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To win any job offer, you must first pass the intimidating test of the job interview. The good news is that anyone can learn the skills needed to ace interviews with the right preparation. This book is your guide.
About This Book
Follow the guidance in this book and you’ll be fully prepared to make the most of any job interview. The advice and examples are based on my experience as a career-and-interview coach who has worked with thousands of clients over more than 15 years. I know my approach works because I have seen the proof in my clients’ successes. Here’s a walk-through:
1. I start in Part 1 with a big-picture overview of the world of interviewing. I walk you through the latest trends, the high-level best practices that have worked for my clients, and a field guide to the types of interviews and interviewers you’re likely to encounter.
2. Next, I delve into actionable advice to kick off your preparation for your upcoming interviews (whether you have one night or several weeks to prepare). In Part 2, you start with analyzing the job description, researching the opportunity, and evaluating your fit. This will help you anticipate the most likely questions you’ll face in your interviews.
3. Then it’s time to get you prepared to answer those questions. Part 3 provides deep dives into all the most challenging questions. Each chapter covers a common question type, why interviewers ask it, and how to answer it effectively. I include helpful models for outlining your answers and sample answers for inspiration.
4. Once you’re an expert on the questions, it’s time to follow the action plan in Part 4. I guide you through applying the advice and getting ready to shine in your interview. I cover best practices for outlining your speaking points, communicating confidence with body language and eye contact, refining your presentation through practice, and reducing interview anxiety. I also outline specific advice for common interview challenges — including explaining layoffs and gaps, prepping quickly when time is limited, brushing up on skills when you’re rusty, positioning yourself for career change, and more.
5. The book concludes with The Part of Tens: ten tips directly from my hiring manager friends, advice on spotting red flags at companies interviewing you, and tips to level up your job search and land more interviews.
Icons Used in This Book
Books in the For Dummies series highlight particularly important text by using these icons:
This book is filled with tips, but I mark particularly important or fresh ones with this icon.
You may have heard these ideas before, but they’re important enough to deserve a shout-out.
Avoid these common pitfalls to ensure success.
Beyond the Book
In addition to the material in the print or ebook you’re now reading, you get a free, access-anywhere Cheat Sheet with even more tips for acing your interviews. To get this Cheat Sheet, visit www.dummies.com and type Job Interviewing For Dummies Cheat Sheet in the Search box.
I am also offering you free trial access to my company’s Big Interview training platform, a resource trusted by top universities and used by millions of job seekers. Big Interview provides video lessons, an interactive practice interview tool, AI interview and resume feedback, and more. For access and more information, go to www.dummies.com/go/bigInterview/.
Where To Go from Here
You may choose to read this book from cover to cover, or you may prefer to read just what you need when you need it — that’s just-in-time learning. If you prefer the latter method, just review the table of contents and turn to the page you’re motivated to read. In either case, I hope you find this book worthwhile and enjoyable.
1 Learning to Ace Any Job Interview
IN THIS PART . . .
Recognize the importance of job interview skills
Consider the latest trends in interviewing and hiring
Appreciate your interviewers’ perspectives and how they think
Pick up tips for acing different types of interviews
IN THIS CHAPTER
» Understanding the importance of interview skills
» Meeting your interview coach
» Avoiding common mistakes
» Embracing best practices
Chapter 1
Accelerating Your Career with Interview Skills
Are you ready to learn how to ace your next job interview? I’m here to help.
I realize that you’re probably not reading this book for fun. You’re looking for a new job and you know you’ll need to win over a series of interviewers before you can land that offer.
Demystifying the job interview is my specialty, so I’m well aware that most people dread interviewing and find the whole process exhausting.
It’s true that job interviews can be challenging, but I can teach you the skills you need in order to wow any interviewer. These skills will boost your confidence and expand your career opportunities.
Mastering the Simple Techniques to Ace Any Job Interview
I’m here to give you actionable advice and real strategies, not just a lot of theory.
These are the same interview preparation techniques that I’ve taught to thousands of interview coaching clients over the years.
These techniques work. I’ve been teaching people to land their dream jobs for a long time.
