Interviewing is like a muscle; The more you prepare and practice beforehand, the stronger your performance will be in the actual interview. Today, interviewing often involves multiple steps. At each step along the way, you'll be interviewed by different people who hold different roles within the company that you're interviewing for. One great way to strengthen your interviewing muscles then, is to learn all about the different personas you're likely to encounter throughout the interview process. We're going to talk about empathizing with your interviewers. By understanding the different interview personas, you'll be able to empathize with your interviewers in real time, allowing you to make genuine connections and boosting your overall chances of success. By the end of this video, you will be able to identify and empathize with the various personas you're likely to encounter in a typical interview sequence. What are these personas? Your first interview will likely be with an individual from Human Resources or HR. Sometimes, it will be with an independent recruiter if the company has outsourced their HR. An interview with an HR representative or recruiter is often referred to as an Initial Screen. It typically last about 10-15 minutes and is often done over the phone or via video conferencing. Now, the HR representative or recruiter has one goal; Find the right person with the right skill set and experience, at the lowest risk. If you empathize with this individual, you will see that they are inundated with resumes and interviews on a daily basis. Most of these candidates do not check off at all the boxes and therefore, do not pass through to the next interview. A big concern is commitment. The HR representative is wondering whether they will have to replace you in a few months. You will stand out if you show that you're experienced, interesting, and committed long-term to the role you are interviewing for. Your second interview is likely to be with the Hiring Manager. This interview can last anywhere from 30-60 minutes. In this second interview, one of your interviewer's key objectives is getting to know you as a person. While doing so, the hiring manager is also trying to gauge your fit with the team and with the role. By empathizing with this interviewer, you'll recognize that enthusiasm for the role and the company will actually go a very long way. This is the time to really show that you've done your research on the industry and the company, which will demonstrate professionalism and a hunger to learn. It's likely that the hiring manager persona will share lots of company-specific information with you. You can expect to hear phrases like, "At this company, this is how we do things" quite often. At the same time, your interviewer will also be trying to get a sense of how coachable you are. Of whether or not they can teach you to do things the way they're done for this role at this company. In many cases, the Hiring Manager will also be assessing your skills directly; through a case study or a role-play scenario. In these cases, the Hiring Manager is trying to understand how you think, rather than looking for perfection. They want to see if you can have the core traits that they can build upon to make you successful. If you pass the second interview, the next and probably final stage, will likely be a meeting with multiple other people in the same or adjacent roles, and perhaps the executive that your position rolls up to. This is the last box that needs to get checked. In this step, you are getting socialized to a few more people on the team. Possibly even the boss of the manager that you will be supporting. If you get to this stage, it means you've gotten a big thumbs up from the Hiring Manager. You might notice the tone of this persona shift as they move from qualifying you, to now selling you to the broader team. Rather than assessing your skills, each person you meet will be looking to answer the questions, "Is this someone I want to work with every day?" and "Do I agree with the Hiring Manager's assessment?" From an initial screen with an HR representative to a second interview with a Hiring Manager, to a third round in which you get introduced to the broader team, this is one general interview sequence. In a lot of cases, this sequence gets consolidated. Some companies skip the initial screen and condense the second and third interviews into the same day. Others split the second round in two. But when it comes down to it, the particular sequence is far less important than your ability to empathize with your interviewer. Overall, your interviewer is looking to gauge the value you can bring to the role, the team, and the overall business. It's important to empathize with the interviewer and look through their perspective. This will ultimately help you provide questions and responses that fit what they're looking for.