Google Interview Warmup – is this the future of job preparation?

Introduction

Preparing for a job interview can be a daunting task. Asking friends and family to help you out, or standing in front of a mirror can be awkward. If only there was something that you could practise your job interview skills with a bit more ease.

Introducing Google Interview Warmup, a secret weapon to use when preparing for your next job interview. This fully interactive, AI-powered tool was created to align with Google’s mission to improve the experiences of future job seekers.

Google Interview Warmup provides you with a safe space to practise your interview questions and fine-tune your responses. Your answers can be spoken (which we recommended) or typed into the box, which is then transcribed into the software for an instant analysis.

But how does this help me?

Not only is this access to some of the most asked interview questions, this tool analyses your results. It can look at your answers and spot any repetition and also guide you to include things that you may have potentially missed. The option to speak your answers can also prepare you for your real-life interview, allowing you to rehearse and adapt your communication skills for a successful job interview.

The feedback that the tool gives is instant, which is another reason why we think that this is a great piece of equipment to prepare. It’s like having your very own virtual coach right at your fingertips, offering valuable insights into how well you perform in an interview situation. Gone are the days of receiving unbiased feedback from friends and family (although they mean well).

Need tips on how to prepare for your real job interview? Read our blog here.

So much space for personalisation.

There is plenty of documentation out there that tells you how to prepare for a job interview, but the thing that sets Google Interview Warmup apart from the rest is the ability to personalise your interview based on the type of role that you are applying for or interviewing for.

They have tailored questions, depending on which option you choose. There are 7 paths that you can currently choose for a tailored approach to an interview and these are:

• Data Analytics
• Digital Marketing & E-commerce
• IT Support
• Project Management
• UX Design
• Cybersecurity
• General

So whether you’re going for a marketing job within the beauty industry, or perhaps the scientific industry, there are questions there that can help you prepare for that interview. The tools diversity is something to be applauded, it allows you to build a roadmap that guides you to becoming a more rounded interviewee, improving your skills and impressing your future employers.

So how does Google Interview Warmup work?

Once you’ve picked your path, you will be confronted with two options. You can either answer 5 questions picked for you or have a look at all of the questions.

Answering the questions.

Once you have started the interview, you will hear the first question being read out loud to you. You can either go ahead and speak your answer, or type it into the box provided. For the best interview experience, we would recommend verbally answering these questions. Your answers will be transcribed instantly, ready for the analysis once finished. If you feel uncomfortable doing that, there is always the option to type your answers, the analysis will still be the same.

Background Questions

These questions are all about you as a candidate, what your working experience is and what your goals are for the future. Some examples of background questions which you can be expected to be asked are:

• Please tell me why you would be a good fit for this role.
• How would you describe your working style?
• Tell me a little bit about yourself.

Situational Questions

The questions require you to provide evidence for previous experiences or ask you about how you would handle certain types of situations. For example, if we were practising for a digital marketing role, these are some of the situational questions you can expect to be asked:

• Imagine you are advising a brand on social media best practices. How would you explain when a post is on-brand or off-brand?
• Please share a time when you set a goal for yourself and achieved it. How did you go about that?
• You notice a social media post you launched for your company is getting a significant amount of negative comments and reactions. How would you respond internally and externally?

Technical Questions

These questions are bespoke to the industry and disciplines that you chose at the beginning of the process. They will ask you questions that will require you to evidence your knowledge about the role and the discipline, and how you would approach it. If we carry on with our digital marketing interview practice, you would expect to see questions such as:

• How could your experience using social media help you be a better advertiser on social platforms?
• As a consumer, which marketing emails make you click ‘unsubscribe’ and why?
• How would you explain what a marketing funnel is to someone who does not work in the industry?

Time for the analysis.

After you have finished speaking or typing your answer, click Done. This is when the power of AI comes into play, by instantly analysing your response. You can review your answer here, or wait till you have finished your whole interview to review them all together.

As you go through the analysis of your answers, you will find your transcript of your answer. Above this is where you will find insights that Google Interview Warmup has provided for you.

They are split into three sections:

Job-related terms

This will highlight within the text any job-related words. If you can see that you don’t have many words highlighted, it might be worth rethinking your answer to include some more.

Most-used words

This is a great tool to see if you are overusing words. It highlights words which you have used more than three times. Have a read over your answer and see if these are actually words you feel are overused, or if they fit well within your answer. Repeating words over three times in your answer isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Talking Points

This part is the really interesting part of the process. It highlights your talking points and shows you which ones you are missing. This section is split into 5 sections:

• Experience
• Skills
• Lessons Learned
• Goals
• Interests

When one of these sections is white, it means you have provided a talking point for one of the subheadings, for example, the AI can see that you have highlighted your skill set that is relevant to the role. It also highlights the evidence within your answer.

When the subheading is blue, this means that you haven’t provided any evidence for this talking point. This is a fantastic way to draft a more well-rounded answer for your future interviews.

Don’t lean on Google Interview Warmup

Although this is a great tool to get some job interview practice in, we wouldn’t recommend relying on this too heavily. If you were to over practise using this software, your answers may start to lack authenticity, which goes a long way when you’re sat in front of any future employer.

Always consider this tool as the foundation of your responses, it’s paramount that your personality shines through in the interview. Building your responses on top of the insights you get from Google Interview Warmup will help you to make your responses flow and can be a great way to boost your confidence before the big day.

Our verdict.

Here at Mase, we love this tool. It’s a great way to build a solid foundation for preparing for your next job interview. The sleek and easy-to-use interface paired with personal insights and the potential to boost confidence makes Google Interview Warm up an impressive bit of kit.

If you’re looking for the next step in your career, take a look at our vacancies page here to see the opportunities we are currently hiring for.