May 19, 2025 - How Do I Stop Failing Interviews?

Happy Monday!

Here’s what’s on the job description for today:

1. An agri-tech firm hiring for a unique MBA role.

2. This week’s graph looks at changes in duration of unemployment over time.

3. Today’s Question: “I just got another rejection. How do I improve and stop failing my interviews?”

IN HIRING

Consulting

• Efficio, arguably the world’s best brand in procurement consulting is hiring across their European offices (link)

• Baringa Partners is expanding hiring with many roles in their Energy & Resources team across multiple locations (link)

• FTI Consulting, known for their financial services work, has many open roles in their Corporate Finance & Restructuring teams (link)

• PA Consulting is hiring with across their consulting teams with a focus on candidates with operations experience (link)

Finance

• Neuberger Berman is looking for Analyst and Associate level talent for their investment teams across both London and New York (link)

• CIBC has opened 20+ roles in their Business Effectiveness team, with most of the roles based in their Canadian HQ, Toronto (link)

• HarbourVest, a US-based Private Equity firm, is looking for a number of candidates in their Strategy as well as Quantitative Research teams (link)

Tech

• Intuit has a variety of roles with the most prominent department hiring is Product Management (link)

• Apex Systems has opened a large number of roles this past week, focusing on candidates with a deeper technical background (link)

• Tiktok his hiring for a number of roles and currently has openings specifically for Bachelor, MBA, and PhD graduates (link)

Unique Opportunity

• Grain, a growing agri-tech business out of Singapore is hiring for a “Entrepreneur in Residence / MBA internship” role that looks like a mixture of strategy, research, and leadership development program. This isn’t the typical internship as it lasts 6 months and looks to be a direct path to leadership (link)

EMPLOYMENT MARKET

I’ve noticed a rise in LinkedIn posts talking about how long the poster has been unemployed and how brutal the market is so I wanted to look into it.

The graph below shows the median number of weeks those who are looking for a job take before they get one. It’s US-based (because they have the best data) but is likely representative of the broader western environment. While COVID distorts the entire graph, we can see there has been a general trend upwards in the last few years. This doesn’t take into account the variance between industries but we’re starting to move away from the 10-week average and I don’t see any reason to think things will change.

For anyone who’s been paying attention, the past few years have been pretty rough. Those things that used to nearly guarantee offers such as local experience, big brand names on the resume, or interesting internships no longer cut it. For those without these things, the picture is even bleaker. Even without global trade-pressure, 2025 is unlikely to be any rosier of a hiring market than 2023 or 2024 from the data I’m seeing.

TODAY’S QUESTION

Today’s Question: “I just got another rejection. How do I improve and stop failing my interviews?”

• First, if it were me, I’d spent some time trying to find out why. This is how I’ve seen others do it:

  • Pull up the profiles on LinkedIn of 10-15 people who have the job you want and are getting rejected from.

  • Start by reviewing their experience - are there any similarities among them with regards to skills, responsibilities, or titles?

  • Then request a connection and ask those that accept what they would do if they were in your shoes to understand what’s going wrong.

• Second, if you’re not getting any interviews, it may be time to revisit your strategy.

  • Most commonly, and unfortunately, the candidates I’ve seen getting absolutely zero interviews are fishing in the wrong pond with the wrong equipment.

  • There’s a chance you’re not telling your story well enough, could use some referrals, or haven’t applied to enough jobs but at some point you do need to review whether continuing to apply to roles you’re being rejected from is a good plan.

  • One way you can find a role is to go where your previous employer(s) were clients. You come with a different perspective, your company could be well known and you’ve got a chance to break in.

• Finally, if you’re not passing interviews, which for the writer of this question seems to be the main problem, then you’re preparation could probably be improved dramatically.

  • For first rounders, you need an intro that makes you seem relevant and a good reason for wanting to work there. It’s best if you dig past the BS you think they want to hear and find one single reason you would be stoked to work there.

  • For further rounds, use a mixture of ChatGPT inputs and mock interviews for the best results. Practicing saying your answers out loud to anther human has a way to reducing anxiety related issues and you just have better answers for when you need them.

Conclusion:

This is a big question and there are many ways to go about moving forward. I’d recommend starting with some mock interviews with people who can be honest and going from there.