Customer Reviews

Best Answers to the 201 Most Frequently Asked Interview Questions

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book is a must for anyone who is either looking for a job now or possibly will be in the future, which is just about all of us nowadays. It is a no-nonsense reference guide to the kinds of questions to expect during the interview and what the both weak and strong responses are to them, as well as how to respond to inappropriate or illegal questions without totally killing your chances at getting the job.

I especially like the list of questions right at the start for use as a quick index when filling out employment questionnaires. Strong responses to such questions as what aspects of your current job do you like best, or least, are quickly found with a discussion of the reasoning behind the answers.

This book is concise and to the point, and well worth the price even if you don't expect to need it in the near future, if just for the self-confidence and self-examination opportunity it gives you.

I highly recommend it.

Joe Buchberger

I've had good interviews before, but since it's 4 years since I did my last job search, I decided to get some good insight on the subject.

There were other books that I read trying to find a vision to help me overcome unexpected difficulties during an interview, but this one I bought just to get some quick answers into my head.

It turned out to be more than that. The author is not giving you answers to memorize. Instead, he explains why it is that the interviewer is asking you this particular question, an what he/she is looking for to be in the answer. The book opens up a new dimention before you for what initially seemed to be a simple (or stupid, or irrelevant) question.

The book also explains what parts the interview consists of, and what the purpose of each part is. For example, for the small talk part of it (which I realy hate and consider useless), he explains why it exists, what the goals are for the both parties, how to decipher the interviewer's behavior, and what topics to keep.

Examples for different industries are really helpful. The author is not teaching you cheap tricks. Instead, he makes yourself a very prepared interviewee, ready for the most prepared interviewer (and for the most unprepared, too). Different kinds of interviewers are also discussed.

For most of the subjects discussed in the book, some initial guidance is given of what exactly certain things discovered during the interview may mean. That gets you to a good starting point. We all know that your particular case is unique. And that is fine - it is easy enough to pick up from the point where the author left off.

I am half way through the book, and I found that I am reading slower over the last 10 to 15 pages. That is because the subjects discussed are rather interesting, and I am afraid to miss a thought or an image. In other words, I am more thinking than reading right now, and once I am done with the analysis, I look back in the book, and it gives me another subject to ponder on. That is amazing!

He also tries to give you some basics on how to get prepared to better (better to say - in a more relevant manner) present yourself, your skills, and your personal traits. I call this a "homework" for the interview. It is explained quite briefly. This is a whole topic for another book. I would recommend "Fearless Interviewing" by Marky Stein to help you have your homework done well.

All in all, a very good book. It is really making me feel the subject - that's the vision that I was looking for from other books.

Highly recommended.

I bought this book prior to interviewing for my current job. The book contains some good information but to be honest I wasn't asked the questions contained in the book. Of course this isn't the books fault. However, the book did help me prepare myself mentally in the event the questions did come up and it helped me to learn how to collect my thoughts and answer confidently. Recommended if you have interview anxiety at all.

This book is an excellent guide for anyone who is nervous about interview questions. It guides you on what and what not to say, communication tips, illegal questions that you shouldn't have to answer, but may have to, behavior questions (how are your people skills?), stress questions (can you take the heat?), and what questions you should ask.

I have been out of work for a little over a year, and all my previous employments were temp jobs so I needed to brush up on everything. After reading the reviews I decided to go with this book.

I have never regretted it since and have recommended it to close friends. I kid you not when I say that during my interview I ended up interviewing the interviewer. Before the interview I did what the book said and read up on the company and found out that they had won several awards which I later mentioned to her. Apparently none of the other candidates did their homework b/c she acted impressed over that. I asked questions concerning downsizing, why she chose to work there, how long has she worked for the company, her management style. She was very friendly and very talkative...ended up telling me about her daughter in college, her background (which I found out we were raised in the same country!), etc. Making sure not to discuss salary/benefits with her (something the book recommended and I stuck to until I met the VP who gave me what I asked for) And eventhough I had to be tested after speaking to her, I was confident enough to ask her questions during the test and be honest about things I didn't understand. She even showed me the tricks behind the test! Something the recruiter said was not done with anyone else. The only thing I wished I had done was my homework in salary negotiating. So for those of you out there, do your homework on salary and negotiating tips before the interview! Do get this book for you high school/college grad. It's easy to read, down-to-earth, and for today's job hunters.

I did not count, but it did not seem as though I read 201 answers, but fewer. In many years of working and interviewing, more lately than formerly, I encountered perhaps 3 of the questions. In today's market, it seems interviewers are looking for evidence of directly applicable and detailed skills, especially technical and hard ones, for comfort with the candidate, for evidence of being quick, adapting well, and for initiative and solid achievement. The questions are mildly contrived, and I have not been asked more than about 3 at any time in my longish career. Possibly because he covers so many which are illegal or too personally probing in this litigous era.

I can truely attribute this book to helping me get my current position. My previous interviews were wrought with apprehension and they did not go well. Once I read this book, I was brimming with confidence and I got the job !

I had done my bit of research when I was preparing for interviews. Looking back on the whole process, I feel reading answers to some of the most typical questions made me feel confident during the whole time. I highly recommend this to anyone interviewing for any position in any industry. I feel it is a necessary read, as questions in the book are very commonly asked (I have attended 10s of interviews now.) Spend a couple of hours on this one and you will make sure not to burn yourself in the foot when it comes to crunch time.

No general tips here or vague advices. This book gives very useful tips on how to answer some very tough and specific interview questions. This is really the book you need if you anticipate a really difficult and long interview in front of an evaluation committee. Thanks to this book, none of the questions I was asked during my interview came as a surprise. And, in the end, I got that dream job I wanted. However, you should forget this book if you are naive enough to believe you can prepare a serious job interview in 24h. You need to give yourself a lot of time in order to assimilate all the material.

The beginning chapters are just fluff & common sense. However, it will at least get you thinking about what you may incounter during an interview. I wouldn't rule this book out completley. The biggest problem I had with this book was that, unless you have tons of time to practice and study each question, it is simply impractical to expect to cover all the material. My advice would be to prepare more general areas for the interview. Focusing on particular questions is almost a waste of time.