Don’t make this interview mistake

Don’t let the interview run out of gas, dwindle away, just fade out…

I wrote a few weeks ago about using a personal positioning statement to open an interview. Something concise, specific, and powerful can really set the tone for the entire conversation. But you have to close strong too. You don’t want your final words to leave the interviewer feeling kinda meh.

But those last few minutes are a magnificent opportunity to put some white space between you and all the other candidates.

Here are 3 steps for a powerful interview close

✅ 𝗗𝗼. 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿. 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵. What are the company’s plans for growth? How is it likely to be impacted by external forces - macro-economics, geo-politics, and socio-demographic trends? What product developments are on the horizon? How does the company compete and win? What about the view of industry analysts and commentators, or former employees? What’s in the press releases, blog and social media posts, and presentations that are in the public domain?

✅ Based on step 1 above, 𝗮𝘀𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀. Such as “𝘐 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩’𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘶𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦. 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵?” Or, “𝘐 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘎𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘦𝘹𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱. 𝘐’𝘮 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘱𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘴?” Or “𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘺, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘩?”

Why do this? Plenty of reasons…It shows your innate curiosity, it shows you’re driven, it shows you’re invested enough in the opportunity to put the work in, and - assuming the questions are good - it shows you're smart!

✅ Finally, be bold. Take a deep breath, rein in your emotions and confidently ask "𝘽𝙖𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙤𝙙𝙖𝙮, 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙖𝙙𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙣𝙤𝙬?" Often, the interviewer will say there’s nothing. That’s OK, at least you demonstrated confidence. Sometimes, they bring something up. That’s perfect for a couple of reasons. First, it shows they are interested enough in you to put their concern out there. Second, you get a chance to address the concern. Take your time to answer. It’s also OK to address it in a follow-up if you have to.