What are the most common mistakes you see candidates make during an interview for a customer success position?

Here are a few mistakes I see most often:

1. Not doing their research on the company/role they are interviewing for. It is surprising how many interviews I have participated in where the candidate had clearly not reviewed our company's product offering or job description. One of the keys to interviewing is to showcase why you are the best fit for the role. The best way to do this is to fully understand what the company does and what they are looking for, and to articulate how you meet those needs.

2. Not asking enough and/or not asking the right questions. I tell candidates all the time it is just as important that we interview them, as it is they interview me (the hiring manager) and our company. Accepting a role at a huge company is a huge commitment, and as a candidate, you want to make sure you know exactly what the role is, the expectations and what you are walking into. 

3. Talking for too long and over-explaining. While I want to make sure a candidate has sufficient time to answer questions, it becomes concerning if they tend to ramble on for a long period and have trouble directly answering the question. When I am interviewing a candidate I am always picturing myself as one of our customers and what the zoom experience would be like for our customer, if we hired this candidate. Our customers are looking for CSMs who can provide clear and concise answers to their questions and candidates must showcase that skill during the interview process.

The most common mistake I see candidates make during an interview for a customer success position is a lack of direct and specific "data" whether that is literal data ("I managed a book of business that consisted of 100 customers. These 100 customers had an ACV of $55k and an average of 12 users.") or story data (describe the customer journey, a problem spotted in that journey, who I collaborated with to solve on what timeline with what milestones and how we knew we succeeded).

Preparation is key. I’ve seen candidates not do one or more of the following very well.

• Understand the company and the market they play in.

• Know the job description and be able to articulate why you would be a great fit for the role.

• Have some good stories prepared for the situational interview type questions. Use the STAR format. Be concise and to the point.

• Have good questions prepared for each of the interview stages. It is your opportunity to learn more about the role and the company. To me, not asking questions makes me wonder if the candidate is really interested in the role. Being able to ask questions is important in a CSM role.