Hey, guys. Welcome to the podcast. My guest today is Anita Carvalho, talent acquisition specialist at Fairjean. And we discuss the most common and not so common interview questions and how to handle them. I hope you guys enjoyed. It's a great conversation, and don't forget to follow us on YouTube and Instagram. Thanks a lot. Welcome to MSL talk with Tom Caravella, a podcast specifically designed for MSLs and all things field medical. Hey, Anita. Thanks for joining me. How are you?
Hi, Tom. Good morning. I'm well. Thank you. How are you? I'm good. I'm good. We're laughing because we've it's like a blooper reel over here. We've had technical glitches since we started this podcast, but I am so excited that you are back. This is your second appearance on this show, and your first appearance was amazing. You know, incredibly popular episode, so I know this one's gonna be great as well. So are you excited? You ready? Very excited. Thanks so much for having me back.
It's a lot of fun. I'm glad to be back with you, and it's always nice to connect with you. Yeah. I love it. So why don't you do a quick intro, let everybody know kinda what you're up to these days? Sure. So I am a recruiter in, Boston, and I've been doing this for almost 25 years. And I know you've heard this before, Tom, but I always follow that up with I started right out of the womb. That's how I'm obviously so young and For sure. For so long.
But I have been recruiting in Boston, now as a recruiter for all these years, and what I'm doing currently and what I've done for the last few years is really to join a company when they're at that moment of a big build out. So prelaunch, help prepping them, help, you know, help to prep them, help to build out teams, and just kinda get them ready to enter the marketplace with a new product. Awesome. That's great.
Yeah. Mhmm. So that you know, you're the perfect person to have this conversation with because our topic today is on the most common interview questions, you know, and, you know, the good, the bad, the ugly kind of thing. So why don't we jump into it? I mean, I so many people ask me for help with interviews and what can I expect?
So the idea with this podcast is to give people the ability to hear about, interview questions and maybe have an understanding on how to answer them or how to prepare for them. So maybe jot some of these down and, have some takeaways as far as what you can expect on an interview. So Absolutely. Why don't we start from, like, the beginning and the most obvious?
So when you're interviewing and when you see other folks interviewing MSLs, what are some of the most obvious questions that they can expect? Definitely. So I think a lot of I don't personally start with this, but I know a lot of hiring managers will start with the tell me about yourself and and sort of want people to kinda walk them through either their background or, you know, them as a person. And I think that's one that everybody should be ready for, for sure. For sure.
And you're gonna get it not just on MSL interviews. Anybody that's listening, that's something that you're going to hear at some point in time on your career. Yes. And it could be a trap because you could take the long road and take 20 minutes to answer that question, or you could take the short road and just give them one sentence. What's your advice? Like, how can somebody prepare for that? Great point. No. I totally agree with you.
So I think sort of preparing an elevator pitch, if you will, about yourself and sort of your background. So what do you want this person to know about you? And, you know, maybe, you know, if you think about an elevator ride, what is it, 30 to 90 seconds? Mhmm. I think anything longer is gonna probably be too long, frankly. For sure. So that's perfect. Just have something prepared. Be succinct. Don't be, obviously, too long, but don't be too short. So elevator that just totally makes sense.
Would you say that it's good practice to keep your answers to about 1 to 2 minutes? I think so. I I've coached people on this before, and I think sometimes if people aren't sure whether or not they're truly answering the question being asked, it's okay to sorta have a quick check-in and say, is this what you were looking for? Am I getting at what you, you know, were hoping to hear from this type of question or something like that, just to kinda do a quick check-in.
But I think we just wanna be mindful of of just kind of going on too long. And and and at that point, we sort of run the risk of rambling a little bit. Right. And if you do the check-in, if the person is really hoping to hear more, then you can keep going. If they say, oh, no. That was great. Then you know you didn't go too long. Definitely. I think that's awesome advice. So what's so what's next?
I think people should always be ready for what do you know about our company, what do you know about our organization, and why would you wanna work here as opposed to, you know, the other biotech and pharma companies right around you or in the area across the street kinda thing? And, you know, this one, it's such a no brainer. You've not only should you expect it, but you like, you should prepare your interview knowing that that's question's going to come up, whether it does or it doesn't.
