How to throw green flags, not red flags (in recruiter screens and job interviews)
Look qualified. Seem interested. Make yourself available. Exude fit. Easy, right?
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Today, I will teach you how to avoid throwing red flags in your initial interviews and how to climb the candidate shortlist by making it rain with green flags.
Most candidates who throw red flags in early interviews have no clue, and they get disqualified without ever knowing they made a mistake.
To make matters worse, most companies won’t share feedback with candidates to help them pinpoint what they did wrong.
It’s just the good old
“We’ve decided to move forward with more qualified candidates”
— or the ultra-gentle —
“We are further along with other candidates.”
It’s incredibly frustrating that candidates can’t get feedback to improve, but that’s where I can help you.
If you’ve been reading my writing here, or on Twitter or LinkedIn for a while, you know that I often liken job searching to dating. The similarities abound.
In dating, we all know the big red flags:
Don’t talk about commitment on the first date (marriage, having kids, where you want to live, etc)
Have a messy relationship history? Keep it under wraps.
Bad finances? Hold that thought.
…but most people have much less interview experience than dating experience.
Every employer is different, and candidates can’t possibly know all the tripping hazards they face in screening interviews.
This type of job search debugging is probably my favorite to coach because people throwing red flags:
usually have no clue they are doing it (innocent mistakes).
can fix them quite easily — once they understand what to adjust.
The best part about getting educated about red flags and green flags is that you can knock out two job search goals at once:
By avoiding red flags, you get to move forward in the interview process ⏩
By learning how to raise green flags, you can be shortlisted as a top candidate, which will give you an advantage in negotiating at the offer stage.
This supercharged post covers:
The basics of job screens and early round interviews (format and length, assessment criteria and scope, and the employer’s goals)
What early interviews are assessing (4 categories)
How to make it rain with green flags
How to avoid red flags (with specific changes you can make today)
Let’s dive in ↓
a Quick Primer on job screens and first-round interviews
Job screens are the first time you’re talking to someone at the company. They may be formal (explicitly stated and scheduled) or informal (let’s grab coffee).
Either way, you should treat any initial conversation about a role at a company as a screen and prepare, which starts with understanding the scope and goals.
Early Interview Scope (the employer’s goals)
Goals / In Scope
Assessing the candidate’s general suitability to continue in the process. (notice how I didn’t say “suitability for the role.”)
Non-Goals / Out of scope:
A full assessment (these are short conversations, they can’t cover everything)
Giving out job offers (PS: if a company offers you a job after one single conversation, I offer a 99% guarantee you will later regret taking the role).
Your Goals
Get more information about the role, company, and team
Move forward in the process (toward formal interviews)
Who’s screening you?
Typically, you’ll screen with:
an HR team member or
an internal or external recruiter for the role, or
(rarely) with the hiring manager
They may be very familiar with the role and the day-to-day requirements (the hiring manager), or working solely off the job description (ie external recruiters).
For initial job screens: make no assumptions about how familiar they are with the role (or what excellence looks like).
Note: first-round interviewers are often hiring managers or team members directly familiar with the role.
The 4 Filters
Early interviewers are trained to do one thing very well: look for red flags (disqualifiers) and green flags (positive signals) that the candidate is:
Qualified (for the role)
Interested (in the job/company)
Available (ready to make a move and take a new role)
a Fit (culturally)
Format and Length
Most job screens are short (15-30 minutes).
First-round interviews are 30-60 minutes long.
Typically, you’ll be asked:
Tell me about yourself (your career, walk me through your resume, etc)
1-3 questions about core competencies for the role (hard and soft skills that are both on your resume and usually on the job description)
Direct or indirect questions to assess culture fit.
Direct culture fit questions may sound like, “What are you looking for in your next team / role / company / manager?"
Indirect culture fit assessments can include:
The screeners’ assessment of your word choices (how you talk about past roles / colleagues / projects)
Whether you are on time for the screen (and prepared)
How you interact with the screener (how you treat them, respect their time, etc)
Location
Most initial job screens are conducted on the phone (voice only, no video). Some companies are starting to do initial screens via video, but it’s still rare.
First-round interviews are often on the phone, and increasingly via video conference (Google Meet, Zoom, BlueJeans, Teams, and Chime are the most common).
Some first-round interviews will be in person (if the role is on-site or hybrid).
To pass early interviews, candidates need to optimize for throwing:
LOTS of green flags
ZERO red flags
Here’s how👇