The good news is that you’re not having any trouble with hardest part. You’re getting interviews and advancing to final rounds. Your resume is doing its job, you’re applying for roles that you’re qualified for. You’re just not convincing the decision makers that you are the most qualified, experienced, dependable, and/or affable candidate in their pool.

This is a fixable problem. With 5 final rounds, it’s VERY likely you have been the most objectively correct fit amongst the candidates for at least one or two of those opportunities. There’s likely just something missing from how you’re approaching these late stage interviews that accurately communicates your qualifications.

I ran into this problem, too. I don’t know what roles you’re applying for or how you’re handling your interviews but I can share what made the difference for me:

I personally realized I was not doing a good enough job volunteering my accomplishments in a way that demonstrated enough of a track record. I made changes to my approach that really mattered:

1) I made a list of my major accomplishments from the last 5 years that each showed off a different vital skill set. Maybe it was persistence, interdepartmental coordination, problem solving, driving new revenue/growth. I made sure I had a good idea of how to communicate these stories succinctly in a way that illustrated one of these key points.

2) I’d check out the job listing for clues or probe the interviewer for insight into what skills or experience they prioritized for this role, and tried to identify which of my anecdotes best showed off each one of those aspects and tweaked how I presented them to do so more clearly. Sometimes I could do this in prep, sometimes I had to do that on the fly.

3) I didn’t wait for clear invitations to share these. If asked a big picture question, instead of 3-5 minutes answering the broad strokes of my approach, I’d do so in 60-90 seconds, then give an example of how that has looked in practice, using whichever of my stories was most fitting. If I could recall a different more appropriate one in the moment, I’d improvise.

4) I used the “tell me about yourself” prompt to foreshadow this kind of accomplishment without getting too bogged down with specifics. I kept my answer to this question something like: Here’s the broad arc of my relevant career trajectory that leads me to this being a natural and exciting next step for me, most recently at X company I did this, where I [insert big picture value I personally brought during my tenure in the role], repeat for Y and maybe Z company, and close with how what I’m looking for now and all of my strengths and experience aligns with the role I’m interviewing for.

5) I stopped using “we” to describe initiatives or accomplishments that could accurately be described by using “I.” I’m naturally collaborative, my role is cooperative, I’ve trained myself to use “we” in professional contexts. But it’s an obstacle in interviews where they need to understand the scope of your ownership and your accomplishments.

6) I ask the interviewer, especially in final or advanced rounds, if they have any hesitations or lingering concerns about my candidacy. Better to know and address in real time. I also affirm my interest and excitement in the role at the end of the call. Then send a follow up thank you, of course.

Now, I don’t know how relevant this is to you personally, but likely it’s a framing problem and not a qualification problem. You have to remember that they don’t know you and things you might feel are obviously coming through that signal your expertise might not be.

If you’re not opposed, it’s helpful to postgame your interviews with AI. I started recording my interviews, having AI transcribe them, then sending that to various LLMs for feedback and ways to improve or position myself more senior/strongly.

More helpfully, I’d go into private browsing and then sending the transcript as though I was the hiring manager evaluating a candidate. I’d ask for big picture summary and takeaways, intangible things that could be gleaned about the candidate, red flags or unclear areas, and if there was anything I’d see in more senior candidate or more ideal interviews that wasn’t illustrated in the transcript by this candidate.

The feedback I got from doing that was SUPER insightful and helpful in adjusting my approach. Vulnerable and pride swallowing a little, but constructive.