Customer Reviews

Knock 'Em Dead 2000

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

 

 

This is a great book to use if you're looking for a standard business job like accountant or manager, where there are zillions of openings and zillions of candidates, and you have to set yourself apart from the herd. However, in my field, economic/technical consulting, and in government or academia, job openings are fewer and more specialized. Success as a candidate depends a lot on technical qualifications and experience, and jobs do tend to be listed in the paper or in your professional publication. So this book didn't help me much with identifying positions.

The best part of Knock `Em Dead is the section on interviewing, not so much for the specific answers as for general attitude: it helps you to understand that people doing the hiring have certain tasks they want done, and you should target your answers to showing how you can help with those tasks. There is also good pep-talk type stuff on overcoming obstacles and responding to objections. On the other hand, I would think twice before using these answers. The people I work with are smart and have pretty sensitive BS detectors. An answer like, "I believe in doing a day's work for a day's pay... This requires organization, time management skills and a positive attitude," in my experience, will not fool anybody, but will come off as smarmy and manipulative - not the impression you want to make in an interview!

Finally, the "updated" section on Internet job-hunting is OK, but the up-front part focuses way too much on search services that cost money, while the free stuff - the best and only way to go - is buried way back in an appendix.

The bottom line: good for general issues, but lacking in the specifics.

This is an excellent book. I found it after losing a job in 1993 and it completely turned my interviewee skills around. I have returned to it and referred others to it ever since. I have received an offer from every job applied for since first reading it. It provides comprehensive advice including preparation, professionalism, appearance, technique, communication, confidence, body language, mistakes, intro/cover letters, follow-up/thank-you letters and calls, questions to ask and/or defer, and how to separate and distance yourself from other interviewees. It also contains helpful advice for proactively recognizing potentially poor employers and/or interviewers (based on bad or illegal interview questions.) It may have some "b.s.-ish" suggested responses, but the author notes such as general guidelines and recommends paraphrasing such in one's own style and demeanor. A must-have for any professional's library.

As Career Planning and Development Host at Bella Online, and instructor of employability and lifeskills for a local college, I found Yates Knock Em Dead books invaluable.

Much of the information we already know, but Yates pulls out some of the key ingredients in the job search - things that many people overlook in their hunt.

I particularly like the basics of interviewing - helping people to see what the interviewers are looking for with specific types of questions. Having realization that there is a specific goal for certain questions helps the job-hunter prepare the best answers - the ones that demonstrate the qualities the interviewers are asking about, instead of flailing while trying to figure out what they want. Preparation is key in interviews, and Knock Em Dead helps us consider our answers to even the most difficult questions.

I have been on both sides of the interview table, and yet I still find this a useful book. I used it in my teaching, and still refer to it regularly.

Martin Yate is a genious when it comes to job hunting. He is the only author who relates to the reader. Martin uses real life examples to help walk anyone through the entire process. Since I review all job hunting books for a living, I can honestly say this is the only one you need!

This book impressed me with the variety of helpful tips and techniques provided to the job hunter. Martin Yate is a pro and shows it in this strong guide to more effective interviewing. I recommend it.

Wayne D. Ford, Ph.D., author of "The Accelerated Job Search" and "How to Spot a Liar in a Job Interview". docwifford@msn.com

I found this book very helpful with my recent job search. I was very much out of practice with interviewing, and this book helped me to focus on improving my weak points. It also gave me some idea of what to expect from different types of interviews. I would recommend it to anyone who feels shaky about their interviewing skills.

Bad book. Waste of money. The resume book is worse. What Yate doesn't understand is that resumes and HR/recruiter types don't get you jobs. Talk to the person that you will be working for, or play the numbers game (and therefore end up unemployed, and delivering pizzas after you give up looking for a job).

He gives scenarios and instructions for you to follow after certain events, like getting a rejection letter after an interview. Even if you don't come off sounding stupid after trying something canned and corny, it's a scenario created by looking for a job the old-fashioned way, which is the wrong course of action, unless you want to stay unemployed for a long time.

Marvin, this is the beginning of the new millennium, not the sixties. You're sitting on a big pile of money that grows with each edition of your book. Why don't you re-evaluate whether you are doing this to help people find employment, or to falsely raise the hopes of job seekers so you can benefit?

The book gives dozens of testimonials about how people magically got interviews and job offers after reading the book. How about printing the stories of thousands of job seekers that failed, even after reading what is supposed to be the most wonderful job search book ever created?