Flipping the script in an interview

“Tell us a little bit about yourself” can feel like a stale interview question, especially when they’ve already read your resume! Next time, try flipping the script: respond with, “Would you like to know something that’s not on my resume?” Then share a personal story that ties back to the job and the skills you've gained from it. This approach grabs their attention, builds engagement, and puts you on an even playing field—making the interview more of a conversation, not just an interrogation. Take control of your narrative!

Ask open-ended questions

Instead of overwhelming your interviewee with too many possible answers, ask open-ended questions that invite them to share their expertise. This allows for more insightful and authentic responses, giving you a deeper understanding of their perspective. Keep it simple and let their knowledge shine!

Podcasting

When you're being interviewed for a podcast or any other setting, keep your answers concise and valuable. Don't go on and on—let the interviewer ask their questions and focus on providing short, impactful responses. This keeps the conversation engaging and allows for a smoother flow. Watch this video to learn more...

Top interview tip

Remember your last interview for a job? Despite a really fine resume and plenty of experience, the interviewers seemed difficult and hard to impress? When I prepare physicians for their interviews, I suggest that they speak to their capabilities, not only to their experiences.

So, an “experience” answer might sound like this, “Yes, I have worked to construct 12 ambulatory units for my system.” That is nice but interviewers know that their system is different! Internally they are thinking, “Yes, she may have built them there, but we have different issues here.”

A better answer would be, “Yes, I have worked to construct 12 ambulatory units for my system…and what I learned when I did that was the executive capability not only of consensus building but of a community feeling among the team to unify our efforts and each persons’ unique capability.” This answer will lead to a deeper question, which will enhance your expertise as being like them, their culture, their unique situation. The inner voice then of the interviewer is, “They have what we need…they could solve our problem.”

Never end the answer with what you did; always with what you learned.

Ask extra-ordinary ‘ordinary’ people to be your guest, not just the big kids

Everyone has an expertise; some are not recognized as experts though. Look for interesting people that you are interested in, regardless of their credentials or tenure.

Be spontaneous; no rehearsed questions…never, ever

This allows you to be in conversation mode instead of presentation mode. One of my students recently said this made the biggest difference for her with the experts I invite to my classes at Loyola University of Chicago’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies. By asking personal and professional questions these experts come in with their whole self and not only a piece of their ‘expert-ness’! Keep it human.

The secret sauce!

Give the audience an opportunity at the end to tell the interviewee what they liked, learned, and appreciated about them. I call this the ‘secret sauce’ since it allows the interviewee to understand their impact in a concrete way. If you are the interviewee all you need to say is “thank you!” Always have the audience tell them with you at the end wrapping it up. Even hardnosed experts get very soft hearing their impact in real time.

Give the audience a chance to ask questions

Larry King did this on every show and I’ve often found the audience questions are better! I’ve done this with every interview in every program for the past 30 years and I’m continually impressed by the questions that I had never even thought of. If you are the interviewee, be as honest as you can be. Start by asking their name (this makes it more personal) and then address their question with a ‘thank you’ and their name at the end. This is very useful on radio or live Podcast interviews…personal is always preferred over the anonymous voice.

When you find gold…dig!

Dr. Rudolf Dreikurs advised that a word, a phrase, a pause will often reveal even more below the surface. Ask that next deeper question. If you are the interviewee listen closely to that next question and go as deep as you wish. How would you respond to these?

-          A top administrator says, “I really got this job accidentally”

-          A successful CEO says, “I sleep pretty well except for the times I don’t”

-          A novelist says, “I do love my characters and sometimes to me they are even more real than real ones I meet.”

There’s gold to be found there…so dig!

Be a “dumb nut” …let them be the expert

I try to never assume about jobs, countries, culture, etc. Let the interviewee be the one in the know. If you are the interviewee, be ready to make plain what your country is like, what your job entails, etc. Never assume, even when you are in front of a professional audience that they all understand the same…some are distracted, some wondering when lunch is, and of course many are emailing, or thinking about emailing!

It’s even more fun when you teach the audience something. I was interviewing a professional and the topic of arranged marriages in parts of India came up. I registered some confusion and he said, “Kevin you marry the one you love; we love the one we marry…and you are going to have to do that anyway!” Boom, mic drop moment!

When it gets emotional for the interviewee, go expectantly quiet, and wait

Sometimes an interviewee will choke up discussing their parents, siblings, or an event with deep meaning for them. In this case as the interviewer, just wait. Allow the interviewee to get themselves together…usually only a moment or minute or two. If you are the interviewee, take a deep breath and allow yourself to say what you want. The audience will always, always be on your side. They’ve felt the same way!

Protect your interviewee from the audience member with an attitude

Paraphrasing and an empathic statement can help here to cut the tension. If it is abusive, you as the interviewer need to jump in and respond directly and assertively to the abusive one. Remind them of the purpose of your work today and the way everyone will conduct their work. If you are the interviewee, take a deep breath and paraphrase with some empathy also (this can help defuse and create some connection) and then provide your best answer without the fight and without an attitude. The audience will side with you. One method to diffuse the situation is to ask for the person’s name and then use it in your answer…this creates the human connection versus the hit-and-run experience. Work to understand their deeper question which is often built on fear or hurt.