The preparation that you put into that question is gonna help you throughout the interview. So you just you need to do it anyway. Right. You know, do your research. Be prepared. Have a 1 to 2 minute answer to that, and then you can use it at different points throughout the interview. Correct? Definitely. I think so. For sure. What other kind of basic questions might people wanna prepare for?
This one, we might wanna caution people on a little bit, but the sort of walk me through your resume question is an interesting one in terms of where people can can go with that. And I think sort of that same kind of thing around the duration of time in which the person responds, just be mindful of kind of covering too much. I think just enough, really kinda hitting that sweet spot for that one. And, you know, that that goes back to, like, what do you cover? Because you have this body of work.
Let's say you have 25 years of experience or you have 5 years of experience or whatever. Or let's say you don't have that much experience. Like, you can't be like, well, I went to grammar school at, you know, you know, John f Kennedy junior. Like like, you you have to really focus on the highlights, the achievements, tell tell your story, but you have to really do it in a tactful, concise manner. Right?
Definitely. And I think, what do you want the interviewer to know about you and your background? And so when you're answering some of these questions, think about that. You know, what's most relevant for the interviewer to know about your background as it relates to the job or the company or you as a person and and kind of why you're motivated for this opportunity. And really, if you can hit those sort of highlights, I think that you've crushed it then.
Yeah. And I kinda feel like when that question comes about the resume, I almost feel like the next question is, well, I see you're working at x y z company. Why do you wanna leave that organization? Right? Probably? That always comes up. Absolutely. I I actually always ask that one. I agree with you, for sure. Which is another not trap, but this is where you really have to be careful because the tendency is to sometimes people get negative.
Mhmm. And they start talking about their situation, their boss, their this, their that. They they focus on the negatives. And that's the other trap is that when you're describing why you wanna leave a certain place, you really have to try not to get negative. Right? I'd agree with you. Certainly. Definitely. Keep it on the positive side. Maybe the lack of growth might be a reason why you wanna leave.
Maybe you've helped the company launch, and now they're sort of in a status quo, if you will, kind of mode and you're ready for that next challenge. Yep. Responses like that, I think, jive well with interviewers. Totally. Yep. Mhmm. Awesome. We're on the same page. Totally. So alright. The what so what else would you say, in the normal kind of basic interview questions? Another one that I would actually say is in terms of selling yourself, you know, sort of what's your greatest strength.
And people wanna hear, you know, what are you bringing to their organization? What are you bringing to their team? Mhmm. That's sort of a layup. I feel like people can can crush that. But, again, definitely say something that's pertinent to the opportunity and and something that you would want the interviewer and the company to know about you. Yeah. Yeah. I agree.
I think that it's so commonplace for people to wanna know what you feel your greatest strength, your greatest weaknesses are, what you can do better. So I think those are questions you really need to be prepared for. Right? Yes. I feel like everybody uses the same thing when it comes to what's your greatest weakness. Well, I'm a perfectionist. Like, they try to find something that's not really it seems like a negative, but it's kind of a positive. Like, is that your experience? It is.
I have to tell you, Tom, I always ask for the greatest strength in one developmental area that the person would wanna improve upon. And I have gotten some questions on the developmental area, one that have or some responses, I should say, that have really kind of floored me. And when I've taken them back to the interview team, you know, for the debrief and whatnot, sometimes that has cost the candidate the opportunity, in my experience. Yeah. Yeah. You gotta be careful there.
I think you wanna be honest, but you you don't wanna bury yourself at the same time. It's easy for me. I know the challenge for me is I'm a I'm a talker. I I have to control myself. That's that's that's really my big thing is I have to control I'm long winded, and I have to control it. And I think that, you know, I've I'm long enough in my career that I I can do it. But as I'm showing right now, because I'm still talking, like, I'm still working on it. You You and me both.
I was the child in elementary school that, had to, you know, get my seat moved constantly because I was chatting with friends. Oh my god. That is so weird. So social. Right? I know. My wife gets mad at me. She'll be like, send me out to the store. I'll come back 4 hours later. She's like, well, who to run into? Same. Alright. So what are are there others that are, like, kind of in that basic category that we should probably go over?
