University of Minnesota - UMN Executive Leadership Insights
I Hate Job Interviews
Book

I Hate Job Interviews

Stop Stressing. Start Performing. Get the Job You Want.

Sam Owens
HarperCollins Leadership, 2024
Buy book or audiobook

Read or listen offline

Amazon Kindle
  • 0.5×
  • 0.75×
  • 1×
  • 1.25×
  • 1.5×
  • 1.75×
1×

Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Comprehensive
  • Well Structured
  • Concrete Examples

Recommendation

Career coach Sam Owens understands successful job interviews are about practice rather than luck. In this helpful book, he shows you how to navigate every stage of the complex world of job interviews with confidence and precision — from preparation to closing the deal. Learn practical strategies to reduce stress, enhance your performance, and impress potential employers. While you’ve likely heard some of the advice Owens offers before, by bringing these best practices together in one easy-to-follow text, Owens empowers you to transform anxiety into opportunity and land the job you desire.

Summary

Have confidence in yourself.

To succeed in any job interview, you must have confidence in yourself. Confidence demonstrates to hiring managers that you believe in your abilities. Would you trust a surgeon who appears unsure about his or her skills? Probably not. The same logic applies to job interviews: Interviewers view candidates who seem confident in their abilities more favorably than those who seem less sure of themselves.

Building self-confidence starts with eliminating negative thoughts that hinder your performance. For example, stop telling yourself that some people are “natural-born”  job interviewers — a falsehood. Job interviewing is a learned skill. Replace these harmful thoughts with positive affirmations and truths about your abilities.

Dedicate 10 hours to preparing for a job interview to differentiate yourself from other candidates. Spend three hours researching the company’s history, values and products, three hours formulating your responses to likely questions, and four hours practicing your answers out loud in front of friends or colleagues. Practice and preparedness will help you feel — and...

About the Author

Founder of Sam’s Career Talk Sam Owens is a chief marketing officer at Freezing Point.

Comment on this summary