Competency-Based Interviews: Master the Tough New Interview Style And Give Them the Answers That Will Win You the Job (Paperback)

by Robin Kessler (Author) "When we were students, most of us realized the importance of understanding what the teacher or professor was looking for-which assignments were required and which..." (more)
Key Phrases: critical competency areas, key competency areas, most critical competencies, American Express, United States, Achieves Results (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Have you ever wondered why you didn't get a job offer after an important interview?

People interviewing for jobs today often fail because they are using yesterday's strategies. They haven’t realized that the best employers have changed the way interviews are done, and it now takes a different strategy to succeed. Competency-Based Interviews shows today's candidates a new, more targeted way to prepare for the tough interviews based on the competencies that the most sophisticated employers are looking for.

Competency-Based Interviews offers you a new and more effective way to handle the tough new interviews so that you will emphasize the knowledge, skills and abilities that you have and that employers need. Most sophisticated U.S. and international employers are using competency-based systems to recruit, interview and select employees. Corporations such as American Express, Anheuser Busch, BP, Coca-Cola, Energizer, Federal Express, IBM, and Pfizer are all looking for specific competencies.

Preparing for a competency-based interview will give you the strategy you need to:

• Be selected for the most competitive positions.
• Win the best job at a new organization.
• Get a great first job or internship.
• Be chosen for that critical promotion in your current organization.
• Take control of your career path.
• Increase your salary.
• Get more interesting assignments and more interesting work

Most interviewees don't know how to be successful when they are being interviewed by an organization looking for key competencies. Few candidates answer questions so they demonstrate their own critical competencies. Competency-Based Interviews will teach you what you need to master this tough new interview style and give the interviewers the answers that will win you the job.

About the Author
Robin Kessler is currently president of The Interview Coach, a human resources and career consulting firm based in Houston, TX. She has more than 20 years experience improving interviews, resumes, presentations and organizational communications as a human resources professional, consultant, career coach and adjunct professor. Kessler co-authored Competency-Based Resumes, the first book to teach people to write their resumes considering the competencies employers are looking for. She received her B.A. and M.B.A. from Northwestern University.

Product Details

• Paperback: 255 pages
• Publisher: Career Press; 1 edition (April 30, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1564148696
• ISBN-13: 978-1564148698
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #63,903 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Winning the job war in Cleveland, Ohio, June 2, 2006

By	P. Urban (Cleveland, OH USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Everyone is afraid of the dreaded job interview. Correctly prepare and you can put your mind at ease. I know because I am a former sweaty-palm interviewee. Through this book ---Competency-Based Interviews---I've found the not-so-common-sense skills that are essential to landing that perfect job, or that first job. Clear, concise, and step-by-step this leads the job candidate through the modern day interview that is assessing your skill set more than your diploma. I've learned how to identify the competency questions that I will be asked in relationship to the job duties and the company culture. During interviews, I can give examples of my winning experiences using the right, active language. And, I can answer the follow up questions that delve deeper. This is a must-keep reference text with easy to use summary tables that allow the reader to quickly locate key questions and answers. ->Paul Urban in Cleveland, Ohio.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book with very useful advice, April 6, 2007

By	Robert H. Welton (Baltimore, Maryland) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I loaned my copy to two friends going to interviews for big jobs.
Both of them raved about how this book put them in to a fame of mind that made them very comfortable going into and during their actual interviews. It makes you think about questions and areas of your past work expereinces that you should and should not talk about and how to talk about them. Great buy.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must for anyone trying to figure out what they're doing wrong at interviews, January 13, 2008

By	Pam (New York) - See all my reviews

As a Columbia MBA student, I found Kessler's book really helpful. I've found interviewing at business school very difficult because I'm surrounded by amazingly well-qualified competition! Interviews are one of my weakest points and I've read a bunch of interview guides in the hopes of finding out what I'm doing wrong. Until this book, I found these guides kind of useless and a waste of money (e.g. the Vault Guide to Finance Interviews). But this book was great. It has changed the way I view interviews and has made interviews considerably less scary. While other books talk about what and what not to say, she focuses more on the approach to your answers. I found this more applicable and practical.

Instead of focusing on you, Kessler focuses on the interviewer. She gives the interviewer's perspective and examples of what the interviewer might have in front of him or her during the interview. This gave me a better idea of what interviewers are looking for and how I should structure my answers. Building answers around competencies has made my answers more strong and concise.

Kessler also has a section of interview examples and her critiques of the candidate's answers. I recognized a bunch of mistakes I made when I was interviewing for jobs after college. I wish I had this book back then! I'm sure it would have opened a lot more windows of opportunity (or at least ended the job search sooner).

These kinds of books tend to stress me out. Kessler's writing is clear and the pacing was just right for someone like me. It was easy to absorb the main points and see how I could apply them to myself. I still got a panic-y feel in my stomach, but much less than I usually get. The summary tables at the end of each chapter were great because they helped me make sure I got what I was supposed to get out of each chapter.

I highly recommend this book. It's helped me get a better idea of why I haven't received offers for jobs I know I was well qualified for. Now instead of just being frustrated about it, I have a way to deal with it!