Maybe the, question that we discussed around, what's one thing that you would like to do better in sort of your plan for improving that one item or that, you know, kind of one, area? I think that's a I think that could definitely come up and and does come up, I should say, as well, for sure. Yeah. Yeah. That's another one of those. It's kind of a different way to package that question. Right.
But if if you're prepared for any of the above you know, the idea the idea is to write these questions down or research questions on the Internet, and then prepare answers and practice those. Yes. So that one kinda gets packaged in with maybe some of the others, like, whatever your answer is for the what's your greatest strength, you could probably use for that or, you know, what's the one thing? Like, those some of these answers can be repackaged. Right?
Definitely. I think this, I think I'm recalling our last podcast that we did, which was just prepare. Right? And this reminds me of some of the things we discussed during that podcast. The more prepared you are, the better. And probably with anything in life, but definitely with interviewing. Yeah. No question about it. Cannot stress it enough. Let's move on to questions that would be specific to MSLs. So the questions we just covered, really, any interview, basic questions.
MSLs might expect those, but they also might expect some specific questions about the role. What might some of those be? Definitely, I've been hearing this one a lot lately. I think, science is changing so quickly. Technology, I mean, everything is moving so fast. So how do you stay current in the field is one that's been coming up quite a bit. Have you experienced this as well? Yeah. That's that's a big one.
I feel like especially with with the pandemic and all of the changes, I think that hiring managers wanna know that MSLs are they're nimble, they're they're adaptable, they're rolling with these punches, and they're staying on top of things. So this is you should definitely be prepared to show that you're, you know, you're on top of the market. You're on top of things, and, you know, you're evolving with the industry. Absolutely. And to piggyback on Yeah. What, what else?
I know that that there's, there's some real good specific ones. I was gonna say to sort of piggyback off that last one and with respect to the pandemic right now, how do people go about building relationships particularly where we're all at home and we can't have those face to face, in some instances, interactions like we used to be able to.
You've got to draw upon a different skill set, I think, in terms of when you're building a new relationship with somebody that may be you know, differently than you might when you would be able to meet them in person kinda back in the day, pre pandemic. And, you know, I I think that that actually could be the most important question in the whole interview right now. Because whereas a year or 2 ago, that question may not have been as as important, now with COVID, it's Mhmm.
So vital because I think hiring managers wanna know, well, what have you done over the course of the pandemic to really make an impact with your, you know, with your KOLs, your customers, whatever, you know, we might call them? And and what can they expect if they were to hire you? Yes. Anything creative here, I think, would be impressive to a to an interviewer. That's a good one. That's a good one. Awesome. So what's next?
I think another one could be around how you would go about developing a new territory. So many times when MSLs join a company, they'd be handed a list, for example, we call them, and that might be different KOLs in the region that have already been developed. But that's not always the case. And sometimes the list is incomplete.
So I think hiring managers wanna know, okay, if I'm sort of handing my baby over to this person, what are they gonna do with it, and how are they gonna approach it, and where are they gonna take it? And, that's a this is an important one that comes up as well. It's yeah. Exactly. I think, like, equally as important as the last one only because, again, it it's another question that kinda relates to the whole pandemic.
It also reminds me of sometimes you might be asked to present a 30, 60, 90 day plan. Yes. Not uncommon with MSL positions. Sometimes they'll ask you to do that ahead of time, and then you go over it in the interview. Sometimes they just throw it on you, and they just say, hey. Yes. Real quick. What would you say a quick 30, 60, 90 day plan would be for you if you were to get this job and you come into this new territory?
Just a quick plug, we I am preparing an episode for this podcast on how to prepare a 30, 69 a day plan Perfect. Coming up very soon. So stay tuned for that. That's coming up, in the next couple weeks. That'll be really helpful for people because one thing I think that's interesting if you're thinking about that is if it's a new product that hasn't been on the market yet, how are you gonna approach it? And and in some instances, the company might not quite know.
It might not be fully fleshed out for them yet how they would, you know, kinda approach it for themselves. So so that'll be an amazing podcast. That'll be really helpful for people. Definitely have that ready to go. Yeah. Yeah. I'm looking forward to that one too. I think we'll have a lot about that. So what's next? I think therapeutic area. We were talking about this a little bit in preparation for this today. And, you know, what is it about the therapeutic area that motivates you?
