9 Reasons Why You Should Get an Interview Coach

There’s a lot riding on an interview:

Being able to pay your bills.

Being able to support your family.

Success in life.

I’m not saying this to scare you or put more pressure on you.  You are so close to getting a job, you just have this one, tiny…okay…gigantic hurdle.

You have two options: Self Preparation vs. Interview Coaching

1.       Self-Preparation: Research interview questions on your own, practice in the mirror, teach yourself how to be confident and hope and pray the interview goes well.

2.       Interview Coaching: Get a professional coach who prepares to interview you as the Hiring Manager would.  Get feedback on how you answer questions.  Practice questions with the coach.  Learn the tools to be confident during an interview.

I understand it is a difficult choice to make.  You’re tight on money and trying to save every dollar you can for food or the next mortgage payment while you’re trying to find your next job.

Before you pass on hiring an Interview Coach, I want to give you 10 reasons why you should strongly consider hiring one.  The decision can change your life. 

Now let’s get into the reasons to get professional interview help.

Reasons Why You Should Hire an Interview Coach

Reason #1 For Hiring an Interview Coach: Personalized Preparation

When you hire a Coach, most of the time, they will spend part of their coaching call learning your background and understanding your needs.  They’ll get a sense of your strengths and weaknesses during the interview processes and learn about why you’ve failed at prior interviews.

They’ll use all of this data to guide you on how to best approach your interview.

The best coaches and trainers are able to understand who you are and tailor their training to you so that you’re in the best position to succeed.  Think of yourself as Rocky training to fight Ivan Drago in Rocky IV.  If you haven’t seen the movie, shame on you, but basically, his trainers put him through the gauntlet before his actual fight.  It’s kind of like what an Interview Coach will do for you, minus the physical labor part.

Warning: Be wary of coaches who have a system and don’t take a personalized approach.  I’d recommend running away from those types of people.

Reason #2 For Hiring an Interview Coach: Boost Your Confidence

I’m going to tell you a little secret….

90% of what makes a successful interview is how confident you were.

When you try and go at it alone, you have no one besides yourself to boost your confidence level.  I’m not sure about you, but the voice in my head doesn’t always make me feel too confident, so having the mental

Part of what an Interview Coach will do for you is actually…coach you.  Be inspiring.  Be motivating.  If you’ve ever done anything competitive and had a coach in the past, you know the feeling a coach can give you. 

There’s a reason why every great player has a great coach behind them.  I’ll give you a couple seconds to name a great athlete that didn’t have a great coach……

Michael Jordan?

Tiger Woods?

Derek Jeter?

All three of these guys had great coaches to boost their confidence and give them the mental tools to be who they were.  This is exactly what your coach will do for you.

Reason #3 For Hiring an Interview Coach: Targeted Interview Practice

Remember before how I said that an Interview Coach tailors their Interview prep for you?  This is the part where it pays off.

Interview practice with a coach consists of the coach spending hours preparing themselves to be the Hiring Manager for the job you are interviewing for.  This takes hours of research off your hands and puts it on them.

They’ll ask you questions as the Hiring Manager would, so you can feel like you’re actually having the interview.  You’ll have to spend a little time preparing on your end, but you’ll get to feel what it’s like to be in the interview without having to actually be in the interview.

One of the best ways to boost confidence is to practice, so by practicing for the interview with the pretend Hiring Manager, you’ll feel confident for when you’re in the real thing.

Reason #4 For Hiring an Interview Coach: Industry Knowledge Of Hiring Practices

When you hire an Interview Coach, you’re hiring someone who does this for a living, which means they live and breathe the job industry.

Your coach should be someone who’s had tons of other clients, so they should know what Hiring Managers are looking for, what you should say and not say when you’re asked certain questions, and everything in between.

Good luck trying to prepare for an interview and gain the industry knowledge good coaches have by yourself.  Again, it’s possible, but you’re going to have to put in a great deal of time to try and make up for the fact that you don’t have a coach.

Warning: It’s important to note here that if you’ve made the decision to hire an Interview Coach, do some research on who you’re hiring.  Make sure you hire someone who’s been around the block a few times.  If you’re unsure of who to hire, keep reading and you’ll see who I point you to.

Reason #5 For Hiring An Interview Coach: Unbiased Feedback on How To Improve Your Interview

It’s not too often, we get honest and unbiased feedback.

Think about the last time that’s actually happened for you…..

An Interview Coach will take detailed notes during the Mock Interview, and let you know what went well and what you need to improve.  This is something that’s worth the price by itself.  Seeing how you can improve during the interview is a gift that should put you way ahead of your competition (unless they hired coaches too).

Whether you talk in circles, avoid answering the questions, don’t ask enough questions, or are more nervous than a prisoner in line for the electric chair, an Interview Coach can help you face your weaknesses and fears head on and turn them into strengths.

Reason #6 For Hiring An Interview Coach: Help You Learn From Past Mistakes

Back to a sports analogy…

After a game, a coach usually goes through film with the players, pointing out what went wrong and what went right. 

Since it’s most likely illegal to film during an interview, definitely don’t do that.or do it…but check with a lawyer before you do it….but for arguments sake, since we’re not filming interviews, the only thing an Interview Coach can do with you is help you fix the mistakes you make known to them. 

Reason #7 For Hiring an Interview Coach: Stay Up to Date On Hiring Trends

When you hire an Interview Coach, in addition to getting interview guidance, you’ll also get insights on how Hiring Managers are hiring.

Since they live and breath the industry, they know what type of candidates Hiring Managers are looking for and they can help put you in the best position to get hired.

For example, there could be cases where Hiring Managers in a certain industry are looking for candidates who interview a certain way.  An Interview Coach could tailor their coaching to help you highlight the skills Hiring Managers are looking for.

Reason #8 For Hiring an Interview Coach: Enhance Your Negotiation Skills

One of the most difficult questions you can get asked in an Interview is the salary question.  Many times, this won’t come up on an interview, but if it does and you aren’t ready for it, it could sink your interview faster than the Titanic hitting an iceberg.

If you only hired an Interview Coach specifically for salary negotiations, it would be worth that alone.  Since a good coach has had numerous clients before you, they know what you should say and what to steer clear of when it comes to money talk.

Whether you like it or not, the salary talk is extremely important and could be the difference between signing a contract for $30,000 more than you thought you’d be getting or being underpaid dramatically.

Have the confidence to negotiate the salary that’s right for you during the interview process.  The best way to do this is with an Interview Coach.

Reason #9 For Hiring an Interview Coach: Add to Your Network

A good coach will have a deep network of former clients in various industries, Hiring Managers or colleagues that may be able to help you in the industry that you’re looking to work in.

Warning: Steer clear of any coach that tries to entice you by bragging about their connections.  Someone who’s trying to sell you on who they know rather than what they know probably isn’t a great Interview Coach. 

Having connections that may be able to help you is an added perk of what you can get from a good Interview Coach.

Impact of An Interview Coach

Taking these reasons into consideration, the impact of an Interview Coach can be felt after just one or two sessions.  If you’ve gone the self-preparation route time and time again, and have continued to fail, hiring an Interview Coach will immediately give you the confidence and self-awareness you haven’t had before.

What to Do Next

Now that you’ve decided the right move is to hire an Interview Coach, it’s time to find the coach that’s right for you. 

Qualities of a Great Career Coach:

-Honest

-Trustworthy

-Knowledgeable in the industry

-Expert Communicator

-A Passionate Teacher

With that being said, do your research to find someone who hits all of those qualities, and you feel comfortable with.

You can start your search with reaching out to us at Your Career Strategyand book an absolutely FREE call to see if we’re right for you.  If n