Tag: practice interview

Record a Mock Interview

One of the most effective ways to prepare for a job interview is complete a few mock interviews. A mock interview simulates a real interview. To maximize your improvement, record the mock interview and review it.

One of the most effective ways to prepare for a job interview is to complete a few mock interviews.  A mock interview simulates a real interview.  To maximize your improvement, record the mock interview and review it.

Improving your ability to react to a completely unexpected question is the most difficult aspect of interview preparation.  If you get blindsided it can disrupt your performance throughout the rest of the interview.  When you are preparing to interview, you can’t surprise yourself.  The questions that will be the most disruptive are the ones that you have not considered.

To prepare for the unexpected, you need an interviewer to interview you.  Completing two of three mock interviews can make a dramatic difference in your performance.  You can also gain the insight of the interviewer after the interview.  It is very rare for a hiring manager to give a candidate specific feedback to help them improve their interviewing.  A mock interview is different.  Feedback and constructive advice are integral elements in a mock interview.

When I work with a job seeker to improve their interview skills, I offer the option of recording the mock interviews.  Surprisingly, many job seekers turn down this option.  They don’t want to hear themselves in an interview.  Many job seekers have a fear of interviewing.  The anxiety can be overwhelming, and the idea of reliving the experience through a recording is terrifying.  Unfortunately, avoiding mock interviews will not improve the situation.

If you want to gain an edge over your competition, commit to improving your interview skills and practice interviewing.

Top 8 Reasons to Schedule a Mock Interview

Mock interviews simulate actual job interviews, allowing the job seeker to practice their interview skills. Interviewing is a performance. Without practice, a job seeker cannot perform at their best. This makes mock interviews one of the most important steps in a job search.

Mock interviews simulate actual job interviews, allowing the job seeker to practice their interview skills.  Interviewing is a performance.  Without practice, a job seeker cannot perform at their best.  This makes mock interviews one of the most important steps in a job search.

Few job seekers complete a mock interview during their job search.  There are a few reasons for this.  Some job seekers fail to realize how much a mock interview can improve interview performance.  Other job seekers believe their interview skills are exceptional and do not need to be improved.  There are even job seekers that are afraid of the feedback after a mock interview.  Many people have a fear of public speaking and are intimidated in interviews.  The idea of conducting an interview in front of someone who will criticize their interview performance is terrifying.  This is unfortunate since the people most afraid of interviewing often need the most help.

There is no replacement for mock interviews, though.  You cannot practice interviewing alone.  You have to have someone ask you a question that you must answer on the spot.  This is the core of any interview and can’t be recreated without the interviewer.

There are a number benefits to mock interviews, and below are the eight most significant:

  1. Practice allows you to try different ways of answering common interview questions
  2. You can make a mistake in a mock interview without hurting your job search
  3. A mock interview is the only way you can prepare for unforeseen questions
  4. You can get specific feedback from the interviewer in a mock interview that an employer will never share with you.
  5. Mock interviews can help build your confidence
  6. Interviewers often think of questions the job seeker doesn’t anticipate
  7. A mock interview offers a chance to try different styles of interviews
  8. Mock interviews are one of the fastest and most effective ways to improve your interview skill

If you haven’t completed a mock interview in your job search, schedule one now.  Ideally, the interviewer you choose will be similar to type of interviewer you will encounter in a real interview.  This may require finding someone you don’t know to conduct a mock interview.  Interviews with close friends or co-workers may make the mock interview less effective due to your familiarity with the interviewer.  If you can’t find a suitable interviewer, find a professional interviewer coach that can conduct the mock interview with you.

Interview Tip #8

Interview Tip: Schedule a mock interview to learn how interviewers assess your performance.

Interview Tip: Schedule a mock interview to learn how interviewers assess your performance.

Few job seekers can accurately assess their own interview performance.  In an interview, it doesn’t matter what you find impressive or persuasive.  The hiring manager’s opinion is the one that counts.  Every serious job seeker should complete mock interviews.  Many job seekers make the same mistakes in every interview and never improve.

Interview with Confidence

One of the most important factors affecting a person’s interview performance is their confidence level.  I have known a number of candidates that lose all of their confidence the second they step into an interview.  This can be devastating.

For example, a long time ago, I was working with a person that was worried about interviewing.  When I say worried, I’m not sure I’m really capturing the situation – terrified and paralyzed with fear are probably closer to the truth.

To deal with his concerns, he spent a weekend preparing – from Friday night, non-stop until Sunday night.  You may have an idea of what came next.

Monday’s phone interview started on time.  The candidate had rehearsed this over and over and over again.  The interviewer planned to do a quick skills assessment and then schedule an interview with the primary hiring manager.  The questions were pretty basic.

With all the preparation and rehearsing, and a set of easy questions, the candidate should have hit a homerun.  That, of course, didn’t happen.  The candidate had rehearsed so much that he expected specific questions, a certain style of interview.  In his preparation, he had scripted what the interviewer should say.

When the interviewer asked a question he didn’t expect – he froze.  He could not answer the question.  After a long, awkward pause, he said he was very nervous and didn’t expect that question.  He then asked if the interviewer would mind if they started the interview over, including hanging up and calling back.  The second he said this, he was done.

The problem was a lack of confidence.  The job seeker wasn’t comfortable interviewing.  He prepared alone but never practiced the one thing that could have helped him – responding to unpredictable questions asked by a live person.

I do a lot of interview coaching.  The primary way I teach interviewing is through practice interviews.  I strive to develop a list of questions that are unexpected and challenging for the job seeker to answer.  By simulating a real interview, the people I coach are much more relaxed in interviews and are able to take their time and think about their answers.

When you are preparing for an interview, make sure you get some live practice.  Find someone that can simulate a real interview – ideally someone you don’t know very well.  Even better, select someone that intimidates you a little.  The more uncomfortable you can make the situation, the easier the real interviews will be. If you can’t find someone to do this, find an interview coach to interview you.