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301 Smart Answers to Tough Interview Questions: Land the Job of Your Dreams with the Ultimate Interview Prep Book
"As valuable for the executive going into her umpteenth interview as for the college grad seeking his first real job." -Richard Zackson, Business Coach, Professional Coaching Network
In today's job market, how you perform in an interview can make or break your hiring possibilities. If you want to stand a head above the rest of the pack, 301 Smart Answers to Tough Interview Questions is the definitive guide you need to the real, and sometimes quirky, questions employers are using to weed out candidates.
Do you know the best answers
--It looks like you were fired twice. How did that make you feel? --Do you know who painted this work of art? --What is the best-managed company in America? --If you could be any product in the world, what would you choose? --How many cigars are smoked in a year? --Are you a better visionary or implementer? Why?
Leaning on her own years of experience and the experiences of more than 5,000 recent candidates, Vicky Oliver shows you how to finesse your way onto a company's payroll.
"Everything I always wanted to know about job interviews but was afraid to be asked." -Claude Chene, Senior Vice President, Head of Business Development, U.K. and Europe, Sanford Bernstein & Co.
In today's job market, how you perform in an interview can make or break your hiring possibilities. If you want to stand a head above the rest of the pack, 301 Smart Answers to Tough Interview Questions is the definitive guide you need to the real, and sometimes quirky, questions employers are using to weed out candidates.
Do you know the best answers
--It looks like you were fired twice. How did that make you feel? --Do you know who painted this work of art? --What is the best-managed company in America? --If you could be any product in the world, what would you choose? --How many cigars are smoked in a year? --Are you a better visionary or implementer? Why?
Leaning on her own years of experience and the experiences of more than 5,000 recent candidates, Vicky Oliver shows you how to finesse your way onto a company's payroll.
"Everything I always wanted to know about job interviews but was afraid to be asked." -Claude Chene, Senior Vice President, Head of Business Development, U.K. and Europe, Sanford Bernstein & Co.
384 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2005
About the author
Vicky Oliver
9 books7 followersVicky Oliver isn’t just a Career Coach, she’s a Career Artist, helping people to find and hone their professional brand and using it to reach their career goals. Her extensive experience and research make her a top job-hunting consultant. Her background in marketing and as an award-winning copywriter at brand name, top-tier advertising agencies in Manhattan, has made her an expert not only in advertising but also in branding oneself online through emerging internet technologies. She channels that artistic energy now in helping others begin or enhance their careers.
Vicky’s quick wit, high energy, and sexy charm have made her a popular mainstay on dozens of nationally syndicated radio shows, including Chicago’s Job Talk USA, San Francisco’s Business Shrink and Air America. Radio hosts often comment she’s one of the most fun interviews and / or listener call-in sessions they’ve ever had! Her television appearances include Bloomberg Television, MSNBC, CBS, and local network affiliates throughout New York. Check her out on New York’s WB Channel 11 interview on You Tube at www.youtube.com/watch?v=lksaxfrzouI.
Vicky speaks publicly in career seminars and job fairs. She was designated in-house job hunting expert at the Shomex Diversity Fair in Madison Square Garden. Her first book, 301 Smart Answers to Tough Interview Questions is a best seller in its category. It's available in eight countries and has been translated into Chinese and Turkish.
Vicky’s quick wit, high energy, and sexy charm have made her a popular mainstay on dozens of nationally syndicated radio shows, including Chicago’s Job Talk USA, San Francisco’s Business Shrink and Air America. Radio hosts often comment she’s one of the most fun interviews and / or listener call-in sessions they’ve ever had! Her television appearances include Bloomberg Television, MSNBC, CBS, and local network affiliates throughout New York. Check her out on New York’s WB Channel 11 interview on You Tube at www.youtube.com/watch?v=lksaxfrzouI.
