Occasionally, I'll talk to a candidate that does so well on the phone portion of the interviews that it's tempting to just schedule the face-to-face without any additional counseling because, c'mon, they got past me and a technical interviewer, they should be ready. Erring on the side of caution though, my approach has always been to figure out what the candidate needs to be comfortable and prepared for the meeting and then...I just give it to them! Title, personality style, hot buttons, etc., I mean, what are we afraid of, that the interview will go so well that we'll have to put together that ratty new-hire paperwork and schedule a slot in new-employee orientation? :)
Years ago a colleague of mine chided me for what he considered my 'prepping' of a candidate and reminded me that as a corporate recruiter, my job was to 'interview' candidates not to prep them. I thought about what he said and considered that I might be offering too much in what I was providing, but my closing ratios suggested otherwise. I wasn't teaching my candidates to write algorithms or choose the appropriate data structure. What I was doing was helping them navigate the interview process, so that what they were demonstrating, during the course of the interview, was their ability to do the job vs trying to figure out the magic answer to the tricky interview questions they were being asked.
I'll let you in on a little secret, if you rocked the phone portions of any interview, a lot of the grilling has already been done and what the company is looking to determine by having you in is how you present yourself and whether the team likes you. Yes, it could be that they didn't fully vet you technically or intellectually but clearly, a lot of it's to determine if you fit.
Anyone that's read my previous stuff will recognize this suggestion: don't treat the interview as an interrogation or even an interview but instead plug yourself into the equation and pretend it's your first day on the job. You've been consulting by phone and now's your chance to meet the rest of the team and show them why you're the smart hire. I caution everyone, as much as anyone will listen, to be 'themselves' and will inevitably hear, "but what if I don't get the offer?" The hard truth may be that it probably wasn't a great fit if they don't want to hire you for being you but let's come at this from a different angle. What if instead of focusing solely on selling yourself you devoted some of your focus to learning more about the styles and preferences of the people you're hoping will soon be co-workers? How might you mutually benefit by understanding and connecting your styles?
My oldest by a minute says to me, "the kids at my new school don't like me!" I ask him why and he says, "they don't like to run around and play Sonic (don't worry that you don't get the reference). "What do they like to play?" I ask. "Football, soccer, tag, etc." he offers. Me to him, "Not liking the game or style of game isn't the same as not liking the person. Did you ever think about playing the game they want to play until they get to know you better, and then maybe they'll like you so much they'll play whatever you choose? In the meantime, the worst that can happen is you'll learn a lot of new games and a lot more about the people you're playing with while you're playing with them."
...vinny
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