vested-talent

The Best Talent Isn't Always Where You're Looking

Wed, 16 Sep 2026 15:28:39 GMT

Recruitment can become too focused on the obvious.

The candidate with the right job title.

The CV with all the right keywords.

The person who lives nearby.

The applicant who has already put themselves forward.

These are useful starting points, but they can also create a very narrow view of who might be right for your business.

The best candidate isn't always the easiest person to find.

They might come from a different industry. They might have a different job title. They might live further away. Or they might not be looking for a new role at all.

That doesn't mean they're not worth finding.

Look beyond the job title

Job titles aren't standardised.

A “Quality Manager” in one organisation can have a completely different remit from a “Quality Manager” somewhere else. Equally, someone with a different title could have spent years developing exactly the experience your business needs.

That's why focusing too heavily on titles and keywords can cause good candidates to be missed. Instead, start with the underlying requirement.

What does this person actually need to be able to do?

Once you ask that question, the search can become much broader.

Experience from another industry might be highly transferable. Someone who has managed a smaller team may have the potential to lead a larger one. Someone without the exact technical background may have the ability to learn it. And someone with a different career path may bring a perspective your business hasn't previously had.

Of course, there will always be qualifications, technical skills or experience that genuinely are essential.

The important thing is knowing which requirements are essential and which are simply familiar .

The active market isn't the whole market

Job boards and applications give employers access to people who are actively looking.

But some of the strongest candidates aren't looking at all.

They're succeeding in their current roles.

They aren't sending out CVs.

They aren't applying for vacancies.

They may not even have considered moving.

That doesn't mean they would never move.

It means the opportunity has to be good enough to make them curious.

For these candidates, recruitment starts with a conversation rather than an application.

Not:

“Do you want to leave your job?”

But:

“Would you be open to hearing about an opportunity that could be relevant to you?”

They may say no.

That's fine.

The purpose isn't to persuade someone to leave a role they enjoy. It's to find out whether there is a genuine reason for both sides to explore something different.

Think differently about location

Location matters, but it doesn't always need to define the entire search.

Depending on the role, hybrid working, flexibility and improved connectivity can give businesses access to a much wider talent pool.

The question isn't necessarily:

“How far away can we recruit?”

It's:

“What flexibility would allow us to access the talent we actually need?”

For some roles, being office-based will be essential.

For others, widening the geographical search could open up considerably more possibilities.

The key is not to let an arbitrary boundary eliminate someone who could otherwise be an excellent appointment.

Start with the problem, not the candidate

Perhaps the biggest opportunity comes from changing the question you ask at the beginning of a search.

Instead of:

“Who matches this job description?”

Ask:

“What does the business actually need this person to achieve?”

What problem are they being hired to solve?
What will success look like?
What skills are genuinely required?
What could be learned?
What type of person will thrive in the team?
And what would make the right candidate want the opportunity?

Those answers give you a much clearer picture of the talent you're actually looking for.

And sometimes that picture looks very different from the original job description.

The person worth finding

The right candidate might not have the perfect job title.

They might not come from the obvious industry.

They might not live around the corner.

They might not tick every box.

And they might not be actively looking.

But they could have the experience, capability, ambition and potential to make a significant difference to your business.

That's why recruitment shouldn't be about finding the most obvious candidate.

It's about finding the person who can genuinely add value.

A broader approach to recruitment

At Vested Talent, we don't believe recruitment should be reduced to keyword matching or sending a selection of CVs.

We take the time to understand what the business is trying to achieve, what the candidate wants next and where the two could genuinely align.

That means challenging assumptions, looking beyond traditional talent pools and being willing to have conversations with people who might not otherwise enter the process.

Because sometimes the right person isn't waiting for your vacancy.

They're simply waiting for the right opportunity.

And sometimes, finding them means looking somewhere different.

Fees follow success. Shared Risk. Joint Journey.

That's what we believe good recruitment should be about.

The UK Talent Market: What Are We Seeing Right Now?

Wed, 16 Sep 2026 15:24:31 GMT

The UK talent market is changing.

But there isn’t one single UK recruitment market.

Hiring conditions can look very different depending on the sector, location, level of seniority and skills a business is looking for. Candidate expectations are changing too, influenced by everything from salary and flexibility to career progression and long-term opportunity.

The latest REC Labour Market Tracker highlights just how varied recruitment activity can be across different occupations and locations. For employers and candidates alike, the detail matters.

