Nordh Executive Search

Seven questions come up in almost every job interview. Most candidates don’t get them wrong because their answers are bad — they get them wrong because they answer the question they hear, rather than the concern behind it.

In this episode, I break down seven common interview questions, including “Tell me about yourself,” “What is your biggest weakness?” and “Why should we hire you?” — and explain what the hiring manager is actually trying to understand.

Drawing on 19 years in executive search and 25 years in IT sales and leadership, I share practical examples from both sides of the interview table.

Because a strong interview isn’t about having the smoothest answers. It’s about understanding what the other person really wants settled — and addressing it with relevance, evidence and good judgement.

A great interview doesn’t necessarily get you the job.

Many candidates still prepare for interviews the way they did ten years ago: memorising answers, describing their experience and trying to prove they can do the job.

In 2026, that is no longer enough – especially when AI has made polished interview answers available to everyone.

In this episode of the Nordh Executive Search Podcast, I explain five interview reflexes that can now work against you – and what to do instead.

Learn how to build an evidence bank, demonstrate impact rather than activity, understand the concern behind an interview question, differentiate yourself from equally qualified candidates, and run the interview more like a discovery call than an exam.

Practical advice for professionals in Cybersecurity, Enterprise Software, AI, IT Sales and Tech Sales, particularly across DACH and the Nordics.

Don’t prepare perfect answers. Prepare the right proof.

Why do so many companies reject exactly the sales candidates who go on to close the biggest deals at a competitor? Because the interview tests a different muscle than real selling does. Someone who has learned to run the conversation around the customer, to ask questions and not to oversell, quickly comes across as too reserved and not hungry enough in a job interview. And gets screened out.

In this episode I show, from a headhunter's perspective, why interviews systematically reward the wrong people, and how you as an employer can still spot real sales talent.

You'll learn:

• why the most convincing candidates in the room often bring the weakest numbers

• how to test discovery instead of pitch, and why the questions are the real signal

• what the phrase "didn't sell himself" actually means

• why AI preparation has made smooth self-presentation worthless as a signal

For sales leaders, hiring managers and founders who want to hire the right salespeople in enterprise software, AI, cybersecurity and IT sales across DACH and the Nordics.

Over 50, clearly qualified, and still no interview? Most people blame their age. In this episode I show why the problem is almost always somewhere else: not in your experience, but in how your CV tells it.

After 25 years in sales, your competence is no longer the open question. Four others are: fit, level, intent and risk. The same questions your customers ask before they buy. A CV built like a career archive answers none of them. It only creates more questions the longer it gets.

As a headhunter in enterprise sales and cybersecurity, I see these CVs on my desk every week. I explain how to position decades of experience so an employer sees a clear fit instead of an unanswered risk.

What you'll learn:

• Why more experience after 50 creates more questions, not fewer

• The four questions that actually decide whether you get the call

• How to build your CV around the next role, not your biography

• The one-sentence test that shows whether your profile lands with an employer

For enterprise account executives, IT sales and cybersecurity professionals, and sales leaders over 50 across the DACH region and the Nordics who want to get back into the conversation.

If your company had to cut ten percent tomorrow, on what basis would your name end up on the list? Most people assume it comes down to their performance. In the rooms where this actually gets decided, it looks different.

In this episode I show how a layoff decision really unfolds: first the target picture of the organisation, then the budget, then the structure, and the names right at the very end. That is why a strong seller at 120 percent quota can be let go while a nominally weaker one stays. It is not about good or bad. It is about how exposed your position is, and whether your contribution was visible in the room before the boxes got redrawn.

You'll learn:

Why a layoff begins with budgets and functions, not with people

Why a top performer in a shrinking area is more exposed than an average one in a growing area

The 60-second test: could your manager defend keeping you in one sentence?

Why a single sponsor is not protection but a single point of failure

How to make your value visible in business consequences instead of task lists

For IT sales professionals, enterprise account executives, cybersecurity sales and sales leaders in DACH and the Nordics. And for hiring managers who want to understand who they lose first in a restructuring.

