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Home Blog Presentation Ideas How to Give A Compelling Interview Presentation: Tips, Examples and Topic Ideas

How to Give A Compelling Interview Presentation: Tips, Examples and Topic Ideas

Interview presentations have now become the new norm for most industries. They are popular for sales, marketing, technology, and academic positions. If you have been asked to deliver one for your job interview presentation, prepare to build a strong case for yourself as a candidate.

Giving a general presentation is already daunting. But selling yourself is always the hardest. Spectacular credentials and stellar expertise don’t count much if you cannot present them clearly, which you are expected to do during your interview presentation.

So, let’s prime you up for the challenge. This post is action-packed with job interview PowerPoint presentation examples and will teach you the best way to do a presentation without stressing too much!

Table of Contents

What is an Interview Presentation?

What should an interview presentation look like, how to prepare for a job interview presentation: the basics, define your structure, what slides to include, how to come up with 15-minute interview presentation ideas, how to conclude your interview presentation, how to prepare for an interview: the final tips, what to do at the first interaction with the company elevator pitch for interview, presentation design tips, how to overcome presentation anxiety, tips on maintaining positive body language throughout the presentation, your final act.

An interview presentation, also known as a job interview presentation or interview portfolio, is a formal and structured way for candidates to showcase their skills, qualifications, and suitability for a specific job position during an interview. It goes beyond the typical Q&A format of interviews, allowing candidates to demonstrate their expertise through a prepared presentation. Employers commonly request interview presentations in various industries, such as sales, marketing, technology, academia, and management roles. These presentations serve several important purposes: assessing communication skills, evaluating cultural fit, measuring expertise, analyzing problem-solving skills, and observing presentation skills. While the specific format and requirements of interview presentations vary widely, candidates typically receive guidelines from the employer regarding the topic, duration, and any specific criteria to be addressed. In essence, an interview presentation is an opportunity for candidates to make a compelling case for their candidacy, showcasing their qualifications, experience, and suitability for the job. It requires careful preparation, effective communication, and the ability to engage and persuade the interview panel. A successful interview presentation can significantly enhance a candidate’s chances of securing the desired position.

Think of your interview presentation as a sales pitch.

Your goal is to convince the human resources team that you are the best candidate. The kick here is that you will present to a warm audience – you already impressed them enough with your resume to be called in for an interview. We recommend generating a strategy and presentation based on a 30 60 90 Day Plan .

Employers request interview presentations for a few simple reasons:

To assess your communication and public speaking skills.
To understand whether you are the right cultural fit for the company.
To develop a better sense of how well-versed you are in the domain .

So, your first job is ensuring your presentation fits the criteria. Review the company’s job description again and jot down all the candidate requirements. Take the time to read about their company values and mission. Be proactive and ask precisely what you should cover during your presentation.

Most interview presentations will differ in content and style, but here’s a quick example to give you more context:

[ Use This Template ]

Before you get elbow-deep in designing that PowerPoint for a job interview presentation, do some scouting and reach out to the HR team with a few questions.

You want your presentation to be on-point and technically accurate, so ask your contact the following:

How long should an interview presentation be? Fifteen minutes is the golden standard, though some employers may ask to cut it down to just 10 minutes or extend it to 20-25.
Who exactly will be present? A conversational presentation would undoubtedly be welcomed by your peers and a team leader but may appear too casual for the senior managers or board of directors.
Does the HR team have a particular agenda in mind? Ask some leading questions to understand what kind of skills/experience they want you to demonstrate. If needed, use a proper agenda slide to include your content.
What’s the IT setup? Should you bring your laptop? Do you need an adapter to connect to their projector? What kind of presentation software have they installed – PowerPoint, Keynote, Google Slides?

Everyone appreciates clarity.

In fact, 89% of professionals state their ability to communicate with clarity directly impacts their career and income.

Your presentation should flow, not rumble. Make sure that your story is easy to follow and your key message is easy to digest, remember, and pass on. If you want people to retain your main points, opt for the following structure:

3D Ladder with arrow PowerPoint infographic

Source: this infographic was created with 3 Steps Editable 3D Ladder Infographic

Here’s an interview presentation example styled in this fashion.

What is: The company’s presence in the Middle East is low. Only 15% of revenues come from the top markets.

Why this matters: The UAE fashion market alone is expected to grow at a CAGR of 21% during the next five years.

What could be: I have helped my previous employer open a flagship store in Dubai, have a lot of industry contacts, and am familiar with the local legislature. Your brand can expect a 17% revenue growth within one year of opening.

You can find even more ideas for designing your presentations in this post .

The choice of slides will largely depend on whether you are asked to talk about yourself or present on some task that you will be required to do as part of your job (e.g., create marketing campaigns).

Most interview presentation templates feature the following slides:

Opening Slide
Quick Bio/Personal Summary
Career Path
Education timeline
Key Skills and Expertise
Case studies/examples of the problems you have solved at your past jobs
Your vision for your future role.
What exactly can you bring in as the candidate (we will come back to this one later on!)

Can’t figure out where to start? Check out our AI PowerPoint generator to create an entire interview slide deck in a couple of clicks, or just download a job interview template . Swipe down to learn from the either of the following job interview presentation samples.

Typically, a talent acquisition team will suggest broad interview presentation topics for you. For example, if you are applying for a sales position, they may ask you to develop a sales presentation for some product (real or imaginary).

Some employers will request a short presentation about you or your hobbies to understand whether you are a good “fit” for the team and share the company’s values. Remember this: your audience will be assessing your aptitude for the role, no matter which topic you were given.

In fact, the interviewers at this point don’t care that much about your experience and skills. They want to know how you can apply those to solve the company’s pressing problems – meet sales targets, improve ROI from social media marketing or help them earn more revenue.

Your job is to make an educated guess… predict the most wrenching problem, and pitch your “magic pill” during your interview presentation.

I know what you are thinking – but how do I find the right opportunity/problem to tackle?

Businesses across different industries pretty much struggle with the same generic challenges related to either of the following:

Your topic should clearly address one of these areas and offer a potential roadmap for solving some specific problem within it.

Let’s say that you are applying for a sales role. Clearly, you will want to tackle the “customer audience” set of problems. To refine your idea, ask yourself the following questions:

Can you think of a new customer segment the company should target? Who are they, what do they want, and how you can help the company reach them?
Do you have a network or experience to identify and pitch new clients?
Can you think of new collaboration opportunities the company could use to attract a whole new niche of customers?

So a sample job interview presentation about yourself should include a series of Problem & Solution Slides , showing exactly how you will address that issue if the company hires you.

Here’s another PowerPoint presentation about yourself for job interview example worth using – incorporate a case study slide, showing how you have successfully solved a similar problem for your past employer.

Wrap up your presentation by laying out the key steps the company needs to take. Give an estimate of how much time it will take to tackle the problem, and what changes/investments should be made.

Your conclusion should tell this: “Hire me and I will solve this problem for you in no time!”.

How to Prepare for an Interview: The Final Tips

Source: StockSnap

Dial-Up Your Power

Take a deep breath and strike a “power pose” before you enter the room.

According to her research, power posers performed better during interviews and were more likely to get hired. Another study also proved this theory: unaware judges gave major preference to the power-primed applicants. So yes, pep talks do work!

The first 30 Seconds Count The Most

What you do and say in the first 30 seconds will make the most impact. Psychological research shows that listeners form opinions about your personality and intelligence in the first 30 seconds of the interview. So be sure to start with a compelling opening, framing exactly how you want to be perceived.

Try To Appear Similar to the Interviewer

Lauren Rivera, a professor from Kellogg School, came to the conclusion that interviewers tend to hire “people like them” .

Even the top human resource management folks fall for this bias and tend to base their evaluations on how similar a candidate is to them, instead of trying to decide whether the person’s skill set is ideal for the position. So to be liked, you will have to act relatable.

Back up your statements with facts

To deliver a presentation with a bang, you can make use of pre-analyzed facts to support your hypothesis. Make sure to do your homework, study the company and its competitive landscape, and do the professional work you would have done as a member of the company crew. At some point in your interview presentation, you go “off the script”, and pull out a bunch of documents, supporting your statements.

For example, you can give away a quick plan indicating a number of things the employer could do today to save money, even if they don’t hire you. Make sure to be meticulous; your work will speak for you. But giving away this work will show the employer your commitment, skills, and focus.

And that’s exactly how to make your job interview presentation stand out. Most candidates just ramble about their skills and past career moves. You bring specificity and proof to the platter, showing exactly what makes you a great hire fair and square.

Within a selection process, there are many interactions (interviews and dynamics) that you must successfully complete in order to be the next selected candidate. One of your objectives in this first interaction should be to generate a great first impression in the company. For this, we recommend using the Elevator Pitch for Interview technique.

The Elevator Pitch for Interview will allow you to present yourself in a solid and professional way in less than 60 seconds, in order to generate an outstanding first impression.

What is an Elevator Pitch for an Interview?

The Elevator Pitch is a condensed speech about yourself that aims to generate engagement in no more than 60 seconds. Entrepreneurs widely use this type of speech to persuade investors and job seekers in job interviews. Your Elevator Pitch for the Interview will generate a great first impression to the employer and be better positioned than other candidates. If your goal is to make a convincing presentation in a job interview, your Elevator Pitch needs to be well crafted.

How to Make an Elevator Pitch for an Interview

There are many ways and tips to make an excellent Elevator Pitch for a job interview. This section provides you with essential advice to make your interview more convincing.

Identify your target

You need to know to whom you are presenting yourself. Is it a recruiter? or an executive?. Your Elevator Pitch will change depending on the receiver.

Comprehend the needs of the hiring company

Make an advanced study about the search requirements for the job position. Identify your strengths. Highlight them. Demonstrate your experience. Identify your weaknesses. Show that you have a profile that seeks constant improvement

Create a clear, concise, and truthful Elevator Pitch

This point is critical. Your Elevator Pitch must be clear, concise, genuine, and impactful. Go from less to more. Generate a real hook in your audience. Try not to go off-topic or talk too much, and be brief in everything you want to say.

Speak naturally and confidently

If you can speak fluently and naturally, you can show a confident profile. Show you know what you are talking about and what you want.

Elevator Pitch Example for Job Seekers

This section illustrates an Elevator Pitch Example targeted to Recruiters. It will help you put together your own.

“My name is [NAME]. After graduating with a degree in Business Administration, I have spent the last five years accumulating professional experience as a Project Assistant and Project Manager. I have successfully managed intangible products’ planning, strategy, and launch these past few years. I was excited to learn about this opportunity in Big Data – I’ve always been passionate about how technology and the use of information can greatly improve the way we live. I would love the opportunity to bring my project management and leadership skills to this position.”

Ways to avoid common mistakes in your Elevator Pitch

Keep in mind the following points to avoid making mistakes in your Elevator Pitch for an Interview.

Don’t hurry to make your Elevator Pitch

The Elevator Pitch lasts approximately 60 seconds. Do it on your own time and naturally, as long as you make it clear and concise.

Do not always use the same Elevator Pitch for all cases

One recommendation is not to repeat the same Elevator Pitch in all your interviews. Make changes. Try new options and ways of saying the information. Try different versions and check with your experience which generates more engagement and persuasion.

Make it easy to understand

Articulate your pitch as a story. Think that the person in front of you does not know you and is interested in learning more about your profile. Don’t make your Elevator Pitch challenging to appear more sophisticated. Simply generate a clear and easy-to-understand narrative, where all the data you tell is factual and verifiable.

Don’t forget to practice it

Practice is the key to success. Your Elevator Pitch for Interview will become more professional, convincing, and natural with practice.

How to End an Elevator Pitch?

An essential aspect of ending an Elevator Pitch for an Interview is demonstrating interest and passion for the position. You have already presented yourself and established that you have the necessary background for the job. Closing with phrases revealing passion and attitude will help reinforce your pitch.

We recommend you use expressions such as:

“I have always been interested and curious about the area in which the company operates, and it would be a great challenge for me to be able to perform in this position.”

“I have been interested in moving into your company for a while, and I love what your team is doing in IT.”

“I would like to advance my career with an employer with the same values. I know that thanks to my profile and experience, I can make excellent contributions to your company.”

Keep It Visual: Use visuals like images, graphs, and charts to convey your points effectively. Visuals can make complex information more accessible and engaging. Consistency Matters: Maintain a consistent design throughout your presentation. Use the same fonts, color schemes, and formatting to create a cohesive look. Practice Timing: Be mindful of the allotted time for your presentation. Practice to ensure you can comfortably cover your content within the time limit. Engage the Audience: Incorporate elements that engage the audience, such as questions, anecdotes, or real-world examples. Interaction keeps the interview panel interested. Use White Space: Avoid cluttered slides. Use white space to create a clean and uncluttered design that enhances readability.

Presenting during a job interview can be nerve-wracking. Here are some strategies to overcome presentation anxiety:

Practice: Practice your presentation multiple times, ideally in front of a friend or mentor. The more you rehearse, the more confident you’ll become.
Visualization: Visualize yourself by giving a successful presentation. Imagine yourself speaking confidently and engaging the audience.
Breathing Techniques: Deep breathing can help calm nerves. Take slow, deep breaths before and during your presentation to reduce anxiety.
Positive Self-Talk: Replace negative thoughts with positive affirmations. Remind yourself of your qualifications and the value you bring to the role.
Focus on the Message: Concentrate on delivering your message rather than dwelling on your anxiety. Remember that the interviewers want to learn about your skills and experiences.
Arrive Early: Arrive at the interview location early. This gives you time to get comfortable with the environment and set up any technical equipment you use.

Maintain Good Posture: Stand or sit up straight with your shoulders back. Good posture conveys confidence and attentiveness. Make Eye Contact: Establish and maintain eye contact with your audience to show confidence and engagement. Use Open Gestures: Employ open gestures, like open palms and expansive arm movements, to convey enthusiasm and openness. Smile and Show Enthusiasm: Genuine smiles and enthusiastic facial expressions demonstrate passion and eagerness. Control Nervous Habits: Be mindful of nervous habits like tapping or fidgeting, which can distract your audience and convey anxiety.

Stop fretting and start prepping for your interview presentation. You now have all the nitty-gritty presentation tips to ace that interview. If you are feeling overwhelmed with the design part, browse our extensive gallery of PowerPoint templates and cherry-pick specific elements ( diagrams , shapes , and data charts ) to give your interview presentation the top visual appeal.

Here you can see some 100% editable templates available on SlideModel that could be useful for preparing an interview presentation.

1. Versatile Self-Introduction PowerPoint Template

Use This Template

2. Professional Curriculum Vitae PowerPoint Template

This a sample of PowerPoint presentation template that you can use to present a curriculum and prepare for a job interview presentation. The PPT template is compatible with PowerPoint but also with Google Slides.

3. Modern 1-Page Resume Template for PowerPoint

4. Multi-Slide Resume PowerPoint Template

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One Response to “How to Give A Compelling Interview Presentation: Tips, Examples and Topic Ideas”

By Mike Simpson

UPDATED 6/3/2022

Few things in life feel as fantastic as walking out of a first interview knowing you nailed it. When you’re initially invited in for a second interview, you’re usually flying high. Then it hits you; you’re about to face off against second interview questions, and those may be harder to tackle.

Fortunately, the strategies you used to prep for your first-round interview will help you here, too. In the end, preparation is the key, and with the right second interview tips, you’ll be good to go. If you want to make sure that second-round interview questions don’t trip you up, here’s what you need to know.

What Is a Second Interview?

Before we dig into any 2 nd interview questions, let’s talk about what a second interview is and what it’s for.

First, it’s important to understand that second interviews are common. According to Indeed , many companies require two (if not three) interview rounds for mid-level positions and up. However, some entry-level jobs may have more than one interview round, depending on the role, number of applicants, and other details.

When it comes to what a second interview is like, it isn’t wholly unlike a first one. The only exception is if the second round is a technical interview , where the process is more like an exam or presentation than a classic question-and-answer.

You’ll sit down with an interviewer, answer questions, and aim to make a great impression. However, where things end up a bit different is usually the kinds of questions you’ll face.

In most cases, a first-round interview is a basic “getting to know you” style meeting. Once the second one rolls around, it’s about diving deeper.

Essentially, the interviewer isn’t going to focus on figuring out your general personality or getting an overview of your experience. Instead, you’ll face highly specific and technical questions designed to find out if you’ve got the skills necessary to thrive in this specific role.

Additionally, instead of meeting with a hiring manager, you might be sitting across from a department head or other higher-ups. There might even be a potential coworker or two present if the company opts for a panel approach.

What to Expect from a Second Interview

As mentioned above, second interview questions aren’t going to include many classics like “ Tell me about yourself ” or “ What is your greatest strength ?” Instead, it’s far more focused on the nuances of the job, typically involving more technical questions and highly specific behavioral questions that relate strongly to the role.

It’s also crucial to understand that second interviews may come in different formats. There’s a chance you’ll be attending a classic one-on-one. However, you may also encounter a panel interview .

With a panel interview, you’ll be across from a group of people who are all interviewing you. That could include several members of the leadership team or a manager and some team members.

In most cases, panel interviews feel more intimidating, but they shouldn’t be. You’ll be answering the same kinds of questions, and the answers you prepared still work. All you need to do is embrace one of the biggest second interview tips for this kind of meeting: balance out the eye contact between the participants.

Instead of maintaining eye contact with one interviewer, you’ll want to cycle between the entire panel. That way, you’re engaging every member, which makes a better impression.

In rare cases, a second interview may end up being a group interview . With this, you’re not the only candidate in the room. Instead, there are several job seekers in the meeting together, answering the same questions and potentially engaging directly with one another along the way.

Usually, group interviews are more about exploring potential team dynamics, so they’re more common for companies filling several similar positions all at once. Additionally, there more popular as an initial screening technique, so they aren’t common for second interviews. Still, it can happen, so it’s wise to prepare, just in case.

In fact we wanted to let you know that we created an amazing free cheat sheet that will give you word-for-word answers for some of the toughest interview questions you are going to face in your upcoming interview. After all, hiring managers will often ask you more generalized interview questions along with their admin assistant specific questions!

Click below to get your free PDF now:

Get Our Job Interview Questions & Answers Cheat Sheet!

FREE BONUS PDF CHEAT SHEET: Get our " Job Interview Questions & Answers PDF Cheat Sheet " that gives you " word-word sample answers to the most common job interview questions you'll face at your next interview .

CLICK HERE TO GET THE JOB INTERVIEW QUESTIONS CHEAT SHEET

How to Prepare for a Second Interview

So, how do you prepare for the level of scrutiny and intensity that often comes with a second interview? Well, by using the right strategy, of course.

At this point, you’ve likely learned a bit more about the company and job thanks to the initial interview. However, you also want to keep digging, learning as much as you can about the company’s products, services, and culture. Why? Because there’s a good chance you’ll face questions that focus on those areas.

Additionally, you want to find out as much as you can about the job itself. If you asked the right questions at the end of your first interview , you might know quite a bit more about daily life in the position, expectations for the new hire, and upcoming major projects, giving you a solid starting point. If not, then you’ll want to do what you can to get that information.

Begin by reading through the job description several times. Get online and look for reviews from professionals who held the role. Check out LinkedIn to find people who have or held the job previously, using their work history as a guide.

That helps you tailor your answers to the job itself, increasing the odds you’ll impress.

After that, you need to find new examples that highlight any must-have capabilities. Yes, the answers you gave in the first round aren’t necessarily reusable, especially if the original interviewer is going to be in this meeting, too.

Fresh material helps you show that your skills run deep. Since that’s the case, reflect on your work history and experience to identify new tidbits to share.

Once you know a few points you’ll want to discuss, you can start reviewing lists of second-round interview questions and working them into answers. That way, you’re ready for whatever the interviewers may throw at you.

1. Describe your ideal workday.

This prompt might seem simple, but answering it is surprisingly tricky. You don’t just want to talk about what you’d like to see in a workday. Instead, you want to make sure your answer lines up with the realities of the job you’re trying to land as much as possible.

By creating alignment, it makes it clear that you’re comfortable with what the position involves. That makes you seem like a right-fit candidate far more than if you’re speaking off the cuff.

EXAMPLE ANSWER:

“My ideal workday involves a fix of activities. I like to balance challenging projects with duties I handle regularly. That helps me stay engaged, ensuring I’m at my best no matter what kind of tasks I’m tackling. Plus, it creates opportunities to learn, grow, and collaborate while also allowing me to put my current skills to work and take on tasks independently.

“One thing I particularly enjoy is a ‘warm-up’ and ‘cool-down’ at work. For example, I prefer to spend the first 15 minutes of the day sorting through email, as that allows me to review any critical messages before I begin tackling tasks. Then, I like to spend the last 15 minutes of the day preparing for the next workday, creating a to-do list, gathering materials, and otherwise setting myself up for success. It’s an approach I used at my last job, and I found it was very effective, allowing me to boost my productivity dramatically.”

2. How does this job fit into your broader career plan?

This is a modified version of the “ Where do you see yourself in five years ?” interview question; it’s simply more pointed. The interviewer wants to know that the job fits with your goals, as that increases the odds that you’d stay long-term if chosen.

Ideally, you want to clearly discuss your vision for your career and draw a direct connection between that and the job you’re trying to land. That gives the interviewer peace of mind, potentially making you seem like a stronger fit.

“At this time, my primary career goal is to secure a management position in the coming years. In previous roles, I did have opportunities to hone my leadership skills, mainly through spearheading the occasional project in between my efforts as an individual contributor. Since this job focuses on project management, it will let me spend more time putting my leadership skills to work along with improving my capabilities.

