Preparing for a second interview

Submitted by John Doe
in
Career Management

I'm preparing for a second interview and am looking for advice.

During the first interview (phone interview) the interviewer suggested that he liked my philosophy, but was concerned that I hadn't had enough experience managing larger teams.

He's right.. the largest group of people I've managed has been 5 and this job will require managing 20.

Can anyone give me advice for the types of accomplishments that might prove that I'm ready to take responsibility for a larger team?

Submitted by Asterisk RNTT on Sunday December 6th, 2009 6:37 pm

If you got the second interview, the recruiter was probably not that concerned.  You might want to delve into your volunteer life or other non-work life where you have lead some big groups.  Maybe you coached a team or were captain of a team, organized an event, or lead some volunteer committees. 
*RNTT

Submitted by John Doe on Sunday December 6th, 2009 9:13 pm

Good point about him not being that concerned; he said that the things I had done really matched what he wanted to happen.  He was just hoping to get that experience from someone that had also led larger teams.
I can try to pull some examples from other experiences.   But I am also hoping I can say things like "I created a project portfolio management, that helped me assign/schedule work for 5 directs, but would have worked well for much larger teams".    Or.. "I created a build/deploy system that helped add consistency to the development efforts of a 5 person team, but would have scaled to much larger teams."
Does that seem reasonable?  Or too much of a stretch?

Submitted by Asterisk RNTT on Sunday December 6th, 2009 11:12 pm

I think adding that would be similar to answering one of the interview questions by starting "You should....", which is a big no-no as laid out in the interview series.  If you haven't done it, you haven't done it.  Trying to manufacture an accomplishment can get you in trouble.
I am thinking not many people start off having 20 directs, unless you are directing a call centre or kids/adults having paper routes.  It is established that you don't have this exact experience.  Focus on your other significant accomplishments.

Submitted by Wendii Lord on Monday December 7th, 2009 4:27 am

Hi Espresso,

I think *RNTT is right in a couple of ways: one, they wouldn't have invited you to an interview if they didn't think you were at least worth an hour of their time. Often we have 3 candidates we really like and 1 outlier, so it doesn't mean you're a shoe-in, but it does mean you have a chance - and if not for this, for something else. I can't tell you how many times I've interviewed someone, LOVED them, decided their not right for the role I interviewed them for and found them something more suited to their talents/experience. So don't go into this half-heartedly - give it everything you have, because you never know what might happen.

Also, I think concentrating on your accomplishments in the areas he was interested in is a good idea. Make sure you know your answers in these areas very well.

However, I do think that they way you've suggested you answer the questions would work. For example this one: I created a project portfolio management, that helped me assign/schedule work for 5 directs, but would have worked well for much larger teams. You need to be wary of focusing on the things you lack - so don't say it every time you answer a question, but if there is a really obvious gap, then you can add it in - I would suggest no more than twice in an hour's interview though.

Your answer is a bit short too - probably because you didn't want to type lots, but just to be sure, here's a demonstration:

Can you tell me about a time when you've had problems scheduling work for your team?

In my last role I had a team of 5 programmers. At any one time we would have up to 30 projects at various stages of development. In order to schedule their work, I had one of the programmers develop an intranet based scheduling tool. I put in all the requirements data when I reviewed the project with the customer, and then allocated the work according to the programmers availability and the deadlines. It was very flexible and it meant the programmers didn't have to come to me to find out their next assignment - if I was out of the office they could see what was next. We also used it in our team meetings to review our work and for reporting to my boss. We had a plan to automate some of the inputs and scheduling decisions but decided it wasn't necessary to do so for our small team, however it would be easily achieved with a larger team. It's actually quite a simple program and so we were able to give the it a number of other teams to use too.

I hope that helps,

Wendii

Submitted by Matthew Cutler-Welsh on Saturday March 19th, 2011 5:39 am

Hi,
I'm preparing for a second interview this week. I'm keen on some feedback (or comments from Wendii and the team) about how useful the Interview Series would be at this stage, given I've already got to this point. I've heard good reports and am willing to purchase if it's worthwhile.
Cheers,
Matt 

Submitted by Andrew Allred on Saturday March 19th, 2011 12:41 pm

Hi Matt,
I have purchased the interview series, and found it invaluable. 
One thing I have heard from Mark, many many times, is that until you've got something, you've got nothing. So, until you get the offer, why not do all you can to improve your chances?!?
In my opinion, it's worthwhile, and you can't go wrong with it.
Respectfully,
Andy