Book Review – Instant Interviews: 101 Ways to Get the Best Job of Your Life

There is something about job search and job interview books that seems to encourage authors to use numbers in the title. “301 Smart Answers to Tough Job Interview Questions.” “201 Questions to Ask the Interviewer.” Today we will review another job search book titled “Instant Interviews: 101 Ways to Get the Best Job of Your Life” by Jeffrey G. Allen.

Book Contents

• Resume and cover letter tips.
• Using the Internet to impress employers.
• Networking and improving your qualifications.
• How to succeed at your job interview.
• 101 different ideas to help you land a good job.

Book Strengths

This is yet another book that is designed as much to be a motivator as it is to help you get a job. It does have a number of different tips, and some of the idea you find within the book are going to be new to those that have little experience job hunting. Each chapter is broken down into something you should “Do” and an explanation of why you should do it. The organization is useful for some, and it can be fun to read for a job interview book.

Book Weaknesses

The book has been guerilla marketed across the Internet, so it is well known. Yet overall the content is extremely hard to read. Allen throws words around that only serve to confuse the reader, and while there are some interesting tips within the book, the odd way they are presented takes away from their overall point. The book is designed for graduates with little job experience, which is useful, but it is also written as though it is going to be read by graduates, and as any young person will tell you – when you try to write to youth, you only sound silly.

Overall Thoughts

As usual with these types of job books, it is easily possible that you will get something out of it, especially if you have little job interview experience. Yet the writing in “Instant Interviews: 101 Ways to Get the Best Job of Your Life” is off putting, and can make it very difficult to understand the overarching points, especially to younger workers. There is some useful stuff in there, but much of it is lost. If you find one for cheap, maybe it is worth a read, but there are better books out there.

Book Review – Acing the Interview: How to Ask and Answer the Questions That Will Get You the Job

Ideally, a good job interview book will supply you with strategies for answering questions and impressing the interviewer in addition to giving you good answers to interview questions. “Acing the Interview: How to Ask and Answer the Questions That Will Get You the Job” by Tony Beshara does its best to provide you with all aspects of the interview, including what employers are looking for in today’s economy, how to address what four major concerns employers are looking for, and much more.

Book Contents

• The four types of job interview questions.
• What’s new about the economy and how it affects interviews.
• Questions to ask the interviewer.
• How to answer interview questions.
• When to ask and answer these interview questions.

Book Benefits

On the surface, “Acing the Interview: How to Ask and Answer the Questions That Will Get You the Job” is solid. The questions the book supplies are valuable, and the questions the book suggests you ask the interviewer are equally so. The “4 types of questions” section is also fairly accurate, and is a good starting point for your interview preparation.

Book Weaknesses

The book expects its interviewers to be surprisingly aggressive at job interviews. Aggressiveness is useful for some jobs, but for calmer jobs like IT positions, the benefits are much less useful. In addition, the quality of the book was marred by inadequate spell checks. The book is literally filled with errors. Look for newer version of the book to have fewer mistakes but do not be surprised to find a new copy that is littered with mistakes.

Overall Impressions

“Acing the Interview: How to Ask and Answer the Questions That Will Get You the Job” is not bad, but not great. Lots of the information within the book is useful, but it also appears hastily put together and is not going to benefit those that are applying to non-aggressive corporate positions. Consider it a useful resource for sales interviews, and possibly management interviews, but not a resource for everyone.

Book Review – Best Answers to the 201 Most Frequently Asked Interview Questions

It is no secret that the best way to prepare for a job interview is to practice answering interview questions. Indeed, the more interview questions you have an answer for, the more likely you are to confidently supply the employer with a response that leads to your employment.

Still, how do you know what questions will be asked? You could make them up from the top of your head, but it is far easier to simply find a list of common job interview questions and practice answers for them. One such list can be found in a book known as “Best Answers to the 201 Most Frequently Asked Interview Questions” by Matthew Deluca.

Book Contents

• How to Answer Personal Questions
• How to Answer Educational Questions
• How to Answer Experience Questions
• How to Answer Questions About Behavior
• How to Answer Illegal Questions

Book Benefits

Every applicant can and should benefit from knowing common interview questions and how to answer them. “Best Answers to the 201 Most Frequently Asked Interview Questions” supplies those questions, and gives a run down on strategies for answering each type of question (educational questions, experience questions, etc.). These are useful to all job applicants. “Best Answers to the 201 Most Frequently Asked Interview Questions” also gives you background information on why the question was asked in the first place (including how it was designed to trick you), allowing you to respond accordingly.

Book Weaknesses

This is not a bad book, but it does have a number of weaknesses. First of all, many of the questions in the book are irrelevant in today’s job world, so while it may be offering 201 questions, not all of them are going to be relevant. Secondly, the book is lacking in additional job interview information. Interviews are not just about the questions, and it is the opinion of this author that any interview book should give a great deals of additional interview tips in additional to questions. Otherwise you will have to buy more than one book to learn all of the ins and outs of job interviews.

Overall Impressions

“Best Answers to the 201 Most Frequently Asked Interview Questions” is exactly what it sounds like – a book with interview questions and answers. There is nothing wrong with that. Still it does feel like there should be a bit more to it. Questions and answers are great, but if the questions do not occur during the job interview, then the book becomes retroactively obsolete. It’s not a bad book by any means, but there may be better places to go to get questions for your interview.

