Important 2nd interview - how to not fuck it up?

[TrufflePioneer]

I've been pretty miserable in my job, and I've been looking around for something else for the best part of a year. It's a director level and fairly niche role, so they don't come around very often and when they do, it's by word of mouth and definitely a case of being in the right place at the right time with the right connections.

By some miracle, it's happened. An old and respected colleague recommended me to one of his buddies going back years, who happens to be high up in a well known firm with a great reputation for being good to work for. He sent him my CV, and I was invited for an informal (remote) first interview. Not only does the job sound like EXACTLY what I've been striving for, with a significant step up and an opportunity to showcase my skills and be paid for them, but I nailed the first meeting. I dunno how, I have verbal diarrhoea and talk bollocks most of the time. I am waiting for a date for a second remote interview with "other key individuals".

They aren't going to test my technical knowledge - at this level the CV speaks for itself, without trying to be a smug twat - but I imagine they are going to be to be looking for my vision of how the proposition will grow (it's a new start up alongside the established organisation), what challenges I anticipate, how I'll deal with the hurdles and how I'll build the team. I think.

The thing is, I've built teams and facilitated new operations and set up procedures blah blah blah, but only on quite a small scale. Never at this kind of magnitude, and never with quite this level of formal responsibility.

I need to persuade them, convincingly, that I'm ready and I can do it - I just need a chance to show it. This is massive and everything I've always wanted after 20 years of slog, I'm terrified of ballsing it up or that I'll be pipped to the post by someone with a bit more start-up experience - I have no idea how many other candidates they have but it isn't a role that's been advertised.

Any good tips?

[TrufflePioneer]

Hopeful bump for pearls of wisdom

[DuckyMcDuck]

Please try not to worry about what any other candidates might have, you can't do anything about that. You need to just focus on showing what you can do and what you can offer them.

You've obviously impressed them to get this far. Don't worry about what you perceive as your weaknesses, just focus on your strengths - tell them about the projects you have set up - I'm assuming this will be the same just on a larger scale. If you've been personally recommended, they will already know what you have and haven't done and wouldn't want to interview you if they didn't think you could do it.

Dont forget to have some examples up your sleeve for the "How did you resolve a problem? Overcome hurdles? Deal with a staff member who.....? type problems.

Good luck!

[coronafiona]

It's about transferable skills and scale ability. Show them examples of your skills and how you've applied them to projects you haven't done before. Good luck!

[TrufflePioneer]

Thanks both! Yes, everything they need for the role I have already done, just on a smaller scale - and in fact my current job is advising similar firms how to undertake and complete the same projects (or troubleshoot the business and help overhaul it).

I just need to show how I can scale up...

[Palavah]

What do you anticipate would be the key challenges of scaling up? What would you need to do more/ less of? What would you need to do differently.

Depends on what scale you're moving from/to but there comes a point where another zero doesn't really matter.