Vicky speaks publicly in career seminars and job fairs. She was designated in-house job hunting expert at the Shomex Diversity Fair in Madison Square Garden. Her first book, 301 Smart Answers to Tough Interview Questions is a best seller in its category. It's available in eight countries and has been translated into Chinese and Turkish.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
September 1, 2018
Posted at Shelf Inflicted
I have been in my current position for nearly 5 years and was hoping to stay until I retire. The pay is low and the commute is deadly, but my supervisor is undemanding, lets me work from home once a week, and the work is easy. In spite of the long drive, I do quite a bit of walking (at least 10,000 steps a day, so I can enjoy all the fabulous restaurants!). Sadly, my supervisor is going on sabbatical and no longer has a need for my position. Instead of laying me off, he is allowing me to stay and use a large chunk of my workday for job search activities. Though I’m grateful he’s doing that, I’m apprehensive about being over 50 and looking for work.
These are 301 commonly asked interview questions answered by the author. In the beginning of the book, she suggests you tailor the questions and answers to your own situation. In all my years of working experience, I have not been asked many of these questions during my interviews. Thankfully so, because I am not good at those questions that have no right or wrong answer or brainteasers:
“If you could be any product in the world, what would you choose?”
“How many cigars are smoked in a year?”
I found many of the questions and answers tailored to higher-level corporate jobs. Those of us who work in public safety, service, trades, or clerical jobs would benefit by looking for help elsewhere. The information contained in the gray boxes was useful. Here you could find condensed chapter summaries, interviewing tips, how to handle personal questions or insensitive questions, etc.
Though I read it from cover to cover, and found some of the answers entertaining, they were a lot saucier than I’d feel comfortable with, and I found little that was relevant to my own situation.
Nevertheless, I got a job offer today, so it must have been helpful enough.
I have been in my current position for nearly 5 years and was hoping to stay until I retire. The pay is low and the commute is deadly, but my supervisor is undemanding, lets me work from home once a week, and the work is easy. In spite of the long drive, I do quite a bit of walking (at least 10,000 steps a day, so I can enjoy all the fabulous restaurants!). Sadly, my supervisor is going on sabbatical and no longer has a need for my position. Instead of laying me off, he is allowing me to stay and use a large chunk of my workday for job search activities. Though I’m grateful he’s doing that, I’m apprehensive about being over 50 and looking for work.
These are 301 commonly asked interview questions answered by the author. In the beginning of the book, she suggests you tailor the questions and answers to your own situation. In all my years of working experience, I have not been asked many of these questions during my interviews. Thankfully so, because I am not good at those questions that have no right or wrong answer or brainteasers:
“If you could be any product in the world, what would you choose?”
“How many cigars are smoked in a year?”
I found many of the questions and answers tailored to higher-level corporate jobs. Those of us who work in public safety, service, trades, or clerical jobs would benefit by looking for help elsewhere. The information contained in the gray boxes was useful. Here you could find condensed chapter summaries, interviewing tips, how to handle personal questions or insensitive questions, etc.
Though I read it from cover to cover, and found some of the answers entertaining, they were a lot saucier than I’d feel comfortable with, and I found little that was relevant to my own situation.
Nevertheless, I got a job offer today, so it must have been helpful enough.
December 13, 2016
Although this book wasn't a bad way to prepare for an interview, it was so long and exhaustive that it was always the first of my three interviewing books that I set aside. There is excellent information here, good ideas that can be applied to any interview for any job, but the number of interview questions covered actually made me feel overwhelmed rather than prepared. I found myself skipping the actual questions and only reading the grey boxes which contained interviewing tips and explanations as to why one should answer certain questions in certain ways. I definitely did find this book helpful and came away from it a better interviewer, but it wasn't a cover-to-cover read for me. I recommend this book if you have plenty of time to read and ponder the information therein before you have to go to your real interview. If you're in a hell of a hurry, on the other hand, choose a smaller book.
November 24, 2019
I have to be honest and say that I dropped the reading of this half-way through it.
Right out of the bad, the author warns that one shouldn't simply repeat the answers she's giving here, but put it their (the reader) own twist. And she does a good thing by adding, after the answer, some tips around the answer itself: why it works, what you shouldn't do, why such questions are asked...
