You need to survive this process:
1) Pass/Fail Resume Test (you either have the required skills or not and even then, most companies put a limit on how many people get through this gate).
2) Background check
3) Skills test
4) Initial impressions (this is a recruiter talking to you and forming an initial impression. Some people are likeable, some less so.
5) Peer impressions. Many companies will have peers talk to you and see what they think about you. Peers will ask a host of questions, but at the end of the day, their recommendation will be based on whether they want you on "the team". There are lots of reasons, why they will and won't, sadly, not all those reasons align with the interests of the company.
The decision maker interview. At some point in the process the decision maker will interview you. Every decision maker has different things they look for.
I relied on the process to screen out people that could not do the job. I only wanted to see the "top 3". From those "top 3", I was looking for why this person would make our Company better. The higher up the organization I was hiring, the more this quality mattered.
The truth is around 90% of the people at a given company do their jobs, about 10% don't, being average is not bad and many lower-level hires can make a career out of being average.
But I was always looking for that exceptional person. Around 10% of your employees if you are lucky will be superstars and another 20% above average. The success of any company is built around this group of people.
Different qualities make superstars, so you can be you and be a superstar. But the one quality, most superstars share is a desire to see the company succeed and a set of skills that can influence that.
I think two of your points resonated with me.
Prep: how much work did you put into knowing about our company? If you did not prepare for this interview, then you really don't care.
And the "Two Way Street" point. Often in the interview, I would be turned off by a candidate because they never convinced me, how they would make an impact on the company. When to many questions focused on them, I would simply say, if you are good enough, we will make sure those things (pay, benefits, opportunities) are not the reasons you might leave us in the future. But by that point, I was a bit soured on the candidate.
I was lucky in my career, graduating in 1980 and rising to SVP at Merrill Lynch in 8 years, CFO of a division of Blue Cross after 11 years, and CEO of a health care services company after 20 years. But I think my luck was predicated on the fact, that every day, I came to work trying to make my company more successful.
As a final caution, you may be able to fake it and get hired, but most people can't keep "faking" it once they are hired. Either you care about the company, or you don't. So, my first bit of advice pursue a job with a company you can feel passionate about. Even if you don't plan to spend a career at the company, you should come to work like you do plan to and the company will notice.