What does this mean for employers?

Hiring decisions increasingly need to be informed by the specific market a business is recruiting within.

A role that is relatively straightforward to fill in one location or sector may be considerably more challenging elsewhere. The availability of particular skills, salary expectations, candidate priorities and levels of competition can all influence how quickly a position can be filled.

That means a standard approach to recruitment isn't always enough.

If a business is struggling to attract candidates, the answer isn't necessarily to advertise more widely or simply increase the number of applications coming through.

It may be about understanding the market differently.

Are the salary expectations realistic for the skills required?
Is the location limiting the talent pool unnecessarily?
Are the essential requirements genuinely essential?
Is the opportunity being positioned in a way that appeals to the people the business actually wants to attract?

And perhaps most importantly: does the recruitment strategy reflect the reality of the market?

Good hiring starts with understanding what you're working with.

What does it mean for candidates?

The same applies to career decisions.

Candidates are navigating a market where opportunities can vary significantly between sectors, locations and skill sets. Understanding where demand exists, which skills are becoming increasingly valuable and what employers are looking for can help people make more informed decisions about their next move.

But market data shouldn't dictate a career.

A growing sector isn't automatically the right sector for every candidate. A role with high demand isn't necessarily the right opportunity. And a job title that appears repeatedly in the market doesn't tell you whether the organisation, culture or career path is right for you.

Headline figures only tell part of the story.

The more useful question is what sits behind them.

That's where market insight matters

Recruitment data can tell us what is happening.

Experience, conversations and context help us understand why.

At Vested Talent, we work across six specialist areas:

Working across specialist markets means we're constantly having conversations with businesses and professionals about what they're experiencing.

We hear where employers are finding it difficult to recruit.

We see which skills are becoming increasingly sought after.

We understand the expectations candidates are bringing to the market.

And we see where businesses may need to rethink how they're approaching talent.

That insight matters because recruitment isn't simply about filling vacancies.

For an employer, it's about understanding the talent available and building a realistic strategy around it.

For a candidate, it's about understanding where their experience could create value and which opportunities genuinely make sense for their career.

Look beyond the headline

It's easy to look at recruitment data and draw a simple conclusion.

Hiring is up.

Hiring is down.

Demand is increasing.

Candidates are becoming harder to find.

But the reality is rarely that simple.

A change in demand in one occupation doesn't necessarily reflect what's happening across an entire sector. A national trend may look very different at a regional level. And the experience of a large organisation may be completely different from that of a smaller, specialist business.

Context changes the picture.

That's why we believe market insight should be more than a collection of statistics.

It should help businesses ask better questions and help candidates make better decisions.

Where is the opportunity?
Where are the challenges?
What is changing?

And, perhaps most importantly, what does it mean for the people involved?

What we're seeing matters

The UK talent market will continue to evolve.

Skills will change. Candidate expectations will shift. Businesses will adapt. Some markets will become more competitive, while others may present new opportunities.

There won't always be a straightforward answer.

But there is value in understanding what is happening and having the experience to interpret it.

At Vested Talent, we believe that understanding the market is fundamental to making better hiring and career decisions.

We're interested not just in what the data says, but what it means for the people and businesses behind it.

The market tells us what's changing. Experience tells us why it matters.

We'll continue to share what we're seeing across our specialist markets and what those changes mean for employers and candidates.

The CV Isn’t the Candidate

Wed, 16 Sep 2026 15:18:07 GMT

A CV is a useful starting point. It gives you a snapshot of someone's career — where they've worked, what they've done and the results they've achieved.

But a snapshot is not the whole picture.

It doesn't necessarily tell you what motivates someone, how they handle pressure, how they lead, what kind of environment brings out their best work or what they're hoping to achieve from their next move.

Those details can make the difference between someone who can do a job and someone who will genuinely thrive in it. That's why two people with almost identical CVs can be completely different candidates.

One may enjoy autonomy and a fast-moving environment. Another may be at their best in a structured, collaborative team. Their experience might look almost interchangeable on paper, while their expectations, ambitions and working styles are anything but.

The CV tells you what someone has done.

The conversation starts to tell you who they are and what they want next.

What isn't written down?...

Some of the most valuable information in recruitment doesn't sit neatly under a job title or qualification.