Additional Links:

• Common Interview Questions and Answers

Book Review – Winning Job Interviews

There is no denying that at their heart, job interviews are a competition. They are an intense battle that requires you to beat your competition. Some of your competitors may have cheat codes. Others may have a nicer system than you. Your goal is to play your best and beat them anyway, winning the job and leaving the other applicants defeated.

That is the belief Paul Powers took into his book “Winning Job Interviews.” It is designed to prepare applicants for battle and give them the tools they need to land a job in today’s difficult economy.

Book Contents

• Information on finding great jobs.
• Information on getting more job interviews.
• Information on succeeding in those interviews.
• Information on bartering for the highest salary.

Book Benefits

Part of interviewing is about confidence. Paul Powers uses Winning Job Interviews to help inspire that confidence. He writes in a way that is meant to pump you up for the interview and he tries to blend a little humor into the mix so that you find the process more relaxing. He covers job searching in addition to job interviews, but he focuses his book mostly on interviews, which is useful if that is the information you are seeking.

Book Weaknesses

The book is not very long, and the actual amount of information contained in the book is deceptive. Despite being a book on interviewing, there are maybe 20 to 30 pages actually dedicated directly to the act of interviewing, very few interview questions and answers, and a lot of fluff pieces. The author does try to integrate humor but it is not particularly hilarious. The information is also not tailored to a particular group.

Overall Impressions

“Winning Job Interviews” is not a bad book. It is going to be especially useful for those that find books to be uplifting in addition to informative. To cynics or those looking for a lot of interview help, “Winning Job Interviews” is likely not your best bet. If you want to find an interview book that will motivate you and give you some good tips on the job interview process, “Winning Job Interviews” is still worth the purchase. See if you can find a used copy first, though.

Book Review – Job Interviews For Dummies

Everyone knows about the “For Dummies” books. Popular around the globe, these books are designed to simplify complex topics so that everyone can understand them. “Job Interviews for Dummies” by Joyce Lain Kennedy follows in that tradition. It is an easy to read book that provides tips for succeeding at job interviews.

Book Contents

• Preparation advice and strategies.
• Reduce job interview anxiety.
• Supply winning answers to difficult questions.
• Work your qualifications in effective ways.
• Salary negotiation tips.

Book Benefits

As usual, Job Interviews For Dummies presents content in a straight forward manner in terms that are both simple and entertaining. The writing is light hearted and keeps you interested with an order to the topics that makes sense.

One aspect of Job Interviews for Dummies that makes it unique is the information on surviving personality tests, as well as information on evaluating the job offer and how to decide when to walk away. Job Interviews for Dummies is, like all of the “For Dummies” series, informative and rich in tips and advice.

Book Weaknesses

Though it may not be fair to the author or the purpose of the book, the fact that the job interview book is ONLY about job interviews is still a mark against it. Many other books provide similar information while still providing tips for job searching, resumes, etc. That makes this book less valuable, even if it ultimately wasn’t designed for that purpose.

In addition, “Job Interviews for Dummies” does not really provide any new or groundbreaking information. It is simply a culmination of general (though useful) tips about interviews. It is nothing more, nothing less. In many ways that is all you need, but if you have read an in depth interview book before, the information may be less useful. It is also not written for graduates. It is written more as a general reference.

Overall Impressions

“Job Interviews for Dummies” is a good interview reference, especially for beginners and those that feel they need a lot of help in order to be successful in interviews. It is more of a basic reference than an encyclopedia of job interview information, but that is okay, because its primary purpose is to help make interviews easier for those that struggle, and it succeeds in that regard.

Book Review – Can I Wear My Nose Ring to the Interview?

There is no shortage of books with job seeking and interview strategies. Today’s economy has caused many of those books to become outdated. One of the few books that provides you with modern tips and tricks for job searching and interviewing is “Can I Wear My Nose Ring to the Interview?” by Ellen Gordon Reeves. Unlike its competitors, “Can I Wear My Nose Ring to the Interview” supplies its readers with modern day tips for today’s new economy.

Book Contents

• How to Use Connections/Networking
• Creating a Killer Cover Letter and Resume
• Choosing Your References
• Interview Tips and Strategies
• When to Take a Job and When to Leave it

Book Benefits

“Can I Wear My Nose Ring to the Interview?” answers many of the more modern questions of the new economic environment. Written specifically for college graduates, Ellen Gordon Reeves uses light hearted humor and easy to read instructions to provide a helpful guide to new job seekers looking for advice on entering the job market.

Graduates will enjoy Reeves’s prose as she answers many of the questions that affect young job seekers. She address common concerns about networking, interviewing and designing resumes using sound reasoning and judgment. Graduates that are looking for a book that addresses jobs in their age bracket will find Reeves’s book to be informative and not a bore to read.

Book Weaknesses

Content wise, “Can I Wear My Nose Ring to the Interview?” is solid, but the book is geared towards younger generations. It is going to be far less useful to those that have already created a long, established career. There are sections of the book that are meant to relate to those that have been laid off and looking for work, but these sections are sparse and much of the information will be less useful to the book’s older readers. In addition, though the book does address many specific questions about job searching and interviews, it does not go into any serious complexity that some of its readers may be looking for.

Overall Impressions

“Can I Wear My Nose Ring to the Interview?” is one of the best available books to use as an introduction to the job hunt process. Recent college graduates will find a wealth of interesting information to help them make informed decisions as they try to break into today’s economy. Ellen Gordon Reeves’s book is more of an introduction to the job hunt than a manual for finding a job, but it is still an enjoyable read with a lot of useful content for young workers.