Job interview insight

Job interview insight. Pulling back the curtain to see what really happens behind the scenes.

From the Other Side of the Table

I recently had drinks with a couple of long-time friends and colleagues. Mid-conversation, I had one of those moments where your brain trips over itself.

I remember thinking, “I should have recorded this.“ This is the stuff people never hear about job interviews.

So I pulled out my phone and started taking notes.

One friend is an executive recruiter. He refers to himself in that self-deprecating way as Grumpy Old Man (GOM), and this is a link to his deets.  He’s founded and run a successful recruiting firm for years and has seen more hiring cycles than most people will experience in a lifetime.

The other is a VP of HR I’ve known for over 15 years. He hadn’t been in the job market in over a decade because roles had always found him. That changed when his company was acquired, and suddenly he was on the other side of the table. His resume signals “modern, smart, polished HR.” His reality looked very different.

What followed was a candid conversation between three people who have lived inside hiring decisions. Not theory. Not LinkedIn advice. Just how this actually works.

Here are the insights that still matter today.

Game-Rep Situations

GOM’s biggest insight was something he calls game reps.

If you haven’t interviewed in a long time, mock interviews are not enough.

They help you warm up, but they are not real pressure.

Real interviews are fourth-and-goal situations. They are bases-loaded, ninth-inning moments. Your brain behaves differently when something is actually on the line.

Mock interviews feel safe. Real interviews expose gaps.

If you’re rusty, take interviews even for roles you are unsure about. Not because you want the job, but because you need real reps. You don’t get calm, confident, and concise by practicing in a vacuum. You get there by being in the chair.

Be Memorable (Specific Beats Impressive)

“Get in front of recruiters and paint a picture they’ll remember.”

That was GOM’s advice.

Not a résumé walk-through. Not a list of strengths. A clear, specific picture of who you are and what kind of role actually fits you.

Generic statements like:

• I’m a hard worker

• I’m adaptable

• I have X years of experience

…are invisible. Everyone says them.

Instead, GOM recommends meeting a small number of well-connected recruiters and, in 20–30 minutes, making yourself easy to remember.

Specificity does that.

The Pitch (Why This Still Works)

Here’s the structure GOM laid out, and it still holds up:

“For the first time in a long time, I find myself in the job market, and you were one of the first people I wanted to speak with.”

This establishes respect and intentionality.

“I’m being selective about my search because I’ve learned where I do my best work.”

This signals confidence, not desperation.

“I’m looking for a growing company where the infrastructure hasn’t fully caught up yet.”

Then you define what that actually means.

Revenue range. Team size. Stage of growth. The problems they’re likely experiencing. The work that needs to get done.

Not because you expect a recruiter to magically find this role tomorrow, but because when that opportunity crosses their desk, they immediately think of you.

That’s the point.

You don’t want to be called for everything. You want to be called for the right thing.

“If You Just Want a Job, I Don’t Want to Represent You”

GOM was blunt about this.

Candidates who say “just find me something” are hard to sell. Not because they aren’t talented, but because they aren’t directional.

Hiring managers don’t want vaguely interested. They want someone who wants this role, in this environment, for these reasons.

Specific interest is persuasive. Indifference is not.

Can You Get Along?

If you make it past the initial screen, you’re qualified.

After that, the decision is mostly about trust, chemistry, and working style.

The work still matters, but the real question becomes:

• Can I work with you under pressure?

• Can I trust your judgment?

• Will you make the room better or harder?

Skills get you in the door. Fit determines whether you stay.

One Resume Is Rarely Enough

If you only have one résumé, you’re making this harder than it needs to be.

Different roles emphasize different strengths. A résumé optimized for a fast-growth company should not look the same as one aimed at a large, process-heavy organization.

Same person. Different angles.

Tailoring your résumé is not dishonesty. It’s relevance.

If this post felt uncomfortably familiar…

This is the part of the hiring process most people never get visibility into.
I wrote a short guide that explains how resumes and candidates are actually interpreted before interviews begin, and how decisions get made when time and patience are thin.

If you’re job searching and feel qualified but not gaining traction, this will give you clarity.

👉 Before the Interview: An Insider’s View of How Resumes Are Interpreted Before Anyone Talks to You

You’re Qualified. Can You Sell Yourself?

Being qualified isn’t enough.

The candidate who can clearly articulate their value will almost always move faster than the candidate who assumes their résumé speaks for itself.

Interviews are not exams. They are sales conversations.

That doesn’t mean exaggeration. It means clarity.

You Have a Stereotype. Everyone Does.

Your résumé tells a story before you ever open your mouth.

If that story creates a concern, address it early.

In our conversation, the concern was obvious: big-company background, small-company role.

The fix wasn’t defensiveness. It was an acknowledgment.

Calling out the unspoken concern directly builds credibility. Avoiding it lets it linger.

I blogged about stereotypes and racism here.

Be Yourself (This Is Still Underrated)

If you perform a version of yourself in interviews, you’re selling something you can’t sustain.

That almost always ends badly.

You want to be hired for who you actually are, not who you think they want you to be. Fit works both ways.

Don’t Leave Without a Name

Before any conversation ends, ask:

• “Who else would you recommend I speak with?”

• “Is there anyone I might not be thinking of?”

Good searches compound through people, not postings.

Don’t Interview Everywhere

This one needs nuance today.

You don’t need to limit yourself to an arbitrary number, but focus matters.

Spreading yourself across too many processes weakens your preparation, follow-up, and judgment. Being purposeful is still attractive. Being scattered is not.

Quality effort beats volume.

Final Thought

What struck me most about that night wasn’t any single tactic. It was how little of this is ever said out loud.

Hiring is human. Messy. Contextual.

The better you understand how decisions are actually made, the less mysterious the process becomes.

Hopefully, this gave you a clearer view from the other side of the table.

If you’re job searching and feel qualified but not gaining traction, this will give you clarity.

👉 Before the Interview: An Insider’s View of How Resumes Are Interpreted Before Anyone Talks to You

See you at the after party,

HRNasty

nasty: an unreal maneuver of incredible technique, something that is ridiculously good, tricky, and manipulative but with a result that can’t help but be admired, a phrase used to describe someone good at something. “He has a nasty forkball”.

Ongoing writing and context live on LinkedIn and Bluesky.

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