Marcus

The scenario

You're in a 30-minute call with Marcus, your potential skip-level. He explicitly told you upfront: "I'm not going to ask you technical questions — I want to talk about you." He's sitting back in his chair. The vibe is more like a coffee chat than an interrogation, but the stakes are the same.

They open with

“Alright, so the rest of the team is going to grill you on the technical stuff. I want to talk about something else. What are you actually trying to do with your career?”