be anything too intimidating – it’ll probably just be to clarify some stuff or answer some other surface-level things they didn’t think of last time. It’s really just a social chat. Be ready, be just as prepared as you were for round 2, but usually they’re not out to get you at this point.
At the end of this round, a “host” will usually show up, introduce themselves, and act as your chauffeur to bring you to all subsequent meetings: most office buildings are pretty secure these days, so you’ll need someone with you that can swipe their badge to let you into the different sections of the place......and to make sure you don’t try stealing equipment, hacking the computers, you know: because everyone’s an assumed criminal now. Sometimes your chauffeur is the hiring manager themselves, but usually it’s an HR admin person that probably doesn’t have as many meetings tying them up all day.
Who else can you expect to meet with while you’re there? The list of usual suspects includes your hiring manager’s boss, and other team members whose roles are on the same level as yours (your future colleagues, people you’ll be “sitting next to”). You can also bank on meeting at least 1-2 members of senior management from whatever function your role supports. And just for color, don’t be surprised if they set you up with someone that’s literally just a talking head. This is usually someone from within the organization that the hiring manager knows personally that may or may not be directly involved with your function, but is someone whose opinion holds some weight.
I remember one time I interviewed with a mega corporation, and the hiring manager wanted me to meet with a guy she knew that didn’t even work in the department, but I guess they’d collaborated on projects before and she trusted him. The dude was high up the food chain there, but I distinctly remember he wore jeans, and really beat up moccasin shoes (you’ll find this – lots of times the “important people” will surprise you with how they carry themselves – they’re often way nicer and way more down-to-earth and approachable than you would think). He looked like the kind of guy you see on the lower east side who’s in his early 60s, always had aspirations of being famous and tries to dress the part, but does kind of a tacky job of it. Fellow New Yorkers out there listening know EXACTLY the kind of dude I’m talking about. We didn’t even meet in a conference room – he came by and met me on some random bench in the hallway and we walked around the campus and just talked about stuff......a lot of it wasn’t even related to the job. Guess that counts as an interview?
Each interview session, regardless of how they play out, will usually be about is about 30-45 minutes, sometimes the full hour. Sometimes they’ll even feed you lunch while you’re there, but beware: lunch is still an interview. Usually, for lunch, they’ll bring in a whole bunch of other people (different team members, other managers, really whoever’s hungry). So you’ll be shaking hands with everyone while you eat your turkey sandwich (It sucks, but they’re not going with the expensive high-end caterer on this one). But this can also be a mind game: I’ve heard of companies doing stuff like this, so listen up: while you’re eating, they might not even talk business. They might talk about regular stuff like sports, tv shows, possibly even current events, or any other kind of awkward small talk you’d have with any group of strangers. Be VERY careful what you say during this: show your personality, but DO NOT talk about anything the least bit controversial – stay away from politics, social issues, anything that doesn’t belong in the workplace. The company might be trying to get you to drop your guard on PURPOSE to see how you handle yourself when you’re a bit more “comfortable”. Kind of a slimy tactic in my opinion, but it does happen. But regardless, you shouldn’t be talking about this stuff at work anyway, so just make believe it’s another day at the office and you’ll be fine.
Regardless of who you’re meeting with, what kinds of questions will they ask you? In my experience, and I’ve done this MANY times, and many of my clients would tell you similar tales, they’re most concerned with getting to know you. You already have the hiring manager’s endorsement, so you’ve already won the most important battle in this war. There are exceptions, but mainly, they’re assessing you for culture fit, making sure you’re not a total a-hole, and making sure that you’re someone that will be a good team member from all possible angles. They’ll definitely ask you about your experience and things you worked on, so definitely have all that ready. But! The silver lining in all this: everything will be fresh in your head from the mortal combat fight you went through in round 2, so it’ll be easier than you think. You’ll have all your go-to examples ready to pull from, and it SHOULD feel more like a conversation than an inquisition. Now, there could be some exceptions: sometimes you will meet serious egos and strong personalities during job interviews, and it’s more likely to happen the more people you meet. You’re in a vulnerable position as the interviewee, and some of them will really pull some unexpected shenanigans and leverage their power over you. Again: if this is going on, probably not the kind of place you want to be. But these situations tend to be outliers, so don’t be too afraid and let this ruin your approach. But I do think it’s a worthy topic, so we’ll definitely devote a later episode to this.
The one big caveat I mentioned earlier, preparing a business case......this is sort of an asterisk that we have to put next to round 3 being “easier” than round 2. Most of you listening have probably come across this in an interview: when they bring you in to meet everyone, they give you a homework assignment to do first. Usually it’s a very vague assignment on a tight timeline, and that’s done on purpose to see what you can come up with under the gun. When you come in for your interview, you’ll be asked to present what you prepared to a panel of the people that interviewed you (as well as some others), and they’ll ask you questions about what you’ve done.
Nothing easy about this. But the reason I say that round 3 is still easier than round 2, despite this, is because by the time you make it to this point, you’ve been asked a lot of the same questions multiple times, your responses are very well-rehearsed, and you’ve learned about the company you’re interviewing with as you’ve been going through the process, so you’re as knowledgeable on all fronts as you’ll ever be in the interview process by this point. In round 2, you’re still getting warmed up, and you have to make it past the ultimate gatekeeper: your future boss. So while round 3 is more people, more time, possibly a huge homework assignment, I still say you’ll have a better experience than round 2 for all the reasons I just cited. Also, a huge silver lining in round 3: think of all the people taking time out of their schedule to meet with you privately, have lunch with you, sit in on your business case presentation, all that stuff. It’s a whole day all about YOU: how many people is the company really going to do that for? Three, at the absolute max, more likely two: you, and some other schmo. At this point, your odds of getting the job are pretty....freaking.....good. Just be better than Mr. or Ms. Schmo, and you’re set!