“Additionally, your company has a reputation for supporting the growth and development of its employees. That, coupled with the project management duties, makes me optimistic that this job wouldn’t just align with my career goals, but is a clear way to ensure they become a reality.”

3. What are your salary expectations?

This one if far more common as one of the 2 nd interview questions than a first-round one, mainly because the company is likely getting close to a hiring decision. Since that’s the case, you want to be ready. After all, the money talk can be a bit awkward, especially if you aren’t prepared.

First, you want to know how to negotiate a salary in general. Next, you want to take that knowledge and apply it to the specific question. Luckily, we’ve taken a deep dive into the “ What are your salary expectations ?” question before, so you can look there to get a ton of helpful tips.

After that, it’s simply cultivating a strong response. Here’s an example:

“That’s a great question. Based on what I’ve learned about the job so far, I was able to research norms for similar positions in the area. Using the duties and responsibilities you’ve mentioned in the job ad and during interviews and the associated job title, it’s clear that a salary in the $50,000 to $60,000 range is typical for this industry here. Is that in line with what your company plans to offer?”

47 More Second-round Interview Questions

Here are 47 more second interview questions you might encounter:

Would you like to revisit anything from your previous interview?
How would you describe your technical capabilities?
Why do you believe that you’re the best candidate for the job?
How would you describe our company’s products or services to someone who’s unfamiliar with our offerings?
Describe your ideal job.
Can you describe your ideal manager?
How would you describe your ideal work environment?
Now that you’ve learned more about the job, has your perception of the opportunity changed?
Tell me how you would apply your skills to handle [duty associated with the role]?
Describe a time when a recommendation you made at work led to a meaningful change.
What is the most difficult decision you’ve ever had to make at work?
Tell me about a time when you failed on the job and weren’t able to recover quickly.
Describe your ideal work environment.
Describe your nightmare work environment.
Looking back, if you could change one thing about your career, what would it be, and why?
Can you tell me about a difficult workplace relationship from your past? What occurred, and if you had a chance to handle the situation differently, would you?
If you had the opportunity to make one change at your current (or last) job that would increase the company’s odds of success, what would you change?
What qualities do you like to find in coworkers?
Walk me through a typical day at your last job.
Have you ever been asked to do something at work that you believe was unethical?
If you were hired, what would you do in your first 90 days to ensure you reached full productivity quickly?
What are the first three things that you would do if you were hired into this position?
How would you describe the role you fill when you’re part of a team?
What motivates you to be your best at work?
If a colleague was falling short of their goals, how would you help them succeed?
Tell me about a time when you made a mistake at work that negatively impacted a colleague or client.
Have you previously received negative feedback during a performance review?
How do you remain organized on the job?
What’s the most important thing you’ve learned from your past roles?
Is there anything about your field that you find frustrating?
How do you stay on top of industry trends and new developments?
What strategies would you use to manage a challenging workload?
Have you ever worked with a difficult team? What was that experience like?
How do you think you’ll set yourself apart in this role?
What initially drew you to this role? Is that still the main reason you’re interested?
Have you learned anything about this company or job during the interview that makes you doubt whether you’re a good fit?
What actions have you taken in the past to support the success of teammates?
What do you bring to the table that will make this team better?
How have your weaknesses hindered you on the job?
If you aren’t selected for this job, what will you do next?
If we asked your current (or last) manager to tell us about your greatest achievement while working for them, what would they share?
Would you describe yourself as a team player? Would your current or former coworkers describe you differently?
Describe your ideal onboarding experience.
Tell me about a time when you had to work closely with a coworker you disliked. How did you make it work?
How do you keep yourself centered and focused at work when dealing with a stressful task?
In your own words, what is an employee-centric culture?
Were you ever asked to step up as a leader but chose not to? If so, why did you decline?

10 Questions to Ask in a Second Interview

An interview is a two-way street. That means, when you get a chance to ask the interviewer some questions, take advantage of the opportunity to learn more about the job, the company culture, or anything else pertinent.

If you aren’t sure where to begin, here are ten questions to ask in a second interview.

Is there an orientation process for new hires?
How would you describe your management style?
What is the greatest challenge the new hire faces?
Is there potential for professional growth with the company?
How is the department structured?
What are the daily duties and responsibilities of the position?
What are your expectations for this position? What are the company’s expectations?
Do you anticipate that this role will change in the next five years? If so, how do you envision it evolving?
Is there anything preventing me from being your top choice candidate?
What are the next steps in the hiring process? Is there a timeframe for a hiring decision?

Putting It All Together

Ultimately, dealing with second interviews – and second interview questions – is tough. Luckily, by reviewing the information above, you can be ready. Use all of the second interview tips listed to your advantage. That way, you can show the interviewer exactly why you’re an exceptional candidate.

FREE : Second Interview Question PDF Cheat Sheet

Ok the next thing you should do is download our "Second Interview Question Cheat Sheet ".

In it you'll get:

5 of the most common second interview questions you could face
Professional-sounding example answers for each question that you can model your answers after

With this amazing cheat sheet you'll be pretty much ready for anything you'll face in your second interview!

Click Here To Get The Second Interview Questions Cheat Sheet

Co-Founder and CEO of TheInterviewGuys.com. Mike is a job interview and career expert and the head writer at TheInterviewGuys.com.

His advice and insights have been shared and featured by publications such as Forbes , Entrepreneur , CNBC and more as well as educational institutions such as the University of Michigan , Penn State , Northeastern and others.

Learn more about The Interview Guys on our About Us page .

About The Author

Mike simpson.

Co-Founder and CEO of TheInterviewGuys.com. Mike is a job interview and career expert and the head writer at TheInterviewGuys.com. His advice and insights have been shared and featured by publications such as Forbes , Entrepreneur , CNBC and more as well as educational institutions such as the University of Michigan , Penn State , Northeastern and others. Learn more about The Interview Guys on our About Us page .

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28 Common Second Round Interview Questions

By Biron Clark

Published: December 5, 2023

If you’re preparing for a second job interview, you’re in the right place.

I’m going to share the top second round interview questions… based on my experience as a recruiter .

You’re also going to get tips for answering and the common variations for each question so that you’re fully-prepared and NEVER caught off-guard in the interview!

By the end of this article, you’ll be confident and ready to win the job!

Here are the top questions to expect in your second interview…

Can you walk me through your resume?

This is one of the first questions you’ll likely hear. They may also ask, “What can you tell me about yourself?”

In both cases, they want to learn about you as a professional, so this isn’t the time to share personal facts.

Keep your answer brief and go chronologically through your career, talking about what you feel is most important and relevant to this job you’re interviewing for!

Note that it’s okay to start mid-way through your career if you feel the start of your career is no longer relevant! This is a good option if you’re an older worker with more experience. For example, you could begin by saying, “Well, I’ve been a Manager for the past 10 years…”

That’s how you could begin at a mid-point in your career!

No matter what, you should think of this as a highlight reel, not a chance to talk for five minutes and share every single thing you’ve done. Your total answer should be one to two minutes maximum!

In your answer, explain:

Relevant positions you’ve held
Key career moves you’ve made and why
Big accomplishments/key projects

I also like to end my answer by explaining what I’m looking for next in my career. For example, you could conclude by saying:

“And right now, I’m looking to make the step up to a Senior Manager or Director position, so that’s why I applied for this role. I saw on the job description that you need someone with an extensive background in ___, so I felt this could be a great potential fit.”

Also, bring a few copies of your resume to every interview. That will help you when giving your answer, and you’ll have extra copies to hand out to any interviewers who need it!

What were you responsible for in your last job?

This is one of the most common questions you’ll hear in any second interview.

Be ready to explain your key responsibilities and accomplishments over the past few years, and always think about the job you’re interviewing for so you can highlight the pieces of your work that are most relevant to this employer!

For example, if you supervised and trained a few people in your last job, but it was only 20% of your duties, you should still mention that VERY early in your answer if you’re interviewing for a Supervisor or Manager position now! (Because leadership is important in this next role!)

Employers may also ask you, “What was your greatest achievement?”

So review what you accomplished and did in your most recent job. Maybe it’s been a while since you reviewed the results you got for the company. You want to be ready to give a clear, confident answer when asked, so practice ahead of time.

Also expect similar questions in your second interview, like, “What did a typical day at your previous job look like?” or, “How did you measure job performance?”

Why do you want to work here?

Next, if you’re meeting this interviewer for the first time, they’re probably going to ask about why you’re interested in this particular job.

So before your second interview, review the job description and think about one or two reasons that you would enjoy the position.

What seems most attractive about the role? What about this job fits your goals? And what can you learn or do here that excites you?

The bottom line is: In the second round, you’re almost certain to face questions about why you want to work with them, and saying, “I just need a job,” isn’t good enough!

Everyone who applied needs a job, and employers often get 100 applicants, so they’re looking for more in the second round interview.

They may also ask, “What are you looking for in your next position?” That’s another common second interview question to expect.

If you hear this, be ready to name specific things you’re targeting in your next role. And make sure these are opportunities offered by the job you’re discussing! Otherwise, you might cost yourself the job offer.

Also, be ready for, “What do you know about the company?”

This is a common question that you could hear in any round of the interview process.

How do you make decisions?

This is a question that’s especially common in a second interview. In this second round, they’re trying to dive deeper into your behaviors and personality.

In general, when the hiring manager asks, “how do you make decisions?” they want to see that you’re calm and logical in your decision-making. So it’s best to show them that you follow a calm, logical process.

For example, you could say you weigh the likely outcomes and risks in a decision, and then choose the action that you feel will bring the best estimated result.

It’s not always possible to know how a decision will turn out, but the employer will feel a lot more comfortable hiring you and working with you if you show them that you try to make your best estimate/analysis!

What type of work environment do you prefer?

The first interview is mostly about your skills and figuring out if you can do the job. In a second round interview, you’ll start to see more questions like this one… designed to find out what you enjoy and how you’ll fit in with the team if they hire you.

So to prepare for this question, research the employer and determine what type of environment they seem to offer. Is it more relaxed or formal? Is it a large corporation or small start-up? Etc.

You can view the company website, Facebook page, Instagram, YouTube channel, and more to gather this info.

Then, try to give an answer that shows you’ll fit in with their environment and enjoy the work they offer. That’s going to go a long way toward making a hiring manager feel comfortable about hiring you in a second interview.

For more help, read full example answers to, “what type of work environment do you prefer?” here.

What are your strengths and what do you need to improve?

Next in a company’s list of second round interview questions , they’ll likely dig further into your skillset and technical abilities.

They established you could do the basics of the job in the first interview but now they want to know more.

They’ll ask about your greatest strengths and weaknesses.

And you’re also likely to be asked, “What do you need to improve?”

So to prepare, think about an area you’re trying to get better in, but make sure it’s not an area that’s crucial to this job on day one! For example, you don’t want to say your customer communication needs improvement if you’re interviewing for a customer service job.

However, you could say that you’re working on your leadership right now because you hope to move up to the Manager level eventually. That would be a good answer to this question!

Just be ready to give an example of how you’re working to improve in this area, since they may ask a follow-up question about this, too.

What motivates you?

Next, the interviewer will likely want to know what drives you and motivates you in general. And they want to hear something other than money.

Sure — hiring managers know that everyone comes to work to earn a paycheck.

But you get paid once every two weeks in the typical job, so they also want to know what’s going to motivate you on all those other days!

When things get tough or you face a challenge and you’re not getting paid again for a week and a half, they want to know how mentally tough and resilient you’re going to be that day!

So come up with something aside from money that drives you in your career and motivates you to do good work in your job!

Why did you leave your last job?

If you’re not currently working, employers are likely to ask about why you left your last position.

Don’t let your guard down even if you heard this in the first interview or phone interview, either… because if you’re talking to a new person in this second job interview, you could hear the same question again!

And if you’re currently working, be ready to answer, “Why are you looking to leave your current company?”

Don’t ever badmouth, though! It’s best to focus on the positive things you hope to gain next by switching jobs! I like to say:

“I learned a lot in my current role, but I feel it’s time for a change in order to expose myself to new challenges and continue growing in my career.”

(This answer works best if you’ve been in your current company for at least one to two years, though!)

What are your career goals?

Employers don’t just want to hire candidates for a few weeks or months (assuming this is a full-time, permanent position). They want someone who’s going to stay for a few years ideally.

It costs money and time to hire you and train candidates, so they see it as a pretty big loss/setback if you leave within the first 12 months. (That’s not their goal for how long you’ll stay; that’s just the minimum they’re hoping for!)

So one of the second interview questions they’ll ask a candidate is, “What are your career goals,” or, “Where do you see yourself in a few years?”

The most important thing to know here: They’re trying to confirm that their job fits your long-term goals. If their job seems unrelated to the career you say you want long-term, they’re unlikely to hire you.

They know you’ll be more motivated and stay longer if you’re learning skills that fit your bigger goals.

You may also hear this interview question in a final round interview with a CEO or other Executive, so be prepared for that, too.

Describe your ideal manager

You’ll typically hear this question when talking directly with the hiring manager (which usually happens in the second round).

The recruiter or HR person from the first interview told them that you have the basic skills for the job, but one thing the hiring manager wants to know is whether the two of you will work well together!

So that’s why they ask you to describe your ideal boss.

I recommend giving an answer that indicates you can work with a variety of managers. For example:

“I’ve worked under close supervision in the past, but also under managers who checked in very rarely and gave me a lot of freedom to operate. I did well in both types of roles and don’t feel I need one management style or the other to thrive. Do you fall into one of those categories more than the other as a Manager?”

Or, if you’re sure of this hiring manager’s style, you can be bolder and say that you enjoy working with managers of that style.

For example:

“I like a manager who gives me a lot of freedom and autonomy. I like to make decisions and be able to challenge myself and grow, which I do best under that type of leadership.”

But don’t say this if you’re unsure what type of leader this hiring manager is, or it could cost you the job!

For more answer examples, read this article.

How do you handle conflicts at work?

Be ready for questions about conflict and disagreements in your second round job interview.

They may ask you to describe how you handle conflicts in general, or they may ask a behavioral question, like, “Tell me about a time you disagreed with a coworker. How did you handle it?”

Your goal here is to show that you’re able to stay calm and think logically, and never take things personally or get emotional during a work disagreement.

Show that you keep the company’s needs in mind and that you’re willing to listen to the other person, compromise, and do what’s best for the company.

If a hiring manager hears this, they’re going to feel a lot more comfortable hiring you!

As a side note, the second round interview is where you’ll hear most behavioral interview questions in general. (Although some employers ask these questions throughout the interview process).

So prepare for behavioral questions like these, too:

Tell me about a time you were under a lot of pressure at work. How did you handle it?
How do you handle stress?
Tell me about a time you had to make a quick decision without all of the necessary info.
Tell me about a time when you failed. What happened?

How would your past coworkers describe you?

This is another second interview question designed to dig deeper into your personality and work style.

To prepare, think about some positive things that coworkers would say about you, and why.

The “why” is important, because the hiring manager is very likely to follow up and ask this!

So whatever you choose to say, make sure you have reasons to back it up.

Here’s a good example answer:

“My coworkers would describe me as someone who’s strong at problem-solving and who stays calm under pressure. In my last job, our team leader was out with a serious illness for a week, and we ran into a couple of last-minute issues during a big product launch. I stayed late every night, delegated tasks to the other team members, and made sure the launch went smoothly.”

More answers to “How would your coworkers describe you?”

Are you a leader or a follower?

Next, you’re likely to hear a second interview question like, “Are you a leader or a follower?”

Employers ask this to learn more about your work style and your long-term potential in the company.

If a job involves direct leadership or project management, they may also ask, “What is your leadership style?”

Now let’s talk about how to answer…

If you’re interviewing for an individual contributor role, it’s fine to say you’ve worked mostly (or only) as an individual contributor and that you enjoy this type of job. But if you do have aspirations to lead, it’s fine to say so! Just make sure you sound excited about the core responsibilities of the job you’ve applied for, too!

Example scenario (with a BIG mistake to avoid):

If you’re interviewing for a customer service representative job, you don’t want to say that you’re only taking the position because you eventually want to lead a team.

If you do this, the hiring manager is going to wonder whether you’ll be motivated to do the day-to-day work in this role.

So it’s much better to say:

“In the long term, I’d love to take on more leadership, however, I’m also comfortable working as part of a team. In the past, I’ve enjoyed individual contributor roles within customer service so I feel this role would be a good fit.”

Always remember: Hiring managers are thinking about their immediate needs. They want someone who’s motivated to take THIS job. They don’t just want someone who’s passionate about the company, or hard-working in general. They posted this job because they have specific work that needs to get done!

More Second Interview Preparation Steps

After you review these common second round interview questions above, make sure to prepare a few questions to ask the employer!

Companies always prefer to hire someone who’s asking good questions and seems interested in learning more about the job. So this is an essential step in any job search.

Also, review any questions you may have struggled with in the first interview. You can expect repeat questions if you’re talking to a new person in this second job interview.

For example, it’s common to have the first interview with an HR person and then speak to the hiring manager in the second round.

And it’s a big mistake to think, “HR asked me why I’m looking for a new position, so I don’t need to worry about that question anymore.”

I worked for years as a recruiter, and if I wasn’t quite comfortable with a candidate’s answer, I’d tell the hiring manager to ask it again in the next round!

I’d say, “Just so you know, I didn’t love their answer about why they’re looking for a new position, so make sure you address that in your interview.”

That’s the type of internal conversation that happens in a hiring process between your first and second rounds, so be ready!

If you follow these steps and tips, you’ll be well-prepared for a wide range of second interview questions so you can stay calm and win the job.

Other Second Interview Tips and Resources:

Interview thank you note samples
How to follow-up after an interview to get updates
My best interview tips from working as a recruiter

About the Author

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Very good questions

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Interview presentation preparation tips

The interview presentation is becoming more common in the hiring process. It gives employers a better overview of your general aptitude and provides you with an opportunity to showcase your skills, knowledge, and experience. But how should you prepare for an interview presentation? What should you include? What if it goes wrong?

A man confidently gives an interview presentation.

4th Jun, 2021

What is an interview presentation?

As you progress further in your career, particularly to executive level, you may be asked to give a presentation for interview. Perhaps you’ve been asked to conduct research and present your findings to a panel, complete a task and show how you approached it, put together a business plan and present your ideas, or even give a presentation about yourself and how you would excel in the role. Whatever you are presenting about, how you approach it should remain the same.

Many people find giving presentations intimidating, especially during an interview when you’re already nervous, but it’s something that you may have to do throughout your career – the sooner you tackle this skill, the better.

Why are you being asked to do a presentation for a job interview?

Many employers opt for a presentation-style interview as it gives a better overview of your general aptitude when compared to, or combined with, a traditional question and answer interview, like a competency-based interview . The interviewer is looking for proof that you can do the job and that you possess the required skills and traits.

Additionally, if you put time and effort into your presentation, this will highlight to the hiring manager that you are committed to the role and enthusiastic about joining the company. How many times have you been asked in an interview ‘Why do you want this position?’ or ‘What is it about this role that attracted you to it?’. They want to know how much you want this position, rather than just any position.

How to prepare a presentation for an interview

Where do you start? What should you include? The presentation is your opportunity to showcase your knowledge, experience, and communication skills as well as your organisational skills and diligence – so start with the job description and person specification and pick out key skills and traits that the company is looking for. Then you can prepare your presentation around what they want to see.

For example, if the business is looking for someone creative, pay great attention to the style of your presentation. If it is looking for someone who is a confident public speaker, spend more time perfecting your speech. If attention to detail is paramount in the role, double and triple check your spelling and grammar. This is a great starting point and gives you something to build your presentation around.

What to include in an interview presentation

Although you may be tempted to go all out and show your potential employer that you are committed to the job, don’t fall into the trap of creating a 30-slide presentation with reams of text. Try to keep each slide short and significant and aim for no more than 10 slides. This ensures the information you deliver is memorable and will help you to stand out from other interviewees. Some interviewers may even give you a specific amount of time for your presentation, make sure you factor this in and don’t go over the time limit – otherwise you may appear to have poor time management skills.

Another way to make sure your presentation engages hiring managers is to include a range of formats to help you illustrate your points. Include graphs, statistics, diagrams, video clips, and images to help break up large volumes of text and maintain the attention of the interviewers.

If you are conducting research as part of your presentation, include quotes from industry leaders and/or research pieces. This gives your points authority and demonstrates your commercial awareness.

You should also try to incorporate the company’s colours, fonts, or style in your presentation. This will show that you have done your research and highlights your brand awareness.

Finally, check your spelling and grammar thoroughly! Small mistakes can really undermine the content of your presentation.

Tips for presenting at the interview

Presenting is a skill which can be learnt. Even if you are not a confident public speaker, the more you practice, the better you will become.

Present confidently and enthusiastically - Remember to speak clearly, make eye contact, and use open body language.

Don’t just read the slides - There is nothing worse than watching a presentation where the presenter has their back to you the whole time just reading reams of text from their PowerPoint notes.

Try not to talk too fast - Make sure you breathe, and take your time.

Practice, practice, practice - Ensure you are well rehearsed so that you are familiar with the structure of your presentation and are able to deliver it smoothly. If possible, practice your presentation with family members or friends to get used to speaking in front of other people.

Arrive early to give yourself time to set up the presentation and settle any nerves - Get comfortable with PowerPoint and presentation equipment. Make sure you know how to work any projectors, screens, or remote controls before you begin to avoid any awkward stumbles or pauses.

Stay within the allocated time - If you have not been given guidance on length, aim for the 10-minute mark. Time your presentation when you are practising to make sure it will fit within the time limit. If you need to reduce the content of your presentation, cut out the least relevant or weakest points.

Be prepared to adapt - You may have practised your presentation in a certain way, but the interviewer might not respond accordingly. Be prepared to be interrupted by questions or further discussion unexpectedly.

