Starting next week, LinkedIn is rolling out new tools to help you ace your next job interview.
Are you good at job interviews? Most job candidates say no. In a LinkedIn survey of job applicants, 54 percent of respondents said they found job interviews "moderately to extremely challenging," because of their own uncertainty and lack of confidence.
So LinkedIn is going to help its members ace their job interviews with some powerful new tools. These begin with LinkedIn's list of most common interview questions and advice from actual hiring managers and recruiters about what interviewers are looking for in the answers. The social network will also roll out short videos that teach viewers how to approach each question. Premium members will also get access to expert-approved sample answers.
These features will roll out next week in English-speaking countries. In the meantime, you can get a preview by looking closely at the graphics in the company's announcement. One of them shows a smartphone listing the eight most common interview questions.
Here they are:
1. Tell me about yourself.
2. What is your greatest strength?
3. What is your greatest weakness?
4. Why should we hire you?
5. Why do you want to work here?
6. Tell me about a time you showed leadership.
7. Tell me about a time you were successful on a team.
8. What would your co-workers say about you?
Where to find the new tools.
These features will be available on both the desktop and mobile apps. On the desktop, click "Jobs" and then "Track my jobs," which will bring you to the job tracker dashboard where these new tools will be offered. In the mobile app, look under "Applied Jobs" and then "Get Started." Not surprisingly, LinkedIn is embedding these tools within its own job application function, in a not-so-subtle bid to encourage job seekers to apply for jobs using LinkedIn's tools.
There's one more tool coming later this summer. LinkedIn says that 52 percent of those who find jobs in the U.S. credit their success to having prepared answers to interview questions. So to help you prepare, LinkedIn will provide a tool where you can video record yourself answering interview questions so that you can review the videos afterward and see how you came across. You'll also be able to share the videos with your most trusted LinkedIn contacts so they can provide feedback. That could be a bit embarrassing. But if you can bring yourself to do it, it could just help you sharpen your interview skills and land a better job.