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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very helpful advice for a stressful time!, June 19, 2005
This review is from: Fearless Interviewing: How to Win the Job by Communicating with Confidence (Paperback)
FEARLESS INTERVIEWING: HOW TO WIN THE JOB BY COMMUNICATING WITH CONFIDENCE by Marky Stein was recommended to me by a friend who felt she had gained some useful knowledge from the book. I was intrigued by the title, and as I sometimes work with students applying for jobs, I thought it could be an interesting read.
I was a little skeptical, though. These things often seem to promising but are really about situations that don't translate into daily life, or into one's own life, very well. However, I was won over by Stein's book. She gives the reader real things to do in an interview (particularly during that crucial "first impression" phase) that are really helpful. For example, she writes that interviewers are often nervous about the task of hiring someone; therefore, their primary goal is to discern whether the interviewee is friend or foe. There are some particular ways she advocates of making sure the interviewee demonstrates that he or she is a friend: Arrive early; don't touch or put things on the desk of the person interviewing you (that is a personal space, and putting your things, or even your hands there, can be read as threatening); make sure you smile, it shows that you are friendly; don't take a seat until you are invited to do so, and if you are not, ask if you may sit; sit forward on your chair to show energy and enthusiasm, etc. She gives tips on dress, what to bring, etc. She also gives very helpful tips on how to answer common interview questions and what their purpose is (content questions vs. stress questions), how to follow up, including an example of a thank you letter, which she calls a "focus letter," and how to negotiate a good salary.
The best part of the book, though, is how she coaches the reader to find his or her own "Q statements" to use in an interview to demonstrate his or her effective work history. Q statements are quantitative statements of qualities the applicant has. For example, instead of saying, "I'm a good salesman." Say, "I increased my department's sales by 30 percent the first year I was on board," etc. The last section of the book is basically a work sheet in which Stein poses likely questions interviewers will ask applicants, with blanks to write in your own answers, preferably in the form of those Q statements. I found it really enjoyable after reading the book, and it made me really enthusiastic about my career. Because you draft your own statements, it isn't cheesy or fake or scripted. She just shows you how to be at your best in a stressful situation.
As I said, I like how she gives the reader pointers on things to do so that one can feel confident that one is meeting important standards in the interview and application process. I will definitely recommend this book to my students; and I heartily recommend it to anyone who is looking for a new job!
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18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not for every interview, April 27, 2004
This review is from: Fearless Interviewing: How to Win the Job by Communicating with Confidence (Paperback)
This book was fairly useful, but I felt that a lot of the information was geared to high-end professionals and not your average person just interviewing for a job. For instance, the chapter on salary negotiation was a bit over the top. Stein tells you to go in and bargain for an incredibly high salary and then just stand up and shake hands when the interviewer comes to a number you like. It was a prety useless chapter considering most people won't be making the 80,000-120,000 salaries she kept mentioning. The other problem I had was with one of the early statements in the book - Stein says "don't memorize," and yet at the end of the book we are supposed to know over 20-40 of these "Q Statements." I liked the idea of Q statements and backing up your answers with solid examples, but the rest of this book was just common sense, like how to dress and research the company beforehand. I can see now why she might have had the trouble she cites publishing it. There is nothing here you can't find in another book. It's ok, not great.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Your personal interview coach, October 26, 2006
This review is from: Fearless Interviewing: How to Win the Job by Communicating with Confidence (Paperback)
I'm a college student seeking internships, and this guide to interviews has been a great investment. Previously, I had a few bad interviews where a question caught me off guard and my brain froze up. After reading this book, those problems were no more! Fearless Interviewing is a terrific "coach" that will help prepare you for all job interviews.
Fearless Interviewing will get you prepared for almost any tough question by helping you organize your personal strengths and skill in an easy-to-remember format. Its process is so simple, that you will wonder why you didn't think of preparing this way! But the best part of this book, is that it takes you through the tiniest level of details in the interview and tells you the proper thing to do; everything from preparing a packet to hand the interviewer, etiquette and body language, understanding what the interview wants to hear, open-door salary negotiation, and how to write an effective follow-up letter. I found the salary negotiation tactics exceptionally helpful.
The only downside to this book is that it does not cover the mathematical puzzle-type questions you may face in a real hardcore interview, where the employer wants to test "how smart you are." Most investment banks, consulting firms, and Silicon Valley companies ask seemingly silly math problems to push your brain to the limits, for example, "How many pennies do you think can fit in this room?"
Fearless Interviewing is an excellent general gameplay book for all job interviews, but if you are interviewing to be among the top 1% firms, the best of the best jobs, you may need some additional books to give you some more practice!
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