Customer Reviews

The Complete Q&A Job Interview Book, 2nd Edition

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I've just started my job search, but already I have read a few job interview books. This one does not compare favorably with the others, such as Knock Em Dead and 101 Great Answers to the Toughest Interview Questions. Like 101 Great Answers it has questions and sample responses. However, unlike 101 Great Answers, the responses seem canned. Other books emphasize that you need to answer the questions for yourself and not just cut and paste the responses into your repetoire of answers, but this one leads you to believe that if you follow their responses exactly, you will more likely have a better interview. What also is missing is a clear overview of the process you need to go through to prepare yourself. This is where Knock Em Dead is much better. It puts the interview in the context of the whole job search process.

Recommendation: Choose a better interview book. The suggestions in this book won't make you stand out from the rest or be true to yourself.

I found this book absolutely worthless for anyone pursuing a professional career. 50% or more of the questions it helps you answer are questions that I have never heard asked in an interview and it would be the waste of an interviewers time to ask them. I have interviewed people for my past employers before and I would never dream of asking most of these questions, so why would you waste your time preparing for them? What's worse, the questions that I hear most frequently when being interviewed don't seem to be mentioned in this book.

I found this book to be very good at basic questions that you may find in an interview. Honestly, I have been asked a few right out of this book. This is a very straight forward, no-nonsense guide to basic interview questions. I did not rate this book higher because there are other preparation guides out there that do a better job when it comes to specific job functions.

Jeffery Allen takes a very straight forward approach when it comes to viewing what a job interview can be. Often these are dull interviews where it is difficult to shine in, and he brings that point home very clearly. He does a good job of coaching you to have good body language, a solid voice delivery, and to think before you answer. It is not likely that an interviewer is going to ask you odd questions like what kind of sea creature would you be, so do not worry about what is unlikely to happen.

He suggests that the is preparation to the standard questions that are asked. Give the facts only, don't elaborate too much. Do not tell your life story, give answers that pertain to the job. If they want to know about you, they want to know what makes you fit towards their job, not that you run marathons. Deflect personal questions and turn those answers into general answers. Turn these answers into job specific answers. One question is do you have a car and can you make it to work on time? An answer may be something like, I have reliable transportation, and arriving to work on-time has never been an issue for me.

I think a good job is done at getting you to answer the basic questions. The key here is preparation. It is not the time to think of your answer at the job interview, at this point you should be ready to say your answer immediately when asked the question. Many questions are asked in this book that will make you think and be ready for your next job interview. Going over these questions and deciding what your answers will be ahead of time will aide you greatly in your next job interview.

Read the whole book. I would say it's definitely not geared for the lower lever people. Seems like it was for high level management. It is a good book though. I'm government so not everything pertained and I'm not high level.

This book is great. It gave me the confidence that I needed to get the job. All possible interview questions are covered. No such thing as a curve ball question. With this book, I know I can get any job I want.

Everyone that I've lent this book to has found it very helpful. This book is highly recommended and I believe it's the best out there in the market.

This is an excellent book. The author has done a great job in pulling together the elements which spell success in the quest for employment. I recommend it.

Wayne D. Ford, Ph.D., author of "The Accelerated Job Search" docwifford@msn.com