Congratulations! You scheduled a board interview! Now what?
A board interview will have a different focus and flow than the average CXO interview. The most productive board interviews will be cooperative, informative, and conversational. Ultimately, the board interview should be a balanced 2-way evaluation; both board and candidate aim to make an informed decision on whether or not there is a mutual fit.
To help create a naturally flowing and well-rounded discussion, focus on enabling each party to get to know, understand, and trust one another. It doesn’t have to be a question-and-answer period; you should be comfortable taking on a partnership role in your board interview. You are as much a candidate for the board as the board is a candidate for your professional career.
Luckily, you don’t have to wing it! Here are 5 tips to go into your board interview prepared and with confidence.
How to Prepare for a Board Interview
- Provide board-specific career marketing documents. A board resume should focus more on strategy, governance, leadership ability, emotional intelligence, and values, as opposed to the hard metrics that are the focus of CXO resumes.
- Do your research. Get the names of the individuals you’ll be meeting with ahead of time and look them up online. Read their LinkedIn profiles and their bios. Go through the board pitch book in detail. Analyze the skills of your interviewers, identify gaps in their expertise, and plan to speak about how you will fill those gaps.
- Demonstrate your understanding of the relationship between strategy and governance, the board’s role in setting the organizational culture, and how you have used values-based decision-making in the past.
- Showcase yourself as a well-rounded candidate. Talk about emotional intelligence, mindfulness intelligence, and adversity intelligence. The most impactful board members are self-aware, socially aware, adaptable, and perseverant.
- Don’t be afraid to ask questions! As described above, you are vetting the board as much as they are vetting you. Ask about their values, culture, processes, structure, or how they communicate. Ask anything that will help make your decision easier, should you be offered a seat at the table.
To find out how we can help you secure your next board seat, book a complimentary and confidential call with us here.
