Classes on interviewing?

December 16, 2014 10:21 PM

I am an exceptionally hard-working, enthusiastic, and passionate (says my managers) employee with terrible interviewing skills (says my lack of job offers). Are there classes I can take on interviewing?

I have a lot of trouble articulating examples/reasons I am a great employee, and I ramble. I have read theory on interviewing, I know what makes a good answer, but my problem is that I can't make my answers sound good (I can walk the walk but I can't talk the talk. An interview is all about telling someone you can do the job well, not showing them).

I was thinking maybe public speaking classes would help, but I bet a class specifically for interviewing would help even more. Looking at a few community college websites, it looks like a lot of the continuing education classes are more like "learn to be a flagger" and whatnot.

I really need someone who knows what they are doing who can coach me.

Does anyone know what search terms I should use to find this? Or have any other leads on where I can find such a class? I am in the Seattle area fyi.

posted by tweedle to Work & Money (6 answers total)

Well, there's http://interviewing.io, but its still in beta.
posted by the agents of KAOS at 11:29 PM on December 16, 2014

Have you checked out the "interviewing" tag on Ask a Manager?
posted by kinddieserzeit at 11:53 PM on December 16, 2014

Perhaps a career counselor could do mock interviews with you? Do you have a friend who is a hiring manager that could give you coaching? It sounds like you know what you want to say, but have a hard time getting to the point. Does this manifest itself in other areas of your life (e.g. when you are in a meeting or talking 1:1 with your manager)?

Interviewing is a higher stakes conversation and I know I'm nervous when I interview. What helps me is to have a belief that there is a job for me out there -- this may or may not be it -- my role in the interview is to help the interviewer and myself discover if this is the right fit.

Hope one of these ideas helps :). Good luck to you!
posted by elmay at 7:51 AM on December 17, 2014

Ramit Sethi, author of the personal finance book "I Will Teach You To Be Rich," offers a job-hunting & interviewing class through his website; the class is called "Find Your Dream Job."

Less-expensive options: look into brushing up your public speaking skills at a local Toastmasters club - you will get instant honest feedback on your delivery style. There are also scads of interviewing-advice books out there - for purchase or at your local library. I've used the advice in Get Hired! to improve my interviewing skills.
posted by Ardea alba at 8:39 AM on December 17, 2014

I would definitely read everything you can on Ask a Manager as suggested above.

I have used Resume to Interviews for resume help and recommend them wholeheartedly, and they also have interview coaching.
posted by radioamy at 9:26 AM on December 17, 2014

It sounds like your main issue is a lack of practice. Going to more interviews and getting constructive feedback may help you out.

Your local colleges/universities may have a career advisement center you can go to where you can talk to someone about setting up mock interviews and whatnot. This option may not be listed anywhere on their website, or it might be hard to find.

Also, if you have friends or family who are professional and whom you think could help, maybe ask one of them to do a mock interview with you.
posted by Urban Winter at 9:57 AM on December 17, 2014