Three Interviews. Three Different Tests.
Here is how to prepare
Inside this issue:
The one question every recruiter is asking throughout your interview (and why most executives never answer it)
Why the hiring manager interview requires a completely different preparation than everything that came before
A prompt that generates 20 hiring manager questions tailored to your specific role and background
Most executives prepare the same way for every conversation in a search process.
Same document. Same mindset. Same stories.
Wrong.
A retained executive search has 3 distinct stages. Each one asks a completely different question. Treating them the same is how strong candidates get eliminated before they ever reach the client.
The 3 Stages
The screening call is not an interview. It lasts 15 minutes and checks 4 boxes: relocation, travel, compensation bracket, and background match. Answer directly, confirm your flexibility, and move on. Over-preparing here is wasted effort.
The recruiter interview is where most executives lose the shortlist without realizing it. The consultant is asking one question the entire time: am I willing to put this person in front of my client? If you arrive unprepared, if you cannot clearly quantify what you have built, the answer is no. A strong career told poorly is a weak candidacy.
The hiring manager interview is a different game entirely. The recruiter wanted to know your track record. The hiring manager wants to know two things: are you the right person for this specific role, and is this someone I want to work with? Everything else is noise. This is where depth matters. Where industry context matters. Where strategic thinking shows up in real time, not on a CV.
Three stages. Three objectives. Three different preparation approaches.
The Prompt
Getting the recruiter interview right is a system. We will cover that in detail in the next issue.
But the hiring manager interview is where most executives leave the most on the table, and the mistake is almost always the same: they prepare generically instead of preparing for the specific role in front of them.
I built a prompt to fix that.
Upload your CV and the job description. The system generates 20 questions the hiring manager is likely to ask you, built around your specific background and the specific role requirements.
Here is a link to the report Claude Opus 4.6 extended thinking created in Claude Cowork. Questions + What the interviewer would be listening for:
Interview guide CFO - Luxury goods
And here is the prompt:
