You will undoubtedly encounter different kinds of interviewers, and you have to be prepared. We wrote this chapter to give you the opportunity to think through the different experience levels and personality types so you can prepare for each type.
When you think about interviewers, there are two big differences to consider: how talkative or quiet they are and how experienced they are as interviewers. Those who do all or most of the talking make it difficult to get a word in and share your successes. Those who are quiet and unexpressive make it difficult for you to know how you’re doing in the interview or what they think of your answers.
Interviewers who are inexperienced and don’t know what they’re doing make it difficult for you to truly sell yourself and shine in the interview. Those who are highly experienced have heard the BS answers numerous times and don’t think twice about asking one follow-up question after another, probing you for more and more information until you put your foot in your mouth by saying something you may later regret.
In this chapter, we share the best ways to succeed when being interviewed by a variety of different types of interviewers.