Interviewing Books

[gibs]

This is off the topic of poker, but I have just one semester of college left and will be interviewing for a job soon. Anybody have suggestions on some good books on interviewing? I tried the search function, but didn't really come up with anything.

[imported_Jim C]

Knock 'Em Dead by Martin Yate is widely considered to be the best book on the subject. Some people like What Color is Your Parachute?, but this is more geared toward finding the right career than getting the right job. You won't go wrong with Knock 'Em Dead.

If you want to totally blow away any interview you'll ever do and learn some extremely valuable career skills no matter what your profession, you should learn a sales methodology called SPIN. SPIN comes from a truely amazing book called SPIN Selling, by Niel Rackham. Rackham is a academic psychologist who studied the selling/buying process in a research environment. 100% of the book applies to an interview process. The book rates as one of the top 5 books that changed my life. Basically, it will show you how to figure out what the hiring manager is really looking for, how to quantify the value of that, and then how to align yourself to their actual hiring criteria (as opposed to the BS criteria in the posting for the job).

SPIN is an acronym that stands for a conversation/investigation process: Situation, Problem, Implication, Need-Payoff. When a company or person is hiring, they are essentially buying a resource (you, hopefully!). If you want the job, you should have the skills to discover why they would do that and be able to articulate how you are the best choice. That's selling, like it or not.

Best,

Jim

[jakethebake]

Most campus career centers have mock interviews and interview help. Get all the practice you can answering all the standard interview questions. Or even just write out answers and sit in a room by yourself practicing them.

[gergery]

Use your alumni network or career center to find out what questions are likely to be asked for your career field.

Practice like crazy giving the answers out loud and get feedback from someone with a clue on how your answers sound.

-g