Interview Strategy · 6 min read
How Executive Interviews Differ From Every Interview Before Them
Senior interviews evaluate judgement, not competence. The format looks like a conversation; the assessment is anything but casual.
Below executive level, interviews largely test whether you can do the job. At executive level, capability is assumed by the time you are in the room. What is being assessed is how you think: how you frame problems, what you prioritise, how you handled situations where there was no defensible option, only a choice between imperfect ones.
This is why prepared competency answers underperform at senior level. Boards and CEOs probe reasoning, not rehearsed outcomes. 'Walk me through your thinking' is a more common question than 'tell me about a time when'.
Preparation should therefore concentrate on your actual decision record — the three or four situations that best represent your judgement — rehearsed not as scripts but as cases you can discuss from any angle, including the uncomfortable ones.
Written by Joshua Olanrewaju, Founder & CEO of Joshua O. CareerForge.
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