Breathe and try to enjoy it - By relaxing, you will find yourself presenting better and, if you enjoy it, your interviewers will respond to that and be better engaged with what you are saying.

Tips for keeping the interview presentation simple

It can take a lot of work to make something simple, yet effective, and when it comes to interview presentations less is often more. Keep it short - As previously mentioned, try to keep each slide short and aim for no more than 10 slides in total.

One idea per slide - To make sure your presentation is clear and concise, each slide should represent a different point/idea you want to make.

Stick to the important bits only - If you don’t think it’s important enough to spend time on, don’t have it on your slide.

Use the 4x6 rule - Aim for either four bullet points with six words per bullet point, or six bullet points with four words per bullet point. This way, your slides won’t look too busy.

Minimal text - Instead of writing paragraphs of text, use bullet points and a minimum font size of 24.

What's better for your interview presentation? Cue cards or presenting from memory?

Should you use cue cards in your presentation for interview or try to present from memory?

The answer to this question depends on what you feel most comfortable doing. If you find that having cue cards will help ease your nerves and ensure that you don’t forget your speech, then there is nothing wrong with that.

However, if you choose to use cue cards, you should not rely too heavily on them. You shouldn’t stand in front of the interviewers and look down at the cards continuously, neither should you write your whole speech out on the cards and read directly from them. They are cue cards for a reason and should only give you prompts on what to talk about. If your interview presentation has a lot of statistics on, using cue cards to remember the figures if you are unable to memorise them all is an excellent strategy.

What to do when things go wrong

You can practice your interview presentation as much as possible, but something may still go wrong and it’s important to be prepared for this eventuality. Here are some things that could go wrong and how to deal with them: Technical issues

There is not a lot you can do to prevent technical issues, especially if you are using someone else’s computer. But there are ways you can prepare just in case. Ensuring you have access to multiple sources of your presentation is key. Email the file to yourself and the recruiter, bring a copy on a USB stick and printed handouts. This way you are covered if anything goes wrong with the file you’re intending to use.

Your mind goes blank

Even those who are pros at presenting can sometimes lose their train of thought and find that their mind goes blank. The key here is not to panic. If possible, take a bottle or glass of water in with you and use this chance to take a sip, breathe and try to relax. Then look at your presentation slide or your cue cards and pick up where you left off. It may be helpful to repeat the last point you made as saying it out loud could spark your memory for your next point.

You are asked a question that you don’t know how to respond to

If you have allotted time at the end of your presentation to allow the interviewer to ask any questions (which is recommended), don’t worry if someone asks a question that you are not sure on. It may be that the interviewer is looking to see how you respond to a challenging question, so how you react is often more important than the answer itself.

If you do not understand the question, ask the person to explain. There is nothing wrong with doing this and shows more confidence than just saying that you don’t know. If you understand the question but are not sure of the answer, then admit that you don’t have the full answer, provide what information you do have, and offer to come back to them at a later date with a complete answer.

10-minute interview presentation template

Below is a presentation for interview example. Use this as a baseline and adapt or reorder where appropriate based on the task you have been set by the interviewer. Slide 1 - Introduction – Reiterate the objectives you have been set and lay out the structure of your presentation so that the interviewers know what to expect. Slide 2 - About you – Detail your professional experience, skills and working style. Slide 3 - Company history – Give a brief summary of the company history, any milestones or awards. Slides 4-7 - Answering the brief – Give your responses to questions you’ve been asked to answer, the benefits and limitations of your suggestions. Slide 8 - Question and answers – Include a slide titled ‘questions and answers’ as a cue to pause for interaction. Slide 9 - Conclusion – Sum up the key points you have made, reach a decision, and explain your reasoning. Slide 10 - Personal achievements – End the interview on a high with a brief slide highlighting achievements that show how you will succeed in the role.

For more information on how to ace your interview, download our free guide, ‘ Getting the best from your interview: Candidate interview tips and tricks ’, or contact your local recruitment specialist today.

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Frequently Asked Questions

A job interview presentation is all about selling yourself. Be confident, speak clearly, and make eye contact with the interviewer. Don’t be afraid to promote yourself and highlight your achievements. This is your chance to really show the interviewer that you are capable and have the necessary skills to do the job. By putting time and effort into your presentation, you can show them how dedicated you are to the role and the company. For more information on how to ace your interview, download our free guide, ‘ Getting the best from your interview: Candidate interview tips and tricks ’.

Using cue cards can support you with your interview presentation, as long as you use them for their intended purpose. Do not write your entire presentation for interview out on cards and read from them word for word or constantly hold them in your hand and fail to make eye contact with the interviewer. Use them only to prompt you or for remembering key facts and figures. For more tips, read our article on ‘interview tips & questions’ .

If you have been sent a presentation brief that you do not understand – don’t panic. If there are words that you are not sure about, do some research and try your best to figure out what the organisation is asking of you. If you are still unsure, you could ask your recruiter as they may have seen this brief before and can give you an idea. If you are dealing directly with the hiring manager, then it may be worth checking that your interpretation of the brief is correct.

It is better to ask the question than present on something completely different to what the interviewer has asked. However, instead of saying to them that you don’t understand the brief and leaving it at that, tell them your understanding of it and ask if this is correct. This will show that even though you are unsure, you have taken the time to try to come to a conclusion yourself before asking for help. Download our free interviewing guide for more tips and advice.

How long your job interview presentation should last depends on what guidance you have been given. Thoroughly read the brief, as the recruiter or hiring manager may have specified the length of time you have for your presentation. If they haven’t given any indication, you should aim for 10 minutes, including time for questions and answers. For more tips on interviewing, read our article on ‘interview tips & questions’ .

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Second Interview Questions You Can Expect And How To Answer Them

Second interviews are cause for celebration, but also for plenty of preparation.

When you get to a second interview, you’re in a positive position to make an impact and secure the job you want. It’s evidence that you’ve passed the first hurdles for the role and the organization sees potential in you. But while it’s cause for celebration, it’s also cause for continued effort, intention and determination.

It’s a tight job market and there is plenty of competition—so your ability to demonstrate your commitment, current skills and future growth will be essential to setting yourself apart and putting yourself ahead of other candidates for the role.

What A Second Interview (Really) Means

When you get a second interview, it means the company sees something in you that they find interesting and see you as a possible match to the job and their culture. It’s an indicator you’re being seriously considered —so you’ll want to make the most of it.

Depending on the job, the second interview could be the final stage of the process, but you’re wise to keep your expectations realistic since there could also be additional rounds of interviews . For any job, there are significant numbers of applicants , so the interviewing process is designed to obtain increasing amounts of information and be increasingly selective—narrowing toward the most ideal person for the job and the organization.

As the pool of candidates is reduced, the number of people you meet with will typically increase. You’re likely to be interviewed by team members and senior leaders as well as HR and your hiring manager. And second interviews are usually longer. They can range in length from an hour to even a full day—as the company seeks to learn as much as they can about you from multiple perspectives.

In the second interview, you’ll be asked to respond to more specific questions which go deeper, are more specific and which are typically tougher.

The bottom line: You’ll have the opportunity to shine with a variety of interviewers, and the process will increasingly seek to dig into who you are and what you’re able to contribute to the organization. You’ll want to research, prepare and plan for the process in order to demonstrate your best.

This is what you’ll likely be asked—and how to respond.

Be specific about why you're interested in the role and the organization.

Your Interest in the Role and the Company

You will certainly be asked more about what interests you about the role and the company. Interviewers may ask you questions like these.

What interests you about this role and about this company?
Why do you think this role is a good match to your skills?
Tell me more about what draws you to this job.

You’ll want to be specific about elements of the job that match your skills as well as aspects of the company that attract you—especially based on what you’ve learned in the process so far. Be sure to balance your enthusiasm for the role and the organization. If you overemphasize the company over the job, the hiring leader may be concerned you just want to get your foot in the door of the organization and lack commitment to the job itself.

You’ll also be wise to demonstrate the research you’ve done on the position and the employer, but balance it with an understanding that you will have more to learn. If you come across as presumptuous in what you know about the job or the company, that can be a turn off.

Your Strengths, Weaknesses and Impacts

You’ll also be asked about yourself—in multiple ways. The interviewers will be seeking to learn about your strengths, weaknesses and the impacts you’ve had. Examples of interview questions include:

In which parts of your last job did you excel? Which were challenging for you?
What did you enjoy more or less in your last job and why?
Tell me about a time when you failed or struggled and how you handled it?
What is your greatest weakness?
What have you done to impact or improve your previous job or company?
Tell me about an achievement you’re most proud of.

You’ll want to answer these questions with plenty of detail and examples of your impacts, rather than generalities about your skills. This is the time to provide specifics about what you encountered, how you handled things and the outcomes. Interviewers will be looking for details and they’ll be turned off if you are too superficial in your answers.

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Interviewers may ask questions to discover how you handled challenging situations.

Your Relationships

Companies are also especially interested in learning about how you interact with others. They may ask questions like the following.

What actions have you taken to build and maintain strong relationships with team members and others in your organization?
Tell me about a time you had a conflict or difficult situation with a co-worker and how you handled it?
Can you provide examples of your communication skills or interpersonal skills ?
What role do you typically take on a team?

In this case, be sure to talk about how you build and maintain relationships. Employers won’t be looking for perfection in your work relationships or sailing that is always smooth, but they’ll want to hear about how you worked through disagreements constructively or handled differences of opinions for positive project outcomes.

Be sure to share information about how you work on a team, the ways you collaborate successfully and the constructive influence you have on others.

Your Judgement

At this stage, you’ll likely also get questions about your judgement. You may be asked:

Tell me about a time when you were asked to do something you considered to be wrong or unethical and how you handled it.
Tell me about a time when you had to make an especially tough decision and how you handled it.

Here, you’ll want to share examples that show your integrity as well as your ability to reflect, consider and take the best action in a situation. You’ll also need to talk about the impact of your actions and choices.

Your Expectations

Another line of questioning in a second interview is typically related to what you want and need from the experience. Interviewers may ask questions like these.

What is your preferred salary?
In what ways do you work best (alone, with others, etc.)?
What is your preferred working model (remote, hybrid, in the office)?
What aspects of the organization culture are most important to you?
In which kinds of cultures are you most likely to thrive?
What do you need from a leader to be successful?

Obviously, you’ll want to tailor your responses to your preferences, but also to what the job offers. If you expect a salary that is much higher than what the job offers or you expect to work remotely from an island paradise when the job is onsite, the employer won’t see a match—so be sure you’re realistic about your expectations and that you balance your desires with the options the job provides.

Also be authentic and clear about what you need from a culture and a leader. When people are happiest in jobs and companies, it’s typically because there is a good match between what’s most important and what the organization offers—so being real about your needs puts you in the best position to land something that will satisfy you.

Your Previous Organization

You may also receive questions which seek your opinions on your last company or job. Be careful in answering these questions, ensuring you’re constructive and diplomatic in your answers. Interviewers will be turned off if you disparage a previous employer or job.

Do plenty of preparation so you can set yourself apart in your interview.

Your Future Potential

Interviewers will also ask you questions to determine how you’ll contribute immediately and to determine your future potential with the organization. They may ask:

In what ways would you plan to establish yourself and your credibility during your first 6 months on the job?
What are your career goals?
Where do you see yourself in three years?
What motivates you?

For these questions, you’ll want to share specific ways you plan to hit the ground running—how you’ll ask questions, seek learning, build relationships and make contributions—based on what you know about the job and the company. And you’ll want to share your interest in contributing to the company over time, demonstrating your enthusiasm for today’s role and your future growth.

Here, you’ll want to balance your answers as well—showing you’re interested in the current role and also that you’ve given thought to your future, your goals and your desire for growth.

Prepare to Succeed

Overall, your preparation for a second interview should be as much or even greater than for your first interview. Research the job and the company, and learn as much as you can about who will be interviewing you.

Be ready with examples, stories, specifics and the themes that you want to emphasize. Consider what the organization wants in a candidate, and prepare your content with that lens in mind—talking about aspects of your experience which is most relevant to this particular role.

And prepare questions as well—since these will send a message about your priorities, interests and commitment.

Be Confident and Authentic

Also be confident as well as authentic. You are more likely to be evaluated more positively when you’re self-assured and demonstrate you’re capable. Candidates who spoke more—and more quickly—and who gestured more and complimented others, were perceived as more confident. As a result they tended to be rated more highly by interviewers, based on research from the University of Nebraska .

At the same time you’re confident, also be yourself. Interviewers will be more likely to evaluate you positively when you’re both honest and authentic. If you’re overly polished, they may perceive you as inauthentic or misrepresenting yourself and rate you more negatively, according to research published in the Journal of Applied Psychology .

Embrace the Future

With the strong job market, your opportunities are both plentiful and positive—so prepare yourself thoroughly and put your best foot forward through your second interview and throughout the selection process.

"Darren Dewrance went above and beyond my expectations in sourcing me my perfect role. I was kept in regular communication with Darren and he worked extremely hard on securing my dream job."

Russell Sealy, Candidate

A photo of Darren Dewrance, Aaron Wallis Sales Recruitment

In this section

How To Conduct a Second Interview

It's increasingly rare for a company to make a hire after just one meeting. Instead, second interviews have become the norm, and it's easy to see why.

You might only invite a couple back for a second time, or perhaps one if you merely want reassurance you're making the right decision. Here we'll examine second interviews and how to conduct them to ensure you get the best results.

A graphic image displaying the second interview

What's the difference between a first and a second interview?

Many companies now see the first round of interviews as simply part of the process of whittling down likely candidates to the final few.

First impressions count for a lot at first interviews, and you'll soon get a feeling for whether the applicant will be a good fit. A good line of questioning, including a mix of value-based , competency-based , cultural fit, and experience questions, will back up your judgment, and at the end of the process, you'll end up with just a couple of candidates to bring back for the final stage. Say you were recruiting for a sales executive at a car dealership, the second interview is a perfect opportunity for you to drill down further into the applicant's motivators. What makes them tick? How good are they at drilling into the needs of the customer? How do they deal with tricky customers? How do they bring the sale to a natural close?

All these and much more can be unearthed with a more precise line of questioning, perhaps in conjunction with another colleague. A powerful way to try and remove bias from your process is to involve colleagues from other departments. Salespeople, naturally, connect with other salespeople. Therefore, it can be very effective to include a member from the finance team to provide input into your decision process from an entirely different perspective. Remember that the candidate's expectations are raised once they've been invited back for the next stage of your process. They will be more likely to want to know about what it's like to work at your company, and it is just as important that you sell the role and overall opportunity to them. In this competitive market for talent, it will be worth reading The Importance of Selling to Candidates at a Final Interview. One final element of a second interview, presuming your candidate is suitable, is discussing terms and conditions. Here you should be prepared to answer questions on basic pay and how the commission structure works. It's also worth reminding yourself of the additional benefits at their level within your business, such as the grade of car, company pension contributions and health benefits.

How should you structure a second interview?

If you're conducting the second interview with a colleague, it could be helpful to brief them on your findings from the first interview with areas of concern or areas that you would like to delve deeper into. It is also worth planning who is going to ask specific questions, who is going to drive the interview and who is going to take the role of active listening, note-taking and inquiring about delving deeper using laddering questions (this role is regularly referred to as 'bad cop' in an interview scenario!).

Be prepared to be flexible in your approach, but as a general guide, you could follow this structure:

Welcome and Agenda - Introduce the candidate to your colleague(s) if someone else has joined you for the second interview. Ensure the candidate knows who your colleagues are and what positions they hold.
Recap from the first interview - Briefly go over the main things you learned from the first interview and use that as a springboard to introduce what you'd like to discuss further.
Formal tasks - You have set for the candidate such as their business plan, second interview presentation or specific research.
The 'nitty gritty' - Drill down further on the applicant's experience, life skills, values and ambitions. By this point, the candidate should be confident and relaxed; they've got so far already. It's a great chance to get to know them better and whether they'll be an excellent fit for your organisation.
Questions from the applicant - Take time to respond adequately – especially if you like the applicant and want to create a favourable impression.
The logistics - Explore the candidate's availability or notice period, and be prepared to discuss salary, commission and other benefits like annual leave and pension. Be ready to make a conditional offer (i.e. subject to references or proof of claims) if you have the authority and desire to do so.

If you decide not to press ahead with a conditional offer immediately, thank the candidate for their time and go through how long the selection process will take before a decision is made. Invite the applicant to contact you if any further questions come to mind.

Example second interview questions to ask

What main skills do you think are necessary for this role?
Tell me about a time you had a difficult customer. How did you deal with it?
Have you ever made an unpopular decision that yielded great results?
What are the first three things you'd do if we hired you?
What drives you to get up early and come to work each morning?
What are your three most important motivators?
What concerns do you have about working for our organisation? (invite objections from candidates that you are seriously interested in)
What are your salary expectations?
For further preparation, see Eighty Common sales interview questions .

Should I ask about a candidate's long-term ambitions?

Yes! Mainly if you're working in a sales environment and you are looking to employ a goal-oriented sales professional, the individual should have ambitions and goals. Be realistic in your response to how they answer. The average tenure of a salesperson in the UK is just 2.8 years ( The State of Sales in the UK, Aaron Wallis, 2014 ), so if their response is to be a Sales Manager within five years, don't be too disheartened. Music to your ears would be your candidate saying: "Why, yes. I want to be selling five of your exceptional new cars each month by the end of the year. This will provide me with the commission to save £10K this year and next, enabling me to purchase my dream house. After that, once I've proved myself, I'd like to think I can progress here into a team-leading role and eventually be the dealer-principal. That's what drives me!"

What happens after a second interview?

The process will likely finish up in one of three ways:

You've made a conditional offer during the second interview, and so complete the checks and formalities before making the full offer soon after.
You discuss the second interview candidates with colleagues, decide, and call the recruiter/winning applicant with the good news, making them an offer.
You bring the preferred candidate back for a further and final, face-to-face meeting to iron out any last issues that either party may have before making an offer. A powerful tip is to conduct this meeting in an informal setting, such as a local café/coffee shop. In a more relaxed environment, the 'interview facade' is removed, and you will see the candidate in a more casual and natural light.

Hopefully, if you've done a thorough job throughout the selection process, you are now making hiring decisions based on logic rather than solely 'gut feel'. In doing so, you're considerably more likely to have selected a great new team member.

Published: 17th July 2018

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Date published: 29th February 2024

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by Rob Scott

Managing Director

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Interview Questions & Answers

20+ Second Interview Questions, Example Answers + Tips

Most importantly, congratulations on making it to the second interview. You got the callback. Others didn’t. This should give you confidence. But —

You’re not there yet. You still need to be prepared, show effort and interest, and know how to sell yourself.

In this guide, we compiled the most common second interview questions, possible scenarios, and tips.

What’s inside:

24 typical second interview questions (plus sample answers)
5 second round interview tips
5 common second interview mistakes to avoid

Big Interview: the best interview preparation tool

Don’t waste days compiling overused interview techniques. Get original answers to every single question you could expect.

Just looking for a quick checklist on second round interviews?

Some key things to keep in mind:

It’s difficult to predict what the second interview will look like. It depends on the company’s hiring process, the role, and the industry.
The point of most second interviews is to go deeper and ask more role- and industry-specific questions that would assess your technical skills.
At the same time, there will be behavioral , situational, and cultural fit questions.
You’re likely to meet potential future team members or senior-level employees.
Getting the second interview doesn’t equal getting the job, but it does mean that your qualifications likely meet most of their requirements.

*If you’re the one interviewing candidates and you’re wondering what questions to ask in a second interview, you’ll find plenty of great ideas in this guide.

Understanding the Second Interview

There are many versions of “second interviews” — another meeting with the same person, the first meeting with internal HR, a panel interview with multiple stakeholders, you name it.

Despite the multiple scenarios, the point of all second interviews is the same:

Get to know the candidate better.
Test their technical and cultural fit.
Ask more in-depth role or industry-specific questions.

💡Pro tip: If you’re unsure what to expect in a second interview, you can always ask via email (if HR doesn’t cover it in the first interview). The details of the interview process may also be listed in the job ad.

The Most Common Second Interview Questions and Sample Answers

Here are the most common second interview questions, divided into 5 categories:

In-depth job expertise questions

What are some specific strategies you’d implement in your first 30 days here?

Can you explain how you have used (a specific skill) in your past roles?
What are the best practices you follow in (specific part of the role)?

How do you ensure quality in your work when under tight deadlines?

Can you delve into a specific instance where you were able to secure a major success for your department or company?

Cultural fit questions

What type of work environment allows you to perform your best?

How would you describe the corporate culture at your previous employer, and how did you fit in?

How do you handle feedback and criticism.

Can you talk about a past experience where you had to adapt to a new work culture quickly?
How have you contributed to a positive work environment in the past?

Behavioral questions

Can you describe a situation where you went above and beyond the job description?

Tell me about a time you failed. How did you handle the situation, and what did you learn from it?
Describe an instance where you had to convince a team to follow your lead. What were the challenges and the outcome?
Can you give examples of how you have demonstrated leadership skills at work?
Share an example of a time when you had to deal with a difficult coworker or client.

Situational questions

Suppose a situation arises where you have to juggle multiple high-priority tasks at once, how would you handle it?

How would you react if an important task or project failed?

Imagine a customer is unsatisfied with our service, even though no mistake was made on our end. How would you handle this situation?
Suppose a project is running behind schedule, and you are at risk of missing the deadline. What would your course of action be?

If your manager proposes a new direction that you disagree with, how would you handle the situation?

Personal questions

Describe a skill, either work- or non-work-related, that you learned during the last 12 months. How did you learn it?

If you could only describe yourself with three words, what would they be?

