Why You Should Take Practice Interviews

This post made me think about taking practice interviews -- job interviews where you really don't want the job (or maybe it's not that bad -- maybe it's just not ideal and you think you probably wouldn't take it if you got an offer.)

I'm an advocate for taking such interviews -- especially early on in your job hunt. Why? Because an interview is a test you can (and should) study for -- and the more practice you get, the better. Sure, you should rehearse on your own and you can role-play with friends and family, but nothing will beat the experience gained by going on an actual interview -- being in a foreign situation, having to deal with all sorts of people and make a good impression, answering unexpected questions, etc. Getting this real-life experience will only make you a better interviewer and will help get you the job (and salary!) you want.

This is something I've done before, so I'm speaking from practical experience. But I won't take any interview request. Here's the criteria I use to decide whether or not a practice interview is worth taking:

• If it's low hassle (at a convenient time and place), low risk (my chance of running into someone I know from work is almost non-existent), and low cost (I don't have to take time off for it), I'll take almost any interview if I'm in job-hunting mode.

• If it does have potential hassle, risk, or cost factors, I weigh each of these and do a cost/benefit analysis on the opportunity. If the benefits outweigh the cost, then I proceed. If they don't, I pass.

• If it has many potential hassle, risk, or cost factors, then something else has to make it worth my time/effort. Like maybe it's a job I probably wouldn't want, but maybe I would (on the outside chance.) Again, it gets back to a cost/benefit trade-off. Plus, you never know everything about an opportunity. I've gone on practice interviews before where I liked the job, the people, and the company and eventually taken the position. The one time I did this turned out to be a GREAT move for me and my career. In another case, I found out that the opportunity was much better than I expected and I almost accepted the position (I took a different one instead.)

So I recommend taking practice interviews as part of your job hunting strategy. I've seen them work for me and I know that they'll do the same for you if you handle them in a similar manner.

Anyone out there ever taken a practice interview? What was your experience -- good or bad?

And for the rest of you, what do you think of this idea?

Comments

[Victor]

Hi,
I actually went thru one of these this past summer. A startup company here in town was looksing for a Senior Embedded Engineer. It was a long process, and frankly a pain in the you know what. I did get an offer, which was the same as what I am currently making, I countered and they decided to "go in a different direction". The work seemed like it would be interesting.

In any case, this was the first time I actually was in the running for a senior type position; overall I learned some very valuable lessons in how interviewing for these types of positions is different than interviewing for positions at my current level. I also got a chance to see how I stacked up against the competition, and what I needed to do in order to improve my skills so that the next time an opportunity like this comes around, the company in question will feel like they have to have me on board. Overall it was a very valuable experience

[BenC]

While I've never taken a practice interview, I've found that being the interviewer at your current place of employment is very good practice too.

[J Penny]

This is an excellent idea and one I will explore more on my website. In addition to getting practice and building confidence it can be viewed as an opportunity to build contacts for networking purposes.