With an oversupply of great candidates and an undersupply of executive roles, the job market has never been so competitive.

For executive roles, it is not uncommon to find yourself doing three or four rounds of interviews before you are offered the role. Therefore your ability to excel in interviews is critical to your future success.

Many successful and intelligent women lack confidence when it comes to interviews and struggle to talk about their achievements. Unfortunately, this can greatly affect their ability to land their dream role.

The truth is that if you really want to be promoted or land the job of your dreams you have to promote yourself. With the move to virtual interviews and our highly competitive job market, it pays to put time and effort into developing your interview skills.

The best way to succeed in an executive interview is to prepare and research. The more time you put into the preparation, the more confident you will feel.

At this level, it is expected that given you’ve made it to the interview, you have the skills and experience required for the role. Therefore the main purpose of the interview is to evaluate your leadership skills and how you will fit into a company’s culture at the executive level. 

My top tips to succeed in your next executive interview

Do your Research

Research is an important part of the interview process. Having a clear understanding of the company strategy, its competitors and the industry will ensure you are informed and can be prepared for any unexpected questions. Often hiring managers want to hear your view on a topic relevant to the industry so be prepared.

Good sources of information are websites, media articles, annual reports, current employees. and industry groups.

Prepare your Answers

Executive interviews often centre around behavioural and situational questions. Depending on the role, these questions seek to understand your leadership style, influencing ability, stakeholder management, commercial acumen and cultural fit.

The best way to demonstrate your abilities in an engaging way is to use examples and case studies. An easy way to do this is to use the storytelling technique where you outline the situation, obstacle, actions and results. To download my interview prep template click here.

Prepare for your Interview

Once you have prepared your answers, you can do some mock interviews and get some constructive feedback.

Use Succinct Language

Ensure you are as clear, concise and articulate as possible. Take ownership of your achievements and use language that supports that. This is not the time to be humble or sell your team’s success.