The Ultimate Guide To Job Interview Answers

This nonfiction book offers strategies and examples to help readers ace the tough questions during a job interview.

To find employment, today’s job seekers need more than a stellar resume and great references. They also need their future bosses to see them as likable, motivated and a good fit within the company culture. In the latest edition of his debut work, Firestone guides readers in figuring out how to position themselves as ideal candidates during job interviews and how to play up their strengths in ways that hiring managers and human resources departments will appreciate. He gives candidates the perspective from the other side of the interview desk, describing what hiring managers want to know, why they want to know it and how the candidate can effectively deliver that material. He outlines how to create “SOARL stories” (i.e., anecdotes about professional success or learning opportunities, presented in the “Situation / Objective / Action / Results / Learning” format) and instructs readers to practice saying them before their interviews. Firestone also describes “behavioral competencies”—analytical thinking and problem solving, conflict management, initiative and thoroughness, etc.—and encourages readers to discuss their accomplishments in ways that meet these standards. Finally, he lists sample questions for candidates to ask at various stages of the interview process. For the most part, the book is succinct and engaging, providing a wealth of job interview information in an easy-to-follow style. It focuses on preparing the candidate, not spotlighting success stories or making impossible promises. (As Firestone points out in the introduction, “[Y]ou won’t find any BS filler or author ego stories in the following pages.”) Section 2, which lists 40 behavioral competencies in detail, runs the risk of overwhelming readers. Likewise, Section 3 features 63 pages of occasionally rambling sample answers that highlight sales and management issues, which might not apply to all interviewees. The book also ends abruptly, without any final words of wisdom or closure. Despite these drawbacks, the text offers enough useful advice to make the average candidate feel more confident at his or her next interview—provided they practiced their SOARL stories, of course.

A valuable resource for today’s job candidates.