Interview The Best [DVD] [2008] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

Alan, gives you the tips and tricks to land the job. no sky diver jumps out of a plane. without a parachute? you shouldn't look for jobs. without that guy behind you to leed you the way! this DVD is amazing. I took the DVD watched it. took notes. remember the instructions and guess what? I GOT THE JOB! Alan helped me. he can help you.

I am a job seeker who is co-manager of a job seekers group. Our leaders were looking for a video that could provide helpful interview tips to job seekers that could be conveyed in a useful and meaningful way. Alan Ladd, the author of the video, has staged the parts of the video to be a fly-on-the-wall viewpoint of a training class that he ran with 6 adults. The format is that he asks them common interview questions such as "Tell me something about yourself" and gives them all a chance to give an answer. Then he goes back and coaches them on better ways that they could have answered the question to give them a better chance to make a good impression with the interviewer. Our group found the content very helpful and it was well received. We didn't necessarily agree with everything Alan suggests, but it was a good starting point for us to have a group discussion. We then held our own exercise in small groups where we used the same questions Alan used and coached each other on better ways to answer the questions or body language suggestions that would help us.
The video is done in a very supportive and helpful way. Alan does not embarrass anyone but tries to lift them up and coach them to be better.
Here is how the sections of the video are broken up:
1 Introduction (4:11) 'Interview the Best has been designed to maximize your efforts to find and land a job. It is an easy to follow step by step system, so that you will understand the entire job search and interview process.
2 How to Write a Resume (5:39) 'The resume is the first key to help you open the door.
3 How to Look for a Job (9:06)' Once you have a resume you'll need to learn how to look for the right job.
4 Learn How to Identify Your Strengths (7:06)' You're much more qualified than you think you are.
5 How to Interview for a Job (22:39) 'Most people don't have any idea how to interview so pay careful attention because it doesn't matter how over-qualified or under-qualified you are the person who interviews the best will always get the job.
6 Questions and Answers to Expect (01:18:36)' Know your strengths and you will be able to answer any question. Know what's important to you, and you will be able to ask smart questions.
7 How to Close (10:49)' The interviewer is waiting for you to close, so it helps you to know what it is.
8 How to Follow Up (9:27)' The interview isn't over until you follow up.
9 Good Luck! (1:30)

The resume section is a bit outdated and information is so basic that everyone should know it. Resume should be one page if possible, two maximum. Standard tips: make sure your dates are correct, telephone & email correct, spelling correct, clean good-quality paper, take several copies to interview with you, make sure phone message is professional.

Looking for a job encourages you to target companies and CALL them to talk them into hiring you. He believes companies are over saturated with resumes and calling is the way to go. I can see what he's talking about but if you're not in sales or another position where you're expected to be pushy, this approach may not go over well.

Identify your strengths is a very helpful section. Alan has a positive spark. He shows charisma and enthusiasm in answering the questions himself in ways he thinks they will be well received by the interviewer. I think it was very helpful to contrast his energy level against some of the people in his session so that job seekers can be better aware of how their answer delivery matters.

Interview preparation is very helpful. This is a key point in current interviews. Interviewers expect that you have done as much research as you can about they company and key leadership staff. He points out that many interviewers make their decision in the first 15 minutes (or less) of an interview and this is very accurate.

Introduction is a good section. It is basics that most everyone should know but it is a good reminder. He says to address the interviewer as Mr./Ms., but I wouldn't necessarily recommend that. It would depend upon your age and whether or not you are applying for an entry-level or professional position. It would also depend upon whether or not you have already established an email correspondence with the person in which case using "Mr./Ms." could alienate the person because you've developed a closer relationship with them already.

The Q&A section is very long but there is a lot of good material in here. We used lots of examples in here for our job seekers group as mini workshops. "Tell me something about you." "Why are you here? What are you looking for?" "Why did you take your first job out of college?" Why did you leave your first job?" "What kind of training have you had?" "What do you consider to be your greatest strengths?" "What is your greatest weakness?" "Where do you see yourself in the next five years?" "How much money do you want to make?" "How do you start your day?" "Would you have a hard time working with .....?"

The "Close" section is very helpful. It is a really good approach to finding out how you stand with the interviewer right there on the spot and the end of the interview. I, and several people I know, have modified this approach slightly to fit our personalities and used it successfully in interviews to "take the temperature" of the interviewer to see if you've made a good impression. I wouldn't suggest working the close as hard as Alan suggests - he suggests a 3-step close which seems very intimidating to the interviewer - but he does have a lot of helpful suggestions.

The Follow-up has good, basic advice on how to best follow up and show your interest in the position.

I highly recommend this video for a job seeker. 100% of the content is not advisable, but it provides a good basis for making sure your interview performance is better and allows you to prepare mentally for the questions you will be asked and the things you should keep in mind with your answers and your body language. Don't be skeptical as you watch the video if you don't 100% agree with everything Alan he says. Take the advice that resonates with you and add it to your preparation and I'm sure it will improve your performance. Good luck!

Was waiting for a FLUFF DVD, and this was not it. It was a well-done and easy-to-follow DVD. Because they used people of different ages and different career goals, there was someone to identify with .
EXCELLENT!!!! (and impressed!)