As we have been talking to hiring managers over the past month, it seems that candidates are walking into interviews ready to prove how well they have performed in the past. They have interesting stories and metrics to back it all up, and some of the stories relate to what is happening at the companies they are interviewing for. All good news.
Yet so many extremely qualified candidates are not getting callbacks. I started asking the some deeper questions, and here is what I learned.
At the senior level, a candidate’s past accomplishments only get them part of the way.
Due to the rate of change and the raging adoption of AI tools, the real question underneath almost every executive interview is not what have you done. It is can you help us with what is coming next? Those are very different questions, and it doesn’t seem to be getting answered well because the time to hire from several I spoke with was actually longer, even though the candidate pool is bigger and they are all using AI parsing, screening, and testing tools.
A sentence like “I grew revenue 40% at XYZ company in the first year” is strong. It proves capability. But the person across the table is still thinking: can you do it again? How would you do it again? How does that experience actually translate here? That gap, between the accomplishment and its relevance to this specific room, is where most candidates leave the job sitting on the table.
The best candidates do something different, they connect the story to what the company is actually facing right now. They walk in with a real point of view. A real point of view. The kind that says: I understand the problem you are probably sitting with; I have seen this pattern before. Here is what I would like to test, and here is how what I have built before could become useful in the future.
That is a potentiality statement. It takes the proof in your past and aims it at the opportunity in their future.
It requires more preparation. The kind that actually changes the conversation.
How to Prep for an Executive Interview Like an Operator
Before the interview, study the company as if you already have the job.
Start here:
1. Read the last two earnings call transcripts.
Look for what changed, what got repeated, and what analysts kept pressing on. That is usually where the real pressure is.
2. Skim the 10-K risk section.
If leadership retention, margin pressure, growth, integration, or market share shows up as a risk, that tells you what may really be behind the role.
3. Read recent Glassdoor reviews with discipline.
Look for patterns over the last six months.
4. Check LinkedIn tenure patterns.
A leadership team that has been there for 18 months tells a different story than one that has been there for 5 years.
5. Read trade press and analyst coverage.
Find out how the market sees the company, not just how the company describes itself.
6. Talk to someone who works there or used to.
Ask for 20 minutes. Be normal. Be curious. Be specific.
Then take what you have learned and create potentiality statements that showcase your research, the work you’ve done before, and how all of this is a part of what you’ll deliver to their company once you are hired.
For Example:
Don’t just say:
“I grew the enterprise pipeline by 60%.”
Say:
“What I learned is that pipeline problems are often lack of insight problems. I noticed your CFO was pressed twice on conversion rates in the last two calls, and my instinct is the issue may not be activity. It may be signal quality. That is one of the first things I would want to test.”
That is the difference.
One answer says, “Here is what I did.”
The better answer says, “I understand your situation, I see a pattern, and I know how to start solving it.”
That is what senior-level interviews are really testing.
Your judgment, your pattern recognition, and your ability to walk into ambiguity and create movement.
Join me and my business partner, William Roy, tomorrow on LinkedIn Live for a deeper dive into how Executive Interviews Have Flipped. The link is in the comments along with a link to schedule a Clarity Call right now and speak to us about your future goals.