How do you handle stress or pressure? Can you provide a specific example?

What book/film/song has had an impact on you recently, and why?

In-depth job expertise questions during a second interview

Once you reach the second interview, the conversation shifts to your specialized skills.

That’s why you should focus on your key competencies and what you bring to the table.

What is the interviewer looking for?

They want to know about your concrete experiences and skill set to assess if you’re the right fit for the position. The key is to see how well, compared to other candidates, you’d be able to perform the job. At the same time, these questions target your adaptability and potential to grow and develop within the role.

How to answer?

Be specific and provide as many details as possible . Speak about your genuine expertise and real-world problem-solving skills. For example, if you’re a marketing specialist, you can discuss a successful campaign you led, tell them more about the strategies and the results you achieved.
Align your experience with the company’s needs. Use your understanding of the company’s challenges or goals to tailor your answers. Let’s say you’re applying for a tech role and know the company is working towards improving its software security. To show your expertise, mention your specific experience with implementing two-factor authentication and penetration testing.

Let’s see some good sample second-interview answers.

In my first month as a Sales Engineer at NexaSynergy Solutions, I’d start by diving deep into the product line. My goal would be to understand the technical nuances and potential customizations to address client-specific challenges. I plan to work closely with the sales team to offer better technical support during client interactions. Early engagement with key clients is also on my agenda — direct communication with them offers essential insights into their needs and expectations. I’ll set up a system for regular feedback from both the sales team and clients, ensuring our strategies are responsive and effective. This approach at my previous job helped us refine our sales process and improved conversions by 30%.

For me as a UX Designer, handling tight deadlines involves strategic prioritization and effective collaboration. When I have a strict deadline, I focus on identifying the most critical elements of user experience and functionality first. This involves mapping out user journeys to concentrate efforts on high-impact areas of the design. Daily check-ins with the dev team are essential to stay aligned on goals and timelines. To be faster, I rely on iterative design, creating rapid prototypes and incorporating early feedback for quick adjustments. No matter the workload, I try to carve out time for testing and refinement to check how the design works in practice.

Other in-depth expertise questions you can expect include:

Can you explain how you have used [a specific skill] in your past roles?
What are the best practices you follow in [specific part of the role]?

Cultural fit questions in a second interview

Cultural fit questions help interviewers understand if you’re a good match in terms of personal values, work style, and interpersonal skills.

The interviewer tries to gauge how you would integrate into the team and adapt to the work environment. They’re also aiming to predict how effectively you’d interact with colleagues and clients.

Finally, your answers will tell them if your personal and professional values are in harmony with the company’s ethos and mission.

Research the company culture. Check out their website, social media profiles, and any available employee testimonials. Tailor your response to their values, mission, and work environment.
Mention your own values and experiences by using relevant examples from your previous roles.
Be honest with yourself and the interviewer . If you have to pretend you’re someone you’re not or believe in something that’s not your thing, is it really worth it?

Here’s how you can implement these tips into actual answers.

While working for HospitalitySoft, I learned that the corporate culture was deeply rooted in customer-centricity and proactive problem-solving. As a Customer Success Representative, I was right at the heart of this framework. We constantly aimed to not only meet but exceed customer expectations, which is something I personally take great pride in. My role involved regularly interacting with customers, understanding their needs, and ensuring their satisfaction with our services. This required a high level of empathy and a proactive approach. From what I saw on your website and social media, 10Cent Inc. also places a strong emphasis on customer satisfaction, something that many reviews highlight. I really want to continue working at a company that values customer satisfaction in this way, so it seemed like a perfect fit.

Nobody loves criticism, but when it’s constructive, I welcome it. It can be a bit uncomfortable, but it’s a great way to grow as a professional. If I had to give an example, I’d say receiving and acting on feedback was a regular part of our workflow in my previous Content Writer role. I remember working on a major campaign for a very big client, where my initial draft received criticism from the editorial team. Instead of taking it personally, I saw it as an opportunity to grow and align more closely with the project’s objectives. It was difficult for sure, but I took time to thoroughly understand the feedback, asking for specific examples and suggestions to improve my work. Then, I revised the content, incorporating the suggestions while still maintaining my original voice and creativity. The reworked draft turned out to be one of our most successful campaigns.

Other similar cultural fit questions you can get:

Second interview behavioral questions

Behavioral questions are the ones that start with “tell me about a time when” or similar. The idea is that your past behavior is a good predictor of how you’d behave in the future.

To get a deeper insight into your personal traits and your approach to work-related situations. Behavioral questions often revolve around experiences where you had to solve a problem, demonstrate leadership, work in a team, or overcome a challenge.

In a word: STAR. Using the STAR (Situation–Task–Action–Result) method is the best way to answer behavioral questions because it makes it easy to provide

specific examples that demonstrate your skills and abilities.

Here’s how it works:

Situation . Start by setting the scene. Describe the context within which you had to act. This could be a project, a work-related conflict, or any relevant event.
Task . Explain the actual task at hand. What was your responsibility in this situation?
Action . This is the most critical part. Detail the actions you took to address the situation. Emphasize your specific contributions, showcasing your problem-solving skills, leadership, teamwork, or any other trait relevant to the question.
Result . Wrap up with the outcome of your actions. What did you achieve? What did you learn?

Here are some tips for implementing the STAR method effectively:

Be concise . While detail is good, avoid unnecessary information. Keep your story focused and relevant.
Be genuine . Share real experiences. Authenticity resonates more than exaggerated or fabricated tall tales.
Be reflective . Talk about lessons learned or how you grew from the experience. This shows self-awareness and the ability to learn from past situations.
Practice . Before the interview, revisit your past experiences and think about how they fit into the STAR framework. Practicing your responses will make you more confident during the interview.

Let’s see what this means in practice. Pay close attention to each of the Situation-Task-Action-Result components in these sample answers.

While I was working as a sales assistant at Hi-Tech City, a customer came in looking for a specific high-end laptop, which we had just sold out. The customer, a university professor, needed it urgently for a conference presentation and was visibly stressed. Realizing the urgency and importance of his needs, I tried to suggest alternative models and explain their features in detail, matching them to his specific requirements. However, none seemed to fit his needs, so I checked out our sister store in a nearby town and found that it had the laptop in stock. Another challenge was that the customer couldn’t make the trip there because he had classes and other commitments.

To resolve this, I arranged for a store-to-store transfer of the laptop, expediting the process so it would arrive at our store within a few hours. Besides that, I assisted him in exploring additional accessories he might need for his presentation and set up his new laptop with the necessary software, saving him time and hassle. The professor was extremely grateful for the personalized service. He became a regular customer, wrote a review on Google, and referred several colleagues to our store.

Tell me about a time you failed

There was this situation where I led the implementation of a new performance review system for InteLab. The task was to improve the process and make it more efficient. Confident in my approach, I developed and rolled out a digital solution without sufficient input from various departments. However, the system was not well-received. Feedback indicated that it was too complex and didn’t cater to the needs of different teams. This was a tough pill to swallow, as my intention was to improve efficiency, not decrease it. I took immediate action by organizing focus groups with representatives from each department to understand their specific challenges and needs. Based on this feedback, I worked with the IT team to simplify and customize the system, leading to a much more user-friendly version.

Situational questions in a second interview

Quite similar to behavioral questions, situational ones focus on hypothetical scenarios rather than real-life events. They often start with “what would you do if,” “imagine a situation where” and so on.

To visualize you in the role and learn more about how you handle complex job situations.

At the same time, interviewers are looking to evaluate your understanding of the role and responsibilities, predict your future performance and reactions, and check if your answers fit well with the team and company culture.

How to answer?

Think back. If you faced a similar situation in the past, approach the question as you would approach a behavioral one — and use the STAR formula. Based on how you handled a difficult past scenario, the interviewers will assume you’d handle a future one in the exact same way.
Don’t rush. Take the time to think about your answer before blurting something out. Situational questions require strategic thinking, and the best thing to do is pause and then respond when you’re sure what you want to say.

Some situational questions and sample answers to draw inspiration from:

A similar situation happened to me last year. My marketing team faced pressure from Sales and Operations to diversify lead sources and rapidly increase the number of SQLs. Although PPC had never worked for us in the past, I caved in and decided to give it another chance. This time, instead of doing it internally, we outsourced it to a specialized PPC and CRO agency, hoping for better results. Over a course of one year, we invested over $130K, resulting in only 2 sales and a PO value of $38K. It was obvious the initiative was failing in terms of numbers. On the other hand, PPC was continually generating a lot of small leads, so I decided to extend the contract for another quarter, hoping for a large sale that would make up for the investment. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen, and, after carefully going through all the reports, optimization plans, and numbers, I was forced to stop the project.

I won’t lie, it didn’t feel great. I felt that, as a team, we should have held our ground. As a Team Lead, I knew PPC rarely worked in our niche, and yet I agreed to restart it. But I couldn’t let disappointment get the best of me. So the first thing I did was organize a team call where we did a thorough analysis of what went wrong, and which exact internal and external factors contributed to the failure. I admitted my responsibility in not stopping the project sooner. I then focused on rebuilding the lost morale in the team, and allocated more of our budget to email campaigns and organic traffic. I’m happy to say these two channels brought over $373K in revenue over the following two months.

My first step would be to make sure I fully understand their perspective and rationale behind the decision. There could be something I’m not aware of. But it also depends on if there are ethical concerns.

Let’s say my pharmacy manager suggests a new strategy where we would offer one particular brand, although there were cheaper and equally effective alternatives. While I understand the financial aspect of running a pharmacy and I respect the hierarchy and decisions of the management, I believe in advocating for the best patient care practices.

I would ask for a one-on-one meeting with the manager to discuss my concerns. I would explain how this strategy would kill customer retention, and ultimately hurt revenue. I would make sure my tone remained professional and respectful. I would listen carefully to my manager’s feedback and be open to finding a middle ground. If we still disagree, I would seek guidance or a second opinion from a senior colleague.

Other situational questions you can expect:

Personal questions you might get asked during a second interview

The interviewers could also ask 1–2 questions that may seem to have little or nothing to do with the actual job.

It could be a question about your personal interests, stress-management or a random unexpected question like “If you were an animal, what animal would you choose to be and why”?

To get a sense of your personality and see if you’d be a good fit for the team and the company.

Plus, to evaluate your self-awareness and critical thinking skills — how you react, what values guide your decision-making, or what motivates you outside of work.

Try to connect your answer to the role and the company. For example, if you’re a developer being asked to “describe yourself in three words” by a SaaS startup, mentioning key strengths like adaptable, innovative or persistent would work.
Back up your answer with a real experience. Not all of these questions will contain “and why” at the end, so make sure you explain your logic.
Stay authentic and don’t be afraid to show your personality.

Here are some sample answers to guide you:

I took up swimming. As I mentioned, I’m currently working at a SaaS startup, and it’s sometimes very difficult to disconnect. I typically spend 9–10 hours a day sitting at my desk and looking at screens, so I felt I needed a new skill or a hobby that would help me balance things out a bit. I’ve always felt really good in water, and wanted to learn the more difficult strokes like the crawl or butterfly. So I’ve been going to the pool 4 times a week, between 7 and 8 AM, and it’s been great. I work with a swimming coach, and occasionally practice on my own or watch YouTube videos to improve my technique. My phone stays in the locker, meaning zero screen time early in the day. The repetitive movements and breath control are almost meditative, and my overall fitness has really improved.

For my role as an ER nurse, stress and pressure are integral parts of my day. Over the years, I found several strategies that help. First, I meditate for 15 minutes before work to get in the zone and be able to think more clearly and make better decisions once I’m in the emergency room. Next, I’m aware that being under a lot of continuous pressure can take its toll on your mental health, so I make sure to exercise regularly, get 8 hours of sleep, and make time for calming outdoor hobbies like hiking. In the ER, when difficult decisions need to be made under pressure, adrenaline kicks in and I’m typically very focused. Strong communication and a supportive team help as well.

Other personal questions you could be asked:

One thing to keep in mind — some personal questions are fine, but there’s stuff interviewers aren’t allowed to ask you about. Find more info in this guide on illegal interview questions .

Second Interview Questions: Popular Opinion vs. Expert Advice

Before a second interview, it’s common for job-seekers to seek advice online from fellow job-seekers going through something similar. Sometimes, the advice is great. Other times, not so much.

We asked two experts, Pamela Skillings , a Career Coach with 15+ years of experience, and Michael Tomaszewski , Certified Professional Resume Writer to comment on popular online advice we found on Reddit.

One user asked: “ What do you answer when asked about working under pressure and tight deadlines when you suck at it?”

Here’s an answer that got a lot of upvotes by the community.

I’d be honest and explain I don’t do well under pressure with tight deadlines. If that’s a deal-breaker for the interviewer then you definitely don’t want that job. There’s always a positive way to explain it. “I do my best work when I have time to be thorough. I’m always happy to meet deadlines when they’re unavoidable, but I don’t thrive in an environment that requires working under pressure and constantly meeting deadlines.”

Michael says: Saying you don’t thrive when required to “constantly meet deadlines” isn’t an ideal phrasing. Arguably, every job requires meeting some deadlines. What you can say instead is that you proactively communicate any delays and explain the reasons behind them. That said, if you struggle under tight, unexpected deadlines and the job involves those on a regular basis, it’s true, you wouldn’t be happy there.

Another user asked how to answer “Tell me about a time you demonstrated leadership if you have no previous experience?”

Here’s what someone said:

Whatever you answer, just try to make yourself the hero of a story. You may not have been in a leadership position but you may have either provided leadership by example or leadership in helping plan something or other. You’ll figure it out from there, certainly.

Pam says: This is solid advice. You could get this question if you’re interviewing as a first-time manager, or for any other role where leadership skills are important. As a team member, there had to be a situation where you stepped up and took it on yourself to organize a project, product launch, or a holiday promotion. It doesn’t have to be anything major — the key thing is that you stepped up (and others didn’t). If you have no formal work experience, draw from other situations when you naturally took the lead in a group setting (a school project, a sports competition, or a volunteer activity). Describe what you did. Did you motivate others? Did you come up with a plan and delegate? Highlight the skills you used and what the outcome was.

Another Reddit user asked if 30 minutes was too short for a second interview via Skype.

And here’s one of the popular answers they received:

Commonly, face-to-face interviews tend to last no less than 30 minutes. Half an hour doesn’t give either you or the candidate an accurate impression of each other. After all, you want to ensure that they are the best fit for the business.

Although it varies depending on the industry, most interviews last between 45 minutes and one hour. This should provide sufficient time and flexibility from both sides to get to know one another.

But what works for one business may not work for you. The length of time spent in an interview is also highly dependent on how senior or specialist the role is, as well as the total time you and your staff have available.

Depending upon the conversation that you have, it can increase too. So be prepared for the same.

Pam’s comment: This depends on what the first interview was like. Also, the length of interviews can vary based on the position and the hiring process and interviewing style of a particular company. I’d say, a 30-minute Skype interview falls within the normal range of virtual interviews.

Another user asked for advice before her second interview with the department director. “Second interview with Director. Any advice? Experiences/Questions to think about/General tips”.

Here’s a reply she received.

I finished mine… I guess I can share my own experiences now. Basically there was a shift in more technical questions being asked rather than the typical soft-skill questions from the first interview. So if you have a specific role or industry, I’d suggest learning the ins and outs of it really well. Also, it’s a good idea to have a 3 to 6 month plan of what you plan to do in the role, maybe even a 1-year plan.

I ended up getting an offer. My advice is if you don’t know the answer (some questions were extremely specific to the role), just try your best to give a creative solution and relate how you used similar problem-solving skills in other situations.

Michael’s comment: If you know you’re interviewing with your potential direct manager (or otherwise a higher-up), definitely expect technical questions about how you’d meet the requirements of the role. Having 3- and 6-month plans ready is a great piece of advice, too. And there’s nothing wrong with an honest “I don’t know” during an interview. “I don’t know, but let me tell you what exactly I’d do to learn” works even better.

Second Interview Tips: From Attire to Follow-Up

Dress appropriately.

You are what you wear, so choose your interview outfit carefully.

Embrace formalwear. It’s always better to be slightly overdressed than underdressed, even if you’re interviewing with a startup known for its relaxed work environment.
Align with company culture. Pay attention to what people there wear. Are they into bright colors and graphics, or do they prefer the more polished, jeans-and-plain-shirt look?
Wear a different outfit than you did for your first interview. A different shirt or accessory will do.

Prepare thoughtful questions

Don’t forget to prepare some smart questions for the interviewer. Second interviews are a great opportunity for you to learn more about the company and its people.

Focus on role-specific details. Ask about the day-to-day responsibilities, expectations of the position, and any specific projects or objectives you would be tasked with early on.
Explore the team dynamics and culture. Find out how the team operates, who you’ll be working with on a daily basis, and if they’re currently facing any challenges.
Determine growth opportunities. To get a better idea about this, ask questions about professional development, promotion plans, and team structure.
Mention the company’s vision and future goals. Show interest in the company’s future by asking about upcoming projects, long-term goals, and how the role you’re interviewing for aligns with these objectives.
Understand feedback and performance evaluation. Ask about the performance review process and feedback to get a better idea of how the company defines and measures success.

Get the list of the best 40 questions to ask at the end of the interview .

Stay consistent but go deeper

In the second interview, your responses should remain consistent with what you said in the first, but provide more detail and depth.

If you already mentioned skills or responsibilities, you can now go deeper and bring up specific situations that highlight your expertise and achievements.

Research your interviewers

If you know who you’ll be speaking with, do a bit of research on these people. Understanding their roles can help you target your responses effectively.

You can look them up on LinkedIn and go through their posts and comments. This will tell you a lot about their professional attitude and values.

After your second interview, make sure to send another thank you email . It’s not just a courteous gesture but a way of expressing your continued enthusiasm for the role and leaving a lasting positive impression.

Mistakes to Avoid in Second Interviews

Assuming you’ve got the job.

Remember, the job is not yours until you get an offer . A second interview means you’re a strong candidate who they’d like to evaluate further. The second interview is also the part of the hiring process where the interviewers will be doing a side-by-side comparison between you and other shortlisted candidates. It’s by no means over, so try to avoid overconfidence, as it could cause you to lose focus or seem arrogant.

Inconsistency in responses

You can’t offer different responses to the same questions asked in the first round. Inconsistent answers will make it difficult for the interviewer to trust you, and they could use it as a sign to disqualify you.

Not bringing new ideas

The second interview is often a chance to go more in-depth and discuss things like the tech stack, some favorite projects you’ve completed, or even your own ideas for the prospective company. Failing to bring new insights can make you look unprepared or unenthusiastic.

Vague answers

At this stage of the hiring process, the interviewers are looking for specific examples. You won’t get far if you provide generic responses that lack substance. Some tips to help you:

Prepare stories to tell when asked behavioral or situational questions.
Know which accomplishments you’d like to highlight.
Quantify your achievements and results wherever you can.

Failing to engage the interviewer

The second interview should be a conversation, and actively engaging the interviewer will help you make a more lasting impression. You can do this by:

Being genuinely interested and enthusiastic when answering questions.
Show you’re listening actively by nodding or asking clarifying questions.
Connecting over a shared interest or experience.

All of these will establish a stronger personal connection.

Summary of the Main Points

As an overview, here’s what you need to know about second interviews and common questions you’ll get in this round:

To do well in a second interview, you need to be prepared, show effort and interest, and know how to sell yourself.
The questions will fall into 5 major groups: in-depth job expertise questions, cultural fit questions, behavioral, situational, and personal questions.
The conversation will be more in-depth and last longer than the first interview.
To succeed, you need to tailor your answers to make them relevant to the position, practice before the interview, and share measurable results you’ve accomplished in past roles.

___________________________________________

Need a hand? There are 3 ways we can help you:

Struggling to get past the second interview? Get personalized interview practice (Rated with 4.9/5 by 1,000,000 users).
Learn how to master behavioral and situational questions using the STAR format .
Watch Pam’s free webinar on unexpected interview questions .

What questions to ask at the end of the second interview?

Aim for 3–4 questions about the role, company culture, and growth opportunities (it’s good to have one for each category). Some smart questions to ask:

How will you measure success in this role?
What’s different about working here than anywhere else you’ve worked?
What is a possible growth trajectory for someone in this role?

What’s the main difference between the first interview and the second one?

The second interview typically lasts longer and involves more in-depth questions about your qualifications, experience, and skills. Many of the questions will focus on specific situations and how you would handle them. You might meet different people in the second interview (senior management or potential colleagues). In some companies, you might be asked about your salary expectations, and they may also discuss the benefit package, and other terms of employment.

What to expect when interviewing with the same person for the second time?

Since the interviewer is already familiar with your resume and basic qualifications, you can expect more specific questions about your hands-on experience and technical skills. They may revisit or ask you to clarify some answers from the first interview. It’s also common to get more questions about how you would fit in the company and with the existing team.

What if my first interview was just a quick phone screen?

If your first interview was super short (think, shorter than 10 minutes) and they only asked about things like if you’re still looking, when you can start, or double-checking your qualifications, the next interview will actually be the first “real” one. If your first interview was over the phone or virtual but involved some more detailed questions, treat the second interview as your opportunity to make a strong, in-person impression. Besides demonstrating your qualifications in greater detail, the second interview is a great opportunity to connect with the interviewers on a more meaningful level.

What to expect if the second interview is with the whole team?

This situation simulates a collaborative environment where different team members assess your fit within the group. Get ready to answer questions from various perspectives and participate in discussions showing how well you can work within the team. To prepare, research the company and your potential coworkers.

Does being invited to the second interview mean I’m the front-runner for the job?

