71. Stop Auditioning, Start Evaluating: How to Interview the Interviewer

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Several times in my career I've walked into an interview so focused on proving I was "the one" that I completely forgot to ask whether this company deserved me. Weeks later, right on cue, I would find myself staring at my screen wondering how I'd missed every warning sign. The truth? I hadn't missed them. I'd just never been taught to look.

How did we get so conditioned to perform in interviews that we forgot we're making a decision too?

The Problem: The Performance Trap

Most professionals treat interviews like auditions. They rehearse answers, study the company's "About" page, and walk in ready to impress. But they never flip the script.

This is professional fragility in action. When your entire career strategy depends on being chosen — by one hiring manager, at one company, in one moment — you've handed over all your power before you've even started the job.

And the cost isn't just a bad hire. It's months of your life spent in a role that drains your energy, stalls your growth, and pushes you further from independence. In a market where the average tenure at a company continues to shrink and layoffs arrive without warning, choosing the wrong organization isn't just uncomfortable — it's strategically dangerous.

The companies that deflect, dodge, and give you polished non-answers during interviews are telling you exactly who they are. The question is whether you're listening.

The Framework: Three Questions That Shift the Power

Building Strategic Independence means making proactive career decisions instead of reactive ones. That starts before you accept an offer — it starts in the interview itself.

Here's how to use three deceptively simple questions to evaluate whether a company deserves your talent:

Question 1: "What does success look like in this role after 6 months?"

This question tests clarity. Organizations that have their act together can articulate specific outcomes, metrics, and support structures. When you hear vague answers like "hit the ground running" or "wear many hats," what you're actually hearing is: we don't have a plan, and we'll blame you when things don't work out.

Your probe: Ask for the specific metrics they'd use to measure success and what resources would be available to help you get there. Clear organizations welcome this question. Chaotic ones squirm.

Question 2: "Why is this position open?"

This question tests honesty. Every role has a story. New headcount for growth is great — but "restructuring" without specifics, or a revolving door of predecessors, reveals deeper issues. Pay attention to body language here. Hesitation, corporate euphemisms, and subject changes are data.

Your probe: Ask how long the previous person stayed, what they'd say was the most challenging part of the role, and whether you could speak with someone who works directly alongside this position. Transparent companies will say yes. The rest will redirect.

Question 3: "What's the biggest challenge facing this team right now?"

This question tests self-awareness. Every team faces challenges — that's normal. What matters is whether leadership can name them honestly. Responses like "we don't really have challenges" or "people just don't want to work hard anymore" signal a culture where problems get buried or blamed on individuals.

Your probe: Ask how the team handles competing priorities and request a recent example of leadership working through a difficult situation. You're looking for specificity and ownership, not spin.

The Deeper Principle

These three questions aren't just interview tactics. They're a mindset shift. When you start evaluating opportunities instead of auditioning for them, you move from professional fragility to Strategic Independence.

You stop asking "Will they pick me?" and start asking "Is this worth my next chapter?"

That single shift changes everything — your confidence in the room, the quality of offers you accept, and ultimately, the trajectory of your career.

Before I understood professional independence, I once accepted a role where the hiring manager couldn't clearly define what success looked like — and I rationalized it as "flexibility." Within three months, the goalposts had shifted four times, and I was being held accountable for targets that didn't exist when I started. That experience taught me something I carry into every career decision now: vague expectations aren't a feature. They're a warning. The moment I started treating interviews as mutual evaluations, I stopped landing in roles that weren't built for me — and started choosing ones that actually moved my career forward.

Your Application Guide

This Week:

• Write down these three questions and keep them in your phone's notes app for your next interview or networking conversation.
• Reflect on your last job change: Were there red flags you rationalized away? What would you do differently?
• Practice saying "Can you walk me through..." and "Can you share a specific example of..." out loud. These probe phrases feel unnatural until you've said them a few times.

This Month:

• Apply this evaluative mindset to your current role. Even if you're not job hunting, assess: Does your current organization pass these three tests?
• Start building your own "non-negotiables" list — the criteria that must be met before you'd accept any future role.

Reflection Question: When was the last time you evaluated an opportunity rather than auditioned for one — and what would change if you made that your default?

Community Spotlight

One of our community members recently shared that after using the "Why is this position open?" question in an interview, the hiring manager admitted this was the third hire for the role in 18 months. That single honest answer saved them from what would have been a career detour. Your questions are your power — use them.

When you're ready to build professional independence:

1. Job Market Analyzer GPT — A custom GPT that helps you align your resume and LinkedIn profile with what companies are actually hiring for right now. Access HERE

2. From Invisible to In-Demand — Learn the 4-action system that got me 3-5 recruiter contacts per week, starting with ZERO connections and a brand new LinkedIn profile. Download HERE

3. Layoffs: The First 7 Days — The immediate action guide for professionals who just got laid off, because panic won't help, but a plan will. Download HERE
4. The At-Risk Professional Self-Assessment — A short (2 minute) assessment designed to help you identify whether your professional life is structurally resilient, or overly dependent on a single system, and "At Risk." Eight simple yes/no questions. Access HERE

Forward this to someone who thinks they need to become an influencer to benefit from LinkedIn. They don't. They just need to be findable.

Nathan Pearce

Creator of The Professional Independence Academy