Mastering Interview Skills, 2nd edition

Mention interviews, and the usual response is one of fear (to varying degrees) or boredom (“oh no, not another interview!”). However for most jobs of any worth, it is a process which you must go through (unless you happen to have an important relative who is in the company you wish to work for, and who is able to bring you in, which is not often). 

More often than not, a candidate who is skilled in bringing out the best of himself/herself during the interview process will easily be selected for the job over a more qualified candidate with poorer interview skills. It is the packaging and the presentation which matters most, as the interviewer only gets to see you and hear you for about 20 minutes on average. There are sometimes second or even third interviews, but this usually involves different interviewers, and your interview skills are thereby taxed even further. 

Excellent interview skills will put you in the best position to snag that dream job, and these skills can be trained and practised. I have interviewed many candidates before in my stint in various companies in different industries, and has also gone through numerous interviews before (no thanks to the bad job market in some periods whereby I was looking for a new job). These experiences have greatly enriched my understanding of the interview process, and I have covered as many aspects of this process as possible in this book.  

Remember that the interview process is inherently a human interaction activity, whereby the impression of a candidate is the key determining factor of the hiring decision. And it is to this end in mind that this book is geared fully towards.