Second interview questions to expect from an employer
Well done! You made it to the next stage. The next stage is yet again an opportunity for the hiring team to decide if you’re a good cultural fit and it’s your chance to show you are perfect for the job!
While the first round is commonly used to establish a shortlist of candidates, the second interview aims at the detail to find out if you would be the right fit for the role and the company and can involve more senior managers (although we don’t agree with this sometime they are just too busy for the first stage)
Which questions should you expect in the next stage?
Here are challenges to anticipate.
Second interview questions: to expect Competence questions
Be prepared for more detailed questions relating to technical aspects of the role. While competence challenges will most likely have come up in the first round, the second round will definitely cover more specifics and may involve more technical staff.
- “What has been the biggest success in your current/previous role and how did you handle it?”
Their goal here is to get insight into how you acted on your own initiative using problem-solving skills to achieve a certain company objective. - “Have you introduced new ways of working or encouraged your team to adopt new approaches at work?”
This is an innovate, attitude and flexibility challenge to embrace positive change in an organisation. - “When have you taken big decisions without consulting your manager?”
This could go both ways so gage it. But ultimately you will have to have made some independent decisions at a certain point in your career but always stress you actively engage and inform all your colleagues before and after if not reasonably possible before. - “Have you made an unpopular decision that you didn’t like doing and delivered good results?”
We all need to make hard decisions at some point. This one could sadly do with letting a team go as a result of a company re-org.
second interview questions
Cultural skills i.e. soft skills
- Can you tell me how you work successfully as part of a team?
- How do you work with internal and agency stakeholders?
- How do you prepare for management meetings?
- What type of management approach do you prefer?
- The server goes down, are you willing to delegate or do you prefer to do it yourself?
- How have you inspired others
Why us?
Be prepared for this one. It’s worth doing your research to both sound and be authentic in your desire to work for a company and take on a specific challenge.
- “Why do you want to work for us!”
Explain why the company and industry mission and values resonate well with your own intended career path and personal values. - “What’s your ultimate career goal?”
Be careful here. We’re all humans and many of us want to do our own thing or be eventually the marketing director but right now you’re applying for IT Head role. Make sure it’s aligned medium term with the role.
We hope you enjoyed and found helpful our second interview questions guide!