But not every single answer have an explanation. They are there by themselves, which makes a bit hard to put your own twist on them if you don't have any pointers on why it works.
Also, so answers are simply... to hard to agree with. For example, if you have kids and the interviewer asks if you had any problem staying up late working, the answer is around the lines of "Fuck no. Fuck my kids. I love work. Go work!" Not on those terms, but the interviewer is basically asking if you would mind letting go of your time with your kids and you should answer "sure, fine"? Obviously, you're trying to get that job, but what would happen if you say something like "I don't mind staying late working instead of seeing my kids" only to, months later, have your boss pissing on your hear for going home early 'cause one of your kids is sick? Are you going to answer "but it was my kid, and they were sick!"? That's not what you said in the interview...
Obviously, there are things you can do to doing fine in an interview, but I guess lying is not one of those.
Right out of the bad, the author warns that one shouldn't simply repeat the answers she's giving here, but put it their (the reader) own twist. And she does a good thing by adding, after the answer, some tips around the answer itself: why it works, what you shouldn't do, why such questions are asked...
But not every single answer have an explanation. They are there by themselves, which makes a bit hard to put your own twist on them if you don't have any pointers on why it works.
Also, so answers are simply... to hard to agree with. For example, if you have kids and the interviewer asks if you had any problem staying up late working, the answer is around the lines of "Fuck no. Fuck my kids. I love work. Go work!" Not on those terms, but the interviewer is basically asking if you would mind letting go of your time with your kids and you should answer "sure, fine"? Obviously, you're trying to get that job, but what would happen if you say something like "I don't mind staying late working instead of seeing my kids" only to, months later, have your boss pissing on your hear for going home early 'cause one of your kids is sick? Are you going to answer "but it was my kid, and they were sick!"? That's not what you said in the interview...
Obviously, there are things you can do to doing fine in an interview, but I guess lying is not one of those.
February 17, 2021
I give this 3.5 stars but rounded it up. This book is filled with probably every possible question that would be asked in an interview. Some of the example answers aren't useful, but it's a good start to know how these difficult questions can be answered.
September 28, 2013
I didn't have time to read this book cover-to-cover before my last interview, so I just used it to dip in and out of chapters with questions/topics I had struggled with in the past. I found this book really useful for brainstorming on what I might say for different questions and what aspects of myself I would like to emphasize/downplay. I felt amazing during my last interview thanks to the prep work I did with this book. There was only 1 question asked that I hadn't fully thought through. I wouldn't necessarily recommend just sitting and reading this book and memorizing/customizing the answers given by the author, but it's great for thinking through the types of questions that might come up and what you might say given your own field and experience.
September 11, 2012
I like the idea of this book but reading through it, the given answers feel phony and some of them were just bad. For example as a usability person, I cringed at the suggestion of the interviewee suggesting a flash opening with music for the company's web site--it seemed as if the author just invents stuff for areas that she doesn't know much about which made me wonder how much I can trust the rest of her answers. I was kind of offended with her "heroes" answer which had Albert Einstein for the male answer and for the female answer of Edith Wharton had her saying that critics might call her a feminist. Actually, fans might call Wharton a feminist and that can actually be a good thing!
October 21, 2012
While this book does hold some gems, I found it cumbersome to read.
Each tough interview question is followed by an example answer.
This works in some cases but I would have preferred more succinct information.
For example:
Question:
What they want to hear:
Example Answer:
Most of the material seems to be geared toward a specific career type so I had to wade through quite a bit to find relevant information.
An E-book format, with it's search function, would probably much easier to use.
Each tough interview question is followed by an example answer.
This works in some cases but I would have preferred more succinct information.
For example:
Question:
What they want to hear:
Example Answer:
Most of the material seems to be geared toward a specific career type so I had to wade through quite a bit to find relevant information.
An E-book format, with it's search function, would probably much easier to use.
November 27, 2012
Great advice for this economy
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews