Second interview

by Mo

How is the second interview different from the first? Should I prepare differently?

Response from Carl: Thanks Mo. The second interview can take all sorts of forms depending on the interviewer and company but in my experience, the second interview generally means that you are one of the people who has been asked back because you are someone the company is interested in, moreso than the people who presumably didn't make it past the first interview stage! So in that regard, you're probably part of the so-called "short list" of candidates for the job.

In terms of what the second interview means and how should you prepare for it, I'd expect that you could be interviewing with a new person (or people), possibly interviewing with senior managers or higher, and will be expected to answer more difficult questions as the company moves to further pare down the list and eliminate undesirable candidates. Sometimes the second interview rehashes some of the things you discussed during the first interview and perhaps an HR person is brought into the mix to get their opinion (although HR often appears during the first interview, too).

To read more about the second interview, check out my second interview page on this site.

Carl