Coaching practices for Strange Job Interview What Were They Really Looking for

Describe almost anything you are working through and IX Coach finds the practices whose real-world fit is closest. For Strange Job Interview What Were They Really Looking for, these are the strongest matches in the current practice library.

Does this sound like the set of challenges you might be facing?

• I’ve got the conversation booked but I’m staring at a blank page of questions, worried I’ll waste their time asking things I could’ve Googled
• Someone asks "so what are you looking for?" and I ramble out something vague and apologetic
• My whole job search is just refreshing job boards and firing off applications into the void, competing with hundreds of strangers for whatever happens to be posted
• I keep hiring for the most impressive resume and then watching them work purely transactionally, and I want to start screening for whether someone actually believes in what we’re doing
• I want to message someone in a field I’m curious about, but I freeze on what to even say

Practices that may help

1. Prepare questions you genuinely don’t know the answer to
   Ask about the unwritten realities of the role — the things no job posting reveals.
   Informational Interviews: Career Research That Builds Your Network
2. Practise your story before you need it
   Have a clear, genuine two-minute narrative about who you are and where you’re headed.
   Informational Interviews: Career Research That Builds Your Network
3. Build and work a target list of roles and organisations
   Replace passive job board browsing with active research into specific organisations you want to understand.
   Informational Interviews: Career Research That Builds Your Network
4. Hire people who share the Why, not just the skills
   Skills can be learned; shared belief cannot — filtering for Why-alignment at hiring is the highest-leverage culture move.
   Start With Why: Leading Through Purpose
5. Request the conversation the right way
   A short, specific, no-pressure request gets far more responses than a vague networking ask.
   Informational Interviews: Career Research That Builds Your Network
6. Listen for what isn’t in the job description
   Focus on the texture of day-to-day work, not the official narrative.
   Informational Interviews: Career Research That Builds Your Network
7. Uncover the real problem with "What’s the biggest challenge here?"
   The stated position is rarely the real problem — ask for the challenge behind it.
   Calibrated Questions, Made Practical
8. Focus on interests, not positions
   Ask why a position is taken — the underlying interest is almost always more negotiable than the stated demand.
   Principled Negotiation, Made Practical
9. Close every informational interview with one forward step
   End by asking: "Is there someone else you think I should talk to?"
   Informational Interviews: Career Research That Builds Your Network
10. Learn what each person actually wants from their career and life
    Care personally means knowing the goal behind the job — not just what they’re working on, but why.
    Caring Personally: The Foundation of Radical Candor

Describe your situation in your own words to search the complete practice library.