Preparing for a job interview can be nerve-racking. Many of us search online, check various websites, watch several YouTube videos, and use other materials to research the company, and to get tips on answering possible questions.

Did you know that you can now use just a single platform to do all that?

Platforms equipped with artificial intelligence tools will not only help you scour the internet for information, they are also programmed to provide feedback and advice to help you ace your job interview. Plus, you can use them for free!

Here are two platforms that can help you practice and ace your job interview:

Interview Warmup (AI-powered tool from Google)

Originally created for Google Career Certificate students to help them prepare for job interviews, Interview Warmup is now a free tool for everyone. The tool has questions tailored specifically for fields such as:

• Data analytics
• Digital Marketing and E-Commerce
• IT Support
• Project Management
• UX Design
• Cybersecurity

If you do not belong to any of these fields, you can simply choose General.

How does it work?

The tool asks you questions as if you were on an interview. You can speak, and your words are automatically transcribed on the screen. You can also choose to type your answers on a blank provided. Interview Warmup will review your answer in terms of job-related terms, most-used words, and talking points. Clicking on these areas will lead you to an assessment, as well as suggestions on how to improve your answer.

It has three types of questions:

1. Background questions – These types of questions cover your training and experience. These are related to your education, past jobs, interest, and goals. Interviewers ask these questions to see if your skills, experience, and interests align with the company.
2. Technical questions – These cover knowledge and skills specific to your field. Questions often gauge how you would use your technical knowledge to solve problems in hypothetical situations.
3. Situational questions – These questions cover how you’ve dealt with situations in the past and how you might deal or react to them in the future.

Why use Interview Warmup?

1. You can simulate an actual interview and build your confidence.
2. It tests you using questions that are actually used in specific fields.
3. It provides instant feedback. It highlights parts of your responses and uses assessment tools to give you tips to improve your responses. No need to search the internet for specific tips. It’s like having career coach beside you!

ChatGPT

Just like Interview Warmup, you can use ChatGPT to simulate an actual job interview. All you have to do is provide some details about the position you’re applying for and the company. You can even paste the job responsibilities from the job ad onto ChatGPT to help it tailor its advice and suggestions.

Aside from this, you can use it to research the company you’re applying to. You can ask company or industry-specific questions like “What kind of culture does the company have?” What are the values, or mission/vision of the company?” or “What are the key trends in (specific industry)?” You can also ask ChatGPT to outline the most important soft and technical skills for your specific position so that you can highlight them in your responses.

Compared to Interview Warmup, ChatGPT can provide more answers to your career or job-related questions. However, unlike Interview Warmup where you just click on prompts to start practicing, your experience on ChatGPT depends largely on the quality of the prompts or commands you use.

It’s all in the prompts

Prompts are the commands or questions you ask ChatGPT. Aside from the question itself, a good prompt is specific, and contains context or a background. But, never share personal or confidential information on ChatGPT. The tool collects and saves data to improve its model.

Example job interview preparation prompts:

• “Can you help me prepare for my job interview as (job title)? Here is the job description from the job ad (paste the said job description). What interview questions should I prepare for based on this job description?”
• “Can you conduct a mock interview for (this position) as if you’re the hiring manager? Evaluate my answers to each question and show me where I can improve.”
• “I’m interviewing at (company) for this (position). What do I need to know about the company and the position? What kinds of questions can I expect?”
• “What’s the best way to answer (specific question that is hard for you)?”
• “I’m interviewing at (company) for this (position). What are the best questions for me to ask the hiring manager?”

If you don’t like ChatGPT’s reponse, you can click “regenerate” to get a new answer. You can also tweak your prompt if you still don’t get the response you’re expecting.

Important caveats

• Don’t memorize suggested responses to interview questions. Use them as a guide. Evaluate the answers and make them relevant to your own experience or job title. Use your own words and examples so you don’t sound robotic. Make your answers authentic, straight to the point, and meaningful.
• Verify important facts, like company information. While both tools get their information from various databases, they have limitations. For example, the free version of ChatGPT is limited to data from September 2021, so facts it provides beyond this date are likely to be inaccurate.
• Again, never type in personal information. Data like your full name, address, phone number, or any other information you don’t want to be accessed easily should not be part of your prompts.

One last thing to remember is to show your personality, and emphasize your enthusiasm for the position. Be your authentic self. You’ve got this!
 
Sources: Google Interview Warmup: a game-changer for interviews and hiring, Leila Lee, Simplify; How To Prepare For A Job Interview Using ChatGPT, Tracy Bower, PhD, Forbes; 10+ Ways to Use ChatGPT to Prepare for a Job Interview, Kayte Grady, Teal; and 35 Genius ChatGPT Prompts to Help You Prep for Job Interviews, Alyse Maguire, The Muse. Accessed August 13, 2024.