Do you host a podcast?

Some hosts go on about how much they know the person they are about to interview, where they met, where they work, how great they are, etc. Even the hosts with great reputations do this. One recent well-known host took the first 9 minutes talking about the guest instead of talking to and with the guest. Don’t be that guy! If a host does this to you make your first comments about the audience and the topic instead of more chit-chat about your relationship with the host.

Get right to the good stuff…no need to warm them up

Ask the question your audience is wanting you to get to right away. “Many here wonder if this is a merger or a takeover?” is better than softer questions. Get right to business! If you are the interviewee decide for yourself what you think the audience wants to hear and get it out even if the interviewer is going soft. Address the issue whether it is the elephant in the room or the pesky mosquito in your ear!

Ask one question with one question mark

Even experienced newscasters make the mistake of asking multiple questions, especially on the radio. After their question they continue with “is it about xxx, or is it xxx etc.” Not only does this constrict the interviewee, it can confuse them. Instead ask the question, and then go quiet. It’s their turn, not yours. For example, “What are your thoughts on the situation in the Ukraine?” is a better question than “Do you think we will have to go to war, or engage, or do you think diplomacy will work? I mean is this a Cuban Missile Crisis kind of thing?”  Yikes!! If this happens to you when you are the interviewee you could:

-          Respond by ignoring their prompts (it’s best just not to listen to them)

-          Paraphrase the question again

-          Say “Well actually it is none of those…here is what might be more useful.”

Allow curiosity to be your guide

Don’t feel your questions have to be smart or even informed. Allow your curiosity to be your guide. And know that some audience members are not experts. When someone tells me what they do for a living, I don’t assume that I know. I ask, “If I followed you around all day what would I see you actually doing?” This answer is far more interesting than their title!

Interview the other; don’t interview yourself

Some interviewers go on and on and on about themselves. Nobody cares. Allow your expertise to show through your thoughtful questions. Some interviewees do the same; nobody cares! The interviewer wants to improve their condition; they want YOU to help solve their problem. Your self-bio is the least of what they need. They will patiently wait for the ego to unfold but what they really want is what you’ve got for them, not who you are to yourself.

How to be the #1 interview candidate - Can I see Myself Working with you?

A physician CEO told me that throughout the interview all he was thinking about was what it would be like to work side by side with the candidate. In every interview you attend, know that your answers are important but even more so are your human relations skills, your energy, and your likeability factor. Most candidates are qualified, but only a few (or perhaps only one - you!) know that you have to show the interview panel more than just what’s in your head. They want to know your heart, and they want to get a feel for your leadership, even with them! Connect with their style, their names, their energy and be very attentive to their attention toward you. This is why stories are so vital in your answers. Take them into the story as you answer their question. In doing so you have their attention with their ears, but also with their heart. Don’t just tell them how many ambulatory sites you opened, without first beginning with the story of how your neighbor knocked on your door panicking about living so far away from the emergency room at the hospital.

So…I’m interested, what’s been your experience?

How to be the #1 interview candidate - To thank or not to thank

I get this question all the time: do I thank the interviewer? The answer is “YES!” But definitely not by text. Not by email either. I suggest that a handwritten thank you note will make a memorable impression – it’s so much more than just a thank you. Make it as genuine as you can by considering the following questions:

Did they fully acquaint you with their mission?
Did they take you on a tour, treat you to lunch or dinner?
Did they seem to care about your spouse or family?

Include anything in the thank you note that engages them with a memory of you. I understand this is easier said than done because you’ve not done it before. Write it in advance with a blank section to add the unique message. Have it stamped and ready to go so on your way home it goes right into the mailbox and lands on their desk within two days.

If you want to make it even more effective say something positive and real about their administrative assistant. Nothing pleases a boss more than giving praise to their assistant and you will make that individual’s day as well. Plus, remember that the admin assistant met you as well and the boss always goes to them and says, “What did you think of that one?” Admins can make you the #1 choice!

So…I’m interested, what’s been your experience? What do you think?

How to be the #1 interview candidate - Always End an Answer with...

The worst thing the hiring manager can tell you after an interview is that you were great, but you were #2. This series of ideas is devoted to making you the #1. I’m basing it on my many years of experience working with American Association for Physician Leadership® and American College of Healthcare Executives.

Make sure that any ‘experience’ question is always followed with some form of: ‘and what I learned from that was….” Or “The capability I developed from that experience was….” Or “I was able to discover even more about the skill of ….”

Interviewers like that you have experience, but they see themselves as different. With an experience-only answer, they will silently say to themselves, “Yes that’s nice but we are different.” With the capability answer, they find themselves saying, “That’s what we need!”

So…I’m interested, what’s been your experience? What do you think? What would you add to increase our understanding of this together? And, of course, thank you for reading this!