It’s definitely a good sign, but don’t forget there are several interview rounds. In other words, you’re not necessarily the front-runner, but the fact you’ve been invited again means you get another opportunity to deliver your pitch and impress the interviewer.

Bojana Krstic

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Called Back for a Second Interview? Prepare to Answer These 10 Questions

two people shaking hands in conference room before interview

After submitting a polished resume and cover letter, you aced the answers to common interview questions during your phone screen and/or first-round interview and got invited back for the second interview—in other words, the real deal.

Second interviews can take many different forms, but there are a few things you can count on. You’ll likely be speaking with the hiring manager, either one-on-one or as part of a panel interview, and either as a standalone meeting or part of a series of interviews. Many phone screens are with a recruiter, so this could be the first time you speak directly with the person who will ultimately decide if you get the job and who might become your boss. A second interview might also involve meeting with other team members or even your future boss’s boss—or it might be your second conversation with the hiring manager after you’ve completed other interviews or steps in the process (such as an interview assignment).

How you do in the second interview is often what the hiring manager will base their final hiring decision on, so if there was ever a time to shine it would be now. Wondering what’s the best way to make sure you dazzle your future employer?

Be prepared. Practice answering questions you’ll likely get in a second interview. Or, in other words, read on.

How to Prepare for a Second Interview

So what exactly does being prepared involve? In short, reflect on what you learned from your first interview to help you prep for your second.

First, consider what caught your first interviewer’s attention. Was there a specific skill or experience of yours they were especially keen to learn more about? Generate “examples of how you’ve navigated challenging work scenarios in the past and what projects or accomplishments you’re proudest of” that are relevant to what you’ve learned about the role, says Shanna Hocking, founder of Be Yourself Boldly and the host of the career development podcast One Bold Move a Day . These are what you’ll use to help make the case that you’re the best hire.

Next, review what you learned about the upcoming goals or the vision of the team or company. How does this role fit into that picture? “ Do your research on the company and the problems they’re working to solve,” Hocking says. Spend time thinking about ideas or potential solutions. How might your experiences make you uniquely equipped to solve this problem?

Once you have some good examples and ideas lined up, the next step is to practice answering sample questions aloud. “Preparing and practicing ahead of time will make you feel much more comfortable and confident when you’re face to face with the interviewer,” says Muse career coach Jennifer Smith , founder of Flourish Careers .

It can be especially helpful to go ahead and structure the examples you’ve prepped in a way that highlights the relevant parts of each story. “Outline your stories with the following framework: objective, actions you took, and result. And then practice them over and over,” Smith says. Knowing what details to include and what to cut before you go into your interview will help you make the points you want to make and sound more polished.

With all that in mind, here are 10 questions that you may be asked in a second interview—plus some pointers on how to best answer them.

1. Tell Me About Yourself.

No surprises here. A lot of interviews start this way. Interviewers want not only to find out who you are, but also to learn about you in the context of the job you’ve applied for. In other words, this is your opportunity to introduce yourself to your interviewer and connect your story to the company’s needs.

How to Answer

My go-to strategy for this interview opener is to start with your present, talk about your past, and then finish with your future. Your present is what your current role is along with any specific expertise or interests you have. Your past is the previous experience you bring and how you acquired your skills (your education, for example). And finally, your future is how you’re hoping the rest of your career is going to play out, at least for the foreseeable future.

For a second interview though, you’re going to want to center your response a bit more on the company and what you’ve learned about the role from earlier interviews. The obvious place to pepper in what you’ve learned about the role is in the “future” part of your answer, but you can also add a bit in the “present” in the form of things you are currently working on or excited about that pertain to the new role or the “past” by highlighting relevant experiences or skills.

For example:

“I’m a product manager at Alpha Tech with an interdisciplinary background and a soft spot for the design side of things, which is why this role at Beta Tech is so interesting to me—since design thinking is the foundation that Beta Tech was built on. In the six years I’ve been at Alpha Tech, I’ve led teams, pushed products through to their launch, and kept communication channels clear. When I joined Alpha Tech, I did a rotational program where I got to see how several different teams worked before settling into my current role, an experience that I think would help me get up to speed more quickly at Beta Tech given how the role oversees many of the same kinds of teams I’ve worked on before. Before that, I got my bachelors and masters in EECS [electrical engineering and computer science]—which gave me a background in coding that will help me with some of the more technical aspects of this role that Sahil mentioned on the phone. Now I’m really looking forward to taking on a more senior product management role in a place where I can work with industry leaders known for thoughtfully integrating the design and tech sides of their business.”

Read More: A Complete Guide to Answering “Tell Me About Yourself” in an Interview (Plus Examples!)

2. What Makes You a Good Fit for This Role?

More likely than not you’ve already been asked some version of this question in round one, but in your second round you’ll likely be talking to different people so there’s bound to be some repetition. A repeat interviewer may also be interested in knowing your answer now that you’ve learned more about the role and the company in earlier interview rounds and conversations. Either way, your interviewer wants to know how your qualifications connect to their job opening directly and to make sure that you understand what the role entails. So don’t short change this question just because you’ve answered it before.

Your goal is to respond in a way that is more specific to the role and company now that you know more about what the job is and what kinds of challenges the team or organization is facing. Find the intersection of what you have to offer and what the company needs. Hopefully at this point you have some idea what that might be. If you’re not sure where to start, Smith suggests leading with a “service mindset and enthusiasm for the job.” You want to get across to the hiring manager that you not only have the right skills and the right attitude for the job, but also that you’re intrinsically motivated based on the trajectory of your career. In other words, talk about what you can do for the company, not what the company can do for you.

“In our last conversation, we talked about how fast the company is growing. It’s definitely an exciting time to join, but I know one challenge will be the process of onboarding and training a lot of new account managers. Aside from having over a decade of experience as an account manager, I’ve spent a lot of time training and mentoring new staff—first because it was just something I enjoyed doing, but then later more formally as my supervisor noticed that it’s something I’m good at. I’d be thrilled to help formalize a thorough and supportive training program for new account managers in addition to being one myself.”

3. What Would You Hope to Accomplish in the First Few Months?

Here the interviewer is trying to suss out which candidate will hit the ground running. This question is intimidating, but also a truly excellent opportunity to show off all the research you’ve done about the role and company. That said, you obviously don’t know everything about the job, so your interviewer will also be interested in how you’d fill in those gaps in your knowledge.

Giving the interviewer an idea of how you plan on learning about the issues they’re working on and how you plan on acting on what you’ve learned is key here. Your goals are to show what you already know about the role, how you would learn the rest (including who you’d talk to), and how you’d contribute once you’re up to speed.

"It’s been exciting to hear about some of the new initiatives the company has started in our previous conversations—like the database project and the company-wide sync, but I know there’s still a lot for me to learn. The first thing I’d do is line up meetings with the stakeholders involved in the projects I’d be tackling to help me figure out what I don’t know and then go from there. Hopping into a database project halfway through can be tricky, but I’m confident that once I know what all the stakeholders are looking for, I’ll be able to efficiently plot out our next steps and set appropriate deadlines. From there, I’ll be focused on hitting the milestones that I’ve set for the team.”

4. What Is Your Experience With or How Would You Deal With [Challenge or New Initiative the Company or Team Is Currently Tackling]?

When interview questions get specific like this, it means this is a critical piece of the job. The hiring manager is really trying to envision you in the role and how you might help them. So go into detail how you would tackle their immediate challenges. Do yourself a favor and answer as comprehensively as possible. Answering something like this poorly can be a dealbreaker.

It can be tricky to answer a question about a new initiative (or the like) at a company you don’t work for yet. Rather than diving into hypotheticals or specifics, you’re much better off talking about your own experience with a similar situation. Start your response off by connecting what their company is going through with something you’ve worked on in the past and then focus on what you did and the takeaways from that experience.

“It’s been interesting to learn more about the plan to give employees an opportunity to ‘share’ jobs to create more flexibility for working parents. I’d definitely like to learn more about how this initiative started and what work has been done around it already. From what I know though, it seems somewhat similar—in terms of execution—to my experience spearheading a new career track for administrative assistants at my current company. I led our people ops team in developing new training, creating new policies, and implementing new procedures. It was difficult to get something brand new off the ground, but ultimately this program not only improved retention, but also became something we started talking about when recruiting. Throughout the process, I’ve seen how important it is to get buy-in for any new program, not just from management but from the employees it’s supposed to benefit. The program itself was different from the one you’re working on, but I think there’s a lot of overlap in terms of implementation that I’d be happy to discuss further.”

5. What Management Style Works Best for You?

Aside from using the second interview to see if you’ll be able to do the job, the hiring manager is going to want to make sure you’ll work well with the existing team. This question is an attempt to understand what kind of manager or boss suits you best and whether or not your preferences match up with their work style (or the work style of whomever the position reports to).

Be honest about what type of boss works best for you. You don’t want to work somewhere where you won’t thrive. Questions like this might seem like they’re begging for answers filled with platitudes and buzzwords like “lead by example” and “team player,” and it’s fine to include them, but make sure you take it one step further and give an example of a management style that worked well for you.

“I’m not really a ‘beg for forgiveness rather than ask for permission’ kind of person. I really value clear, upfront communication with my manager and try to be as open as possible about what I’m working on. I’ve been lucky in my current role and have had a really great relationship with my manager. Even though she trusts me to do my own thing, she makes it a point to really lay out her expectations at the beginning of every project and make sure that we’re on the same page. Other than our weekly check-in, she gives me the freedom I need to work independently. She trusts my judgment, which I appreciate, but she also makes it clear she’s available for questions or to help out with any unanticipated roadblocks. So overall I’d say I work best with a manager who allows me to work independently because they trust that I’ll always keep them up to date on what I’m working on, but is willing to check in and answer questions when I need it.”

Read More: 3 Easy Steps to Answer “How Do You Like to Be Managed?” in an Interview

6. Tell Me About a Time You Disagreed with a Colleague.

Similar to the previous question, this question also gets at how you’d work with the current team, but the interviewer is also looking for some additional insight into your problem solving strategies. More specifically, they’re trying to find out what kind of conflict resolution skills you have.

Don’t tiptoe around this by giving an example where there isn’t really a disagreement. Conflicts happen at work and by avoiding the question you’re showing that you might be the kind of person who is afraid to voice their opinion or, worse, is oblivious to conflict happening around them.

For most “Tell me about a time when” questions , you’ll want to tell a story and include a moral—or what the interviewer should take away from the story. You never really know what the interviewer is going to focus on in your answer, so you’re best off telling them what to focus on. You can do this either at the beginning of your answer or at the end.

“You’re probably familiar with the phenomenon that happens in all labs: Everyone needs the same piece of equipment at the same time. So in my current lab there’s a calendar system where you book time on a piece of equipment’s calendar to claim it. It works pretty well, but there’s an unspoken protocol where if you need to use something urgently enough, you can basically boot someone out of their slot. I did this once, when I was newer to the lab. I thought I was following the rules, but the person I booted was absolutely livid. I was not aware that there was another aspect of this loophole that involved seniority. When confronted, I tried to explain why I needed to use the piece of equipment and why it was time sensitive, but I also mentioned what lab rule I was following. That’s when I found out that lab members didn’t invoke this protocol for someone more senior than them. If I hadn’t gone back and specified exactly what rules I was following, my colleague would never have told me the bit about seniority. Once I figured out what I did wrong, I apologized. In general, when I’m dealing with conflict with a coworker, I try to really understand what the actual issue is—this one being an information gap on my end and not knowing where I was coming from on my colleague’s end—so that we can solve it together rather than talk around it and past one another.”

7. Why Do You Want to Leave Your Current Job? (Or: Why Did You Leave Your Last Job?)

Don’t be alarmed. Second-round interviews tend to get a bit more probing than first-round interviews, so you should be prepared for interviewers to want to dig a bit deeper. The interviewer is going to try to find any red flags from your previous experience, including why you are leaving or have left your most recent role. Were you fired or are you just looking for a more challenging role? Was there something else you weren’t getting from your last job that this job will offer you? Or are you likely to leave this job quickly for similar reasons?

Try to be honest without going negative. Even if you literally only have bad things to say about your current or previous employer, keep your answer neutral to positive. It almost doesn’t matter what your story is, going negative only makes you and your own experience look bad. Instead, focus on what this job has to offer that your previous job did not.

“I learned a lot in my last role and I enjoyed the work that I did—it was really an incredible introduction to the publishing industry—but I’m also looking for ways to expand my understanding of the field, so I began searching for roles related to the marketing side of things. This role seems to be the perfect way to build on the foundation my last role gave me, while focusing more on marketing.”

Read More: 4 Better Ways to Answer "Why Are You Leaving Your Job?"

8. What Are Your Short- and Long-Term Career Goals?

Again, this is an attempt to figure out if your career path and the company’s goals overlap—one of the company’s goals being that this role stays filled for a long time. So it’s not surprising that they’ll be wondering how likely it is you’ll want to stick around for a while. Onboarding and training a new employee, even if they have relevant skills, is a labor intensive and costly process. Hiring managers are generally not that interested in investing in someone who plans on leaving in the next year or two. Goals that indicate a strong match and your willingness to stay put could be the things that give you a leg up over the other candidates brought in for a second interview.

You can be pretty specific with your short-term goals. And they should obviously align very closely with the role you are applying for. For your long-term goal, you can be a bit more vague. Go for something that implies an upward trajectory—like managing a team or leading a project—but you don’t necessarily need to say you want it to be at the company you’re applying for unless that really is your goal. In other words, be honest—just not so honest that you disqualify yourself.

“I feel like there is always more to learn in supply chain management. In the next couple of years, I’d like to continue learning the ins and outs of the field, pick a specialty, and really become an expert in that speciality. For that reason, I was especially excited about how large and varied your supply-chain management operations are. In terms of the future, one of the things I’m definitely looking forward to doing—hopefully within the next few years—is getting more management experience. I’ve only ever managed interns at this point, but I’d love to lead my own team one day.”

9. What Is Your Target Salary?

It’s likely you’ve already talked about salary in your first interview. Most hiring managers want to make sure they can afford you before bringing you in to meet the team, so if you’ve gotten this far, you’re probably more or less on the same page. Still, it may come up again—particularly if you didn’t really give a firm number—and you should have something ready to go.

Money is always a little awkward to talk about, but you can blunt the awkwardness and leave some room for future negotiation by giving a salary range. There are several online resources that you can peruse to get an idea of what your salary should be, such as the LinkedIn Salary Tool or PayScale. From there, take into account your own experience and current salary.

Don’t forget that you can always demur and ask the interviewer what the salary range for the role is first.

“Based on my previous experience in marketing and the job duties we’ve discussed, I would expect something around $65,000 to $75,000. But I know salary is just one component of a job offer — I’m definitely open to talking about this in more detail later on.”

Read More: 3 Strategies for Answering “What Are Your Salary Expectations?” in an Interview

10. Is There Anything From Your Earlier Interview(s) That You’d Like to Discuss?

Interviews are, in theory, a continuing conversation between two parties. The hiring manager isn’t just evaluating you, you’re also scoping out the company. This question is a way to continue the conversation from your first interview and is actually a nice gesture from the interviewer. They’re giving you a chance to lead the conversation.

It can be very tempting to just say, “Nope!” and call it a day. After all, interviews are generally nerve-racking and not fun. But I would encourage you to resist cutting your interview short and really consider if there was anything you could have answered more comprehensively or something that you forgot to mention entirely. This is one of those questions where you can really make it anything you want it to be. If you could say anything to the hiring manager, what would you say? This is another chance to make your case—or a second chance to say what you meant to say the first time around.

Remember when you were preparing for this interview and you came up with a few good stories to talk about that really represented your work and experience and skills well? If you haven’t already talked about all of them, semi-open questions like this one or “Is there anything else you’d like me to know?” are golden opportunities to share the ones you haven’t gotten to yet. You just need to find the right transition into the story.

“Since our first conversation, I’ve been thinking a lot about the way you spoke about the company’s commitment to diversity. I’ve been a co-lead of my company’s Asian American ERG for a couple years now and it’s really important to me that diversity is valued in the workplace. I’ve been really impressed to see how even the recruitment process has reflected this commitment. Given the opportunity, I’d love to help continue pushing the needle forward, whether it’s through another ERG or some other avenue at the company.”

Questions to Ask in a Second Interview

Aside from being prepared to answer questions, you should also be ready to ask some yourself. “It shows you’re prepared and want to learn—and remember, you’re interviewing the company, too!” Hocking says.

Typically, you’ll be given the opportunity to ask at least a couple questions toward the end of the interview. This is a great opportunity to learn more about the role or team, but also to show off some of the homework you’ve done on the company since your last interview. Don’t be afraid to bring up what you already know—it’s a great way to further demonstrate how interested you are. Ideally, your questions can show that you’re already catching on to what the role is going to call for based on your previous interviews or even networking conversations. An excellent way to end the interview is for the interviewer to think you’d be quick to train.

Just don’t forget to also ask any questions you’d like to know the answer to before deciding to accept the role if it’s offered to you!

A few general favorites from Smith include:

What is your favorite and least favorite thing about working for your company?
Is risk-taking encouraged?
What happens when people fail?
How would you describe organizational politics?

You can also get specific with questions like:

You mentioned [new project], what would this position’s role be in that?
When I spoke with [team member], it sounded like the team is looking for someone who can [skill]. Could you tell me more about how you see this role interacting with the rest of the team?

Read More: 51 Great Questions to Ask in an Interview

What to Do After the Interview

Let’s assume you knocked that second interview out of the park thanks to all that prep work you did. Don’t mess it up now by forgetting this important final step: writing a thank you note.

The thank you note is likely the last bit of communication you have with the hiring manager before they make a decision about who to hire (or at least who to move to the final stages of the process). It can be tempting to just dash off a quick email or go the opposite direction and write a novel rehashing all the ways you are qualified for the job. Instead, try to strike a happy medium and write a note—an email is fine—that thanks them for their time, highlights the parts of the conversation you especially enjoyed, and concludes with how what you learned makes you even more enthusiastic about the opportunity. Or, you know, just follow this thank you note template . That’s it. Now go prepare. Good luck!

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Second stage interviews: What to expect and how to prepare

What’s different about a second interview?

Why have i been asked back for a second interview, what should you expect.

In a marketing role, you may be asked to present a campaign plan
In a finance position this might be a report on a set of data they provided
In a project management role it may be to perform a risk analysis on an existing transformation plan.

How should you prepare?

Potential second interview questions:, 1. what are the key attributes you think are required for this role, 2. what do you think we could be doing better , 3. what are your career goals, 4. what is it about this job that excites you, 5. why should we choose you, what’s next, download your job applicant toolkit.

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How to Deliver a Winning Interview Presentation

Written by: Unenabasi Ekeruke

The average corporate job opening receives about 250 resumes . To find the most suitable candidates, many companies make interview presentations a decisive part of their hiring process.

Whether you're looking to switch jobs or move up the ladder in your organization, a well-crafted interview presentation might be the key to landing your next role.

Interview presentations give you a chance to pitch your skills and showcase your knowledge about the position. Delivering an exceptional presentation will put you a step ahead of other candidates.

But how do you make your interview presentation stand out?

In this article, we've rounded up the best tips for preparing and delivering a winning interview presentation that will help you stand out and land you the job.

Let's get to it.

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What is an interview presentation, what employers look for in an interview presentation, how to prepare for your interview presentation.

11 Interview Presentation Tips to Help You Stand Out

In many industries, interview presentations help recruiters pick the best candidate for the job.

They also help managers gauge a candidate's presentation skills, especially if the job role involves pitching to clients or top management.

Interview presentations often involve presenting formal talks about subjects that interest recruiters. These subjects could be directly related to your job role or the industry your prospective organization operates in.

Your interview presentation could potentially revolve around topics like:

Emerging trends and innovations in a particular industry
Competitive landscape and future predictions
Business, operations and marketing strategies
Improving sales and customer retention

It could also be about pitching your work experience, ideas and why you're the best fit for the role.

Let's say you're interviewing for a high-level position in the sales and marketing department. You may be asked to pitch the company's product or services to prospects or do these things:

Predict trends in the industry where the company operates
Talk about how the current market trend may affect sales for a particular line of products
Present a marketing plan for your prospective role

Below is an interview presentation template that you can edit and use.

Sometimes, prospective employers may give you specific topics in advance, giving you ample time to prepare.

At other times, you may have to make blind presentations. This means you'll get topics shortly before the presentation and may have limited time to prepare.

Whatever be the case, nailing your interview presentations will up your chances of landing your new role.

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Take a moment to think about your best job interview.

Why did your employer choose to hire you ahead of other candidates? You probably ticked all the right boxes in terms of skills, experiences, education, personality and other factors.

But most importantly, it's how you presented your skills, capabilities and knowledge about the role that probably blew their minds.

At every stage of the hiring process, employers look for outstanding candidates who measure up to their expectations. These expectations may differ based on the job role, industry and organizational structure.

However, on a general note, recruiters will readily opt for candidates who:

Understand the organization and its line of business
Know their job role and what's expected
Understand the company mission and will fit into the company culture
Show passion, ambition and leadership qualities
Demonstrate the ability to use their skills and experience to drive the company forward
Know how to communicate and present in front of a small or large group of people

What specific presentation skills do employers look for?

Excellent presentation skills are a must-have for most client-facing roles or high-level positions. Therefore, asking a candidate to make presentations during interviews can help companies assess whether they can deliver on the job.

Not only that, interview presentations provide deeper insight into your abilities and skills, such as:

Presentation design skills
Verbal and written communication style
The ability to hook, engage and interact with your audiences
Ability to deliver the message with clarity
Diligence and attention to details
Work experience and sector knowledge
Ability to read and interpret the mindset of listeners
Use of visual aids
Time management and organization skills

For a blind presentation, the employer may want to feel your pulse or perspective on issues or take notice of things like:

The ability to think on your feet
How you perform under pressure
How persuasive and creative you can be

Ultimately, the recruiter is also checking to see if you meet the core competencies for the job. Therefore, make sure to revisit them during the blind presentation.