A recruiter reaches out to you. Not the other way round. Them. Perfect profile, a strong first call, clear next steps. And then: silence. In this episode, Jan Nordh digs into what almost nobody talks about. Ghosting is not a recruiting problem, it runs in every direction and at every level. Candidates ghost recruiters, clients ghost headhunters, and companies ghost the very partner they went looking for themselves.

Drawing on 25 years in enterprise sales and almost 20 in executive search, Jan explains why silence is almost always structural and rarely a verdict on you, how to qualify your own process the way you would qualify a deal, and why the person who reliably closes the loop becomes the rare, valuable exception in this market. Things are allowed to change. Just be transparent about it.

For account executives, sales professionals, sales leaders, and anyone who wants to understand hiring and client processes in cybersecurity and enterprise software from every seat in the room.

Keywords: ghosting, recruiting, executive search, cybersecurity, AI, enterprise software, IT sales, account executive, career, DACH, Nordics

You leave the interview thinking it went perfectly. Two days later, the rejection arrives – and nobody tells you why.

Often, it wasn’t your experience or track record. It was how you presented yourself.

In this episode of the Nordh Executive Search Podcast, I look at 7 sentences that can weaken you in a job interview – from “I’m a team player” and “I’m a perfectionist” to “I don’t have any questions” – and what to say instead.

Because a good interview works much like a good sales discovery call: don’t claim, prove. Ask, listen and turn the interview into a conversation.

Practical interview advice for professionals in Cybersecurity, Enterprise Software, AI, IT Sales and Tech Sales, particularly across DACH and the Nordics.

Most candidates ask: does this company want me? The better question is: does this company even fit me? Part 3 and the finale of the series: start-up, scale-up or established vendor, what fits you, and how do you come across as confident without seeming arrogant?

Jan Nordh helped build five tech start-ups in Europe himself, among them Brocade, EqualLogic and Decru. With 19 years in headhunting and 25 years in enterprise IT sales, he compares the three environments honestly, including pay, risk, and character.

What you'll learn:

- What really separates start-up, scale-up and established vendor for a salesperson

- Why good start-ups often pay more than established brands, not less, and why pre-IPO equity is the real lever

- Why each environment demands a different type of character

- How to tell confidence from arrogance, on both sides of the table

For IT sales professionals, enterprise account executives and cybersecurity sellers in DACH and the Nordics.

The hiring process is the best version a company will ever show you. If it already feels like hard work here, it does not get better afterwards. Part 2 of the series: how do you spot serious warning signs in a process, and when is it time to walk away with your head held high?

Jan Nordh, an executive search advisor with 19 years in headhunting and 25 years in enterprise IT sales, shows which patterns actually matter and how to test a warning sign before you make a decision.

What you'll learn:

- Why you should judge patterns, not single incidents

- Which red flags matter in sales: a vague comp plan, an unrealistic quota, high turnover

- Which green signals reveal a healthy organisation

- How to raise a warning sign and read the reaction

For IT sales professionals, enterprise account executives and cybersecurity sellers in DACH and the Nordics.

The candidates who want a job the most tend to negotiate the worst. Not because they're weaker, but because they only have one iron in the fire. This episode, the opener of a short series, is about how you actively steer a hiring process instead of enduring it. It was triggered by the questions of a long-time listener, and they hit a nerve many people recognise but rarely say out loud.

Jan Nordh, an executive search advisor with 19 years in headhunting and 25 years in enterprise IT sales, explains why a single hiring process is not a process, how to handle rejection without letting it grind you down, and how to recognise when you're better off walking away from a process.

What you'll learn:

- Why three to five parallel processes are the sweet spot, and why timing matters more than the number

- How to read rejections correctly (hint: they're usually not a verdict on you)

- Which red flags in the process to take seriously, from a vague comp plan to high turnover

- How process goals instead of outcome goals keep your motivation stable

For IT sales professionals, enterprise account executives, cybersecurity sellers, and anyone preparing a career move across the DACH region and the Nordics.