What drives a candidate?
What are they looking for in their next role?
What type of leadership brings out their best?
What challenges do they enjoy?
What have they learned that isn't immediately obvious from their career history?
And perhaps most importantly, what would make them genuinely want to accept an opportunity?

These are the questions that create context.

Without them, it's easy to judge candidates against a list of requirements without understanding what could actually make the relationship successful.

The business has a story too!

Of course, recruitment isn't only about understanding candidates. A job description has limitations just like a CV does.

It can outline responsibilities, experience and qualifications, but it can't always communicate the reality behind the role.

What's the team like?
Who will the person report to?
How does the business operate?
What's the pace like?
Why is the position available?
What needs to be achieved in the first year?
What could the role become?

Those things can have a huge influence on whether someone succeeds and whether they actually want the job in the first place.

A job description tells you what the role is. The wider conversation tells you what the opportunity could be.

Stop searching for the perfect CV

It's easy to approach recruitment as a process of elimination.

Does the candidate have the required experience?
Do they have the qualification?
Have they worked in the right industry?
Do they have every technical skill listed?

If the answer is yes, they move forward.

If it's no, they disappear from consideration.

But people aren't checklists.

Someone may not have every requirement yet have the ability to learn quickly and transfer their experience into a new environment. Someone from another sector may bring an approach or perspective that the business hadn't considered. Equally, someone who appears perfect on paper may not be the right fit for the culture, leadership style or ambitions of the organisation.

The strongest appointment isn't necessarily the candidate with the longest list of ticks.

It's the person whose experience, capability, motivation and potential make sense for the particular opportunity.

Both sides have to get it right

A successful recruitment process shouldn't ask only whether the business likes the candidate.

It should also ask whether the candidate genuinely wants what the business is offering.

For the employer, that means finding someone who can make a contribution, develop with the organisation and help it move forward.

For the candidate, it means finding a role that fits their ambitions, strengths and circumstances.

Those two perspectives need to meet somewhere in the middle. That's why understanding both sides is so important.

A business may think it needs someone with a very specific background when transferable experience could actually be more valuable.

A candidate may believe they need a particular job title when what they're really looking for is greater responsibility, flexibility or progression.

The better you understand the reason behind the requirement, the better the recruitment decision becomes.

This is where recruitment adds value

Technology has made it easier to search CVs, filter candidates and identify people with particular experience.

That's useful..

But technology can identify a potential match. It can't replace the understanding that comes from asking better questions and listening to the answers.

At Vested Talent, we believe that's an important part of recruitment. We look beyond the obvious information to understand the individual behind the CV and the reality behind the vacancy.

We want to understand not only whether someone can do the role, but whether the opportunity makes sense for them. And we want to understand not only what a business says it needs, but what it actually needs to achieve.

Because sometimes the best candidate isn't the one who initially appears to match.

Sometimes the best opportunity isn't the one with the longest job description.

The CV opens the conversation. It shouldn't end it.

Why Your Job Description Might Be Putting Great Candidates Off

Wed, 16 Sep 2026 15:14:57 GMT

Your job description might be accurate.

But is it attractive?

For many candidates, a job description is their first real interaction with your business. Before they've spoken to your hiring manager, met the team or learned more about the organisation, it's what they use to decide whether your opportunity is worth exploring.

If it reads like a long list of demands rather than an opportunity, some of the people you'd most like to attract may simply keep scrolling.

When everything becomes essential

It's easy to see how it happens.

A hiring manager wants someone with the right experience, so another skill is added. Then another qualification. Then another requirement that would be useful to have.

Before long, the job description describes the person who would be ideal in every possible scenario, rather than the person who is actually needed.

The problem is that the perfect candidate rarely exists.

A candidate might have nine out of ten requirements and rule themselves out because of the tenth. Someone with highly relevant experience from another industry might assume they're not suitable because their background doesn't match exactly. And someone with the potential to grow into the role might never apply because the description makes the position appear beyond their reach.

High standards aren't the problem.

Unnecessary barriers are.

Before including a requirement, ask:

Is it genuinely essential?
Could the skill be learned?
Would transferable experience be valuable?
Is the qualification actually necessary?
Or has it simply been carried over from an old job description?

If everything is described as essential, candidates have no way of knowing what really matters.

What does the candidate get from this?

A job description should explain what the business needs.

But it should also answer a more important question:

Why would someone want this role?

Don't make candidates work through hundreds of words of responsibilities before they discover what makes the opportunity interesting.