Beyond landing the job, getting it right with your presentation can set the tone for further engagements with your colleagues and top management.

Preparation is one of the keys to delivering an excellent interview presentation.

Once you've received the details about the interview, don't leave your preparation till the last minute or assume you can wing it. Use the days leading up to the interview to put the necessary things in place.

Here's what you should know. Preparing for your interview presentation puts you in control and increases your chances of securing the job.

Unfortunately, knowing how to prepare for interviews may be a big challenge for many people.

But we've got you covered.

Use these tips below to get yourself interview-ready.

1. Ask the Right Questions

Whether you receive a phone call or email about your interview, ensure you're clear about the details. Rather than make sweeping assumptions, go ahead and do these things:

Find out what your prospective employers expect from you.
Ask if you'll get a topic before the presentation date or if it's a blind presentation. Also, find out if you'll be allowed to choose from a list of topics.
Find out who your audience will be (recruitment agencies, HR, supervisors, top-level management).
Ask how many people will be present at the interview.
Make sure to ask how long the presentation will last. Having a timeframe will help you decide what to add or delete from the presentation.
Find out if they have a preferred presentation style.
Ask what technical equipment and presentation tools will be available.
Find out whether there'll be provision for sound, audio and visuals.

By asking these questions, you'll know what recruiters expect from you and align your presentation to match their needs. Plus, they'll judge your suitability for the role based on how you pay attention to the finest details.

2. Research the Company and the Position Before the Interview

Now you have answers to the fundamental questions, go ahead and research the company and the position you've applied for.

That's not all. Find out the industry the company operates, the major players and where the company ranks within the industry.

Doing this will enable you to:

Structure your presentation and
Interpret your job role within the context of the industry where the company operates.

For example, if you're an accounting professional, it's not enough to understand general accounting principles.

You'll have to understand what your role entails within the context of the industry you'll be working in. It could be oil and gas, mining, tech, construction, health, finance or entertainment.

Here are other things you should find out during your research.

Company Vision, Mission and Goals

Find out the company's history, what they stand for and their area of interest. It's also a good idea to research their major competitors and how they've fared in the market.

But how do you find this valuable information?

The company's website and social media channels are good starting points. News, blogs and third-party sites can provide more information about what the company has been up to.

Having this essential info will help you:

Determine subjects relevant to the company and the area you should focus on,
Tailor your interview presentation to their needs and
Impress your potential employers.

Not only that, but it also shows you're prepared to be part of that organization's culture.

Potential Audience

Part of your research should be to find out who is going to be interviewing you. One way to get that information is by asking the company's HR or using your intuition.

For example, if you're applying for a sales and marketing position, the marketing, sales and HR managers will most likely be on the interview panel.

Next, find out their interests and job responsibilities. Platforms like LinkedIn , Meetup , Indeed and other job boards can come in handy.

You might want to take note of their experience levels.

Professionals with different experience levels have varying concerns.

For example, while top management may care about your administrative or leadership abilities, a team lead may be more interested in your technical or problem-solving skills.

If you focus on what matters most to your audience, you'll attract their interest and win them over.

3. Structure Your Interview Presentation

If you want to keep your audiences hooked to your slides, ensure your presentation is well-structured.

Doing this will keep you on track and prevent your audience from zoning out of your presentation.

Here's how to create an excellent presentation structure.

In its simplest form, a well-structured presentation should have an introduction, body and conclusion.

Compelling introduction: Your introduction should briefly sum everything about you, your presentation objectives and why it's relevant to your audience. You can ask a question, tell a story, share facts or use humor to spark interest.
Engaging body: This is where you present the main details of your topic. Make sure to back your argument with facts or a wealth of information that shows that you're the best candidate for the job. Talk about the company goals and how you'll help to achieve them.
Memorable conclusion: Here, you should present your key takeaways about the topic. Likewise, briefly reiterate your skills, experience, expertise, past achievements and why they should hire you.

You can use presenter notes to ensure you stick to the structure. Throughout your presentation, keep your message clear. Plus, make sure every part of your presentation relates to the topic.

Check out this article for more tips on how to structure your presentation .

Structure your interview presentation to make it appealing and impactful like the one below.

4. Pay Attention to Design

Remember, first impressions count. And your interview presentation isn't an exception to this rule. Excellent presentation designs help you create an impactful first impression on your interviewers.

Think of your design as the aesthetic element that etches your presentation in your viewer's minds and sways them in your favor.

Whether you're pitching the company's product or your resume , having flawless interview presentation designs will help you tell stories better.

Not only does it create a memorable impression, but it also makes your presentation pack a punch.

You can start from scratch or jumpstart your creativity with interview presentation examples like the one below.

While creating your presentation slides , here are some things you should keep in mind:

Keep It On-Brand

Try to tailor your presentation design (font, color scheme, background, image) to the company's identity and visual language. Companies like Starbucks, Skype, Spotify and Netflix provide brand guidelines on their website.

Brand guidelines generally contain a set of rules on using the company’s branding elements. If the company doesn't have a brand guide, you can use the colors on their logo or website for your slide design.

Interviewers will most likely focus on a presentation designed in their organization's brand format. And doing this will show you've done your research about the company.

Pro Tip: Use Visme's Brand Design Tool to automatically generate a branded presentation template with your employer's logo, colors and fonts. Simply enter in the URL to their website and watch the magic happen!

Create branded content & graphics with ease

Add your brand color’s hex codes for easy access
Upload or select your brand fonts
Easily incorporate brand elements into your Vismes

Use Lots of White Space

Avoid cluttering your interview presentation slides with too many ideas, text or images. This could overwhelm your audience and make your presentation a pain in the eyes.

When designing a clean and effective presentation, it's important to use lots of white space. Don't use more than six words per slide . Stick to one idea and a minimum of two images per slide.

Use High-Quality Images

Be sure to use high-quality visuals that drive an emotional appeal.

Better yet, every visual you use should have a purpose behind it. If you're presenting an overview of yourself, it makes sense to use a nice, high-quality headshot of yourself. Take a cue from the interview presentation sample to create yours.

Even if you're using stock photos to spice up your slides, make sure the images are carefully selected to balance the text on each slide and are relevant to the topic that's being discussed.

Using low-quality, irrelevant or pixelated images can not only make your presentation boring, but it can also negatively impact your image and make you come across as careless or lazy.

Make Your Slides Easy to Read

When selecting fonts and sizing them, use fonts that are readable on small and large screens. Stick a font size of 36 pixels for titles and at least 30 pixels for body text.

Additionally, to make your message pop, maintain a solid contrast between your text and background. If you use a dark background, use a white font color and vice versa. You can grab inspiration from the job interview presentation sample below.

In the template above, notice how the dark text color pops vibrantly on the white background. Additionally, the fonts are legible enough for readers to digest the message in the slide.

If you want to learn more about making your slide designs shine, read our in-depth article on how to create good presentation design .

5. Use Charts and Graphs to Visualize Data

As mentioned before, sprawling text and bullets aren't enough to drive visual appeal. You need to use visual aids to break up text and boost visual appeal.

By using a range of formats like graphs, statistics, diagrams , video clips and images, you can easily maintain audience attention and get your points across.

Notice how the job interview presentation sample below uses data visualization to present information.

Are you looking for high-resolution visuals for your interview presentations?

If the answer is yes, Visme's presentation maker has everything you need. The tool has a robust library of free and premium stock images, elegant fonts, icons, graphs, charts, infographics and other visual aids.

6. Keep Your Presentation Clear, Unique and Impactful

When it comes to making presentations or a pitch deck, less is more.

As a presenter, you want recruiters to glance at your slide, gain interest and listen to you. Hence it's best to keep your slide short and simple, aiming for ten slides or less.

Be careful not to load too much information on your slides or break off tangents that don't support your topic.

Just like you, other applicants are looking to give an impressive presentation. Make your presentation memorable and unique. This will convince your employer that you are the ideal candidate for the job.

One way to make your presentation unique is by:

Creating a simulated project or demo
Using case studies related to the company's operations
Creating a strategic plan for your intended role or department
Depicting how you would use your skills to achieve the desired project goals

If you're doing a job presentation for a marketing position, for example, you can create a detailed strategic plan that wins the heart and minds of your interviewers using the template below.

7. Practice Your Delivery

Your interview presentation is a critical stage in the recruiting process. And having an excellent delivery will solidify your chances of getting the job.

However, having a flawless delivery starts with practice, practice and more practice.

For example, Steve Jobs was one of the most phenomenal speakers of his time. His keynotes and demos were compelling and filled with passion and energy.

But if you pull back the curtain, you'll realize why presentations were magical. What seemed spontaneous took hours and hours of practice.

Here's the thing. Rehearsing your presentation beforehand will help avoid babbling or being caught off guard.

Not only that, practice will make you become confident, familiar with you presentation outline or structure and deliver your presentation smoothly.

How do you practice your interview presentation?

First off, deliver your presentation in front of a mirror and record yourself while you're at it. Repeat this as many times as possible and watch out for mistakes that could hurt your presentation.

Next, practice your presentation before your friends and ask them to take notes. Doing this will enable you to get feedback or work on areas that require improvements.

Encourage them to provide detailed feedback rather than general feedback like: "you did well" or "great design".

Before presenting his first TED Talk, author and business podcaster Tim Ferriss practiced his presentation with a group of friends and strangers. He went ahead to incorporate their feedback and suggestions in his next rehearsal.

During practice, go ahead and do these things:

Time yourself to ensure your presentation falls within the allowed time
Keep your shoulder and head high up
Maintain eye contact with your audience (friends, family or professional colleagues)
Be expressive and articulate your words with confidence.
Take deep breaths and pauses in between your presentation
Be audible and avoid speaking too fast

As you practice repeatedly, you'll have your points at your fingertips. Plus, you'll become more confident about your interview.

Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor practiced her 18-minute TED Talk about 200 times before getting on stage. Her speech below, “ My Stroke of Insight,” has amassed well over 25 million views on the TED site alone.

8. Follow Presentation Guidelines

While preparing for your big day, adhere to the employer's rules for the interview presentation.

The interview rules could include:

Interview arrival time
Document required
The focus of the presentation and allotted time

For instance, if your interviewer says candidates must complete their presentation in 10 minutes, don't exceed the allocated time.

If you've not been given a time limit, keep your presentation between 10-20 minutes. Remember — people have short attention spans.

When you adhere to the guidelines, employers will believe you're reliable and can work with available resources.

9. Use the Right Presentation Tool

The tool you use to prepare your presentation is as important as the content. You'll find tons of presentation software out there, including PowerPoint, Keynote, Google Slides, Visme, Prezi and more.

Sometimes, your potential employer may favor a particular platform for your interview presentation. But more often than not, they'll leave you to make a choice.

In this case, it's advisable to build your presentations using a tool that's not only familiar but has everything you need to make your content shine. We strongly recommend a feature-rich tool like Visme .

Whether you're a novice or expert, Visme is precisely made to help you craft beautiful presentations and nail your delivery. The tool has 500+ templates, animations, fonts, and design themes that match your style and any niche you can think of.

You can also check out our quick video on how to create beautiful and professional interview presentations in Visme.

10. Have a Backup Plan

Keep in mind that complications could arise. Having a backup plan can help you put things back on track and complete your presentation successfully.

Your employer will mainly provide a screen, laptop, USB and other equipment.

Still, it would help to bring along your laptop and USB drive. They could come in handy if you want to quickly make some adjustments to your slide or review them before the presentation.

In addition, make sure to:

Have duplicate copies of your presentation. You can save a copy on a USB stick, external drive or cloud drive.
Email the file to yourself and the interviewers.
Bring along a few printed handouts or copies of your slides, which you'll share with your audience.

Taking these steps can save the day if anything goes wrong such as computer breakdown, corrupt files, power disruption and other technical glitches.

11. Determine Follow-up Questions and Provide Answers

Now your preparation is in top gear. But wait, there's one more thing.

After creating your presentation, review the content and check for readability and spelling errors.

Then think up questions your audience might ask after your delivery. You'll want to brace up for questions that are both related and not related to the topic.

Here is a list of the common interview presentation questions that you can expect:

What solutions do you recommend in light of the current realities and trends?
Why do you recommend this solution?
What strategy do we use to solve this problem?
How do we convince investors to buy into this project?
What resources do we need to execute these projects?
What processes can we put in place to ensure the success of this project
How do you plan to minimize the risks of this project?
How does your recommendation align with the company's short-term and long-term goals?

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11 Interview Presentation Tips

You've put in the work to prepare your interview presentation. Great job! Now the day and time of your presentation have arrived.

These 11 interview presentation tips will help you win your employers over.

1. Pick the Right Outfit

There's no hard and fast rule to picking the right interview outfit. And that’s because different companies and industries have preferred dress codes.

So your best bet will be to ask the hiring manager before the interview date. This will enable you to align your attire with the company culture.

Whether the acceptable dress code is formal or casual, wear something that makes you appear smart and confident. But when in doubt, stick to formal and smart business attire.

2. Arrive Early and Settle In

Whether you have an online or physical interview or presentation, this is a no-brainer. Showing up late doesn't only leave a bad impression, but it could cost you the job.

Arriving early to your interview will give you enough time to settle your nerves and tie loose ends.

A good rule of thumb is to arrive 15 to 20 minutes before your presentation. You'll have ample time to get comfortable with the equipment and the environment.

3. Start Strong and Build Rapport

The opening part of your interview presentation is where you set the mood for the rest of the presentation.

Here, you have to draw your audience in and convince them to listen to you. So aim to make it impactful and enthralling.

Once you get on the stage, build rapport with your audience.

Start by introducing yourself, professional experience, skills and educational background. Then, highlight your career achievements, records, awards and portfolio like the example interview presentation slide below.

The goal is to impress and attract your audience's attention. This is the moment where you convince recruiters that you’re worth listening to.

When it comes to your presenting your topics, you can kick off your presentation with the following techniques:

Use captivating quotes
Mention compelling statistics about the organization, industry or subject
Tell an interesting story about yourself or the subject
Talk about a trending news topic

Not only will this help draw your interviewers in, but it will engross them and set the mood for the rest of the presentation.

4. Be Confident

You've worked so hard to get to this point. Be confident that you've got this. Projecting confidence is also as important as having an incredible resume.

Recruiters love to listen to confident candidates. And developing this mindset will help you inspire trust and build connections with your potential employer.

If you're looking to keep your confidence high, do these things:

Speak with authority and make eye contact with your audience: This is you selling yourself and reiterating that you've got all it takes to do the job.
Pay attention to your body language: That's the first thing people notice. The way you carry yourself says a lot about how confident you are. Do your best to maintain the right body posture, smile, keep your head up and appear comfortable.
Use hand gestures: Utilizing strong hand gestures adds personality to your speech and makes you expressive. For example, moving your hand in an upward motion can describe growth rate or increase. Likewise, opening or closing your hands depicts sizes.

5. Deliver Like a Pro

While making your presentation, ensure your delivery is crisp and clear.

Whether you're using your voice or microphone, command attention by enunciating words clearly and projecting them to the back of the room. Otherwise, you'll come across as timid or unsure of your assertions.

Resist the temptation to use a dull tone or communicate without facial expressions.

Instead, deliver your speech with passion and vary your pitch to convey feelings and different emotional intensities. Delivering your message with emotion and liveliness will keep your audience hooked.

Most people tend to speak fast when they're nervous. Well, if this happens, your interviewer may miss out on important points.

Thus, maintain a reasonable pace and have occasional pauses in between. This will give you time to catch your breath, collect your thoughts and let your messages sink in.

Remember your slide is supposed to support your presentation, so avoid reading your slides or notes. Doing this will bore your audience and give them the impression that you're inept on the subject.

Showcase your expertise with the help of the presentation interview template below.

6. Tell a Compelling Story

Storytelling is one the most effective ways to structure your interview presentation.

Whether you're simulating a project, discussing a technical topic or pitching your skills, storytelling is the key to winning audience interest.

Top business leaders are making the most of it. You should make it the foundation of your interview presentation.

For example, in the video below, Sara Blakely, founder of Spanx, leverages storytelling to explain how she built a successful product.

One of the reasons why Steve Jobs stood out during presentations is his ability to tell captivating stories. He used storytelling during his keynote addresses, pitches and notably during the launch of the first iPhone in 2007.

Here's the thing. Telling stories engages your audience and helps understand your points. Also, it makes your presentation more impactful and memorable.

Here's how to use storytelling during your interview presentation

Plot: Select an area of focus and make it resonate with your audiences
Characters: Highlight the major players in your story. It could be you, the company, the industry, competitors, etc.
Opposition: Present a problem and why it matters to the organization or audience
Journey: Discuss what you bring to the table regarding the solution, planning, execution, monitoring, problem-solving and management
Conclusion: End with a strong resolution

What's more? To make your presentation cohesive and well-thought-out, use practical examples.

For example, the slide below highlights current gaps or problems.

Then, the next slide suggests practical steps to address the gaps or solve the problems.

7. Use Visual Aids

We discussed this during the preparation phase. And you've got to make it count while delivering your presentation.

Adding visuals to your story is a winning formula that works all the time.

Why? Interestingly about 65% of people are visual learners. Plus, our brains are wired to pay more attention to visual content.

But those are not the only reasons you should incorporate visuals into your presentation.

Visuals attract audience attention and enhance your delivery
With visuals, your audiences can quickly understand complex ideas
They appeal to your viewer's imagination and drive an emotional connection
Visual add power to your words and keeps your speech on track

You can use video, images, infographics and symbols to describe ideas or concepts. Map charts or statistical maps can help visualize geographical information.

You can visualize numbers using graphs, line charts, pie charts, bar charts and maps like in the slide template below.

8. Use Speaker Notes

While creating your slides, you can store essential talking points in your presenter notes. These notes are visible to you but aren't visible to your audience.

They help you recall key points like quotes, stats or ideas as you present.

Visme makes it super easy to add presenter notes to your slides. You can view your notes for the current and next slides as you present.

The tool also comes with a timer that helps you stay within the allocated time. If you're pressed for time, cut out the least relevant points and move the most important ones. Ultimately make sure you don't exceed the allotted time.

9. Be Prepared To Adapt

We get it. You've practiced your presentation and put other things in the right place.

However, keep in mind that things don't always go as planned. So you have to be willing to adapt to changes.

For example, you may have prepared a 10 minute presentation for interview and you’re given less than five minutes. Also, you may have planned to deliver your presentation and then take questions. But your interview may commence with questions or ask questions while you’re presenting.

Whatever the case, be prepared to pause for questions or switch to further discussion unexpectedly.

10. Have a Strong Closing

Your conclusion is as important as the intro. It determines what your audiences will walk away with and how they will feel about you.

Generally, it should be a summary of everything you discussed earlier. Therefore you have to bring it full circle and make it connected to the rest of your presentation.

Most importantly, make it convincing and memorable.

If your interviewer can remember the key takeaways from your presentation, you'll have the edge over other candidates.

Here's how to end your interview presentation in a memorable way:

Ask your audience questions about the topic that sparks curiosity and gets them thinking.
End with key takeaways that highlight the main points of your presentation.
Double down on the problems and how you can help solve them.
Mention how your recommended solution can help the company grow and increase their competitive edge
Tie your message to an interesting quote that aligns with the company vision, mission and goals
Highlight intriguing milestones and figures you can help the company achieve like profit margins, growth rate, market valuation, increased productivity, revenue growth, etc.
Demonstrate that you are open to feedback, questions and further discussion about the topic

Use the job interview presentation example below to craft a striking conclusion that leaves a lasting impression on your audience.

11. Take Questions and Feedback at the End

After you've concluded your presentation, get ready for questions and feedback from interviewers.

Keep in mind that the questions may differ from what you rehearsed. Still, make sure you answer the question with confidence and demonstrate expertise.

If the question is challenging, take a moment to compose your thoughts before responding. Also, if the question isn't clear, don't be afraid to ask for clarification.

In any case, the panel will judge your suitability for the role based on what you say, how you present yourself and how you approach questions.

Ace Your Interview Presentations with Visme

Creating an effective interview presentation can be your weapon to launch or advance your career. With a winning interview, you can outperform other candidates and convince your prospective employers that you're the right fit for the job.

But it all starts with setting aside hours to prepare for your presentations. In addition, make sure you follow all the tips we've shared for delivering your presentation.

Looking to create a presentation that will land you that new role? Then you need to use intuitive presentation software like Visme.

Whether you're a learner or an expert, Visme is easy to use. We guarantee that it will pay off more than you can imagine. The tool offers hundreds of pre-built presentation templates, built-in graphics, multimedia, design elements and more.

Beyond creating stunning presentations, you'll be able to share your presentation live. You can also embed it to your website or download it as a video or editable file formats like PDF, PPTX and more.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

How do you start an interview presentation.

There are a few great ways to start your presentation with style, immediately grabbing your audience’s attention:

Start with a provocative question or statement.
Tell a story.
Quote an influential person.
Ask a question.
Tell a joke.

What is a good presentation topic for an interview?

When creating a presentation as a part of a job interview, you want to choose a topic that will help to sell yourself and your knowledge. This might mean a prior project you worked on, some new tech in your industry, new industry trends, etc.

What is the point of an interview presentation?

An interview presentation helps potential employers understand your actual knowledge level in the industry. If you’re able to give an in-depth presentation showcasing how well you know about something related to your field, they’re much more likely to want you on their team.