After a third round of this caliber, if they go all out, bring you in, and have you meet with everyone and their mother’s 4 cousins, that really should be it. They’ve already spent all the possible time on a candidate that any good company should. Now remember, the example I just laid is, in my experience and that of my clients, a “typical” third round interview procedure. If it’s not to that level, or if it’s done virtually, there very well could be 4th, 5th, and possibly even more rounds: all depends on a lot of factors. But I can promise you this: anything beyond a third round should be a CAKEWALK: rounds 4 and up are usually with an executive, or some other very high-ranking, highly respected individual who is WAY too busy to grill you about some minutia from halfway down the second page of your resume. I’d be surprised if the conversation lasted more than 30 minutes, to be completely honest. If you’ve made it to that stage and are experiencing this, more often than not you’ll wind up getting a phone call with an offer, unless sales plummet within the next week, or an asteroid hits the earth, or somebody robs the place. Otherwise, it’s looking pretty good!
What should you do after round 3? Here’s probably the only time where I say it’s good practice to send a thank-you email. If it plays out like I spent this episode describing, and all these people took time out of their day to meet with you in-person, sit in on your presentation, eat a turkey BLT with you, that’s worthy of a thank you email. Most of the people you meet on-site will give you their business cards, so you should have their email addresses readily available. If not, the TA person should have no problem providing it. I’d say just send one email, addressed to all of them, and just explain that it was great meeting with everyone, you enjoyed the experience, and you’re hoping to see everyone again soon. That’s it! Plan, simple, and to-the-point. You’ll almost never get a response on it (can’t blame them – they can’t put anything in writing that would even REMOTELY give you any false indications of a favorable outcome), but they’ll see it and they’ll appreciate it. Again, don’t kiss ass, don’t overdo it – this is cordial and all-business. It’ll be buried in their inbox by lunch anyway. If you don’t hear anything within a week, adjust your expectations accordingly. Harassing them with a second follow-up email usually doesn’t do anything.
So that’s rounds 3 and beyond. Corporatopians, I must confess: it’s hard to fit information-rich content like this into a single episode, and I’d probably start losing you if I went longer than 35-40 minutes, so a consigliere’s gotta do what he must to keep things moving. There’s a lot of nuances we could cover, a lot of twists and turns the interview process could take, and no two are ever exactly the same. I fully plan to devote future content to some of the more special-case interview situations to be aware of, but for now this should give you a pretty good idea of what to expect as you go through the process. Let’s tie it all up for you with today’s......consigliere call to action.
What do we take away from today’s sermon on the mic? A few things. For one, expect round 3 to be a lot of work. If it’s anything like it usually tends to be, you’ll be meeting with a lot of people, shaking lots of hands (physically or virtually), and you may even get asked to prepare a presentation and help solve a problem. For the most part you’ll know in advance who you’ll be meeting with, so look up each and every person on Linked-In and get a sense of their background, where they fit in the organization, and what kinds of questions you think they might ask you. It’s happened to me plenty of times where, in doing so, I realized that I had a lot in common with one or more interviewers and I used this to try and build rapport. Won’t always work, but regardless, it’s always good to know who you’re meeting with and what they (might) be all about.
Assuming round 3 is an in-person affair, make sure you dress formally (you have some leniency on video, but DEFINITELY not in-person – they’re expecting you to go all out). Don’t show up hungry, make sure you slept the night before. Get their EARLY, make sure you leave plenty of time for train delays, traffic, protests that block the Brooklyn Bridge, anything that could potentially stand between you and getting to your destination on-time. While you’re there, I promise it’ll get easier as you go along. You’ll be SO well-rehearsed with your responses and go-to examples to give during questions, that you’ll be on auto pilot by the time it’s over.
Also, be on the lookout for the business case. If you’re going for your interview on Wednesday, they’ll probably send it to you Monday at 4pm (yes, this is TOTALLY on purpose). Prepare it just like you would an assignment at your current job, or your past job, whatever your frame of reference is. Anticipate all possible questions they might ask, play devils advocate with yourself, and practice it ahead of time to make sure it fits the time window they’re giving you, while leaving plenty of time for Q&A from the peanut gallery.
Once it’s all over, follow up with an email to everyone you met (at least as many of them as possible, and keep it short and sweet: thanks for meeting with me, I enjoyed myself, hope we talk again soon). Give it a week – any company that’s serious about you won’t want to keep you hanging on too long, and if you’re the one they want, it shouldn’t be all drawn out and complicated. Anything beyond a week after your email, and I’d highly recommend getting back on the horse and applying to other jobs.
Sadly folks, that’s all the time we have for today. But have no fears, and shed no tears, because I’ll be back with a new episode every week. As they say in the industry: no listeners, no show, so do me a favor, and stay loyal! If you find value in my content, please leave me a nice review, tell all your friends, and don’t forget to like, subscribe, and follow on whatever platform you use to get your podcasts. Beyond the confines of your headphones, speakers, TV screen, or any other crazy contraption with the ability to stream audio, I also provide one-on-one career assistance, so visit my website at career-consigliere.net to learn more about me, book me for one-on-one coaching, join my email list, or explore some of the other career services I offer. And to all of you out there in podcast land, remember this: Who’s the boss in your career? You, nobody else.
