If you’re job hunting in 2025, there’s one key relationship that can make or break your journey: your connection with the hiring manager.
But here’s the thing no one tells you…
The person across the interview table isn’t a gatekeeper. They’re not some all-knowing judge or career fairy godparent.
They’re just a person — and most of the time, an overwhelmed one.
Here are 6 things to help you prepare for your next interview.
1. Hiring Managers Are People, Too
Yes, they have a say in whether you move forward. But they’re also juggling their own deadlines, pressure, and office politics.
They might not even be the final decision-maker — just the face of the process.
✨ Treat them like a highly respected, overworked friend.
✨ Find common ground to help make this experience less taxing for both of you.
2. Everyone Goes into Interview Mode
We all wear a mask during interviews.
As candidates, you’re trying to look like the best possible version of yourself. Hiring managers do the same — selling the job, the team, and the company culture.
Sometimes it’s pure autopilot. I’ve leaned on a rehearsed pitch just to survive a chaotic day.
✨ Put down your mask and show up as a trusted future teammate.
3. Hiring Managers Are Untrained Salespeople
That perfectly packaged job description? It’s a pitch.
We’re trying to attract you, not scare you off.
We’ll highlight “exciting challenges,” but maybe not mention the drama behind the scenes.
✨ Read between the lines of the job description.
✨ Ask clarifying questions and get examples to break past the sales pitch.
4. If We’re Hiring, We’re Desperate
By the time an interview happens, teams are often desperate to fill the role.
Open roles mean lost productivity, stressed-out teams, and managers doing double duty.
It’s easy to feel like the underdog when you’re applying. But remember — we might be just as eager for you to be the solution.
✨ Promote yourself as their future solution—not your past experience.
✨ Use your experience as examples of how you can solve their problems.
5. Nobody Has Time for This
We don’t interview for fun.
Hiring is more work, on top of our already overloaded plates.
Drafting job descriptions, reviewing resumes, and interviewing — none of it is quick or easy.
There’s a reason there’s a department whose focus is recruiting.
✨ Work on being clear and concise.
✨ Edit to emphasize — your resume, portfolio, and answers.
6. Give Us a Break
No one teaches us how to be good at this.
Most hiring managers have zero training in interviewing. We just ask the same tired questions because they’re safe and familiar.
You can help us out:
✨ Tell us stories.
✨ Ask thoughtful questions.
✨ Make it a two-sided conversation instead of a one-sided interrogation.
How to use this insight:
Rethink your strategy.
Instead of trying to be the perfect candidate, aim to be the perfect collaborator.
Your job is to make it easy for a hiring manager to say: “I can see myself working with this person.”
🎯 Be real.
🎯 Be ready.
🎯 Be the solution to their open role problems.
I’m Kate | The Intern Mentor LLC Mentor and Design Onboarding Specialist Bridging the gap between talent and workplace success.
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