Best Answers to the 201 Most Frequently Asked Interview Questions, Second Edition [Paperback]

 

 

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There is much about this book that I have found very useful. As many readers may already know, there are many books written on the subject of interviewing preparing for a job interview. A number of them are very wordy, detailed, a little too much of a particular theme than simply, concisely coming up with the BEST answers to the most frequently asked interview questions. This book gets right to the point.

I particularly liked what the author states in Chapter 1 Introduction: "Remember: the best candidates don't necessarily get the job: the best interviewee does." This is so true and is reinforced in a number of different sources including the DVD Interview the Best. You can have all the education in the world, reams of experience, tons of skill but unless you are well prepared and skillful in answering anticipated questions you may find yourself faltering.

Some of the first suggestions the author makes are contained in Chapter 4 Knowing the Job, the Organization and Your Interviewer:What Are You Getting Yourself Into? Starting with Chapter 5 Small Talk Questions:Breaking the Ice, the author starts to pose possible questions an interviewer might make including WHY they might be asking them. I like a major tip the author makes here: "Avoid Controversial Topics at All Costs." Chapter 6 Personal Questions gives you actual descriptive words you might use when asked the question: "How would you describe your own personality?"

Chapters 7 Educational Questions and 8 Experience Questions are followed by recommendations made to the reader on "How to Be a Lifelong Learner" and how to "Show You Are a 'Can Do' Candidate".

As someone used to the "old school" form of interviewing, the change to behavioral or stress interviewing has proven to be something more challenging. Questions like "Describe a situation where the team fell apart. What was your role in the outcome?", "Describe a situation where you failed to reach a goal." or"Describe a situation where you had a personal committment that conflicted with an emergency business meeting. What did you do?" can all be seen by some as possibly problematic. These, along with the questions posed in Chapter 10 Stress Questions, necessitate more careful preparation than that which may have been required in past years when jobs were more plentiful. Here possible answers are posed to such questions as "What are some of the things that bother/bothered you about your current/last job?", "What reservations do you have about working here?" and "Have you ever had difficulty getting along with others?"

Chapter 12 Illegal Questions cannot and should not be overlooked. The author makes a distinction between illegal and inappropriate Questions. He also advises the potential interviewee What to Say When Asked an Illegal or Inappropriate Question including Gender Bias Questions, National Origin Questions, Questions Suggesting Religious Bias, Age Bias Questions and Questions Addressing the Disabled.

Finally, Chaper 13 Your Turn:Questions You Should Raise is perhaps my favorite chapter. Here a long list of Questions to Ask Potential Employers is proposed which I found extremely helpful. The book is concluded with Chapter 14 Summing Up. All in all I would highly recommend this book to anyone prepare to effectively interview for their next job.

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