As a hiring manager at Amazon, I helped dozens of mid-senior professionals get hired for multi-six-figure roles.
Here are 5 things that differentiated the top candidates from all the rest.
The top candidates demonstrated strong executive presence. They spoke with confidence, maintained eye contact, used tonality to lead the rhythm of the conversation, and paid attention to their on-camera presence.
They show excitement for not only the role but for their long-term success at the company. They showed this excitement by demonstrating their in-depth knowledge about the company’s business, focus, challenges, and growth areas. They make it clear that they have thought about the role and the impact can make as if they already are in it.
The best candidates did not over-index on the tasks and the process of getting to a result. Instead, they demonstrated their emotional intelligence by touching on the personnel challenges and complexities involved in getting to a result. They understood that at the end of the day, any problem can be solved by aligning stakeholders, their interests, and their agendas.
The winners were master storytellers. They started with a 10-second summary of the big business impact to immediately capture the hiring team’s attention right from the start, and oscillated between the 30k feet view and 5 feet view of the problem to show why they are the best at their craft.
The top candidates understood that one example can speak 1000 times more than words. They used diverse examples to show the breadth and depth of their experience and skill set, instead of simply stating that they have a said skill.
If you are ready to position yourself as the top candidate at some of the best companies you admire, it is time for us to discuss how you can make your next $200k+ role a reality.
