Second Interview Tips

These second interview tips will help you to make a great impression at a second job interview.

Second job interviews are fairly common. Selecting the best employee for the job can be a challenging task, and the decision can have big consequences for a business, so it is no wonder many employers often bring in candidates for a second (or even third) interview.

Second Interview Tips - Why Are You Getting Called Back for Another Interview?

Keep in mind, if you are called in for a second interview, you are probably very close to a job offer.

The employer wants to assess your personality in more depth.

One key second interview tip is to realize that normally, once you have reached the second job interview stage, the employer feels confident that you have all of the skills required to do the job. At this stage, employers are usually most interested in assessing whether your personality will be a good fit for the job and for the existing team of employees.

The employer needs just a little more information before committing to a final decision.

Often, at this stage in the hiring process, there is not a lot of competition standing between you and the job. In most cases, the employer will have narrowed the candidates down to you and maybe one or two other candidates. In fact, sometimes an employer only calls one candidate in for a second interview. In this case, the employer is almost certain he or she wants to hire you but wants to meet with you one last time just to ensure it is the right decision.

If your second interview is conducted by the same person who interviewed you the first time, the interviewer is probably either having a difficult time deciding between you and another candidate and wants to gather more information, or the interviewer wants to hire you and just wants to meet with your one last time to ensure it is the right decision before offering you the job.

One person was responsible for prescreening candidates in the first interview, and now other members of the organization need to meet the top candidates.

Second interviews are sometimes held to give other people in an organization an opportunity to meet the applicants. If you were interviewed by a single person during your first interview, you may experience a panel interview for the second interview. The panel interview will give other staff members who would work closely with you an opportunity to meet you and provide input into the hiring decision.

Alternatively, you may meet someone higher in the organization at a second job interview. Some higher level managers let another individual complete initial, screening interviews, and then meet with a few, select candidates during a second interview.

Second Interview Tips - Interview Questions

The type of questions you are asked at a second interview will depend largely on whether you are being interviewed by the same person who interviewed you the first time, or a different person or group of people.

If you are being interviewed by the same person, expect to be asked different questions. The interviewer may ask you to elaborate on a question that was asked in the first interview. In this case, the question is probably particularly important to the interviewer, and he or she may feel that more information beyond what you provided in the first interview is necessary.

You can also expect to be asked questions that give the employer insights into your personality and work style during a second interview. As noted previously, employers are usually confident that you have the skills required to do the job by the time they call you in for a second interview, so second interview questions tend to focus more on personality, work styles and decision making skills.

If you are being interviewed by someone different for your second interview, the second interview questions may be the same as or different from the questions you were asked during the first interview. Sometimes people conducting second interviews will ask a few of the same questions that were asked in the first interview. Sometimes they do this because they just want to hear the answer for themselves, other times they ask the same questions in order to check for consistency; that is, they compare what you said in the first interview to what you say in the second interview to ensure you are consistent. This technique is a way to help determine if a job applicant is giving honest answers.

If some of the questions in your second interview seem to be similar to questions from the first interview, be sure to give a complete, detailed answer (do not assume you don't have to repeat things that you already said in the first interview), and be consistent with the answers you provided in the first interview.

Second Interview Tips - Summary

If you are invited to a second job interview, be happy, you are doing a lot of things right in your job search. Review your notes from your first interview to remind yourself of the questions that were asked and the answers you provided; try to get a sense of what was important to the employer. Be prepared to provide more detailed answers to questions you already answered, and be ready to give work related examples that show your personality will be a good fit for the job and the organization.