Winning Short-List Interviews: Orchestrate Your Way to Success

When winning the best projects for the most lucrative clients depends on your acing short-list interviews; it can be exhilarating, terrifying, or both. The key to success is harnessing your excitement and dread to your advantage, which requires orchestration. Instead of orchestrating to perfection, though, organize and rehearse your team into a relaxed confidence. That is, don’t get polished, get comfortable.

Proper orchestration helps you project confidence that you’re the team to help the client achieve their vision for their project. Yet many interview teams do it haphazardly or with a stress-inducing goal of perfection.

Rather than be showy, get comfortable. Instead of getting every word right, make your best ideas clear. And connect emotionally with each selection committee member—because every vote counts.

Similarly, many teams seek to create a “wow” moment in their presentations. Sometimes, the wow factor works, yet it’s essential not to consume too much time on flash that may fizzle. Instead, distilling your best ideas to a memorable few can have a bigger payoff, as can preparing thoroughly for Q&A, where deals are often won or lost. Many teams spend all their rehearsal time on team dry runs rather than ensuring individuals are ready to do their best. And some teams waste time on “vampire slides” that suck time away from more value-added preparation activities.

We can help you get away from such time wasters. We provide consulting, training, and coaching to help you prepare for your winning pitch. Even if you have terrific people and procedures that yield solid win rates, it’s always a good time to get fresh thinking. So, if you’re considering outside help orchestrating your next high-stakes interview, call Jim Rogers at (859) 321-7547 to learn more.

Our Approach to Short-List Interview Preparation

In the fiercely competitive world of civil engineering and architecture, winning the best projects is about more than just having the right credentials; it’s about convincing your potential client that you’re the best fit for their vision. That crucial moment of persuasion often happens during the short-list interview, where your presentation can make or break your chance at winning. We believe you can orchestrate your way to winning 60 percent—at least—of your interviews. While some experts will hint that striving for perfection helps you achieve your best performance, we disagree. We don’t radically depart from tried and true methods for short-list success, but we have some subtle and not-so-subtle shifts in approach to short-lists that you may use or haven’t yet dared. Read “Instead of This, Try This” below for a few examples. If what you see aligns with or provokes your thinking, then let’s talk about how we can help.