Introduction
When it comes to finding a new job, interviews can make the difference between a job offer and rejection. But even the most qualified professionals find themselves struggling to perform well in their job interviews. If you find yourself in this position, you may be considering working with an interview coach as an option.
Interview coaching is a specialized service designed to equip candidates with the skills, strategies, and confidence needed to excel in interviews. In this article, we’ll cover factors you should consider when deciding whether to hire an interview coach, the pros and cons of this type of service, and when interview coaching is (and isn’t) worth it.
Table of Contents
What is Interview Coaching?
Interview coaching is a personalized service that helps job candidates improve their interview skills and performance. It involves one-on-one sessions with a professional coach who provides feedback, guidance, and strategies to enhance confidence and effectiveness during interviews.
Types of Interview Coaching Services Available
There’s a wide range of services available within the category of interview coaching. When it comes to the scope of support, some professionals offer help with general interview preparation, while others specialize in specific industries or even types of interviews (such as technical interviews).
The format of coaching can also vary widely. Some interview coaches offer one-off calls for job seekers who want a quick turnaround or prefer a limited engagement, while others offer multi-session programs aimed at providing more comprehensive strategy support. This article will focus on general interview preparation services – which include support for behavioral and traditional interviews.
Human Coaches vs AI Platforms
With the rise of AI, we’re seeing an increasing amount of AI-powered interview prep services, which rely on artificial intelligence to provide feedback on interview performance, sometimes in combination with guidance from a human coach. For the sake of this article, we’ll focus on services offered by human coaches, rather than AI-based platforms.
How Interview Coaching Works
Interview coaches often give guidance on how to structure answers, articulate responses more effectively, and address common interview questions. Interview coaching can involve practicing mock interviews, where candidates simulate real interview scenarios and get feedback from the coach. Coaches may also offer techniques to manage nerves and present yourself with more confidence.
Factors to consider when deciding whether to hire an interview coach
As you consider investing in interview coaching, there are several factors you should consider in order to pick a service that best fits your needs and circumstances.
1. Are interviews the real issue?
Before hiring an interview coach, make sure that interviews are the true bottleneck in your job search, rather than your resume or job application strategy.
A good rule of thumb is that you should get invited to interview for about 10-20% of the applications you submit. This rate may vary depending on factors such as your industry and job market conditions. But if you find yourself sending out hundreds of job applications without receiving any interviews, there’s likely an issue with your resume or job search strategy (especially if you’re using a “spray and pray” approach).
However, if you’re consistently getting interviews, but those interviews aren’t resulting in offers, working with an interview coach may be a great next step.
2. What stage of the job search are you in? What are your goals?
A professional who’s just starting to job search after 10 years of not interviewing may need a very different level of support than someone who wants some feedback before a particular interview.
Consider where you are in the job search, and what your goals are for support. Are you looking to build this skill as you begin your job hunt, so that you’re ready as soon as you get invited to an interview? Or are you pretty confident in your communication strategy, and just want to get some feedback for one interview you’re a bit nervous for? Your answer to these questions will dictate the depth and comprehensiveness of the coaching you seek out.
3. How much time can you dedicate?
Some interview coaching engagements last as little as 60 minutes. Other coaches offer multi-session packages, with a more comprehensive skill-building approach. More often than not, you’ll likely get some sort of pre-work or homework as part of your coaching.
To make the most of your investment, consider the amount of time you’d like to commit to a coaching engagement. A job seeker who got laid off and suddenly has 40 extra hours in their week will have different time constraints to consider compared to a job seeker who’s working 50+ hours in their current role.
4. When will you be interviewing?
When deciding whether to work with an interview coach, be sure give yourself enough lead time. Aim to start your coaching engagement at least 3 to 4 weeks before you expect to begin interviewing. This allows you enough time to integrate your learnings, absorb new strategies, and practice your new skills. Learning a new skill takes time, and you don’t want to have to rush the process.
Coaches can also get busy, especially during peak hiring seasons. Planning ahead ensures your coach has availability when you need them.
5. What type of person do you work well with?
Coaching is a highly relationship-based service. This means you’ll get the most out of working with a professional you like and get along with naturally. No matter how experienced or well-reviewed a coach is, if their style or personality turns you off, you’ll be too closed off in your interactions to truly absorb what they’re teaching.
Before you hire someone, make sure you connect with them on a personal level and resonate with their approach. This will ensure you’re comfortable, open, and motivated to get the most out of your coaching relationship.
Pros of Interview Coaching
Interview coaching can have a variety of benefits, from improving your overall performance, to navigating challenging topics gracefully.
- Improved Interview Performance: Working with an interview coach can improve your communication skills by helping you focus on what matters most to hiring teams. Coaches can share frameworks and approaches to answering questions that you may not have thought of before. A coach can help you better articulate how experiences are relevant to the job at hand, fine-tune your stories and examples, and provide feedback on how to make your talking points more compelling.
- Help Navigating Tough Topics: Some subjects can be particularly tricky to talk about in a job interview. Whether it’s addressing past layoffs, explaining employment gaps, or discussing career transitions, a skilled interview coach can provide strategies to approach tougher topics with grace. Your interview coach can help you figure out the right amount of detail to share, as well as show you how to frame your experiences in a positive light.
- Personalized Feedback and Guidance: One challenge in the interview process is that it’s rare to get feedback from recruiters and hiring managers about why you didn’t get the job (beyond the objectively unhelpful “we went with a candidate who was a better fit” response). Interview coaching can get you the practice and feedback you need to improve your interview performance. Unlike practice interviews with a friend or family member, an interview specialist can give you much more practical and actionable advice. You coach can help identify blind spots and offer actionable insights on how to improve.
