Can somebody point me in the direction of a decent interview coach?

[Terribleluck]

If tried a few career coaches (one I actually kind of like but she seems very inexperienced overall, she just has been able to land a few decent jobs which I've had too, so I don't know of that would make any difference to my case). I've also tried a few free ones from charities and the National Career Services but unfortunately they all seem oriented to a completely different audience. As an example, yesterday we had an "interview session" where we went through the feedback so far and her only conclusion was that it was either pointless or that they simply didn't like me.... OK. Then she went to show me a PPT about how to interview, but I genuinely thought we were going to have a mock interview, or "how would you answer this?" Type of scenarios. Unfortunately I end up a lot more aggravated and think that I either need a proper one (even if they do not me ££) or maybe just reinvest that money and go back to therapy.

To be really honest, I don't think you need a career coach for interviewing as there is lots of information available.

The 'easy' wins will be dress and body language eg wear something suitable and make sure you aren't slouching and your eye contact is appropriate.

Practice the STAR method as a way to structure your answers.

I keep a log of key achievements in a table based on STAR and I practice based on this.

Also, have a few standard examples of soft skills eg communication, team working, dealing with a difficult person, as these types of questions often come up in interviews in one way or another.

All in all, I think successful interviewing is very subjective anyway and you aren't just competing against yourself, you are up against other people and you can't control how others perform.

Can you say a bit more about what you want to achieve and what you think the problems may be? You jumped very quickly from IV techniques to therapy..

I tend to over think a lot and thus why I think therapy might a lot more useful. But I'll give you an example.Yesterday I interviewed with a VP, up to this stage no STAR system used. But because of the videos I watched I tried to make myself look "smart" but I think it backfired.

Apart that for some reason (at least this charity) doesn't seem like a "safe space" and maybe I just need somewhere to vent properly and thus why maybe therapy might be the answer.

Sometimes interviewers don’t use questions that lend themselves to STAR. Sometimes they do. Often employers specify on the interview invite, so they often say “we are inviting you for a competency based interview” then you know it’ll be mainly STAR questions. If they dont specify the invite, it’s perfectly reasonable to all them what format the interview will take, so that you know what to expect.

If they don’t use STAR, they will likely ask you to walk them through your CV so learn your CV. Always be prepared to walk them through your CV both front to back and back to front. Litter your walkthrough with short STAR examples. That way you’re always well prepared whether they ask for a as CV walkthrough or ask you STAR questions.

IME the more senior the role the less they care about the STAR system. It could be just my experience, but both times I've interviewed for senior roles and with senior executives they just wanted a brief overview of exactly what I've done, but didn't necessarily cared about the context nor the result, just if it had been a common experience in my past roles.

Hi
This guy is great
I’ve had training at work with him and currently a family member is doing some private mentoring with him

Justin Douglas
Coaching & Business Solutions
T: 01727 848903

Should also say he is ££ but I think he’s worth it

Thank you! He definitely looks super pro!