What do you know about the therapeutic area? But, also, what other organizations and competition are actually doing too. Okay. Yeah. So, on the we had a little bit of a glitch on on that real quick. But just to to reiterate, I think that I I agree with everything you're saying. I think that the scientific, you know, acumen, the, passion for the science is so important.
So I think that this is a place where you can really make an impact with a with a hiring manager and folks within an organization that are passionate about the science. Absolutely. Great. Those are great questions. Definitely. No. I agree with you. Okay. What's next? Another one could be, why do you wanna be an MSL at this particular organization? So not really, generally speaking, why do you wanna be an MSL, but why do you wanna be an MSL here?
I think I think that will definitely come up for an MSL interview. Yeah. And I think that's kind of a that's kind of a layup. I think it's it's almost kinda goes back to why do you wanna work for this company. But Right. Maybe you tailor it a little bit more and talk about an upcoming launch or the excitement for being on this specific team or Right. Something something that is specific to the to that group. Absolutely. Definitely. I agree. Mhmm. Yeah. Is that it?
I mean, are we on to the next section? Do we cover everything? What do you think about I don't know how often you think that this might come up, but what about sort of a mistake that you've made maybe in your MSL role that you've, learned from previously? Do you think something like that could could come up, Tom? It could. I think it could. I think that, sometimes managers wanna learn.
They wanna dig a little bit, and they wanna learn a little bit more about someone and find out if they can give examples. And we're gonna talk about the STAR technique and situational interviewing and behavioral questions and and and that sort of thing. But, yeah, that falls that's that's fair game. I think that's kinda falls right in line with some of the things that we might, kinda hear sometimes. And I think it's okay to present yourself as somebody that's made mistakes. Right?
And how you've learned from them and how you've sort of adapted. None of us is perfect. And I think, you know, in an interview to sort of, let people see that side of you, that's okay. That's what makes people human. And I know when I'm on this end interviewing candidates, I always appreciate, you know, that someone sort of has that humanistic side, you know, and they show it. Yeah. For sure. Yeah. Alright. So what's next? What do you think about, kind of some wacky questions?
Do you wanna go there next? Yeah. Let's talk about so we we had there were some there were some wacky questions that I've had candidates present to me that, you know because we'll ask, you know, how'd the interview go? You know, what did you think of the manager? And then sometimes people, like, will ask them, like, what questions did they ask? And we get these crazy questions. Yes. Yes. What are what are you familiar with?
I remember one company that I worked at, and it was prelaunch, and we were doing some really serious building. And I remember a hiring leader used to ask, if you could be any animal, what animal would you be and why? Yeah. Well, I've heard the same thing. If you could be any car, what car would you be? So there's different versions of that question. And I think that people are just trying to get an idea of what the person is like. You know? What's the last book you read?
What's the last movie you saw? That's just to kinda get a deeper dive into the person the into the individual. Right? I think so. I think it's probably pretty harmless and, honestly, probably not a wrong answer here Yeah. I think. What what about any any other, like, really wacky ones? What about this was a funny one that we had listed here. If you were a pizza delivery man, how would you how how would you benefit from scissors? I know you had listed that one. Didn't you hear that one? Right.
If you were a pizza delivery man, how would you benefit from scissors? I mean, that's a real interview question. Like Come on. Yes. So I don't even know where to go with that. Now here's the thing. I don't expect someone to ask that on an MSL interview because this is a very, very, it's a professional environment. Right. Right. But you never know. Right? Yeah. What was the other one? There was a hot dog one. What was the hot dog one? This one is killing me.
I've been laughing about this one since yesterday. Is a hot dog a sandwich? Is a hot dog a sandwich? That's a hey. That's a fair question. Is a hot dog a sandwich? I mean, it's it's a piece of meat between 2 pieces of bread. Would that qualify as a sandwich? I don't know. I mean of our time. I don't know. I don't know. I think a hot dog just stands in its like, that's a hot dog's a hot dog. You know? It's got its own category. I don't its own category.
I think you're right, especially in the summer at a baseball game. Yeah. For sure. But these are funny. I think you might expect some creative questions sometimes. May maybe not as black as this. Yeah. I think so. Just I think our point is just to kinda be at the ready for those and not to let it throw you, too much. I think maybe even just kinda have fun with it and and sort of let your hair down, similar to what we're doing now with it.
