preface

The idea for this book came about after many years of Barbara conducting mock interviews to help job candidates improve their interview skills. In these sessions, it was common for her to tell candidates when they missed the mark because the answer they gave to a particular question was actually answering a different question. When she told them what she was really looking for in her question, the candidate would have a “light bulb moment,” saying that if they had known that was really what the question was asking, they would have answered it differently. Then, when they had an opportunity to redo their answer, it would be spot on. This is why we came to realize that a book on translating Interview Speak was needed.

Using our experiences from both sides of the interviewing desk, we take the most common and difficult interview questions, provide their translations, and then describe how to answer each one. We present examples of how to answer and suggestions about what your answers should and shouldn’t include. We do not provide canned or scripted answers; instead, we offer insights on how candidates should think through and develop their own best answers.