You did exceptionally well in your first interview. You answered every single question perfectly, shared your experience with ease, and had a few good lighter moments with the HR Manager.
You made it to the next round of interview. But now that so much of information has been shared, you wonder what on earth can you discuss in the next round and the one after that. It will be repeating the same answers over and over again. Is there anything new that is left?
The secret is not to go overboard with your answers and here's how you do it.
Information You Share
You are most definitely not going to meet the same individual alone again in the next round (you can easily find out who the interviewers are). There is going to be someone new and someone senior, probably even if the same person were to join. This new interviewers, has never met you, but has only seen your CV. Your pitch is going to be new to him/her. Being able to understand if a more effective presentation can be done which includes body language, breaking the ice, researching the interviewer prior to the meeting, presenting through a laptop or flipchart etc, is important.
The previous interviewer would have definitely made notes to share internally but is not going to remember ever question and answer( unless it is a voice or video recorded interview)
Keep consistency when notes are drawn and you must try and recollect your answers to do this, e.g
If you’re asked (again) to “Tell me why you’re drawn to this role?” you can say, “Last time, we discussed the strong management component (you are keeping consistency), which is still something I’m very enthusiastic about. Additionally, the information you shared about the collaborative nature of the team is very appealing to me.”
Non Repetitive Stories
While comparing notes, later on, the interviewers, must feel that while going through the topic of strength and interest, is the same and there is a bit more and wider information that has been shared. The information must be consistent but can be more elaborate, even detailing systems or software or sharing experiences or difficulties and how you overcome or how your work stood out.
Dive deeper into your skills and experience (be mindful of the requirements in the job description)
You can share a different example to the same question (if asked): “As I shared previously with [interviewer's name], my current role is very sales heavy. Another example of my work in client-facing roles would be my first job, where I …”
By bringing in some new and different stores, you’re reinforcing the idea that you’ll bring more value to the requirement and share a different story.
Consistent Answers With New Examples
You should give yourself a putch-line that describes yourself as a candidate. Something that you would want the hiring manager to remember about you.
How you enjoy (and perform very well) working with people and that you’re articulate. You can keep the same theme in all rounds of interviews. You will want to make sure that some of your answers relate to those qualities. Only the examples will change.
In the first interview, you list working with others as your greatest strength and give an example from your current job. You might talk about a time you had to be creative to solve a problem
In the second interview, you might mention working with the company’s demographic as something you’re excited about. You might discuss how creative thinking is a key attribute of someone who inspires you.
Keeping your slogan in mind will help guide you as far as if you should answer a question similarly or differently than you did the time before.
It can be challenging to have to make a good impression—yet again, but remember, being called back for another interview is often a strong sign that you’re moving forward in the hiring process. Use the tips above to keep selling your strengths and make your answers fresh and interesting.