Kinda just let your hair down a little bit about when you get a question like that, I think. I totally agree. I think that's the best way to go about it. Don't get frazzled. You know? Just, you know, kinda laugh. Because if the person's asking it, they have to realize that there's gonna be a a humorous element to it, but they also want to see the person's reaction, how creative they are, what they come up with.
If it I think the other thing too is that they're trying to look to see if the person gets totally derailed. Yes. So, yeah. So I think stay informed, and you'll be fine. I will say to you, I have in the past when a candidate has been really, really nervous, not necessarily worked in, like, really wacky questions, but worked in something to kinda help them sort of, you know, ease their anxiety a little bit or kind of ease their mind a little bit.
So that could be a tactic that an interview interviewer, excuse me, uses as well if they sense that the person's really nervous. Yeah. For sure. What was the, there before we go to the next section, what was wasn't there an American Idol question? If you could sing one song on American Idol, what would it be?
Yeah. I mean, you know, that, you you kinda you you're definitely a little flat footed on that, but I would hope that you would wind up saying something inspirational as opposed to, like, you know, something that's inappropriate. Right. Well, yes. That's true. So I don't know. But I but, anyway, let's let's go into the, behavioral questions because I know a lot of people have trouble with these. We always get asked, you know, do I do I need to prepare for situational or behavioral questions?
Does the client you know, do they at I I kinda almost feel like each in this day and age, you should probably, like, try to prepare for at least a handful of those like, some interviews, the whole thing is behavioral. It's like, wow. It's really stressful. But a lot of other interviews, I think it's maybe just 2 or 3. So what's your advice on these, and what are some examples of them? I've seen both. So I've seen all behavioral and situational, and then I've seen a good mix.
I'd say be at the ready because then you won't be thrown. And, again, comes back to what we talked about around being prepared. The more prepared you are, the better. And I know you wanted to talk a little bit about the STAR technique, and I I agreed with you on that. And I think it's really relevant here a lot. Yeah. For sure.
I think that if you're preparing for an interview and you know that there's gonna be some behavioral questions, technique or behavioral questions, and you'll come up with an explanation of what the star technique is. It's basically answering the questions through situation, task, action, result. Mhmm. And the the one challenge with these situational questions is that it almost leads you into a trap where you wind up 20 minutes later, you finish answering it.
That's that's the beauty of the start technique. It just says, okay. Just give them a situation that you were in. Tell them that what task, you know, you had to to try to get through it, and then what the action was that you took from from there, and then what was the result. So it's like, boom, boom, boom. And then you're you're still following a 1 to 2 minute answer. Mhmm. So, again, I think you need to research it a little bit because there's Yes.
More provided on the Internet than I think we can cover now. But you're gonna get those questions. Like, what what might be some of the ones that people can expect? Absolutely. So can you give me an example of a difficult work experience and sort of how you handled it? Challenge comes up a lot in these. So what was a challenging work experience or something like that that you had and sort of how you went about it. And, a a lot of times people will ask how it got resolved.
So be at the ready to provide the solution as well. Yep. Yeah. Mhmm. I kinda feel like with these, with these questions, one of the best ways to prepare is to think of 2 or 3 success stories, scenarios where you influence the result of something on a project or you achieve something. Think of 2 or 3 setbacks, challenges, problems, things that were, you know, that really, like, kept you up at night that you had to resolve throughout the course of your career.
Because then you can draw back on those. Yes. And then you can construct an answer. So if you have three stories of accomplishments, achievements, success, 3 stories of things that were problematic, challenges, things you had to overcome, now you have 6 different things that you can rely on to like, maybe 4 to 6 things that you can rely on when the question comes, and then you just apply that formula, that star formula. Absolutely.
And if you've got those examples ready to go when someone asks you a question, it's okay to take a moment. It's funny. I was coaching somebody recently, and we were talking about, in our society, silence, we're not always super comfortable with silence or just kind of a quiet moment. We're always ready to kinda jump in and respond and say something. But I think when the interviewer asks the question, just take a moment, and it's okay to say something like, great question.
