How to close an interview

In a word, powerfully.

First impressions matter. But so do last impressions. Close out your interview in a way that other candidates just can’t match.

Research the company, the hiring manager, the team. What’s interesting about the hiring manager's career path? What do the public financial reports tell you? Press releases? Market research analysts? Customer reviews? Reddit…? Build a SWOT analysis of the company, even Porter’s five forces if you want to go deeper. I reckon 95% of candidates will never do this.

Based on your research, ask insightful 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀. Such as “In the last 10-Q, I saw the strong growth in Europe. How does this role support that?” Or, “I noticed your own career started in development, and then you made the switch to customer support. I’m curious how you made that switch, and what are the 3 most important soft skills that helped you do that?” When they tell you those 3 soft skills, don’t forget to reiterate that you have those, and share a career story to support that. Or how about asking “I checked out the Reddit thread for ACME Bearings, it looks like some of their customers are unhappy with reliability. How could we take advantage of that?” (And note the “we” in there, not “you”). If 95% of candidates don't do the research I suggest above, they can’t follow you here. You are making yourself unique. 

And my all time favorite final, final question: "𝘽𝙖𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙤𝙙𝙖𝙮, 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙖𝙙𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙣𝙤𝙬?" Usually, the interviewer will say not. But at least it shows you’re confident and proactive. But sometimes, the hiring manager actually has something for you. That’s golden - they are interested enough in you to share a concern. What a tell that is! But more importantly, you get the chance to put to bed something that may have become a nagging concern for the hiring manager.