Boost Your Interview IQ

by Carole Martin

The ultimate guide to acing any interview -- revised and updated to give you the edge in today's competitive job market

Job interviews aren't discussions; they're oral exams--and the candidate with all the right answers gets the job. "Boost Your Interview IQ," Second Edition, helps you ace that big test with skill-building exercises, an in-depth "Interview IQ" test, and other resources to let you craft winning answers to the most important questions interviewers ask.

In these pages, you'll discover ways to present your experiences in a compelling narrative that showcases your skills, knowledge, and personality--and you'll learn the right way to answer tricky "behavioral" questions like a pro. Plus you'll get interview strategies custom tailored to the needs of management/executive-level candidates, new graduates, career changers, and people reentering the market.

In today's tough job market, the best-prepared candidate wins--and in this economy you're going to need every advantage to set you apart from the pack. "Boost Your Interview IQ" is the book that delivers the right tools to do the job of GETTING the job.

Genres: Nonfiction, Business

272 pages, Paperback

First published December 17, 2003

Reviews

[Jolanta (knygupė) · Rating 3 out of 5]

OK... I'm ready for an interview...Just give me a call...

[Paula · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read prior to this, Carole Martin's book "What to Say in Every Job Interview: How to Understand What Managers Are Really Asking and Give the Answers That Land the Job." It was published in 2013 and I think that book was better than this one.

This book was ok. It's mainly a quiz time book where you select which answer you think is best. She gives 3 responses for each common interview question and the are labeled as Weakest Answer, Mediocre Answer, or Strongest Answer. Obviously with this quiz, you want to be able to select the Strongest Answer option.

Part 2 is where Martin goes into some of her principles for having a successful interview. As I said before, her "What to Say in Every Job Interview" book outlines the principles better. I think this book is nice to do as a way to test your ability to spot good answers.

The remaining sections of the book covers questions for Management & Executives, Career Changers & Reentry, and New Grads/Students.

[Paulina Durán · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a nice book for interview preps. It basically contains questions that you might get at interviews and, with each question, you get 3 possible answers to choose from. On the back of each page, it explains why each answer is good or bad so you understand what are the weak points you might want to watch out for.
After reading it, this is what I learned: tell (short) stories where you state the situation-the actions-the results, be specific, mention endorsements, balance the 'I's and the 'We's, sound positive and do research of the companies current situation and where it's headed to.

[Ron · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is definitely not your average book on job interviews. The book basically consists of many interview questions, each with three responses. The reader identifies which kind of response they would most likely give, and on the following page the author analyzes all three responses and rates them as strong, mediocre or weak in one paragraph each.

I found that if I answered the questions in my own words, I could compare them to the authors responses and see how well I responded. I've lent this book out numerous times, and many of the people who read my copy purchased a copy for themselves. It's really an invaluable reference tool.

[Clair · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great book for rehearsing interview answer structures, but the examples can sometimes seem too impersonal. Must remember to add "yourself" into answering these questions, but the book definitely makes you more comfortable with various types and styles of interview questions, as well as leaves you thinking about ways you can answer them and situations in your professional and academic past that work for these questions. Gets you brainstorming.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked the style of this one. It took common interview questions, then listed three answers. On the next page the answers were rated and then listed explanations as to why the answers were good or bad (or good, better, best). I prepared (tried to) myself by trying to come up with my own 'best' answers so many of these questions.

[Brian Black · Rating 2 out of 5]

You can read 10 pages and get the jist of the book. This book is all about being prepared to answer Behavioral-based questions in an interview. Once you learn about it the book becomes very repetitive.

[Karena]

Own a copy.

[valpal · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got the job.

[Constance · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a particularly useful book to read for me. I didn't realize how poor some of answers were at interviews. The author reused some questions in the later chapters.

[A.J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book helps train you to learn the pattern of good interview answers and helps prepare you by developing your stories.