If they'll be building a new team, launching something important, working directly with senior leadership, improving an established function or having genuine autonomy, bring that to the forefront.

For example:

“Responsible for managing a team and delivering operational targets.”

could become:

“You'll lead a growing team through an important period of change, with the autonomy to improve processes, develop your people and directly influence performance.”

The first explains the responsibility.

The second helps someone picture themselves doing the job.

That's what makes a role feel like an opportunity.

Be specific about the reality

Culture is another area where job descriptions often fall back on generic language.

“Great culture.”
“Fast-paced environment.”
“Excellent team.”
“Family feel.”

These phrases don't tell a candidate very much, instead, explain what those things actually mean.

How does the team work?
How are decisions made?
What does the manager's leadership style look like?
How much autonomy will the successful candidate have?
What support and development will they receive?
What kind of person tends to thrive in the environment?

The aim isn't to make the business sound perfect. It's to make it understandable and credible.

An honest description of the working environment is far more useful than a collection of attractive-sounding phrases.

Remember that candidates are assessing you too

Recruitment is a two-way decision.

Candidates are asking questions about the business just as much as you're asking questions about them.

They want to know:

What will I actually be doing?
Who will I be working with?
What could I achieve here?
What happens next in my career?
Why should I leave my current role for this one?

This matters particularly when you're trying to attract people who aren't actively looking.

Someone who is successful where they are doesn't need another job. They need a reason to consider something different. Your job description is one of the first opportunities you have to give them that reason.

Don't make candidates do the work

One of the biggest mistakes is assuming candidates already understand why the role is attractive.

They don't know your business like you do.

They don't know the team.

They don't know the plans for growth.

They don't know what success could look like twelve months from now.

So don't make them piece it together from a list of responsibilities.

Tell them.

What is happening in the business?
Why is this role important?
What will they have the opportunity to influence?
What could they learn?
What could they build?
What makes this a role worth considering?

The more clearly you communicate those things, the easier it becomes for the right people to recognise the opportunity.

Before you publish your next vacancy

Read your job description as if you're the candidate.

Ask yourself:

Do I understand why this role exists?
Do I know what I'll actually be doing?
Is it clear what I could achieve?
Have we explained what makes the opportunity interesting?
Do I understand what is genuinely essential?
Does the culture sound real rather than generic?

And most importantly:

Would I want to find out more?

If the answer is no, the problem may not be the candidate market. It may be the way the opportunity is being presented.

Sell the opportunity, not just the role

At Vested Talent, we believe a strong recruitment process starts before a candidate is ever approached. It starts with understanding what the business genuinely needs and being able to communicate why someone would want to be part of it.

Because the best candidates aren't simply looking for a list of responsibilities.

They're looking for challenge, progression, purpose, opportunity and the right environment to succeed.

Your job description should give them enough to see the possibility.

Don't just tell people what the job is. Show them why it matters.

The right job description doesn't guarantee the right hire.

But it can make sure the right people don't scroll past your opportunity.

Your CV Might Be AI-Generated, But Your Career Isn’t

Wed, 16 Sep 2026 15:10:02 GMT

AI can write a CV in seconds.

It can refine the language, tailor your experience to a job description and turn almost anyone into a candidate who sounds “strategic, results-driven and commercially focused.”

It can even tell you which keywords to include to help your CV to get noticed. Used well, it can help candidates structure their experience, improve clarity and communicate achievements more effectively.

But there is a problem.

When everyone sounds exceptional, exceptional becomes harder to recognise.

Recruitment has always involved a degree of presentation. Candidates want to put their best foot forward, and understandably so. As AI becomes more sophisticated, the difference between a genuinely impressive candidate and a well-written CV is becoming increasingly difficult to see on paper.

A CV might tell us that someone is an “innovative, commercially focused strategic thinker with a proven track record of delivering transformational results.” But what does that actually mean? What did they achieve? What challenges did they face and what did they learn?

These are the questions a CV can't always answer.

The danger isn't necessarily that AI is making CVs worse. In many cases, it's making them better. The danger is that it's making them more similar .

When every CV uses the same language, follows the same structure and highlights the same collection of desirable qualities, recruiters can end up with a sea of candidates who look remarkably alike and that makes genuine difference harder to spot.

Your career is more than a collection of keywords

At Vested Talent, we believe a CV should open a conversation, not tell the whole story.