I’ve also spent more than 15 years working as a hiring manager and human resources consultant.
I work on both sides of the interview table — so I know what interviewers are looking for and what turns them off.
Finally, I’m the founder and chief coach at Big Interview, an online interview training platform that is licensed by more than 600 schools, universities, and government agencies. Millions of users have benefited from our lessons and practice tools.
In other words, I spend all my time helping people with interviews and I want to share this knowledge with you.
Preparing for success
The most qualified candidate doesn’t always get the job. In addition to the right qualifications and background, you need solid interviewing skills to compete in today’s job market.
The first mantra I want you to learn is that preparation is everything.
Prepare well and you’ll perform better than nine out of ten of your competitors. The trick lies in how you prepare.
If you know how to prepare, you can anticipate the majority of the interview questions you’ll face. You can plan how to answer those questions in a way that will position you as a superior hire. You can practice in a way that boosts your confidence and refines your presentation skills.
I strongly believe that anyone with the right preparation can excel at interviewing.
Projecting confidence
Another rule to live by: Convey confidence, get hired.
If you seem confident in your abilities, you’ll inspire confidence in others.
Confidence comes through in your body language and how you make eye contact, but especially in how you talk about your skills and accomplishments.
Projecting confidence is where a lot of job seekers run into trouble. Most people don’t have a lot of practice in the art of self-promotion, so they shy away from the idea of “selling” their qualifications in interviews.
“I’m just not good at selling myself!” This is one of the most common complaints I hear from my coaching clients.
I love hearing these words because I know I can help these clients make a dramatic improvement in their interview game pretty quickly. They tend to be people who are successful and confident and poised, but just a bit too modest when it comes to talking about themselves.
Luckily, you can learn to “sell” yourself without feeling like a sellout.
Take my client Lawrence, for example. He was an accomplished IT professional with an impressive resume and no problem standing up to speak in front of a room full of colleagues.
However, he was struggling in job interviews, and he didn’t understand why. Despite his impressive resume, he was being passed over in favor of other candidates.
The issue became clear in our first practice interview. He avoided bringing up his most impressive accomplishments and then stumbled and generalized when asked about his strengths.
Lawrence was a humble guy by nature and unaccustomed to talking about himself in glowing terms. Also, for the past several years, he had been promoted based on his work and his reputation, so his interview skills were rusty. He wasn’t used to interviewing with people who didn’t already know him and his track record.
If you can relate to Lawrence’s challenges, you’re not alone. Some of my most impressive clients have suffered from this same discomfort with self-promotion.
Like Lawrence, you can learn to work through this issue and start attracting offers.
Confidence versus arrogance
In daily life, people are rarely called on to list their strengths and weaknesses or summarize their proudest accomplishments.
In fact, many people grew up with the conditioning that it’s obnoxious to brag or call attention to their achievements. This is just good manners when it comes to cocktail parties, but it will hurt you in job interviews.
It’s unfair, but great candidates often get passed over for people with worse qualifications but better persuasion skills.
Candidates worry too much about coming across as arrogant — I would argue that if you’re worried about sounding arrogant, you aren’t in danger of actually crossing that line. I’ve had only a few coaching clients whom I advised on toning down their self-promotion. Every other client has benefited from turning up the volume on their accomplishments.
Yes, you should aim to be polite and likable. However, the interviewer also wants you to communicate what makes you stand out from other candidates. That’s why you’re there.
Their job is to pick the best candidate. It’s impossible to get a full and complete picture of any human being from a conversation that lasts only 30 or 40 minutes, so the interviewer must rely on a limited set of data points.
You must clearly convey what sets you apart and how you can benefit the organization if hired.
I’m not recommending an aggressive or dishonest approach here. I’m talking about putting your best foot forward, knowing your strengths, and communicating them in a memorable and persuasive way.
To make sure you don’t cross the line into arrogance, avoid
» Trying to hijack or “take control” of the interview
» Interrupting or correcting your interviewer
» Being condescending
» Acting like you’re too good for the job
In a job interview, it’s never a good idea to make your interviewer feel stupid, defensive, or annoyed. You want to make a connection, establish rapport, and make a positive impression.
