Talking About Yourself: What You Didn't Learn in College About Job Interviews

Your next job interview has the potential to be an utter waste of your time. If you follow the usual interview advice, you probably won’t be adequately prepared. Even worse, your chance of landing a good job will be in the hands of the person who sits down to interview you, someone who is a total stranger. If you want to be well prepared, take control of your job prospects, and launch a great career, you need a different approach.

Talking About Yourself reveals a new and successful way of approaching the job interview. Inside, we move beyond the old tips and tricks like dressing to impress, acting confident, and hoping a warm smile will get you through difficult questions. Instead of the usual advice, Talking About Yourself teaches you what is truly important: learning to tell your story.

This book offers a low-stress, evidence-based way to prepare for any job interview. Above all, we give you a systematic approach to telling your story, including simple step-by-step exercises and worksheets. We’ll also help you to learn what interviewers actually think about you.

Talking About Yourself: What You Didn’t Learn in College About Job Interviews addresses the experience of people who are leaving college, either with a degree or without graduating. Most of the examples and research are tailored to twenty-somethings who don’t have extensive experience working in professional settings. Even though we’ve focused this book on young adults, advanced professionals have said this book is relevant for anyone preparing for an interview.

If you learn to tell your story, you’ll have the power to influence the outcome of your next interview and land a job that uses your full talent and experience. No matter who you are or where you are in your career, Talking About Yourself provides you with a reliable strategy for approaching your next interview with hope and confidence. Now is the time to invest in your future and land the job you want.

“As a college professor, I will be including this book in my career counseling conversations with students. I've never seen such insightful and practical advice for job interviews.” – J. Paul Franz, PhD, CPSM, CPE, Senior Consultant and co-founder of Applied Safety and Ergonomics, Inc and adjunct professor at the University of Michigan

“Talking About Yourself guides you through the process to craft and deliver your personal story in a way that is powerful and compelling. More important it offers tools to help you decide whether a job is a good fit – and so avoid ones you would be better off without. This is the book I wish I’d had during the early years of my career.” – Roger Retke, Vice-president, Strategic Projects, ProQuest LLC

“I now feel like I have a good gift for graduation; one with a low price tag but extremely high value to anyone serious about honing their story for a new opportunity – whether they are a new graduate or mid-career.” – David Dickinson, VP Information and Operations, Arbor Research Collaborative for Health

Emily Messersmith holds a PhD in Education & Psychology from the University of Michigan. Her doctoral research focused on career development, educational decision-making, and the career goals of people undergoing the transition to adulthood. After completing a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Emily worked for many years in a non-profit research firm in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She is the co-founder of More Than Answers, LLC, which is located in Ann Arbor, MI.

Charles Burhans received an MSE in Industrial and Operations Engineering from the University of Michigan. He has worked for a private engineering company as a consultant and business manager for more than fifteen years. When he isn't playing basketball, he can usually be found watching, reading or otherwise obsessing about it.

You can find more advice about the interview process, resume creation, and the successful development of your career at morethananswers.com