10 Key Reasons Why You Must Hire an Interview Coach

You have an interview coming up and whenever you think about it, your palms get sweaty, your body shivers and your heart starts beating fast. You’re dreading the hot seat so you google, ‘How to prepare for a job interview’. To your consolation, myriads of results show up; all those resources give you ‘tips’ on ‘how to land your dream job’. While reading through, an advert pops up. It’s of a company offering interview coaching. You pause and wonder to yourself, with all this free information about interview preparation, do I still need to pay for an interview coach?

Well, it's good to read widely but the truth is, all that information is generic. None of the writers know about the specific job description you’ll be judged against, nor do they have any clue about your weaknesses and struggles during interviews. Enlisting the services of a coach ensures you get a bespoke experience, tailored to your specific needs. 1-2-1 coaching will significantly enhance your chances of landing the job you’re angling at.

You must seek out interview coaching when:

1. Your self confidence is low

The job search process can be long, arduous and heart breaking. Getting so many regret messages from different companies can damage your self esteem. You may end up feeling like a hoax. Like your qualifications and experience don’t have a shot at anything meaningful. You could also be battling impostor syndrome, where you’ve achieved great things in your career but are afraid of showcasing them which means that your predisposition is to devalue yourself and undersell your skills. Thirdly, you could be harbouring so many limiting beliefs in your mind. Maybe you’re the first person in your family to get to the university or to graduate as an engineer or a doctor. Due to having no examples of success from your background, you may doubt your own success or possibility of being great in life. To build confidence, you just need reassurance that you’re good enough, that you deserve the best and are poised for greatness. Hearing words of affirmation from an expert, in this case, an interview coach, can give you the bout of confidence you need to ace that interview.

2. You’re switching careers

Career change interviews are undoubtedly different from the normal interviews you do within your career. While you can leverage on previous work experience in the latter, during career switching interviews, there’s a lot more to prove.

Some common questions to expect include:

i. Why do you want to switch careers?

ii. What transferable skills can you bring to this role?

iii. What past experiences do you deem useful in this role?

iv. What challenges do you anticipate to encounter in this new career?

v. How do you plan to continue developing yourself in this new field?

Answering these questions in an impressive manner requires practice and tact. This is where the coach comes in, to guide you on what to say, and how to say it. Additionally, the coach can help you as we’ve explained in our previous blog, ‘15 best tips for career change interview preparation’.

3. You’re interviewing for a bigger role

In your vision board for this year, you see yourself breaking the glass ceiling. You’re done settling for less and must achieve your full potential. You want the corner office and will do everything in your power to get in. This includes applying for the big roles. You’ve already sailed through the interviews for your previous roles unassisted, but you know in order to break through with the big ones, you need professional help. Nothing must go wrong. Remember, the top jobs attract top notch talent. For you to compete effectively, you must be guided by an expert on how to craft your value proposition. You must also be taught persuasion techniques which you’ll use to wow the interviewers and beat the competition.

4. You have gaps in your CV

Perhaps you’re trying to get back into employment after a long sabbatical or have been on and off work owing personal reasons: maybe you left employment to start a business, which failed and you need to resume work; or you lost someone you loved and had to leave work to grieve; or you got fired and have been unlucky finding another opportunity. The truth of the matter is that life happens to all of us. Any of us can find ourselves out of employment for both good and bad reasons. During the interview however, you’ll need to explain the reasons behind the gaps in your CV in a convincing manner. Left to your own devices, you might either downplay the gaps or panic, not being able to explain yourself very well. A coach can help you craft good responses to questions around the times you were not employed, to both show value and requisite commitment for the role at hand, if hired.

5. You don’t advance past the first interview

You have a winning CV that opens many doors of opportunity. You thus get called for many interviews, but never get called back to proceed with the recruitment process. This begs the question, what are you communicating unawares? Yes, you’re qualified for the role, but could poor body language and general attitude be disqualifying you in the first round? You need a third eye to have a keen look at your performance during a mock interview and let you know what you’re doing wrong. If the problem is with your body language, the coach can help you improve it as explained in our blog, 10 best non verbal communication tips for successful interview.

6. You get to the final interview but keep getting beat by other candidates

Getting to the final stage of the recruitment process is no mean feat. It shows that you have what it takes to get the job. It could be that there are some minor factors that stand in the way. These may not be easy to notice by yourself. Could it be that you have unrealistic salary expectations that make employers avoid hiring you? Do you come off as brash and overly confident? An interview coach can help you do an analysis of your behaviour during these interviews to determine why you’re almost passing but never getting the roles. The coach can also help you deal positively with the emotions of discouragement and disillusionment that come with always almost getting something and then losing it altogether.

7. You struggle to express yourself during interviews

For some, speaking in front of others makes them nervous and incoherent. You could be one of those people. You’re not as talkative as is required to adequately present yourself as the best candidate during interviews. This trait is working against you because you get beaten by better self-expressed candidates who may be less qualified, but make up for it through eloquence. You thus need help. An interview coach will serve as the perfect practice partner. They will create an atmosphere where you’ll learn and practise how to answer the most frequently asked questions. With more practice, you’re able to gradually learn the art of effective communication. Some of the things that make for good communication during interviews include: having a clear thought pattern; proper sentence construction and using complementary non verbal cues.

8. You’re interviewing for a job in a different country or unfamiliar culture

Different countries and cultures have dissimilar rules of communication. Language barrier may also come in. For such interviews, coaching is essential in helping you understand the cultural dynamics that could hinder your success. Through research and their professional experience handling such interviews, a coach can give you tips, helpful in navigating the cultural differences and make you better prepared.

9. You’re not used to formal interviews

You may have managed to grow in your career through referrals, and never really gone through a formal interview, or have recently graduated, thus being new to the job market. A formal interview could be a reason for worry, since you don’t quite know what to expect. You may have received myriads of comments and advice about the recruitment process, but remain ill prepared. A coach can help calm your nerves. They can also take you through a guided mock interview. Through this, you’re able to identify your weak areas, and to improve on them.

10. You don’t have enough time to prepare by yourself

You may be overwhelmed by life’s activities. You thus may not have enough time to do all the research that’s required, practice answering the common interview questions you expect and to prepare all the documents that are needed in good time. In this situation, going for interview coaching is a good move because the coach researches all you need to know and helps you understand it. They also help you with framing the answers to the most commonly asked questions and those likely to be asked for the particular role you’re interviewing for. This ultimately saves you time, while increasing your chances of landing your dream role. Never feel shy of asking for help. There’ll never be a perfect time, but you have to make career moves regardless. Enlisting the services of an expert interview coach can help you get equipped, even though you’re strapped for time.

Conclusion

There are key reasons why you must hire a coach, for you to ace an interview including when: your self confidence is low, you’re switching careers, you’re interviewing for a bigger role, you have gaps in your CV, don’t advance past the first interview, you get to the final interview but keep getting beat by other candidates, you struggle to express yourself during interviews, you’re interviewing for a job in a different country or culture, you’re not used to formal interviews, you do not have enough time to prepare by yourself.

Get in Touch

If you need 1-2-1 interview coaching, we’re your go-to experts. Call us on +44 (0)7552 083 799 or email: contact@khexperts.com.