The Job Interview – It’s Not About You

Part One: Attention Hiring Managers

Great Candidates Are Scarce

Not just good ones, the great ones. The kind who elevate teams, shift culture, and deliver results. If you’re lucky enough to have one sitting across from you, the interview isn’t just about assessing them. It’s about convincing them it’s worth leaving a good job to work for you.

Adopt a Scarcity Mindset

Show the candidate you’ve done the work: that you’ve read their CV properly, understood their accomplishments, and can articulate how those experiences map to the challenges of the role. You need to be able to talk about what success looks like in the role and the career payoff when they deliver. If you can’t do that, why would they risk moving?

Talk About Yourself Too

What’s your leadership style? What’s the culture of the team? What are the attraction points of the company beyond the usual perks? Candidates want to know who they’ll be working for and what it will feel like. If you’re not ready to answer that, you’re not ready to hire. (Hint: this is your prompt to check that your LinkedIn profile is a positive marketing tool for you.)

Yes, Still Assess Skills

Of course, you still need to assess their skills. That’s where our One Question Interview Guide comes in handy (link to follow). But don’t forget: the best candidates are interviewing you just as much as you’re interviewing them.

“The best people don’t just want a job. They want a mission.”
— Reid Hoffman, Co-founder of LinkedIn

Part Two: Attention Interviewees

Shift Your Mindset

If you’re interviewing for a role, remember: the hiring manager needs a job done. The interview isn’t about your career goals, your five-year plan, or what you want to get out of the role. It’s about how you create value.

Show How You Create Value

Value comes in many forms: increasing revenue, reducing costs, driving simplicity, improving customer experience, or innovating in ways that matter. Your job in the interview is to show how you’ve done that before and how you’ll do it again.

Do Your Homework

Research the role. What are the trends in your field? Research the company. How are they performing? What PESTLE context are they operating in? Research the Hiring Manager. Look them up on LinkedIn. How active are they? Who do they follow? What do they post? (AI can be a real help here.)

Ask Smarter Questions

When it’s your turn, don’t waste it on compensation, perks, or vague culture queries. Ask about the challenges facing the role. What needs to be accomplished in the first 90 days? What are the priorities? Where are the blockers? These questions show you’re thinking like an operator, not a passenger.

“Be stubborn on vision, flexible on details.”
— Jeff Bezos

When Both Sides Get It Right

When the hiring manager is there to pitch the opportunity and the candidate is there to solve a problem, magic happens. The interview becomes a strategic conversation, not a transactional exchange. That’s when great hires get made.

If you’re not approaching interviews this way, you’re probably missing out on the best people. Or the best roles. Or both.

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Justin Miles

Manager Partner, Melbourne at Generator Talent

Justin is the Managing Partner of our Melbourne office, an outcome focused leader with a track record of driving business performance through proven talent and organisation development practices. Justin’s methods and skills have been shaped by working with performance oriented leaders in great companies including PepsiCo, The Campbell Soup Company, Diageo, Rip Curl, Fonterra and Wesfarmers, in Australia, the USA and Latin America.