How do you improve your interview presentation skills?

Looking to improve your presentation skills ? A few key interview presentation ideas and tips include:

Keep your slides short and sweet.
Practice before you present.
Don’t read off your slides.
Create a visually appealing presentation design .
Show off your personality.

Easily put together winning interview presentations in Visme

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About the Author

Unenabasi is a content expert with many years of experience in digital marketing, business development, and strategy. He loves to help brands tell stories that drive engagement, growth, and competitive advantage. He’s adept at creating compelling content on lifestyle, marketing, business, e-commerce, and technology. When he’s not taking the content world by storm, Unenabasi enjoys playing or watching soccer.

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Find a Job You Really Want In

Getting a second interview can be an exciting thing to celebrate. It’s one step closer to getting your dream job. A second interview will look a little different than it did during your first. It’s important to prepare just as much as you did the first time. In this article, we will go over how to prepare for this interview, provide some example answers to some questions, and go over some common mistakes to avoid. Key Takeaways: A second interview typically have more in-depth questions and are focused on whether or not you are the ideal candidate. When preparing for a second interview, make sure you go over all your research you did from your first interview. Be prepared for more behavioral questions and answer using the STAR (situation, task, action, result) method. It’s important to ask more in-depth questions to the interviewer than you did in the first interview. In This Article Skip to section How to Prepare for a Second Interview Example Answers to Second Interview Questions Common Second Interview Mistakes to Avoid Final Thoughts Sign Up For More Advice and Jobs Show More How to Prepare for a Second Interview

Preparing for your second interview shouldn’t be a passive process — now that you know the responsibilities and the company’s needs, use that information to prepare examples and stories that describe your abilities.

Some of the interview questions may be the same as the questions you were asked at the first interview, but others will be very different — you’ll have new interviewers, they’ll have forgotten your answers, and they may even want to see if you answer the same way.

You can think of the first interview as an opportunity for interviewers to learn about who you are as a person and to figure out off the bat if you’d ever be able to perform the job’s duties. The second one will be to discern whether your skillset would be a good fit.

Review your research. Learn as much as you can about the job and the company, so you can more accurately tailor your answers to describe what you can offer your potential new employer.

The research you presumably did for your first interview is crucial here — what is the company proud of? How do they present themselves on social media? What community outreach and press relations efforts are they pushing?

And don’t stop trying to learn more — when you’re notified that you’ll be going through a second interview, ask who will be conducting it and learn about them. Google their names, find them on LinkedIn , see if they’ve published any articles or papers.

Practice your presentation. You’ve worked on your elevator pitch and you’ve brought your materials — don’t forget to practice presenting both, as this is often the time when you’ll meet the people you’ll be working with and not just hiring manager types.

Remember to be consistent. Your second interviewer is most likely going to read over the first one’s notes, and if you have multiple interviewers in the second round you can bet they’re going to talk about you and compare notes.

Be consistent on your work history, skills, and experience — don’t try to appeal to any particular interviewer that you misrepresent yourself. That means no lying, which is always good interview etiquette .

As always, review your resume and take notes on what you discussed and the questions you were asked.

Ask more specific questions. Just as the interviewers are going to be asking you more detailed questions that help them figure out who you are, you should be doing the same. Even if you have your heart set on this position already, you should take these questions as opportunities to impress them with your interest and showcase how your mind works.

How would you describe the culture here?

How do you measure performance?

What opportunities would I have in this position to best impact the company?

Are there any challenges I could expect to face in my first few months here?

Learn about the company culture. If your predecessor was promoted, it indicates room for growth and you can divine how long you’ll need to be in the position before you move up.

And it’s a bit more sensitive, but you can also figure out a bit about the company and your supervisor by learning about why the previous person was fired. If they didn’t perform, you can figure out on the fly how success is measured — and if they were fired quickly, you can learn a bit about how the company values its employees.

And while it’s not an opportunity to begin talking about salary requirements , you can ask questions that are a bit more presumptuous.

What would the next step be in the hiring process, and when should I expect to hear about it?

If hired, when would you like for me to start?

Be prepared for behavioral interview questions. While you probably got the what-would-you-do, straightforward questions like “ What motivates you ?” and “ Tell me about yourself ” in the first interview, this is often the time when you’ll get the what-did-you-do questions — so not “how would you handle yourself if you disagreed with a coworker”, but “how have you coped with unruly clients in the past”.

Rehearse a few stories from your past or work history that tell a lot about who you are as a person. Things that characterize you as a team player through your actions make for a lot stronger answers than just saying, “I’m a team player,” for example.

The best approach to behavioral interview questions is to use the STAR method :

Situation. Briefly describe the context of your story.

Task. Talk about your task (whether you were assigned to something or took it up yourself) in the given context. The “situation” and “task” section of your answer can be blended into the first couple of introductory sentences.

Action. This is the real meat of your answer — talk about how you handled the situation. The richer detail you can give on the “how” and “why” of your job, the more substantive your answer will be.

Result. Finally, detail the conclusion of your story. The result should always be positive, even if the question is about a negative situation like conflicts or mistakes. Focus on what you learned and improvements you’ve made, and never place blame on a third party.

Answer questions directly. Resist the temptation to ignore the question. That sounds like a given, but people have a tendency to just talk about themselves instead of talking about themselves in a way that answers the question.<

Ask for clarification if you need it.

Describe a scenario you were in that echoes the one they describe.

Discuss what it was that you did to address it.

Detail the outcomes.

Remember to do all of the above in a way that casts you in a positive light, even when you’re asked about a negative experience or hypothetical.

Remember, the interviewer is trying to gauge if your previous behavior makes you a good fit — but if your current behavior is bombastically ignoring their questions so you can talk about yourself, it’s answering that question in another way.

Example Answers to Second Interview Questions

The key thing to do here is frame the situation or story you want to tell in terms of the question they ask, then describe the situation while finally returning to a succinct answer.

I feel that the most important thing to do with concurrent deadlines is to rank them by priority and then determine how long each of those tasks should take — because even if my goal is as always to finish them all, my overarching goal is to allocate my time in a way that best benefits the company. As a web content creator , I would rather put out a product that stands on its own merits — so in the past, I’ve had to decide which stories could actually be written to our high standard in the given period of time and complete them first, knowing that it’s not an option to sacrifice quality of work just to meet deadlines. If it became clear that I couldn’t meet my deadlines, I would reach out to my supervisor to make sure that my priorities were aligned with theirs, and then see if we could collaborate with others on my team to meet our deadlines.

What stood out to me in my research was how happy your employees are. In my conversations with people who work here, I’ve learned that there’s a genuine spirit of collaboration and camaraderie that extends across departments. In my past positions, there’s always been a sense of disconnect between teams and it often makes working on projects frustrating. For example, the biweekly “all hands” meeting you hold sounds interesting and particularly beneficial to me. Having a high-level coordination event like that so frequently ensures consistency across the company. As a hyper-organized individual who likes to keep the big picture in mind, this sort of company culture brings me much-needed structure and cohesion that makes setting my priorities much more straightforward.

In my last position, we had a goal of revamping a client’s website for monetization. The client wasn’t precisely sure how they wanted to incorporate ads and other paid service offers on their page without harming the overall user experience. Our team drew up several options and started A/B testing to see which performed best, both from a monetary and engagement perspective. However, as we started rolling this out, our client’s priorities shifted entirely to affiliate marketing. While they expected a long turn-around time for what they felt was a radically different request, our team was able to deliver new options in a quarter of the time. Using the templates we had developed and the same A/B testing process, we had a polished website ready under time and under budget. The affiliate marketing campaign went on to be a success.

I tend to be a go-with-the-flow type, but when I see a needlessly inefficient or expensive process, my OCD kicks in. My last supervisor religiously kept to a manual describing the protocol for all projects. It was devised over the course of his career, and it had a lot of useful and beneficial guidelines. However, one of those guidelines was proving to be a major bottleneck — requesting funding for each element of the project as it came up. I brought my concerns to him after multiple projects started falling behind, and he explained that it was a cost-saving measure he’d learned from wasted cash in the past. I told him I understood the motivation behind the protocol, but suggested requests come in bigger chunks, less frequently. We were able to reach a compromise where we had rolling monthly financial requests on a schedule for each department, so that funding was processed more quickly and finance could focus on one thing at a time. Projects moved along a lot more quickly after that, and my supervisor thanked me for the suggestion after he saw the results.

Common Second Interview Mistakes to Avoid

If you make it to a second interview, you have the potential — interviewers are at this point looking for you to confirm that and also not screw up.

These are some of the attitudes that they don’t want to see — this is important to remember because even if you are the most eager, excited, and prepared candidate, perception is everything. Answer interview questions for the interviewer’s ears, not yours. Seeming disinterested or passive is a big no-no.

As we said before, if you’ve passed the first interview then you’re more or less qualified — this is to see if you and the company are a good match for each other.

Being unprepared. You really should be prepared for second interview question by the time of your first interview, but your interviewers this time are going to expect for you to know a thing or two about the company and the role you’ll be filling.

If you don’t demonstrate knowledge of services and products, a bit of company history, and what the industry is like then you’ll look like you aren’t genuinely interested in the position. In other words, don’t ask questions like “I’m sorry, what do you sell again?”

Not asking questions. If you fail to ask questions about the role, you’ll come across as disinterested. People don’t want to hire someone who’s not excited, and they definitely don’t want to hire someone who may leave in the near future.

Bringing up salary requirements. You shouldn’t bring up salary requirements, but when it comes to discussing things like benefits, salary, work schedule, and the like, employers are going to be looking for someone whose demands aren’t mismatched.

If your interviewer asks what your salary requirements are, this is the time to tell them, but don’t mention it unless they ask.

Being unwilling to adapt. Make sure that you present yourself as a person who can adapt to change. If the company is going to grow or demands an indication of some flexibility, you need to indicate that you are game for it and it won’t hurt your performance down the road.

Assuming you have the position. Just because you were called back for a second interview doesn’t always mean you have the job. It means the interviewer wants to know more about you. Sometimes a large company may have two or three interviews during the interview process because of how many people need to interview before a decision is made.

Final Thoughts

The process might not be over. There may be further rounds of interviews, and if the competition for the position is particularly close you might get an email or phone call to follow up on one of your answers.

This isn’t an opportunity to embellish or present yourself in a better light — remember how you presented yourself and represented your answer, and clarify it.

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David Luther was the Content Marketing Editor for the Zippia Advice blog. He developed partnerships with external reporting agencies in addition to generating original research and reporting for the Zippia Career Advice blog. David obtained his BA from UNC Chapel Hill.

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How Far Trump Would Go

D onald Trump thinks he’s identified a crucial mistake of his first term: He was too nice.

We’ve been talking for more than an hour on April 12 at his fever-dream palace in Palm Beach. Aides lurk around the perimeter of a gilded dining room overlooking the manicured lawn. When one nudges me to wrap up the interview, I bring up the many former Cabinet officials who refuse to endorse Trump this time. Some have publicly warned that he poses a danger to the Republic. Why should voters trust you, I ask, when some of the people who observed you most closely do not?

As always, Trump punches back, denigrating his former top advisers. But beneath the typical torrent of invective, there is a larger lesson he has taken away. “I let them quit because I have a heart. I don’t want to embarrass anybody,” Trump says. “I don’t think I’ll do that again. From now on, I’ll fire.”

Six months from the 2024 presidential election, Trump is better positioned to win the White House than at any point in either of his previous campaigns. He leads Joe Biden by slim margins in most polls, including in several of the seven swing states likely to determine the outcome. But I had not come to ask about the election, the disgrace that followed the last one, or how he has become the first former—and perhaps future—American President to face a criminal trial . I wanted to know what Trump would do if he wins a second term, to hear his vision for the nation, in his own words.

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What emerged in two interviews with Trump , and conversations with more than a dozen of his closest advisers and confidants, were the outlines of an imperial presidency that would reshape America and its role in the world. To carry out a deportation operation designed to remove more than 11 million people from the country, Trump told me, he would be willing to build migrant detention camps and deploy the U.S. military, both at the border and inland. He would let red states monitor women’s pregnancies and prosecute those who violate abortion bans. He would, at his personal discretion, withhold funds appropriated by Congress, according to top advisers. He would be willing to fire a U.S. Attorney who doesn’t carry out his order to prosecute someone, breaking with a tradition of independent law enforcement that dates from America’s founding. He is weighing pardons for every one of his supporters accused of attacking the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, more than 800 of whom have pleaded guilty or been convicted by a jury. He might not come to the aid of an attacked ally in Europe or Asia if he felt that country wasn’t paying enough for its own defense. He would gut the U.S. civil service, deploy the National Guard to American cities as he sees fit, close the White House pandemic-preparedness office, and staff his Administration with acolytes who back his false assertion that the 2020 election was stolen.

Trump remains the same guy, with the same goals and grievances. But in person, if anything, he appears more assertive and confident. “When I first got to Washington, I knew very few people,” he says. “I had to rely on people.” Now he is in charge. The arranged marriage with the timorous Republican Party stalwarts is over; the old guard is vanquished, and the people who remain are his people. Trump would enter a second term backed by a slew of policy shops staffed by loyalists who have drawn up detailed plans in service of his agenda, which would concentrate the powers of the state in the hands of a man whose appetite for power appears all but insatiable. “I don’t think it’s a big mystery what his agenda would be,” says his close adviser Kellyanne Conway. “But I think people will be surprised at the alacrity with which he will take action.”

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The courts, the Constitution, and a Congress of unknown composition would all have a say in whether Trump’s objectives come to pass. The machinery of Washington has a range of defenses: leaks to a free press, whistle-blower protections, the oversight of inspectors general. The same deficiencies of temperament and judgment that hindered him in the past remain present. If he wins, Trump would be a lame duck—contrary to the suggestions of some supporters, he tells TIME he would not seek to overturn or ignore the Constitution’s prohibition on a third term. Public opinion would also be a powerful check. Amid a popular outcry, Trump was forced to scale back some of his most draconian first-term initiatives, including the policy of separating migrant families. As George Orwell wrote in 1945, the ability of governments to carry out their designs “depends on the general temper in the country.”

Every election is billed as a national turning point. This time that rings true. To supporters, the prospect of Trump 2.0, unconstrained and backed by a disciplined movement of true believers, offers revolutionary promise. To much of the rest of the nation and the world, it represents an alarming risk. A second Trump term could bring “the end of our democracy,” says presidential historian Douglas Brinkley, “and the birth of a new kind of authoritarian presidential order.”

Trump steps onto the patio at Mar-a-Lago near dusk. The well-heeled crowd eating Wagyu steaks and grilled branzino pauses to applaud as he takes his seat. On this gorgeous evening, the club is a MAGA mecca. Billionaire donor Steve Wynn is here. So is Speaker of the House Mike Johnson , who is dining with the former President after a joint press conference proposing legislation to prevent noncitizens from voting. Their voting in federal elections is already illegal, and extremely rare, but remains a Trumpian fixation that the embattled Speaker appeared happy to co-sign in exchange for the political cover that standing with Trump provides.

At the moment, though, Trump’s attention is elsewhere. With an index finger, he swipes through an iPad on the table to curate the restaurant’s soundtrack. The playlist veers from Sinead O’Connor to James Brown to The Phantom of the Opera. And there’s a uniquely Trump choice: a rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” sung by a choir of defendants imprisoned for attacking the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, interspersed with a recording of Trump reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. This has become a staple of his rallies, converting the ultimate symbol of national unity into a weapon of factional devotion.

The spectacle picks up where his first term left off. The events of Jan. 6 , during which a pro-Trump mob attacked the center of American democracy in an effort to subvert the peaceful transfer of power, was a profound stain on his legacy. Trump has sought to recast an insurrectionist riot as an act of patriotism. “I call them the J-6 patriots,” he says. When I ask whether he would consider pardoning every one of them, he says, “Yes, absolutely.” As Trump faces dozens of felony charges, including for election interference, conspiracy to defraud the United States, willful retention of national-security secrets, and falsifying business records to conceal hush-money payments, he has tried to turn legal peril into a badge of honor.

In a second term, Trump’s influence on American democracy would extend far beyond pardoning powers. Allies are laying the groundwork to restructure the presidency in line with a doctrine called the unitary executive theory, which holds that many of the constraints imposed on the White House by legislators and the courts should be swept away in favor of a more powerful Commander in Chief.

Read More: Fact-Checking What Donald Trump Said In His Interviews With TIME

Nowhere would that power be more momentous than at the Department of Justice. Since the nation’s earliest days, Presidents have generally kept a respectful distance from Senate-confirmed law-enforcement officials to avoid exploiting for personal ends their enormous ability to curtail Americans’ freedoms. But Trump, burned in his first term by multiple investigations directed by his own appointees, is ever more vocal about imposing his will directly on the department and its far-flung investigators and prosecutors.

In our Mar-a-Lago interview, Trump says he might fire U.S. Attorneys who refuse his orders to prosecute someone: “It would depend on the situation.” He’s told supporters he would seek retribution against his enemies in a second term. Would that include Fani Willis , the Atlanta-area district attorney who charged him with election interference, or Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan DA in the Stormy Daniels case, who Trump has previously said should be prosecuted? Trump demurs but offers no promises. “No, I don’t want to do that,” he says, before adding, “We’re gonna look at a lot of things. What they’ve done is a terrible thing.”

Trump has also vowed to appoint a “real special prosecutor” to go after Biden. “I wouldn’t want to hurt Biden,” he tells me. “I have too much respect for the office.” Seconds later, though, he suggests Biden’s fate may be tied to an upcoming Supreme Court ruling on whether Presidents can face criminal prosecution for acts committed in office. “If they said that a President doesn’t get immunity,” says Trump, “then Biden, I am sure, will be prosecuted for all of his crimes.” (Biden has not been charged with any, and a House Republican effort to impeach him has failed to unearth evidence of any crimes or misdemeanors, high or low.)

Read More: Trump Says ‘Anti-White Feeling’ Is a Problem in the U.S .

Such moves would be potentially catastrophic for the credibility of American law enforcement, scholars and former Justice Department leaders from both parties say. “If he ordered an improper prosecution, I would expect any respectable U.S. Attorney to say no,” says Michael McConnell, a former U.S. appellate judge appointed by President George W. Bush. “If the President fired the U.S. Attorney, it would be an enormous firestorm.” McConnell, now a Stanford law professor, says the dismissal could have a cascading effect similar to the Saturday Night Massacre , when President Richard Nixon ordered top DOJ officials to remove the special counsel investigating Watergate. Presidents have the constitutional right to fire U.S. Attorneys, and typically replace their predecessors’ appointees upon taking office. But discharging one specifically for refusing a President’s order would be all but unprecedented.

Trump’s radical designs for presidential power would be felt throughout the country. A main focus is the southern border. Trump says he plans to sign orders to reinstall many of the same policies from his first term, such as the Remain in Mexico program, which requires that non-Mexican asylum seekers be sent south of the border until their court dates, and Title 42 , which allows border officials to expel migrants without letting them apply for asylum. Advisers say he plans to cite record border crossings and fentanyl- and child-trafficking as justification for reimposing the emergency measures. He would direct federal funding to resume construction of the border wall, likely by allocating money from the military budget without congressional approval. The capstone of this program, advisers say, would be a massive deportation operation that would target millions of people. Trump made similar pledges in his first term, but says he plans to be more aggressive in a second. “People need to be deported,” says Tom Homan, a top Trump adviser and former acting head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. “No one should be off the table.”

Read More: The Story Behind TIME's 'If He Wins' Trump Cover

For an operation of that scale, Trump says he would rely mostly on the National Guard to round up and remove undocumented migrants throughout the country. “If they weren’t able to, then I’d use [other parts of] the military,” he says. When I ask if that means he would override the Posse Comitatus Act—an 1878 law that prohibits the use of military force on civilians—Trump seems unmoved by the weight of the statute. “Well, these aren’t civilians,” he says. “These are people that aren’t legally in our country.” He would also seek help from local police and says he would deny funding for jurisdictions that decline to adopt his policies. “There’s a possibility that some won’t want to participate,” Trump says, “and they won’t partake in the riches.”

As President, Trump nominated three Supreme Court Justices who voted to overturn Roe v. Wade, and he claims credit for his role in ending a constitutional right to an abortion. At the same time, he has sought to defuse a potent campaign issue for the Democrats by saying he wouldn’t sign a federal ban. In our interview at Mar-a-Lago, he declines to commit to vetoing any additional federal restrictions if they came to his desk. More than 20 states now have full or partial abortion bans, and Trump says those policies should be left to the states to do what they want, including monitoring women’s pregnancies. “I think they might do that,” he says. When I ask whether he would be comfortable with states prosecuting women for having abortions beyond the point the laws permit, he says, “It’s irrelevant whether I’m comfortable or not. It’s totally irrelevant, because the states are going to make those decisions.” President Biden has said he would fight state anti-abortion measures in court and with regulation.

Trump’s allies don’t plan to be passive on abortion if he returns to power. The Heritage Foundation has called for enforcement of a 19th century statute that would outlaw the mailing of abortion pills. The Republican Study Committee (RSC), which includes more than 80% of the House GOP conference, included in its 2025 budget proposal the Life at Conception Act, which says the right to life extends to “the moment of fertilization.” I ask Trump if he would veto that bill if it came to his desk. “I don’t have to do anything about vetoes,” Trump says, “because we now have it back in the states.”