- Increased Confidence: Many job seekers feel overwhelmed and don’t know where to focus their interview prep efforts in order to be effective. Working with a professional interview coach can help reduce interview-related anxiety by providing guidance and much-needed structure, as well as concrete strategies to focus on. This boost in confidence can translate into a more polished interview.
Cons of Interview Coaching
There are a few potential downsides to consider as you think about hiring an interview coach.
- Inconsistent Quality of Coaching Services: Since coaching is an unregulated industry, just about anyone can hang up a shingle and offer services. Some coaches specialize in interview preparation, while others offer it as an option that’s part of their broader offering of career coaching services. All in all, there’s a wide range in expertise among coaches, from seasoned pros to those just offering services on the side to supplement their income.
- Lack of Consistency in Addressing Nerves: While many interview coaches are great at helping you polish your communication skills and techniques, they may only scratch the surface when it comes to addressing emotional aspects of the process, like managing nerves, building a confident mindset, and overcoming imposter syndrome. If you’re paired with a coach who only touches these topics on a surface level (or worse, doesn’t address them at all), you might miss out on the comprehensive support you need to truly improve your performance.
- Risk of Dependency: There’s a risk of becoming dependent on your interview coach, especially if their approach is heavily focused on providing scripted responses, rather than teaching you how to navigate the interview process independently. If you’re constantly being told what to say without understanding the underlying principles of effective interview strategies, you may struggle to adapt or think on your feet during your interviews. A good interview coach should strike a balance between offering guidance on specific responses and teaching you how to approach interviews holistically, to make sure you develop the skills to succeed beyond the coaching sessions.
When Interview Coaching IS worth it
There are some situations in which interview coaching can be particularly helpful:
- You haven’t interviewed in a while: If you haven’t been through the interview process in some time, interview coaching can be a valuable refresher on current best practices, helping you brush up on your skills and feel more at ease.
- You’re not getting past the first round of interviews: If you’re consistently getting turned down after initial interviews, it could be a sign that your communication approach needs refining. Interview coaching can help you identify areas for improvement, fine-tune your responses, and make a stronger impression from the get-go
- You sometimes get to the final round of interviews, but you haven’t received any offers: Making it to the final round but not receiving offers can be incredibly frustrating. Interview coaching can help you in pinpointing any potential weaknesses and blind spots in your performance during these critical stages. A good interview coach will help you position yourself in a way that helps you stand out from your competition, and provide feedback on how to fine-tune your stories and talking points.
- You ramble in your interviews: If you catch yourself going off on tangents during interviews, interview coaching can be a game-changer. It can help you sharpen your communication skills, stay on track with your answers, and make sure you’re delivering clear, focused responses.
- Interview nerves get the best of you: If you find yourself drawing a blank, relying too much on memorizing answers, and unable to present yourself confidently, working with an interview coach can offer strategies to manage anxiety, stay composed under pressure, and give focused answers.
- You’re seeking a promotion: Sometimes we’re too close to our work to see the forest from the trees. Interview coaching can help if you’re interviewing for a promotion and need to be able to articulate your accomplishments, highlight your most relevant experiences, and showcase your potential.
- Interview prep feels overwhelming: If you’re drowning in a sea of online resources and advice, interview coaching can feel be a lifeline. With so much information available out there, it’s easy to feel unsure of where to start. An interview coach can help you cut through the noise, stay organized in your preparation, and focus on what’s most important for your unique situation.
- Your job market is competitive: A competitive job market is often marked by high numbers of applicants for job positions, a large number of layoffs, and longer hiring timelines. When there’s a higher caliber of competition for each role, interview coaching can give you a competitive advantage and help you stand out by sharpening your interview skills and effectively positioning yourself as the strongest candidate for the position.
When Interview Coaching is NOT worth it
There are other situations in which interview coaching may not be the best fit for your needs:
- You’re not really committed to the job search: If you’re not fully committed to actively pursuing job opportunities or exploring career options, interview coaching may not align with your current priorities.
- You need career help beyond just interviews: If your primary challenges lie outside the realm of interview performance, such as career changing, resume writing, or networking, interview coaching may not address your specific needs effectively. For example, if you’ve sent hundreds of job applications but haven’t been invited to an interview, consider getting help with your resume and job search strategy first before seeking out an interview coach, so you’re not putting the horse before the cart.
- Your main issue is passing aptitude tests: Interview coaching may not be the best investment if the interviews you’re preparing for heavily focus on aptitude tests or assessments. In such cases, specialized preparation, training, or continued education tailored to these assessments may be more helpful.
- You mostly need help with technical interviews: For technical roles requiring specialized skills or knowledge, interview coaching focused solely on behavioral interview skills may not cover everything you need. Consider supplementing your behavioral interview coaching with technical interview practice on your own using platforms such as LeetCode, HackerRank, and InterviewBit, or seeking coaching that specifically addresses the technical aspects of the role you’re pursuing.
- You’re not willing to put in work: If you’re not committed to putting in the effort and practice required to make the most of your coaching, it may not be worth the investment. Interview coaching isn’t a magic solution – you can’t just hire someone, sit back, and expect results with no effort on your part. All coaching requires you to be an engaged learner, and coaches often assign homework outside of sessions, which requires dedicated time and effort on your part.
Parting thoughts
Deciding whether to invest in interview coaching is a big decision that requires some thought and self-reflection. It can be a great choice if you want to boost your interview skills, feel more confident, or handle tough interview questions better. But remember, it’s not a one-size-fits-all solution. Take some time to think about what you need, what you can afford, and what you hope to achieve. That way, you can decide if interview coaching is the right move for you.
