In just about every interview process at the senior level there are anywhere from 2 to 10 (and sometimes even more) high-level stakeholders who can weigh in on whether or not you are the right fit.  As a candidate this can be very troublesome if you don’t do your homework.

 It’s critical to find out:

Who they are and what their role is in the company – If you walk in blind to this information you can waste valuable interview time just figuring out who you’re speaking to, and then you have to figure out how to position yourself  “on the fly”.

What their relationship is to the position--Without this information you can’t address WIIFT (What’s In It For Them) or how it will impact their responsibilities.  Does it relieve a pain point? Are you going to be playing in their “sandbox”?

The two items above are the bare minimum and any HR professional or Recruiter should be offering this information to you without having to ask.  I know, that’s not always the case, so if they don’t offer be sure to ask. 

The more information you have the better you can prepare. 

How long have they been with the company?

Where have they worked previously?

What is their scope of responsibility?

What is their interview style?

As you prepare for the interview relate the job description you are interviewing for to each individual and pull out what you believe will be important to them.  For example: if you are interviewing for a VP of Advertising and PR and you know that one of your interviews is with a Product Head who “grew up” in an ad agency, you can guess where that interview is going to focus--so be prepared with specific examples that will resonate with the interviewers background.