Why You Should Always Take the Interview Call

Today’s reminder is to always take interview calls if you are actively job searching. 

Even if you are less interested in certain opportunities.

Do this especially if you are early in the job search process or need to add more opportunities to your job pipeline.

For optimal outcomes, ideally, you are always talking to 5-10 companies at a time.

There are endless advantages to doing a lot of real interviews. Ima share a few with you below.

Top reasons it's always worth taking the interview call:

• Practice

• Understanding the market

• Leverage

• Multiple offers

• Getting the real tea about the job

• Networking

Let me expand on each a bit more.

Practice is very important when it comes to interviewing. It builds confidence and skill.

Believe it or not, most people (including senior talent), need to practice their interview skills when they get back on the market. 

It's not a natural skill people have. It's developed over time and repetition. 

Doing real interviews is the best type of practice because puts you in the belly of the beast and tests your skills in a real interview environment.

Doing interviews also gives you insight into the current state of the market and what hiring teams are looking for in candidates. 

More specifically, you will understand what common interview questions get asked for your role, and what HM like about your background.

Additionally, the more interviews you have lined up the more leverage you build as a candidate. 

You will be more competitive in the market because companies will need to compete for you, not the other way around.

One of the biggest mistakes I see job seekers make is not having enough interviews going at any given time in their job search. 

A dry pipeline often leads a loooong job search process because you are constantly starting from 0 every time you get rejected.  

Always have interviews lined up, even if you are in late stage interviews with a company. You never know what can happen so stay ready.

The best side effect of having a lot of interviews lined up is that it increases your odds of getting multiple offers at the same time. 

You want to aim for this because it helps you in your negotiations and it gives you options.

Lastly, you should take the interview because it will give you the real tea about the job.

Keep in mind that the evaluation of an opportunity starts in the interview process, not by looking at the job description or website.

You’ll gather the most valuable info you need about a role when you sit down with someone from the hiring team and talk. So stay curious.

As the worst case scenario, you do the interview and get rejected. But don't get it twisted, you can flip that into a networking opportunity. 

Always be networking my friends.