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Submitted by Scott-SFBA on
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I think my question is pretty straight-forward. I just listened to podcast #1 of the Interviewing Series. My question is two-fold:

1. Do I start doing my audio practicing immediate or only once I have scheduled an interview? In my experience, it is hard to keep up a daily regimen of practicing my answers unless I have a serious interview coming up.

2. How long do I practice each day? Because I have to go back and listen to the tapes later to evaluate my answers, whatever time I spend each day will actually be doubled by the evaluation. I was thinking 30 mins practice each day and 30 mins of evaluation.

Please let me know what has worked for you.

Thanks,
Scott

jhack's picture

You should practice as soon as possible. Your goal is to have the answers flow smoothly, and if you wait until you have an interview scheduled, you won't have enough time to practice. There are a lot of questions you'll want to have practiced.

If you're searching (ie, you've been laid off, or know you will be) 60 min a day seems like a minimum. If you're in a good situation and you just want to be prepared, you might not need to spend an hour every single day.

John Hack

HMac's picture

Hack nails it that "Your goal is to have your answers flow smoothly."

To put the question back to you, Scott: how much practice to you require in order to answer questions smoothly? And how far in advance of an interview do you need to start, in order to achieve the outcome?

That's how much you should practice, how often you should practice, and when you should start.

-Hugh

thaGUma's picture

... and don't forget;
1. you might get called to an interview at short notice.
2. you might face a telephone interview or pre-interview
3. you need to brief your references - they need to believe you are on top of your game
4. the more you practice the less chance you will collapse at interview

all this from someone who didn't practice enough.

Chris

BJ_Marshall's picture
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I agree with jhack. I started as soon as I entered Job Search Mode, and that probably wasn't early enough.

I'm a busy guy; I just don't have a lot of time to practice each day. Which is all the more reason to practice sooner. I would speak into my digital voice recorder on the way to my carpool, on my lunch break taking a walk outside, on my way home, and then for 15 minutes or so after I got home. A little bit here and there worked better for me than trying to cram. It's a tortoise and hare thing.

I have found that you don't need much time to prep after you have your answer down pat to keep yourself sharp.

BJ

Scott-SFBA's picture
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I appreciate the feedback truly. I'll start right away on this work and do a minimum of 30 minutes practice daily and 30 minutes of evaluation daily. Thanks again for the feedback.

SG