From looking into who your interviewers are to explaining hypothetical situations, here are 13 answers to the question, “What are your most effective tips for acing your third interview?”
- Research Your Interviewers
- Act as if You’ve Already Gotten the Job
- Have Ideas in Mind
- Come Back With More Knowledge
- Avoid Overconfidence
- Don’t Forget to Advocate for Yourself
- Prepare to Talk About Compensation
- Customize Your Answers to the Company
- Practice Your Body Language
- Revisit Earlier Interviews
- Address Questions Thoughtfully
- Ask, “Are There Reasons I’m Not an Excellent Fit?”
- Highlight Hypothetical Situations

Research Your Interviewers
Before you head into the big third interview, try to get to know your interviewers as much as possible. See what kind of role they play within the organization and their background.
When question time opens up for you, you can take this chance to tailor your questions around their specific responsibilities and prior experience within the industry. This shows that you have learned more and genuinely care about this position enough to do a little research.
Brandon Brown, CEO, GRIN
Act as if You’ve Already Gotten the Job
Third interviews are often a formality. To give your best performance, mentally imagine you’ve already won the job and act accordingly. Showing enthusiasm for the role and that you’d be an asset to the team is key during this stage of the interview process. Demonstrate how your skills, experiences, and professional mindset align with the position’s requirements.
Be prepared to answer questions about how you plan to start strongly. Also, be sure to ask questions about the role, team, organization, and any other relevant topics that will help you understand what it would be like to work there.
If your third interview is conducted in person, pay attention to minor details such as body language and dress appropriately. If it’s conducted remotely, have a quiet space and test your equipment in advance to make sure you don’t experience any technical difficulties.
Michael Fischer, Founder, Elite HRT

Have Ideas in Mind
Come prepared with ideas. If you’ve made it to the third round of interviews, the employer is seriously considering hiring you. This stage isn’t just about getting to know your work history or surface-level interactions.
At this point, they want to know more about how you think and what type of employee you’ll be. If you want to shine, show up for your third interview with a couple of ideas for projects you think would be interesting or valuable. This will show your creativity and give interviewers an idea of how well you understand the role.
Rachel Roff, Founder and CEO, Urban Skin Rx
Come Back With More Knowledge
If you learn something new about the company, position, or leadership team during your first two interviews, dig a little deeper and uncover more information about it before you return for your third interview.
Show the hiring managers you take the initiative and learn quickly. If they see that you’re willing to gain knowledge about a subject and wish to speak intelligently about it, it will impress them.
The more you learn about the company and the people who work there, the more people will see that as a sign of your desire to work there. So, do your homework. Have a better command of the company and its culture by the time you come in for your third interview.
Rachel Blank, Founder and CEO, Allara

Avoid Overconfidence
Do not become overconfident after passing your first two interviews. This is what can make or break your success with the third. Continue to prepare diligently as you have for the previous interviews and think of any new interview questions that have not yet been asked. Keep yourself on your toes so that you will be as prepared as possible for any curveballs or surprises in the third interview.
Miles Beckett, Co-Founder and CEO, Flossy
Don’t Forget to Advocate for Yourself
If you haven’t had the opportunity in your first two interviews to convey all that you need to show that you’re the best candidate, now’s the time for your third interview! After they’ve asked you formal interview questions and you’ve asked them questions as well, the floor is yours to provide additional information that can help the interviewers find out that you’re the right talent.
Simply say something like, “Those are all the questions I have, but I would like to share some insights and examples that I haven’t had the chance to share yet, which will show I’m a great fit for this role.” Then, succinctly, share away and have no regrets that you didn’t advocate for yourself and sell yourself!
Leigh Henderson, Founder and Owner, HR Manifesto

Prepare to Talk About Compensation
Prepare to be asked about your compensation preference. Come up with a range rather than one number so that you will not come across as too demanding. But most importantly, you should have an answer prepared because not doing so could make it seem like you don’t want the job enough.
Drew Sherman, Director of Marketing and Communications, RPM
Customize Your Answers to the Company
One tip for acing your third interview is to remember that this time it’s about impressing the hiring manager. Give personalized answers that are tailored to their questions instead of rehashing the same standard answer.
An uncommon way to do this could be by referencing the company’s blog or website during your allotted time and connecting their values with why you’re a perfect fit for the job opening. In this way, employers can see that you’ve done research into their organization, showing enthusiasm and interest in being hired by them.
Carly Hill, Operations Manager, VirtualHolidayParty.com

Practice Your Body Language
How you present yourself throughout the interview is key to making a great impression—maintain good posture, smile, and make eye contact with the interviewer.
Preparation is key, so be sure to review their company policies and take detailed notes of questions they posed during the first two interviews to ensure that you’ll be able to answer everything asked in the third one. Showing confidence and enthusiasm will help you stand out from other applicants and land the job!
Anup Joshi, CEO, The Business Guru
Revisit Earlier Interviews
A big part of my job is prepping candidates for interviews, so I have a great tip to share with your readers. To ace the third interview, reference a topic that came up earlier. To do this, you don’t need perfect recall.
Get in the habit of jotting down notes after even a preliminary interview. This will help you remember what was discussed, even if your next meeting isn’t until weeks later. Go over these notes prior to your follow-up, and think of a few ways to segue back into the topic. Showing off what you’ve retained about the interviewer, position, or company will reveal your passion for the project.
Linn Atiyeh, CEO, Bemana

Address Questions Thoughtfully
One tip for acing your third interview is to practice asking thoughtful questions. By doing this, you will show an understanding of the company’s values and culture, which can help make a lasting impression.
An uncommon example is researching recent news stories related to your potential employer or directly related industries. This will show that you are not only qualified but also engaged with the industry and aware of current events.
Additionally, be sure to have insight into potential growth opportunities within the organization and any challenges they may face in the future—by addressing these topics, you will prove just how serious you are about joining their team.
Grace He, People and Culture Director, teambuilding.com
Ask, “Are There Reasons I’m Not an Excellent Fit?”
You should walk out of every interview knowing where you stand. A must-ask question at the end of a third interview is: “Is there any reason at this point that I wouldn’t be an excellent fit for this role? If so, I’d love the opportunity to clear up any concerns.”
This allows the person interviewing to share if there are actual concerns and lets you know what they are. If the answer is, “No, there’s no reason you’re not a great fit,” then you’re likely still in the running. Walking away with some clarity is refreshing.
Kelli Anderson, Career Coach, Resume Seed
Highlight Hypothetical Situations
Ask questions that highlight a few different hypothetical situations you may encounter on the job. This will show the interviewer that you can think on your feet and show your desire to understand the expectations of the role.
Additionally, it is important to research the company prior to your interview and have a good understanding of its values and culture so that you can explain why this company is a great fit for you.
As a side note, don’t forget to bring multiple copies of your resume and references. This will be helpful in case the interviewer wants to refer to any information that you have provided. Acing your third interview requires preparation, research, and asking the right questions—but with a bit of practice, you can make a great impression!
Yusuf Shurbaji, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Prismfly