When searching for a job, you know you need to be ready to face multiple interviews

The process for one job could even be multiple interviews of various styles.

Interviews are a must to get the job offer you want.

On most occasions you will face the traditional one-on-one in person interviews, but we have seen organizations using a range of interview techniques to determine if a candidate is the best fit for the position.

The First Round aka The Screening Interview

This is usually the pre-interview round where you could receive a phone call from a recruiter or an HR person who will ask you a series of questions to determine if they need to bring you in for a face-to-face interview.

While these screening interviews can be stressful, you should prepare your elevator pitch and supporting documents to have on hand.

When the recruiter or HR person calls, remain calm and focus on the ways you would bring value to the role.

The Firing Squad aka The Panel Interview

Don’t be scared away be the name, a panel interview is an effective way for both the employer and the candidate to assess if they are a good match.

These types of interviews can be intimidating since you will feel like you need to impress multiple people at once, but take a deep breath and always bring the topic back to how you can bring value to the company.

A lot of times organizations employ this technique to get different perspectives on the same candidates, and it is often used when hiring people in senior positions.

The key to cracking these interviews is to engage with as many people on the panel as possible, especially using body language and eye contact.

The Make You Sweat aka The Stress Interview

We are all human, so don’t let the stress get to you!

An interview is only a test, and stress interviews are used to test you in a high pressure situation to see how you perform in a controlled setting in reaction to a particular situation.

These types of interviews might start off normal, but mid-way through, the interviewer might start trying to stress you out by acting uneasy, glaring at you, or strongly disagreeing with you, and at times even walking out for no reason.

The key to acing these interviews is to remain calm, even if the situation gets worse.

If the interviewer does not clarify that they were stress testing you at the end of the interview, you may want to ask them if there was something you said or did that threw them off.

While you don’t want to say, “Were you trying to stress me out?” An interview is meant for both sides to get a better understanding of each other, so you probably won’t want to work for the company if the interviewer was genuinely under so much pressure that they couldn’t conduct an interview without cracking.

The Presentation aka The Case Interview

In presentation or case interviews, employers will often give you a task to perform and then ask you to present the results in front of a group or individually.

The task might be given in the moment or in advance with you being required to come up with a solution.

These interviews are often used to test the skills of the candidate applying to a highly skilled or technical role. It is important to do your homework beforehand.

The Beauty Parade aka The Show Interview

Despite having made a decision to hire you, the employer might ask you to come in and meet the team or other people in the company to ensure that you will fit their work culture.

Although these interviews are to solidify a hiring decision, remember that you have not yet signed a job offer.

Continue to be yourself, but maintain your professionalism since you are still trying to impress the people you are meeting.

You will want to get along with your future team members so that they agree with the hiring decision and are excited to bring you onto their team.

The Rinse and Repeat aka Consistent Performance Interview

The purpose of these interviews is to determine that you are consistent.

The interviewer is checking to see that you maintain the same knowledge and abilities throughout the rounds and identify any areas of weakness.

The key to cracking these interviews is to ensure that you deliver consistent measured answers and don’t fluctuate wildly in your answers from interview to interview.

While you can offer a different answer to similar questions, make sure you have a compelling reason to do so and that it makes sense overall.

Interviews are not meant to scare people away

Their purpose is to find the best candidate for an open position and allow that candidate to catch a glimpse of work life with the company.

While some types of interviews will be more intimidating than others, always be prepared you’re your elevator pitch, measured results, and an understanding of the company and the job role.

Recruiters will often bring you in for an interview so they can see for themselves the type of candidate you are. If we ever have interview tips to deliver after a phone or in-person interview we are happy to share them.

Good luck with your next round of interviews!