Coaching For A Panel Interview
Public Sector Organisation
Challenge
Coaching preparation for a panel Interview. This individual had a year earlier unsuccessfully interviewed for promotion to the position of Financial Controller. The feedback he received indicated that while his experience & qualifications were satisfactory, at interview he had failed to demonstrate the capacity to strategically integrate some diverse inputs posed.
Now, a year later, the same position has been re-advertised and the individual (more out of courtesy, he believes) is being offered a second interview. He is keen to improve his performance – both to make up for his previous deficiencies and to compete with an even stronger slate of candidates this time.
Torc Response
Torc provided the individual with a battery of interview style questionnaires to ascertain his preferred style for handling questions. The results supported the feedback from the previous interview – ie. a strong inclination to approach questions in isolation, without seeking higher level strategic anchors.
These psychometric tests were followed up with a number of video-recorded interview simulations with a Torc interview coach, deliberately posing a series of seemingly unrelated questions and challenging the individual to discern and speak to the strategic linkages possible – particularly, in terms of some overarching high-level themes currently high on the organisation’s agenda, eg. customer relationship management, marketing insights, knowledge management, change management.
Major elements in this panel interview preparation work were the use of simple mind-mapping techniques to establish visual linkages between disparate questions and the development of a vocabulary that programmed/set up the individual to proffer responses more naturally from a thematic/holistic organisational viewpoint.
Results Achieved
The individual interviewed with a panel comprising: a) the COO, b) the HR Director, c) the Corporate Services Manager and d) an external Finance Specialist.
To everyone’s surprise, and especially to the COO, who could recall the candidate’s previous interview, the individual completely outshone the competition and was offered the position. In providing him with the interview panel’s feedback, the COO remarked that the difference in his performance between the two interviews was like chalk and cheese.
Torc Consulting Group
13 Herbert Place
Dublin 2
D02 YD32
Ireland
Tel: +353 1 662 3020