Your CV should give someone a reason to want to meet you. It should provide the foundations for a conversation about your experience, your achievements and where you want your career to go. It shouldn't have to carry the entire weight of your professional identity.

When AI starts replacing your own voice, inflating your experience or turning your career into a collection of generic corporate phrases, something important gets lost:

The person behind the CV – you.

The best candidates aren't always the most polished

A perfectly presented CV can certainly catch attention, but the most impressive candidate is the person whose experience, ambition, values and potential stand up when the CV is put to one side.

Sometimes that means finding the candidate who doesn't have every box ticked on a job description but has demonstrated the ability to learn quickly.

Sometimes it's the person whose career path doesn't look conventional but makes perfect sense when you understand the story behind it.

Sometimes it's someone who has the technical skills but hasn't learned how to sell themselves on paper and sometimes it's the candidate whose CV looks ordinary, but whose experience, attitude and ambition make them anything but.

That's why recruitment needs more than keyword matching.

It needs judgement, curiosity and people who are willing to ask better questions.

The same applies to businesses

The relationship between a candidate and an employer works both ways. A job description can describe the role, a CV can describe the candidate but neither tells you what happens when the two meet.

A business might write that it's looking for someone who is “a strong communicator with excellent leadership skills.”

A candidate might describe themselves as exactly that.

But what does great communication actually look like in that particular team? What kind of leadership does the business need? What is the culture really like and what does success look like after six months? These are the things that matter when making a successful hire.

It is about understanding whether they're the right person for that business, that team and that point in its journey.

Technology should give us more time to be human

We don't believe AI is the enemy of recruitment. Far from it. Technology can make recruitment faster, more efficient and more effective. It can help identify information, reduce administration and give recruiters more time to focus on what technology can't replicate. The answer isn't to reject technology. It's to use it intelligently without allowing it to replace the human element that makes recruitment work.

At Vested Talent, we're challenging the traditional hiring process by looking beyond keywords, job titles and perfectly polished CVs. We want to understand the person behind the application. We want to understand what a business needs – not simply what a job description says it needs. We also want to create conversations that go beyond whether someone has the right words on a page because the best recruitment decisions rarely come from a CV alone. They come from understanding context, capability, ambition and fit.

Careers aren't generated by AI

AI might help you write your CV. It might help you improve it, it might even help you land an interview, but it didn't build your career.

You did.

And that's the part we want to understand. At Vested Talent, we believe recruitment should be about more than matching CVs to vacancies. It's about people, businesses and the potential that exists when the right two come together.

People are unique.

And that's what we want to understand.

The Vested Talent Interview Guide

Wed, 16 Sep 2026 15:04:11 GMT

A simple guide to feeling prepared, confident and ready for your next interview.

An interview isn't just about proving you're right for the role. It is your opportunity to understand the business, meet the people behind it and decide whether the opportunity is right for you too.

The best interviews aren't interrogations. They're conversations.

Preparation is key. But being yourself matters too.

Here's our guide to making your next interview count.

1. Do your research

Take some time to understand the business before your interview.

Look at:

What the company does
Its products or services
Its values and culture
Recent news or developments
The role you're applying for
Who you'll be meeting

You don't need to memorise the company website. Instead, make sure you understand who they are, what they do and why you're interested in joining them.

If the company has recently launched a product, entered a new market or announced a major change, knowing about it can also help you ask more informed questions.

2. Know your CV

Anything on your CV is fair game.

Make sure you're comfortable talking about:

Your previous roles
Your key achievements
Career moves and promotions
Any gaps or changes in direction
Your skills and experience

Be prepared to explain what you did, what you achieved and what you learned.

Don't just repeat what's written on the page. Bring it to life with examples and context. Your CV tells part of your story. The interview gives you the opportunity to explain the rest.

3. Prepare examples

Most interviews will involve questions about your previous experience.

Think of a few examples that demonstrate things such as:

Leadership
Problem-solving
Working under pressure
Managing difficult situations
Teamwork
Achieving results
Adapting to change

A simple structure can help:

Situation → Action → Result

Explain what happened, what you did and what the outcome was.

Where possible, be specific. If you improved a process, increased revenue, reduced costs, delivered a project or solved a problem, explain how.

Clear, real examples are far more valuable than rehearsed answers.

4. Prepare for common questions

While every interview is different, there are some questions you're likely to come across.

