Preparing for second interview

woodchuck

I have a second interview for a job tomorrow, but I’m not sure how to prepare. I’d already done a lot of research and preparing answers to questions for the first interview, but is there any extra preparation I should be doing now?

I’ve never been to a second round of interviews before, so I’m not really sure what to expect and how it’s different from the first round.

Any advice appreciated! (by noon tomorrow :P)

woodchuck

Darn, I meant to post this in the 'Work & Jobs' forum... would a mod be able to move it please?

coylemj

A second interview usually involves at least one relatively senior person from the part of the company that you're applying to join so you may need to be ready for more specialised questions. It also means that you should try to spend less time talking about your hobbies and interests and more about your work experience, assuming you get asked open questions like 'tell us about yourself'?

If you do two interivews it means the first one was a screening exercise so you're probably more than half way there.

woodchuck

Thanks coylemj!

The job is actually in a department I worked in previously, so there wasn't any 'tell us about yourself' or hobby/interest type of questions at all (I guess they figure they know me well enough already...).

There were already plenty of technical questions. If they want to delve deeper into that, I'm prepared.

Somebody else mentioned them bringing in someone more senior too... but the interviewer is already the most senior person in relation to that job Unless he wants to get the opinion of other colleagues and asks them along too.

I'm thinking/speculating that they have it narrowed down to two candidates and are just trying to make a final call (I hadn't expected a second round, just a yes or no). I guess I'm just finding it hard to prepare because I feel like I've already done the majority of the preparation from the first interview

FreudianSlippers

Moved from Legal Discussion.

Tarzann

In the same boat myself.
Had an interview which went very well, didnt think there would be a round 2, now have a call for a second interview with the same hiring manager plus one more.
Not sure what to expect and feel the exact same re preparation etc.

woodchuck

I got the job \o/
It wasn't even an actual interview today... he just offered me the job and then wanted to talk about pay scales etc

carolinej

Congrats and well done!

I was offered a job yesterday after a second interview. Tis a great feeling

tfromkerry

hi lads can ye give me some advise as i have a job interview next week and as its my first job interview at 33 not bad lol but i dont have a clue as what too do or what to prepare and as all 3 on here got the job any tips

woodchuck

tfromkerry wrote: »

hi lads can ye give me some advise as i have a job interview next week and as its my first job interview at 33 not bad lol but i dont have a clue as what too do or what to prepare and as all 3 on here got the job any tips

The best of luck with the interview
Some things I always do to prepare or keep in mind are:

- Dress well obviously. If in doubt it’s always better to be overdressed than underdressed (and I ran out an got something new to wear for the second interview cause I didn’t want them to see me in the same thing twice!)
- Be punctual. I always give myself plenty of time to get there to take into account the likes of traffic etc. And it’s always nice to time to get to the toilets somewhere first to get myself straightened up.
- Smile!
- Do as much research as you can ahead of time. This will obviously vary depending on the job, but a good place to start is to look up about the organisation/company. And obviously anything relevant to the job that they'd expect you to know.
- Know the job spec well. I was asked to go through each of the points that were listed and say how I was a good match for them. And then they wanted to know if there was anything not listed on the job spec that I could bring to the job.
- Be prepared to talk about everything you have on your CV and coverletter. I know we all exaggerate a little bit, but if there are any points they were to hone in on that you’re not very comfortable talking about, then work on that before the interview.
- Try to be aware of any bad habits you have while you’re nervous and make a conscious effort to control them in the interview. For example I sometimes have a bad habit of talking over people, like answering a question before they’ve finished asking it. So I make sure that they’ve definitely finished what they want to say before I speak. Also I can talk too fast at times, so I try to be aware of that.
- Be prepared to answer any questions about any gaps you might have on your CV.
- Google ‘interview questions’ for an idea of the types of things they might ask and prepare answers in advance, including specific examples to back up your answers (standard questions include your worse/best qualities, examples of when you’ve gone above and beyond, why you’re the best person for the job etc).

That’s all I can think of at the moment off the top of my head based on my own experiences, but I’m by no means an expert!!

carolinej

I second everything woodchuck says. Be enthusiastic and tell them you would love to work there. Good luck.

tfromkerry

thanks woodchuck thats all sound advice and will take it all on board and work out from it cheers