Page 159 - James Caan - Get the Job you Really Want

they didn’t ask anything themselves. You controlled the
process.

It is the same technique you would use for a panel interview.
The key to panel interviews is to take control. It is hard – but if
you don’t, you will get squashed. Because generally you won’t
know who the people on the panel are.
As you come in and they start the process, you say, ‘Would

you mind if I ask a few questions?’
What do you think they’re going to say? They’ll say, ‘Of course
not.’

‘So, John, what’s your role in the company, and what are you
looking for out of this interview today?’
Listen to his answer and he has just told you exactly what
you need to do.
‘What about you, Bill? How many other people are you going

to be seeing today?’
You may find yourself in a situation where there are two
people in the interview with you: the main interviewer and

somebody from HR for the sake of compliance. If the HR person
is genuinely there as an observer, they won’t say very much. So
it would be inappropriate to engage with them. But clearly if
they do chip in on some of the points or raise some follow-up
questions, and are more proactive, that suggests to me they

might have an opinion about the interview too, and at the right
moment you should draw them in, though being quite careful
not to shift the emphasis away from your primary dialogue with

the interviewer.

147 power