How to Handle Unusual Interview Situations

Occasionally, candidates will get to the final interview and discover that the company has hired a third party to conduct the interview. Understandably, these interview situations make candidates a little more nervous….but I have a job interview strategy for you to handle this situation. To successfully navigate a 3rd party interview, you need to uncover the goals of the interviewer.
What’s the most important piece of advice that will help you be successful in this situation?

It’s perfectly acceptable to say to the interviewer, “This is an unusual situation for me. I’ve never had someone from outside the company interview me for a job before. What are your goals for this interview? Did they give you specific areas for you to determine my skill sets in terms of my knowledge or aptitude or client interaction?”

Does that make you nervous? It’s an aggressive question to ask in an interview.

But, think about it this way: If you were asked today to interview a candidate for your company that you currently work for, just to give one more opinion on the candidate, and that candidate asked you a question like that, what would you think?
I would be impressed—because the candidate had enough confidence to ask a difficult question like that, the foresight to understand that if he could uncover what my goal was, then he could make sure he was successful. There’s no negative to that.

So I would encourage you that when you know you’re in an interview that counts, and it’s a different person than you expect who’s conducting the interview (maybe it’s a higher level, or a 3rd party assessment, or whatever), slow down, take a breath, and ask the question: What are your goals for this interview today?

If you can get that answer, you’re going to do great in the interview.