Customer Reviews

101 Great Answers to the Toughest Interview Questions

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Our company's research has shown that poor communications cause more stalled progress in organizations than any other issue. One of the primary areas where this occurs is in hiring. Most people end up giving an incomplete and misleading impression of how they would do in a new job. Most interviewers fail to ask and pursue questions in ways that will overcome this problem. Mr. Fry's book helps surmount both problems so that the right person gets the right job for her or him, and the company involved.

One of the great strengths of this book is that it has an organized process for a job seeker to prepare for interviews. As Mr. Fry puts it, "Interviewing is 50 percent preparation." There are pages of questions to be answered as background before considering the questions that interviewers are likely to inquire about. This preparation makes developing those answers much easier, and improves the quality of the responses as well. But beyond that, the preparation will also help the job seeker do some thoughtful self-examination for determining where your strengths, interests, and background fit.

The author does a nice job of explaining that the key question is: "Who are you?" in terms of your potential ability to do the job.

Mr. Fry encourages honesty, and shows ways that interviewers will try to check on that quality in you. On the other hand, he also encourages you to give responses that will play well with the interviewer (spinning as it were). I suspect that a more straightforward approach would be more appealing to most interviewers.

For example, one sample question is to describe the latest book you have read. Rather than describe some wholly inappropriate book, he encourages an answer with a business-related book like Stephen Covey's The Seven Habits . . . . I think a better response would be to say, "Why don't I describe a book I read that relates to this position?" Then if the interviewer doesn't object, start talking about one that seems relevant. Otherwise, you can give the impression of being someone who only reads business books, which is probably not true.

A similar issue comes up with the question: "How long have you been looking?" The author suggests saying a short period of time, even if it has been long. I think a better and more honest answer would be to describe how long you have been looking for the specific position you are interviewing for, and explain why it may have been a while. For example, you may be very choosy, or perhaps there are few positions of the sort you really want. That would make a person more credible to me as an interviewer.

The advice is very good in one sense -- it places equal emphasis on good answers and on bad ones. So you will know what can hurt you. You will also learn about the different types of interviews, and what can help and hurt you in each one.

I found almost every question that I have ever used as an interviewer over the last 30 years in this book, so you should be well prepared for most interviews by following this book. Your self-confidence should also be higher because you are unlikely to be caught unprepared by a question.

Just be sure that the job you are looking for and take is one that excites you both for what the organization stands for and what you will be doing. Otherwise, you will simply be selling yourself short to get a paycheck. Don't do that!

Good luck in finding that ideal position!

I personally recommend this book. When I interviewed with Microsoft several years ago, I was astonished at how IDENTICAL their interviewing process was with that described in this book. After reading the book, I was not surprised at ANY of the questions that were thrown at me. And I could tell exactly when the interviewer was trying to "drill down" to catch me off-guard. I highly recommend this book to anybody who is interviewing for the first time, or for anybody who has had a job for a decade or more and is just now venturing out again. Interviewing tactics have changed radically since a decade ago.

This book can rehabilitate you and may indeed place you where you'd like to be. I have been on both sides of the interview process over many years and it's amazing, in retrospect, that I've managed to work or have any decent employees. From the most basic preparation, (something I've never done- except to fret over my outfit,) to practicing, seems like a no brainer- I speak for myself.

EVERYBODY knows you're not suppossed to dis a past employer, right? I've known that for years, and I just did it last week. I knew when I was doing it, that it was wrong; but I couldn't dig my way into a more positive response. In fact, that's why I bought the book. Fry takes you around those stumbling blocks with a variety of approaches, even with regard to keeping a flow in the facts that you are putting forth.

Of course, you have to do the work. As with every manual, it isn't a novel, it's behavior, and practice, not how well, (again, in my case,) you `understand' it.

You can't go wrong with the material here. It's sound, it's been tested and it's completely common sensical- it just doesn't come by osmosis. Do it, it helps. Good luck.

