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I went to a seminar at a local library on job hunting. A lady who works as a professional recruiter said she would give participants a mock interview for $35 an hour (2 hour minimum) and then video record it and then show us what we are doing right and wrong.
It is an interesting concept because I may be doing something terribly wrong when I interview without knowing it (like a nervous habit) and may not be answering typical questions well. I know I have interviewed at quite a few places and as of yet I am not being selected.
When I call and ask what I am doing wrong in the interview no one will give me a straight answer.
My two friends who went with me to the job hunting seminar thought the mock interview would be a total waste of money and time. What do you think?
I guess the question is: does this person selling these interviews have a vested reason to claim you have "a terrible problem" that only they can fix for a charge of $50 an hour, 10 hour minimum or some such thing?
As has been repeated so many times on this forum, companies only care about the money, so don't trust them if they have a reason to create a problem and sell you a solution.
If you can find somebody to help you out for free, do that. The reality is most people aren't great at interviews, but they aren't terrible, either.
I tend to agree with the above comments -- it is not critical that you have stellar interview skills. If you have a friend that will shoot some video or even use a web cam to "pretend" to interview yourself you'll get 90% of the benefit for ZERO cost...
It is more important for job seekers to GET INTERVIEWS with people that have OPENINGS than support some one else's business / side job...
I went to a seminar at a local library on job hunting. A lady who works as a professional recruiter said she would give participants a mock interview for $35 an hour (2 hour minimum) and then video record it and then show us what we are doing right and wrong.
It is an interesting concept because I may be doing something terribly wrong when I interview without knowing it (like a nervous habit) and may not be answering typical questions well. I know I have interviewed at quite a few places and as of yet I am not being selected.
When I call and ask what I am doing wrong in the interview no one will give me a straight answer.
My two friends who went with me to the job hunting seminar thought the mock interview would be a total waste of money and time. What do you think?
If you're unemployed, it's a lot of money.
"A professional recruiter" sounds like someone from a staffing agency.
Whenever jobs get tight, these career gurus appear all over the place.
You can look at online for articles about interviewing, and even some of the issues, like nervousness...
It's important that you sound good to YOU. You can video record yourself, or sit in front of a mirror. The object being...to be relaxed and show confidence.
If you have the credentials, schooling, or experience, you have to let that work for you.
The more interviews you go on, the better you'll get, but I'd think about the areas you feel weak or find yourself having problems with, and read up on ways to overcome those. Sometimes, this has nothing to do with just interviewing, it's one's self confidence.
You may be on to something. But there's no reason to part with the money for something you can do yourself. All you need is a video camera and a friend to interview you.
Dress and act just like you would for a real interview.
I find I have to peel the onion layers to get to where I can find out why some particular area bothers me, or where I feel unsure.
I think it's like studying for a test. That one area that one feels weak could be the area that does one in on a test. So I go focus on that and try to figure out how I'd handle it comfortably.
Other than that, I am not that hard on myself. I've been told I interview well several times. I realize now, it's more about if they cannot find a friend or relative to work for them, and they have to open the job up to the public, and who I am up against...
I guess the question is: does this person selling these interviews have a vested reason to claim you have "a terrible problem" that only they can fix for a charge of $50 an hour, 10 hour minimum or some such thing?
As has been repeated so many times on this forum, companies only care about the money, so don't trust them if they have a reason to create a problem and sell you a solution.
If you can find somebody to help you out for free, do that. The reality is most people aren't great at interviews, but they aren't terrible, either.
Good luck.
Finally someone who knows the real deal with interviews. The reason why a lot of people fail interviews is mostly because many of the questions aren't really applicable to the candidate. For example, there are some behavioral questions out there that a lot of candidates can't really answer because they don't have experience that would be necessary to satisfactorily answer that question. If an interviewer asked a candidate for examples of leading a team but that candidate can't provide examples because the candidate's work experience does not have experience in which the candidate led the team, the candidate is going to fail that question no matter how hard the candidate tries to come up with a satisfactory answer. The thing is all interviews aren't the same with candidates since the candidate's different experiences will lead to different questions from the interviewers even if the interview process is standardized. This is why even if you are a "brilliant" interviewer and even if you do all the research and all the other good stuff career counselors tell you to do, you can fail an interview even if you performed well.
The thing is a lot of people overrate the importance of the interview. Yes, the interview is important but there are a lot of factors completely outside of your control that will prevent you from getting the offer even if you interview well, namely the competition. A guy I talked to who does a lot of hiring told me he hired people who had mediocre interview because of the strength of their experience and resume. He told me he hired them over strong interviewers mostly because the candidates who had the mediocre interviews had the skills that were necessary to satisfying a need in the department.
Finally someone who knows the real deal with interviews. The reason why a lot of people fail interviews is mostly because many of the questions aren't really applicable to the candidate. For example, there are some behavioral questions out there that a lot of candidates can't really answer because they don't have experience that would be necessary to satisfactorily answer that question. If an interviewer asked a candidate for examples of leading a team but that candidate can't provide examples because the candidate's work experience does not have experience in which the candidate led the team, the candidate is going to fail that question no matter how hard the candidate tries to come up with a satisfactory answer. The thing is all interviews aren't the same with candidates since the candidate's different experiences will lead to different questions from the interviewers even if the interview process is standardized. This is why even if you are a "brilliant" interviewer and even if you do all the research and all the other good stuff career counselors tell you to do, you can fail an interview even if you performed well.
Had to rep you.
Exactly. I've had some question asked about "how you would feel if..." Now, if you answer with an emotional answer, they will think you are too emotional, not logical. If you answer very logically, not emotionally, they think you are cold and unfeeling. So you can't win, because you don't know which slant the interviewer has.
The problem is interviewers who don't know the job or haven't done it. The best interviews I've had were with people in my own profession and it was talking shop and we were way past the small talk questions. You really get to the meat and potatoes that way.
Finally someone who knows the real deal with interviews. The reason why a lot of people fail interviews is mostly because many of the questions aren't really applicable to the candidate. For example, there are some behavioral questions out there that a lot of candidates can't really answer because they don't have experience that would be necessary to satisfactorily answer that question. If an interviewer asked a candidate for examples of leading a team but that candidate can't provide examples because the candidate's work experience does not have experience in which the candidate led the team, the candidate is going to fail that question no matter how hard the candidate tries to come up with a satisfactory answer. The thing is all interviews aren't the same with candidates since the candidate's different experiences will lead to different questions from the interviewers even if the interview process is standardized. This is why even if you are a "brilliant" interviewer and even if you do all the research and all the other good stuff career counselors tell you to do, you can fail an interview even if you performed well.
Precisely. They should be looking at the whole candidate, not each question in isolation.
I'm also tired of trick questions. One I ran into recently was where a company was interviewing for a single engineering position in one of their divisions, but they avoided mentioning (and wouldn't answer) which division would be hiring. So, naturally, they ask me, "which division do you want to work for?"
Well, truthfully, I didn't care - the work was interesting in all of them - but far more annoying was that there was at least a 2 in 3 chance I'd pick the wrong division since only 1 of them was supposedly hiring, but they wouldn't say which one?! I mean, come on - games like that are not needed! In the end, the company hired nobody, so I guess it didn't matter, but you get my point - let's focus on the real issues here... obviously, the candidate wants to work at whichever division is hiring... duhhhh...
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