I'm going to come up with the best example for you. I'll just I'll just take a moment and think about that. And take that moment, really, truly, and then provide the best example that you can as it relates back to the question. And to your point, Tom, if you've got 2 or 3 examples of success and 2 or 3 examples of different challenges, then you'll be ready to go with your response to that question. But but just come up with the best example that you can, and and take a moment to do so.
That I mean, that's great advice. Really, throughout the interview process, not just with these types of questions. It is okay to, you know, kinda regroup, you know, as long as as long as you you don't go into as long as you don't go into this frozen phase like, oh. You know? It's like a ponder moment, collect your thoughts, that kind of thing. But you great advice. Totally great advice. Thank you. No. I agree with you.
Yeah. So, were there any other questions that we needed to go over on that on that section? Or do we, We had listed out an example of when you sort of went above and beyond the the call of duty in your current job. That's a good one, I think. Good one. Yes. Yeah. And guys, keep in mind, you know, it it's good practice to Google behavioral questions, situational questions, and just see what the most common ones are. Make a list, not 30 of them.
Make a list of maybe 4 or 5 so you can be familiar with what you know, we pulled up some basic ones. We did. You know, you you might wanna, you know, develop your own list so that you could put together your own stories and responses. Mhmm. Definitely. And the only other thing I think we listed here was, can you describe how you dealt with the problem colleague in the past or a challenging teammate or something like that? It's funny.
The more I've been in the business, the more I'm seeing the business sort of evolve to very heavy collaboration, very heavy teamwork. So be at the ready for a positive sort of experience working as part of a team and then a challenge, as part of a team, and everybody's had both for sure. I think, obviously, the successful, you know, kind of rewarding experience working as a team is probably an easier one to respond to, but everyone's had those challenges, and it's okay to have those.
And I think if we're sort of presenting that we haven't had a challenging situation in that sense, it's probably a little less realistic. So, and, again, kinda showing that humanistic side and and showing that side of yourself, I think, is is really important here, and I think it really is very helpful. For sure. And it's and it's funny. You reminded me as you're saying this. So as you're answering these questions, you bring up a good point. Everybody is looking for team players.
Yes. Everybody's looking for folks that have can show that they are collaborative. They're goal oriented and, you know, they like to, you know, help the company, help the team move the needle. So if you speak if you use that language when you're answering questions, like, really pay attention to how you're answering the questions, what language you're using.
Be positive, obviously, throughout all the dialogue so that you can you can really leave that impression with each person, this positive impression with each person that you're a team player, you're collaborative, that, you know, you are goal oriented, and you achieve results, and, you've helped the team be successful. That's I think that's really important too. I do too. I agree with you. So last section, we just to touch on real quick.
I know that one of the things that you had mentioned to me that you're seeing as a trend Yes. In the pharmaceutical industry is towards, patient centric goals. Patient centric, I guess, you know, initiatives as it relates to organizations that are really obviously, in the pharmaceutical industry, it all always comes back to the patient. So what types of questions have you seen out there as it relates to this sort of thing? Definitely.
I'm see like, to your point, yes, I'm seeing more and more of that, and we we sort of talked about that a little bit in preparation for this. So even what does patient centricity mean to you? And I think employers are looking for people that are motivated by the patient and sort of the end game of getting the treatment in the hands of these individuals and helping them, you know, to cure and and make them better. I'm seeing a lot of that as of late, for sure.
Yeah. It's interesting you should say that because very recently, I had a hiring manager say to me, he said, don't mention this to any of the candidates that are interviewing, but I'm gonna tell you right this is what he said to me. I'm gonna tell you right now. If they don't mention the patient and, the you know, being patient focused, I'm not gonna be interested in them. I'm almost like, wow.
So maybe there's something to be said here about using the word patient centric and being prepared for some of these questions, but showing how you've been able to, influence, patient care in in whatever way you have in your career. Definitely. Even how how would you even go about describing a positive patient experience or something like that? I think maybe have an example ready first for that as well.
Yeah. No. I think that's good advice, and these are, I mean, these are things that I honestly and I I I'm so grateful that you you brought that to the table because, it really made me think, you know, back about some of the recent experience that we've had with, with different hiring managers. But it's showing a trend, and I think that we need people to be prepared for that. I agree with you. For sure. Yeah. Awesome. Maybe even not in like, not only in MSL interviews, Tom.