Perhaps the best endorsement I can give for a book on interviewing is that it helped me get the job I wanted. I graduated recently from an Ivy League college with a great record, but I failed after a round of interviews to secure the jobs I wanted. I bought Ron Fry's book, studied it, and realised the many things I was doing wrong during interviews.

This is probably obvious to the savvy, but fresh graduates may not realise that interviews are not the time and place to "be yourself", but to prepare and approach it purposefully like a saleman trying to get the customer to buy the product.

This book does a great job of helping you answer the most difficult interview questions. As a training manager, who trains managers and executives on how to interview, I feel I am qualified to say this book works.

This book is a wonderful resource once you get the interview. This leaves us with the question, "How do you get an interview?" Simple, know the type of job you want and pursue it, if you do not know what type of job you want you may want to read the classic, "How to find your dream job and make it a reality." By Jason McClure.

Read this book, and practice for your job interviews and you will be successful in your job hunt.

This book covers topics from killer questions to questions you should or should not ask at the end of an interview. Excellent book to help prepare for an interview!

If you freeze when you go on a job interview, join the crowd . . . lots of
other folks do, too.

I've even had this happen to me, at times, so I was intrigued by
the premise of 101 GREAT ANSWERS TO THE TOUGHEST
INTERVIEW QUESTIONS, third edition--a CD version of the book
written and read by Ron Fry.

What surprised me was the fact that I learned a lot more than
just the rote answers to questions . . . Fry also covers what
to do both before and after the interview, and he offers many
useful suggestions that just aren't used by all job-seekers.

For example:

* When asked, do you have any questions . . . never say "no." The
interviewer will assume you're not interested. Some possibilities
to consider: Can you give me a formal job description? Does this
job lead to other jobs in the company? What happened to
the other person who had the job?

* Send thank you notes to every interviewer you meet. (He even
shows you how to write them!)

* Never accept an offer the time it is offered.

Yet as I was listening, I found myself wondering how he
would recommend answering the one question that always
throws me: What salary do you expect?

He suggests to first make sure you know what is typical for
the industry . . . when you do, then you can respond, "I'd expect
something in the broad range of (cite two figires with the bottom
one being the lowest you'd consider accepting).

101 GREAT ANSWERS got me thinking, which is always
a good sign . . . in addition, I'll always remember how
to respond to this other typical question: Why are you leaving
your present job? the author suggests:

* Be positive. The key word to remember is "more." You want
more responsibility, more challenges, more opportunity and finally
as a consequence of those other mores, more money.

this is a great book for the price....

however, this book is not geared toward entry-level positions at all... i am applying for an assistantship for grad school and it is not quite geared toward this either, however, the book has great organization and great topics... it does have some great questions to help you think before you sit down for the real thing!

As a recruiter I would recommend this book to any candidate who needed advice on how to be interviewed.

101 Great Answers to the Toughest Interview Questions, provides a detailed, step-by-step process that any candidate, experienced or novice, can use to prepare for an interview. Candidates are told to prepare a series of worksheets documenting their experience, and formulate answers to predictable but challenging questions such as "Tell me about yourself," as well as the dreaded "What would you change about yourself?" The idea is to prepare the best possible response, not as a way to fake it, but as a way to avoid mistakes when one is on the spot. For each question, the book contains an example of a good response, and pinpoints the many areas that might trip up a job seeker .

Unlike many books for job seekers, this one provides solutions for experienced and inexperienced candidates. The evaluation technique goes beyond the vague common sense advice provided by most websites. (Be on time, be positive, use spell-check. tell them your greatest fault is that you work too hard...)

The book includes good information on phone screens. Given the large number of resumes that companies receive, phone screens are a routine step in the process. This book gives the experienced candidate a way to prepare for a phone interview where things like eye contact, are not possible.

Fry advises candidates to be honest, and to present themselves in the best possible way. What could be better than that?

anyone interviewing will get a lot of very useful information from this book ... it is NOT a "if they ask this ... you answer this" type of book ... it just gives you food for thought!