5 REASONS YOU SHOULD STILL SAY 'YES' TO INTERVIEWS — EVEN IF YOU'RE HAPPY WITH YOUR CURRENT JOB

You may find yourself in a position where you have plenty of freedom, personal development plans for employees, opportunities for personal growth, a healthy work-life balance, and a manager you consider an exceptional mentor. It might seem like there's no reason to contemplate the idea of moving to a different company or exploring opportunities elsewhere.

However, by keeping an open mind, updating your resume, applying to jobs just for the experience, and accepting interview invitations, you won't lose the ability to present yourself effectively and will be able to identify your professional gaps.

We have put together some compelling reasons why you should consider using interviews as a tool for career growth and how to do so without alerting your current employer.

Bonus at the end of the article: We'll share some helpful interview resources and introduce you to Google's Interview Warmup tool, so you can practice interviews without fear or stress.

5 Reasons Why It's Worth Interviewing

Suppose you're not at risk of losing your job, you have a steady salary, and you're generally satisfied with your current workspace. However, this isn't the best strategy for your career. By engaging with recruiters from other companies, you can objectively assess your potential and receive valuable feedback.

Here are some reasons to interview even if you're happy with your current job:

• Stay current with the job market. Interviewing and talking to recruiters provides you with the context and data points needed to evaluate and validate if you are paid appropriately for your skills. Or, you might find areas where you can improve.
• Gain an assessment of yourself. You'll be able to see how you're valued in the job market. Maybe you've wondered, "What are my strengths and weaknesses?" It could be that you lack the knowledge to transition to a similar role in another company. Alternatively, you may be ready for higher positions but haven't reached them yet.
• Develop your interview and presentation skills. There's a high chance of encountering various situations, including stressful ones, during interviews. You'll be asked tricky and unexpected questions, requiring immediate, clear answers that showcase your expertise. This is great practice, especially when dealing with challenging people during interviews. It pushes you out of your comfort zone, boosts your stress resilience, and improves your negotiation skills.
• Keep your portfolio and CV up-to-date. It's also an excellent chance to reflect on your contributions, follow up on completed projects, and document your achievements.
• Practice taking tests. Tests often consist of complex and diverse items designed to assess a candidate's abilities quickly. This type of mental exercise is great for the brain, as it requires multitasking. Moreover, completing test tasks lets you objectively assess your skills and competencies.

How to Interview Without Your Boss Finding Out? 

It's good to interview, but you need to prepare and protect yourself from certain risks.

• Conceal information in your CV. When posting a resume on job sites, set it to anonymous. Hide personal details, photo, phone number, email, and current workplace. Only employers you apply to will see this information.
• Choose a meeting time. If you're always in the office, reschedule interviews for lunch or after work. If you have multiple interviews, consider taking a day off.
• Don't criticise your current employer, colleagues, or clients. Complaining or spreading gossip won't leave a good impression.
• Be cautious with your test responses. Don't share ideas or know-how you plan to implement at your current job with competitors.
• Inform the recruiter you're currently employed. Let the recruiter know you're still working and request them not to collect references from your current or former employers.

Bonus: How to Use Digital Tools for Job Interview Preparation? 

To pass an interview successfully, some may practice in front of a mirror or with friends. But how about using interview preparation sites or talking to a robot?

Google Interview Warmup

In 2022, Google released an AI-powered interview simulator that enables you to practice in the following areas:

• Data Analytics
• eCommerce
• IT Support
• Project Management
• UX Design
• General

The interview simulator utilises AI to pose traditional recruiter questions. After receiving the user's answer, Interview Warmup analyses it and provides self-improvement recommendations. For instance, the interview simulator may advise eliminating superfluous words or elaborating on a point. It can also detect if you overuse certain words. You can respond to the recruiting questions both orally and in writing.

This tool was created to meet the needs of Google Career Certificates users in the US. However, it includes questions that are appropriate for any job applicant. In the future, Google intends to enhance the program's functionality to benefit more candidates.

To begin, select the field in which you're interested. For our purposes, we've chosen the General section.

You'll then receive a series of questions. Answer them, review your responses, and uncover insights once you're finished.

Google Interview Warmup records all your answers and assists you in analysing what you've said. You can also listen to everything afterwards or re-record.

The AI poses three categories of questions:

• Background questions. These delve into your previous education and experiences, including questions about your schooling, past employment, hobbies, and objectives. As you respond, highlight the key points you want the interviewer to remember about you. Consider how these points demonstrate that you're a suitable candidate. Investigating the company can reveal how your skills, interests, and values align with its culture.
• Situational/Psychological questions to ask in an interview. These focus on how you've handled situations in the past and how you might approach similar scenarios in the future. When answering, concentrate on skills relevant to the position you're applying for. Aim to structure your responses with a clear beginning, middle, and end. If it helps, use the STAR method to give your answers a more organised framework.
• Technical questions. These assess knowledge and abilities unique to your field. They often gauge how you'd apply your technical expertise to address challenges in hypothetical situations. As you respond, inform the interviewer about your actions and thought process at each stage, and explain your reasoning.

You can also find interview tips in the FAQ and Interview tips sections.

The AI provides feedback without assigning scores. "Insights help you discover patterns in your answers," the Interview Warmup’s FAQ page explains. "They don't 'grade' your answer or tell you what part of your answer is right or wrong. Insights include the job-related terms you use, your most-used words, and the talking points you cover."

Yoodli AI Interview Coach 

Yoodli's AI Interview Coach stands out with its ability to generate unique follow-up questions based on your responses during practice. The US-based software analyses your answers in real-time, replicating an actual interview's dynamic nature. AI algorithms evaluate your interview performance, highlight areas for improvement, and help you understand your strengths and professional weaknesses for interviews. AI-powered tools also continually analyse interview trends and provide insights into specific industries.

How Yoodli Works:

• Download the Yoodli desktop app and link it to your calendar.
• Enjoy private, live interview coaching. Yoodli offers real-time guidance to help you exude confidence during your call. And don't worry, it's only evaluating your performance!
• Monitor your progress over time. Use a handy dashboard to track your self-improvement by comparing your statistics against recommended benchmarks.

This valuable tool is trusted by employees from some of the world's top companies, including Microsoft, Twitter, TedX, and more.

For tech experts: LeetCode 

LeetCode is an online platform for algorithmic programming tasks that prepares you for technical interviews. Regular use over 6–12 months can significantly increase your chances of landing a job in big tech companies. It primarily trains you to think quickly when coding, formulate clarifying questions for clients and colleagues, and provides interview questions and answers in 14 popular programming languages at different difficulty levels. Check the Beginner’s Guide in the Explore section to learn more.

In recent years, users of this tool have secured jobs at top companies like Facebook, Apple, Uber, Intel, Amazon, and Pinterest.

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