The key isn't to memorise your answers.

Prepare your thoughts and examples instead.

“Tell me about yourself.”

Keep this focused on your career. Talk briefly about your current or most recent role, your relevant experience and what has led you to this opportunity.

Think:

Where have I been? What do I do well? Where am I going next?

“Why are you interested in this role?”

Show that you've thought about the opportunity. Talk about what genuinely attracted you. Is it the responsibilities, company, team, culture, progression or the chance to make an impact? Avoid an answer that could apply to any job.

“Why are you looking to leave your current role?”

Keep your answer honest but professional. Focus on what you're looking for next rather than criticising your current or previous employer. You might be looking for greater responsibility, a new challenge, career progression or an environment that better aligns with your ambitions.

“What are your strengths?”

Choose strengths that are relevant to the role and back them up with an example. Don't simply list qualities.

Show them in action.

“What is your biggest weakness?”

Choose something genuine but manageable. The strongest answers demonstrate self-awareness and what you're doing to improve. Avoid overly rehearsed answers such as “I'm a perfectionist” unless you can genuinely explain how that has affected you and what you've learned from it.

“Tell me about a challenge you've faced.”

Choose a real situation and explain:

What happened → What you did → What the outcome was → What you learned

The interviewer is often interested in your approach to challenges, not whether everything worked out perfectly.

“Tell me about an achievement you're proud of.”

Choose an achievement that demonstrates something relevant to the role. Explain what you personally contributed and where possible, quantify the result.

Remember: it doesn't always have to be your biggest achievement.

A smaller example can be just as powerful if it demonstrates the right skills.

“Why should we hire you?”

Think about the value you can bring to the business.

What do I bring? What have I achieved? And why am I a strong fit for this particular opportunity?

Keep it confident, specific and authentic.

5. Be ready to talk about expectations

Depending on the role and stage of the process, you may be asked about salary expectations, notice period or other practical considerations.

Be honest and realistic.

If you're asked about salary, it's perfectly reasonable to explain what you're currently earning and what you're looking for next, while remaining open to discussing the overall opportunity. Remember that compensation is only one part of a role.

Consider the wider package too including benefits, flexibility, development opportunities, progression and the responsibilities of the position.

The goal is to find an opportunity that works for both sides.

6. Prepare your own questions

An interview should be a two-way conversation. Prepare a few questions to ask at the end.

For example:

What would success look like in the first six months?
What are the biggest priorities for this role?
What challenges is the person coming into the role expected to solve?
How would you describe the team and culture?
What opportunities are there for development?
What are the next steps in the process?

Don't feel that you need to ask every question on your list. Choose the ones you're genuinely interested in.

Good questions show that you're interested and help you decide whether the role is right for you.

7. Be yourself

It's easy to focus so much on giving the “right” answers that you forget to have a conversation. Don't try to be someone you're not. Be professional but let your personality come through.

Take a moment to think before answering.

If you don't understand a question, ask for clarification and if you don't know the answer, it's better to be honest than to try to bluff your way through it.

The right employer isn't looking for a rehearsed version of you.

They're looking for an understanding of who you are, what you can bring and how you might fit into their business.

8. Get the practical details right

Before the interview, make sure you know:

Where it is or how to access the meeting
What time you need to arrive
Who you'll be meeting
Whether it's online or in person
What you'll need to bring or prepare

For an in-person interview, aim to arrive 10–15 minutes early .

For a virtual interview, test your camera, microphone and internet connection beforehand. Small things can make a big difference to how confident you feel.

Remember: an interview goes both ways. You're assessing them too.

Prepare well. Be yourself. Ask questions.

And remember that an interview isn't about being perfect.

It's about having the right conversation.

The Vested Talent Interview Checklist

Before

☐ Research the company
☐ Read the job description carefully
☐ Know your CV
☐ Prepare a few examples
☐ Think about common questions
☐ Prepare questions
☐ Consider your salary expectations
☐ Plan your journey or test your technology
☐ Choose what you're going to wear

During

☐ Listen carefully to each question
☐ Take your time answering
☐ Give specific examples
☐ Be honest and authentic
☐ Let your personality come through
☐ Ask questions
☐ Pay attention to how the business and people make you feel

After

☐ Reflect on how the interview went
☐ Note anything you want to follow up on
☐ Consider what you learned about the role and business
☐ Decide whether the opportunity is right for you , too