Presidents typically have a narrow window to pass major legislation. Trump’s team is eyeing two bills to kick off a second term: a border-security and immigration package, and an extension of his 2017 tax cuts. Many of the latter’s provisions expire early in 2025: the tax cuts on individual income brackets, 100% business expensing, the doubling of the estate-tax deduction. Trump is planning to intensify his protectionist agenda, telling me he’s considering a tariff of more than 10% on all imports, and perhaps even a 100% tariff on some Chinese goods. Trump says the tariffs will liberate the U.S. economy from being at the mercy of foreign manufacturing and spur an industrial renaissance in the U.S. When I point out that independent analysts estimate Trump’s first term tariffs on thousands of products, including steel and aluminum, solar panels, and washing machines, may have cost the U.S. $316 billion and more than 300,000 jobs, by one account, he dismisses these experts out of hand. His advisers argue that the average yearly inflation rate in his first term—under 2%—is evidence that his tariffs won’t raise prices.

Since leaving office, Trump has tried to engineer a caucus of the compliant, clearing primary fields in Senate and House races. His hope is that GOP majorities replete with MAGA diehards could rubber-stamp his legislative agenda and nominees. Representative Jim Banks of Indiana, a former RSC chairman and the GOP nominee for the state’s open Senate seat, recalls an August 2022 RSC planning meeting with Trump at his residence in Bedminster, N.J. As the group arrived, Banks recalls, news broke that Mar-a-Lago had been raided by the FBI. Banks was sure the meeting would be canceled. Moments later, Trump walked through the doors, defiant and pledging to run again. “I need allies there when I’m elected,” Banks recalls Trump saying. The difference in a second Trump term, Banks says now, “is he’s going to have the backup in Congress that he didn’t have before.”

Trump’s intention to remake America’s relations abroad may be just as consequential. Since its founding, the U.S. has sought to build and sustain alliances based on the shared values of political and economic freedom. Trump takes a much more transactional approach to international relations than his predecessors, expressing disdain for what he views as free-riding friends and appreciation for authoritarian leaders like President Xi Jinping of China, Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary, or former President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil.

That’s one reason America’s traditional allies were horrified when Trump recently said at a campaign rally that Russia could “do whatever the hell they want” to a NATO country he believes doesn’t spend enough on collective defense. That wasn’t idle bluster, Trump tells me. “If you’re not going to pay, then you’re on your own,” he says. Trump has long said the alliance is ripping the U.S. off. Former NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg credited Trump’s first-term threat to pull out of the alliance with spurring other members to add more than $100 billion to their defense budgets.

But an insecure NATO is as likely to accrue to Russia’s benefit as it is to America’s. President Vladimir Putin’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine looks to many in Europe and the U.S. like a test of his broader vision to reconstruct the Soviet empire. Under Biden and a bipartisan Congress, the U.S. has sent more than $100 billion to Ukraine to defend itself. It’s unlikely Trump would extend the same support to Kyiv. After Orban visited Mar-a-Lago in March, he said Trump “wouldn’t give a penny” to Ukraine. “I wouldn’t give unless Europe starts equalizing,” Trump hedges in our interview. “If Europe is not going to pay, why should we pay? They’re much more greatly affected. We have an ocean in between us. They don’t.” (E.U. nations have given more than $100 billion in aid to Ukraine as well.)

Read More: Read the Full Transcripts of Donald Trump's Interviews With TIME

Trump has historically been reluctant to criticize or confront Putin. He sided with the Russian autocrat over his own intelligence community when it asserted that Russia interfered in the 2016 election. Even now, Trump uses Putin as a foil for his own political purposes. When I asked Trump why he has not called for the release of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who has been unjustly held on spurious charges in a Moscow prison for a year , Trump says, “I guess because I have so many other things I’m working on.” Gershkovich should be freed, he adds, but he doubts it will happen before the election. “The reporter should be released and he will be released,” Trump tells me. “I don’t know if he’s going to be released under Biden. I would get him released.”

America’s Asian allies, like its European ones, may be on their own under Trump. Taiwan’s Foreign Minister recently said aid to Ukraine was critical in deterring Xi from invading the island. Communist China’s leaders “have to understand that things like that can’t come easy,” Trump says, but he declines to say whether he would come to Taiwan’s defense.

Trump is less cryptic on current U.S. troop deployments in Asia. If South Korea doesn’t pay more to support U.S. troops there to deter Kim Jong Un’s increasingly belligerent regime to the north, Trump suggests the U.S. could withdraw its forces. “We have 40,000 troops that are in a precarious position,” he tells TIME. (The number is actually 28,500.) “Which doesn’t make any sense. Why would we defend somebody? And we’re talking about a very wealthy country.”

Transactional isolationism may be the main strain of Trump’s foreign policy, but there are limits. Trump says he would join Israel’s side in a confrontation with Iran. “If they attack Israel, yes, we would be there,” he tells me. He says he has come around to the now widespread belief in Israel that a Palestinian state existing side by side in peace is increasingly unlikely. “There was a time when I thought two-state could work,” he says. “Now I think two-state is going to be very, very tough.”

Yet even his support for Israel is not absolute. He’s criticized Israel’s handling of its war against Hamas, which has killed more than 30,000 Palestinians in Gaza, and has called for the nation to “get it over with.” When I ask whether he would consider withholding U.S. military aid to Israel to push it toward winding down the war, he doesn’t say yes, but he doesn’t rule it out, either. He is sharply critical of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, once a close ally. “I had a bad experience with Bibi,” Trump says. In his telling, a January 2020 U.S. operation to assassinate a top Iranian general was supposed to be a joint attack until Netanyahu backed out at the last moment. “That was something I never forgot,” he says. He blames Netanyahu for failing to prevent the Oct. 7 attack, when Hamas militants infiltrated southern Israel and killed nearly 1,200 people amid acts of brutality including burning entire families alive and raping women and girls. “It happened on his watch,” Trump says.

On the second day of Trump’s New York trial on April 17, I stand behind the packed counter of the Sanaa Convenience Store on 139th Street and Broadway, waiting for Trump to drop in for a postcourt campaign stop. He chose the bodega for its history. In 2022, one of the store’s clerks fatally stabbed a customer who attacked him. Bragg, the Manhattan DA, charged the clerk with second-degree murder. (The charges were later dropped amid public outrage over video footage that appeared to show the clerk acting in self-defense.) A baseball bat behind the counter alludes to lingering security concerns. When Trump arrives, he asks the store’s co-owner, Maad Ahmed, a Yemeni immigrant, about safety. “You should be allowed to have a gun,” Trump tells Ahmed. “If you had a gun, you’d never get robbed.”

On the campaign trail, Trump uses crime as a cudgel, painting urban America as a savage hell-scape even though violent crime has declined in recent years, with homicides sinking 6% in 2022 and 13% in 2023, according to the FBI. When I point this out, Trump tells me he thinks the data, which is collected by state and local police departments, is rigged. “It’s a lie,” he says. He has pledged to send the National Guard into cities struggling with crime in a second term—possibly without the request of governors—and plans to approve Justice Department grants only to cities that adopt his preferred policing methods like stop-and-frisk.

To critics, Trump’s preoccupation with crime is a racial dog whistle. In polls, large numbers of his supporters have expressed the view that antiwhite racism now represents a greater problem in the U.S. than the systemic racism that has long afflicted Black Americans. When I ask if he agrees, Trump does not dispute this position. “There is a definite antiwhite feeling in the country,” he tells TIME, “and that can’t be allowed either.” In a second term, advisers say, a Trump Administration would rescind Biden’s Executive Orders designed to boost diversity and racial equity.

Trump’s ability to campaign for the White House in the midst of an unprecedented criminal trial is the product of a more professional campaign operation that has avoided the infighting that plagued past versions. “He has a very disciplined team around him,” says Representative Elise Stefanik of New York. “That is an indicator of how disciplined and focused a second term will be.” That control now extends to the party writ large. In 2016, the GOP establishment, having failed to derail Trump’s campaign, surrounded him with staff who sought to temper him. Today the party’s permanent class have either devoted themselves to the gospel of MAGA or given up. Trump has cleaned house at the Republican National Committee, installing handpicked leaders—including his daughter-in-law—who have reportedly imposed loyalty tests on prospective job applicants, asking whether they believe the false assertion that the 2020 election was stolen. (The RNC has denied there is a litmus test.) Trump tells me he would have trouble hiring anyone who admits Biden won: “I wouldn’t feel good about it.”

Policy groups are creating a government-in-waiting full of true believers. The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 has drawn up plans for legislation and Executive Orders as it trains prospective personnel for a second Trump term. The Center for Renewing America, led by Russell Vought, Trump’s former director of the Office of Management and Budget, is dedicated to disempowering the so-called administrative state, the collection of bureaucrats with the power to control everything from drug-safety determinations to the contents of school lunches. The America First Policy Institute is a research haven of pro-Trump right-wing populists. America First Legal, led by Trump’s immigration adviser Stephen Miller, is mounting court battles against the Biden Administration.

The goal of these groups is to put Trump’s vision into action on day one. “The President never had a policy process that was designed to give him what he actually wanted and campaigned on,” says Vought. “[We are] sorting through the legal authorities, the mechanics, and providing the momentum for a future Administration.” That includes a litany of boundary-pushing right-wing policies, including slashing Department of Justice funding and cutting climate and environmental regulations.

Read More: Fact-Checking What Donald Trump Said in His 2024 Interviews With TIME

Trump’s campaign says he would be the final decision-maker on which policies suggested by these organizations would get implemented. But at the least, these advisers could form the front lines of a planned march against what Trump dubs the Deep State, marrying bureaucratic savvy to their leader’s anti-bureaucratic zeal. One weapon in Trump’s second-term “War on Washington” is a wonky one: restoring the power of impoundment, which allowed Presidents to withhold congressionally appropriated funds. Impoundment was a favorite maneuver of Nixon, who used his authority to freeze funding for subsidized housing and the Environmental Protection Agency. Trump and his allies plan to challenge a 1974 law that prohibits use of the measure, according to campaign policy advisers.

Another inside move is the enforcement of Schedule F, which allows the President to fire nonpolitical government officials and which Trump says he would embrace. “You have some people that are protected that shouldn’t be protected,” he says. A senior U.S. judge offers an example of how consequential such a move could be. Suppose there’s another pandemic, and President Trump wants to push the use of an untested drug, much as he did with hydroxychloroquine during COVID-19. Under Schedule F, if the drug’s medical reviewer at the Food and Drug Administration refuses to sign off on its use, Trump could fire them, and anyone else who doesn’t approve it. The Trump team says the President needs the power to hold bureaucrats accountable to voters. “The mere mention of Schedule F,” says Vought, “ensures that the bureaucracy moves in your direction.”

It can be hard at times to discern Trump’s true intentions. In his interviews with TIME, he often sidestepped questions or answered them in contradictory ways. There’s no telling how his ego and self-destructive behavior might hinder his objectives. And for all his norm-breaking, there are lines he says he won’t cross. When asked if he would comply with all orders upheld by the Supreme Court, Trump says he would.

But his policy preoccupations are clear and consistent. If Trump is able to carry out a fraction of his goals, the impact could prove as transformative as any presidency in more than a century. “He’s in full war mode,” says his former adviser and occasional confidant Stephen Bannon. Trump’s sense of the state of the country is “quite apocalyptic,” Bannon says. “That’s where Trump’s heart is. That’s where his obsession is.”

These obsessions could once again push the nation to the brink of crisis. Trump does not dismiss the possibility of political violence around the election. “If we don’t win, you know, it depends,” he tells TIME. “It always depends on the fairness of the election.” When I ask what he meant when he baselessly claimed on Truth Social that a stolen election “allows for the termination of all rules, regulations and articles, even those found in the Constitution,” Trump responded by denying he had said it. He then complained about the “Biden-inspired” court case he faces in New York and suggested that the “fascists” in America’s government were its greatest threat. “I think the enemy from within, in many cases, is much more dangerous for our country than the outside enemies of China, Russia, and various others,” he tells me.

Toward the end of our conversation at Mar-a-Lago, I ask Trump to explain another troubling comment he made: that he wants to be dictator for a day. It came during a Fox News town hall with Sean Hannity, who gave Trump an opportunity to allay concerns that he would abuse power in office or seek retribution against political opponents. Trump said he would not be a dictator—“except for day one,” he added. “I want to close the border, and I want to drill, drill, drill.”

Trump says that the remark “was said in fun, in jest, sarcastically.” He compares it to an infamous moment from the 2016 campaign, when he encouraged the Russians to hack and leak Hillary Clinton’s emails. In Trump’s mind, the media sensationalized those remarks too. But the Russians weren’t joking: among many other efforts to influence the core exercise of American democracy that year, they hacked the Democratic National Committee’s servers and disseminated its emails through WikiLeaks.

Whether or not he was kidding about bringing a tyrannical end to our 248-year experiment in democracy, I ask him, Don’t you see why many Americans see such talk of dictatorship as contrary to our most cherished principles? Trump says no. Quite the opposite, he insists. “I think a lot of people like it.” — With reporting by Leslie Dickstein, Simmone Shah, and Julia Zorthian

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COMMENTS

How to Succeed at Your Second Interview (With 8 Tips)
The interview is your time to show your best self, so make sure you're well-rested and well-fed before going into the interview so that you're not distracted by fatigue or hunger. Try to get a full eight hours of sleep the night before and eat a nutritious meal beforehand. 7. Send thank-you notes to your interviewers.
Second Interview Presentations
GOLDEN RULE 3: Always take at least three printed copies of your presentation to the meeting and hand them out at the end. The adage of remembering just 25% of what you've heard after 24 hours is true and most hiring decisions are made after a period of deliberation that is typically 24-48 hours.
How to Give A Compelling Interview Presentation: Tips, Examples and
Consistency Matters: Maintain a consistent design throughout your presentation. Use the same fonts, color schemes, and formatting to create a cohesive look. Practice Timing: Be mindful of the allotted time for your presentation. Practice to ensure you can comfortably cover your content within the time limit.
Top 50 Second Interview Questions (Example Answers Included)
FREE: Second Interview Question PDF Cheat Sheet. Ok the next thing you should do is download our "Second Interview Question Cheat Sheet ". In it you'll get: 5 of the most common second interview questions you could face. Professional-sounding example answers for each question that you can model your answers after.
28 Common Second Round Interview Questions
As a side note, the second round interview is where you'll hear most behavioral interview questions in general. (Although some employers ask these questions throughout the interview process). So prepare for behavioral questions like these, too: Tell me about a time you were under a lot of pressure at work.
Interview Presentation Preparation & 10-Minute Template
A job interview presentation is all about selling yourself. Be confident, speak clearly, and make eye contact with the interviewer. Don't be afraid to promote yourself and highlight your achievements. This is your chance to really show the interviewer that you are capable and have the necessary skills to do the job.
Interview Presentation Templates (Plus Examples)
What to include in an interview presentation template. Here are seven components you can think about when preparing your interview presentation template: 1. Type and topic of presentation. Before you begin preparing for a presentation, consider selecting a method of presentation. This can influence the type of template you create.
Second Interview Questions: What to Expect, What to Ask, and How to
4. Plan to ask no more than five questions during the interview. Depending on the amount of time the potential employer reserves for the second interview, you may not have a chance to ask more than five questions. Prepare to ask up to 10 questions so that you have more than enough in mind during the interview.
Second Interview Presentation
Example 90 Day Business Plan Second Interview Presentation. Below is an example of a basic business plan you can utilise. This requires personalising to each opportunity. You may wish to preface it with a slide detailing you and your credentials and a concluding slide summarising your suitability and inviting questions-.
Second Interview Questions You Can Expect And How To Answer Them
At this stage, you'll likely also get questions about your judgement. You may be asked: Tell me about a time when you were asked to do something you considered to be wrong or unethical and how ...
How To Conduct a Second Interview
Recap from the first interview - Briefly go over the main things you learned from the first interview and use that as a springboard to introduce what you'd like to discuss further. Formal tasks - You have set for the candidate such as their business plan, second interview presentation or specific research.
10 Tips for Delivering a Winning Interview Presentation
Use these tips to deliver a presentation in an interview: Ask for guidance. Know your audience. Find a focal point. Tell a compelling story. Position yourself effectively. Take a positive approach. Practice your delivery. Use nonverbal communication.
How to prepare a PowerPoint presentation for an interview
Here's a list of steps to consider if you want to make a presentation: 1. Do your research. The first step is to do some research and gather all of the information you require. The nature of this information depends on the subject of your presentation. For instance, if you're applying for a marketing position, the hiring organisation might want ...
20+ Second Interview Questions, Example Answers + Tips
Check out 24 most common second interview questions (with example answers), common mistakes to avoid, and some tips to increase your chances. ... a university professor, needed it urgently for a conference presentation and was visibly stressed. Realizing the urgency and importance of his needs, I tried to suggest alternative models and explain ...
10 Second Interview Questions (Plus Sample Answers!)
How to Answer. Try to be honest without going negative. Even if you literally only have bad things to say about your current or previous employer, keep your answer neutral to positive. It almost doesn't matter what your story is, going negative only makes you and your own experience look bad.
How to Prepare a Second Interview Presentation
So you've been asked to prepare a second interview presentation. Here Rob Scott walks through the power of putting together a second interview presentation,...
15 Second Interview Questions to Expect (With Answers!)
First-round interview questions typically focus on the applicant's skills and experience. The questions for a second interview are meant to help the interviewer or panel visualize you in the role. Here are 15 questions you might be asked, along with some savvy ways to respond: 1. Tell me again what interests you about this job and what skills ...
Second stage interviews: What to expect and how to prepare
Preparation is key. For any interview you undertake prep work is important, but for a second stage, it is absolutely paramount. You will need to show that you have a strong understanding of the business, their operational goals and how the department you hope to be working with fits into it. Research as much as you can about the business as ...
12 Tips for Delivering a Successful Interview Presentation
Deliver your presentation to family or friends in advance of the interview to learn more about what you might be saying nonverbally. 9. Use clear diction and adequate volume. A benefit of standing is that it makes it easier to breathe deeply and speak with adequate volume, so you are easily understood.
How to Deliver a Winning Interview Presentation
Arriving early to your interview will give you enough time to settle your nerves and tie loose ends. A good rule of thumb is to arrive 15 to 20 minutes before your presentation. You'll have ample time to get comfortable with the equipment and the environment. 3.
How To Answer Second Interview Questions (With Examples)
A second interview typically have more in-depth questions and are focused on whether or not you are the ideal candidate. When preparing for a second interview, make sure you go over all your research you did from your first interview. Be prepared for more behavioral questions and answer using the STAR (situation, task, action, result) method.
Tips for Preparing a Presentation for an Interview
Ensure logical structuring of your arguments. Towards the end, give a summary of your arguments to encapsulate the main ideas of your presentation. Finish with a brief conclusion that gives recommendations or suggestions, if applicable to the topic at hand. Related: How to create a presentation for interview template.
14 Second Interview Questions (With Example Answers)
In your second interview, you'll likely be asked more job-specific questions about how you might approach common challenges you'd face on the job. You might also be asked about your employment preferences such as salary, management style, motivations and career goals. 3. Practice saying your answers out loud.
Donald Trump on What His Second Term Would Look Like
On the second day of Trump's New York trial on April 17, I stand behind the packed counter of the Sanaa Convenience Store on 139th Street and Broadway, waiting for Trump to drop in for a ...
The Ladies' Singles Draw
Alfie Hewett | Final Post-match Interview & Trophy Presentation. 02:03. video. SUN 14 JUL 2024 12:39 BST. Alfie Hewett becomes the 2024 Gentlemen's Wheelchair Singles Champion. 08:45. video. SAT 13 JUL 2024 23:36 BST. Wimbledon Second Serve: Day 13. 01:49. video. SAT 13 JUL 2024 22:27 BST.

How to Give A Compelling Interview Presentation: Tips, Examples and Topic Ideas

What is an Interview Presentation?

Dial-Up Your Power

The first 30 Seconds Count The Most

Try To Appear Similar to the Interviewer

Back up your statements with facts

What is an Elevator Pitch for an Interview?

How to Make an Elevator Pitch for an Interview

Identify your target

Comprehend the needs of the hiring company

Create a clear, concise, and truthful Elevator Pitch

Speak naturally and confidently

Elevator Pitch Example for Job Seekers

Ways to avoid common mistakes in your Elevator Pitch

Don’t hurry to make your Elevator Pitch

Do not always use the same Elevator Pitch for all cases

Make it easy to understand

Don’t forget to practice it

How to End an Elevator Pitch?

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Top 50 Second Interview Questions (Example Answers Included)

By Mike Simpson

What Is a Second Interview?

What to Expect from a Second Interview

Get Our Job Interview Questions & Answers Cheat Sheet!

How to Prepare for a Second Interview

Top 3 2 nd Interview Questions

1. Describe your ideal workday.

2. How does this job fit into your broader career plan?

3. What are your salary expectations?

47 More Second-round Interview Questions

10 Questions to Ask in a Second Interview

Putting It All Together

FREE : Second Interview Question PDF Cheat Sheet

About The Author

Interview Questions

28 Common Second Round Interview Questions

Can you walk me through your resume?

What were you responsible for in your last job?

Why do you want to work here?

How do you make decisions?

What type of work environment do you prefer?

What are your strengths and what do you need to improve?

What motivates you?

Why did you leave your last job?

What are your career goals?

Describe your ideal manager

How do you handle conflicts at work?

How would your past coworkers describe you?

Are you a leader or a follower?

More Second Interview Preparation Steps

Other Second Interview Tips and Resources:

12 Expert-Approved Responses to ‘What Makes You Unique?’ in Job Interviews

Interview presentation preparation tips

On this page:

What is an interview presentation?

Why are you being asked to do a presentation for a job interview?

How to prepare a presentation for an interview

What to include in an interview presentation

Tips for presenting at the interview

Tips for keeping the interview presentation simple

What's better for your interview presentation? Cue cards or presenting from memory?

What to do when things go wrong

10-minute interview presentation template

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