Maybe just kind of across the board, people should have something ready for that if they're gonna be in Oh, yeah. Kind of biotech. Right? For sure. For sure. I just think that it sends such a good message, and I think that it will resonate with everyone. I I don't I don't see the downside in it where I agree. Yeah. You know, because I feel like one of the things we always hear and and we try to express to candidates is that companies really want people that are in line with their core values.
So we always recommend go to a company's website, look up their mission statement, look up their core values, and try to mention that. Bring that up. Bring up the fact that the company's core values are in line with your core values. You know, patient outcomes should be a part of that Yes. Because it's a part of really all of this. Definitely. I love that. And I actually really love that response when I hear that from candidates when they say, I looked up your website.
I saw the core value core values. I saw the mission statement, and it's very in line aligned with how I personally feel. That's what I'm I I think that's a great and if it's sincere and truthful, I think that's a great way to go. I really do. I think that's really huge. And then I think the last thing is so we spent this whole podcast talking about questions that you should expect. But the way we should end it is that you should have questions for the hiring managers. Right? Definitely.
We talked about this on our first podcast as well. Be ready. And I think you even mentioned something about sometimes candidates telling you that they just froze when the person's you know, when the interviewer said, what questions do you have for me? Don't freeze, and be ready for this. Have 3 questions prepared. Right? 3 or 4 questions prepared. Like, you don't wanna bombard people, but you wanna show real genuine interest. And maybe those questions are about the company.
Can you tell me a little bit about, you know, what it's like working here? How do you like working here? Show genuine interest in the organization. I always like the question, you know, can you describe the ideal candidate for this role? So that you can take a look inside. It's like you're asking for the answers to the test. Yes. Right?
Because then when before you're finished with the interview, you thank the person for their time and say, I can't tell you how excited I am about this opportunity because my my own core values are in line with boom, and you recite what they just told you about the company. Yes. And then you could say, and I think I'm the perfect fit for this position because and then you recite what they just said the ideal candidate looks like.
I mean, to the extent that to the extent that you could support that. Yes. But that's that's how you really make that connection. I agree. Definitely. And and I think everybody should have this should be a layup. I think everybody should be able to come up with questions easily.
Another thing that I think we talked about on our previous podcast that I personally really like a lot is, more often than not, an interviewer is given, the list of the agenda of the folks that they're gonna meet with that day. Yep. If you can if you can take a little bit of time and look up the folks on the agenda on LinkedIn, for example Yep. And then research their backgrounds.
And then at the when you get to this section of the interview, when it's your turn to ask some questions, maybe you could even ask something specific about that person's background. I looked up on LinkedIn. I saw you went to school here. You know, I wanted to talk to you about this, or I saw that you worked at this organization. That must have been an amazing opportunity when you all launched this product, that kind of thing. That's always the most impressive to me. That's huge.
Huge. It's I mean, you're putting the pieces together. It's like you're almost creating an instant connection by doing that. So Yes. I think that's huge. I I think that's great advice. You know? Or if you see something, like, if there's news that came out, people always like to be congratulated. Right? Yes. Oh, hey. Wanted to congratulate you on, you know, just heard about this, whatever it might be.
So so many little I don't wanna call it icebreakers, but so many little, you know, ways to make connections and and really, leave a good impression with folks. Yes. Obviously, the best way to leave the best impression is don't forget the thank you note. Right? Definitely. Gotta leave it. That before. Yeah. Mhmm. That's I mean, we we can and we can leave it at that.
We can leave that leave it here because I feel like that's that's the best way to always end the interview is by, you know, obviously thanking the person while you're there, but then following up with the thank you. Right? Definitely. I agree. And this is where I have to thank you because we're up. Our time's up. You are the best. Thanks. I feel like did we just talk for 5 minutes, or was it, like, 35 minutes? Seriously. We always do that, and I always enjoy it. I really appreciate it.
I can't wait till the travel ban is off, and we can you know, you can come to Boston, and we can have dinner. We always really enjoy seeing you. I can't wait. I cannot wait. And I thank you again, and stay safe with the craziness, and stay warm with the cold. You do the same. That those are your closing remarks. Alright, my friend. Thank you again. This was awesome. You. My pleasure. Thank you so much for listening to the show.
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