How Mock Interviews Help You Land the Job

We know what you’re thinking: Job searching is about as fun as going to the dentist, or doing your taxes, or sitting next to your weird uncle at a family dinner.

Which is why at TripleTen, we aim to make the process as painless as possible. Thanks in large part to our dedicated team of career coaches_{Career Coaching at TripleTen: What It Is and How It Helps You Land a Job}, we can proudly tout that 82% of our graduates land jobs within six months of graduation, and many of our students have gone on to top tech firms such as Apple, IBM, and Google.

Among the many career resources we offer are mock interviews. Below, we’ll explain what these are if you’ve never encountered the term before, and why they’re a valuable tool for landing the gig of your dreams.

Getting on the same page: what a mock interview is and isn’t

In short, a mock interview is a practice interview before the main event. 

“The mock may be misleading: It’s an interview that’s conducted with a real set of circumstances,” explained TripleTen career coach Rick Dobbis. What this means is that while the interview doesn’t actually decide whether you get the job, it’s often based on real open roles and incorporates questions you might actually get asked by potential employers. In fact, Rick says, many coaches at TripleTen ask students to provide job descriptions the coaches can work off of when simulating the interview, and stay in character the entire time so as to make the entire scenario as realistic as possible.

He’s quick to note, however, that just because something is covered in a mock interview doesn’t mean it’ll surface during the real thing. On the other hand, the mock interviewer may miss or skip something that does come up later. “We’re not magicians, so we can approximate what we think is likely to happen,” he said.

So what does that look like in practice, exactly?

What we try and do is conduct the interview so that it covers a lot of areas that are likely to come up in initial job interviews. Rick Dobbis, TripleTen career coach

Often, he will start with a simple “Tell me about yourself.”

“That’s their opportunity to give their elevator pitch, but really to set from their point of view, as much as they can, the tone of the interview — telling the interviewer the maybe three or five things that they really think they should know about them and their background and their motivation in this field, what they bring to this potential employer as a professional, as a human being, as a person with a set of skills,” Rick said. “If they do all that, they’re doing a really good job.”

Next, he’ll broach questions like “Why do you want to join this company?” or “What makes you qualified for this job_{Prepare Yourself to Answer “Why Should We Hire You?” with Confidence}?” “The expectation is that they [the student] will have done some homework on what’s unique about this company,” he added.

Finally, he’ll tackle some common or relevant behavioral questions_{No Prior Tech Experience? Here’s How to Pass a Behavioral Interview}, which require giving examples of past work or experiences, and are meant to act as storytelling devices for your skill set. “They’re intended to see if people can be self-critical, if they are critical thinkers, and just to be disarmed a little bit,” Rick said.

Many coaches recommend the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) for answering appropriately. Rick has another approach.

I actually like something called CARL: Challenge, Action, Result, Learning — and I stress that ‘L,’ what’d you learn doing this? Rick Dobbis, TripleTen career coach

(It’s moments like this that showcase how diverse coaches can be in how they guide students, and thus how many different strategies TripleTen offers students for nailing the job search and finding their path forward.)

Finally, Rick will give the student a chance to ask questions — and he always recommends people do so at the wrap-up of an interview. “The interviewee should always have questions — questions about the job, questions about the company, a personal question — maybe not too personal, but, ‘What’s your favorite thing about working at the company? What’s the worst thing about working at this company?’” he explained.

When the practice session is over, Rick will review what they’ve covered, present positive and constructive feedback on the responses, and allow for time to discuss any concerns the person may have before they attend the actual interview. His advice won’t just cover how the person speaks or shares their background, but things like Zoom etiquette that can sway interviewers as well. “Are you looking at the camera? Are you looking at the screen? Are you reacting to the other person? Body language is important. Attitude is important,” he said.

Practice at every interview stage

Rick specializes in HR-specific mock interviews — interviews in the earlier stages of the job search that focus less on technical skill set and more on personality, soft skills, and company fit. But many of TripleTen’s other coaches are experts in tech hiring and development, meaning they’re able to simulate technical interviews that give students the opportunity to showcase what they’ve learned in their bootcamps.

In mock interviews such as these, the questions might still be behavioral, but more centered around the hard skills listed in the job description — questions like, “Tell me about a time you debugged software” or, “How would you go about building a health app?” A TripleTen coach may then offer suggestions for condensing your stories, adding learning lessons, or hitting the right tone. They might also recommend using a portfolio_{Secrets of a Stellar Portfolio: Guidelines and Checklist} or presentation to show your skills in action, and be able to provide feedback on how those materials look.

Rick realizes that even a mock interview can evoke strong emotions, which is why he’s always upfront with students about the experience. “I tell them, ‘These are the things we’re going to talk about. This is how you should prepare.’ So it’s not like, ‘Okay, you’re going into this blind.’ That’s not coaching, that’s not helping. Our role is to assist them in being the best job seekers they can be,” he said.

“Be yourself, be authentic,” he added about both mock and real interviews. “Don’t memorize, just be comfortable talking about yourself. You’re going to be nervous. It’s okay. It’s expected. Get into the flow of the conversation, and your nervousness will dissipate.”

Why mock interviews matter

You may be wondering how a mock interview could possibly help you. If it’s not the real thing, what’s the point, right?

Well, mock interviews provide plenty of benefits you likely haven’t considered:

• They allow you to get the jitters out: All the anxiety that builds in preparation can be relieved, even just a little bit, by simulating the situation, where there’s less of a surprise going into the real interview.
• They give you a chance to test-run ideas: Maybe you’re unsure how your responses will be received or whether you should bring up a specific anecdote. By running them by an unbiased expert first, you can confirm what you should and shouldn’t say and build your confidence.
• They let you make mistakes: You won’t know if a question trips you up or an interview scenario messes with your head until you actually try it out — and then, when you actually interview, you won’t (hopefully) make the same mistake.
• They provide personalized support: TripleTen coaches don’t just understand the job landscape — they also know you. “As your coach, I might know from a previous conversation things in your history as a human being, things in your work history, things in your interests that would be appropriate for you to help position yourself as a good candidate,” Rick noted.

How mock interviews have helped our students

We’re not just all talk — we have proof mock interviews seal the deal!

‍QA bootcamp graduate Kyle Kolodziej_{In QA and Never Looking Back: Kyle Kolodziej’s TripleTen Story} joined a fintech company upon finishing his TripleTen program — and he got that role because of his coaching prep. With a TripleTen advisor, they “literally went over everything that I accomplished at my last role, and did a hard narrow-down in rewording different aspects of things to make my resume much more effective,” he says.

The interview went well, thanks to the help from TripleTen. And while I was missing some of the skills that they were probably looking for, they were more impressed with how I interviewed and the knowledge that I was bringing to the table.

Kyle Kolodziej TripleTen grad

Another TripleTen student, Drew Self, was able to make a complete career pivot_{Will I Be Able to Start a New Career After Completing the Bootcamp?} — from customer service rep to analyst — as a result of his mock interview (among other TripleTen experiences!).

“What really set the bootcamp apart for me was actually the Career Acceleration,” he said, adding, “Some of the questions I was asked in my mock interviews, I was actually asked in my interview with who is now my leadership team at Dollar General.”

 “That interview was on a Friday afternoon, and not the next Monday, but the following Monday, I got a call saying that I got the offer,” he notes.

Rick, too, can think of several students that went on to fulfilling careers after he worked with them on interviewing. “It’s very satisfying when someone you work with in this role gets that job — it’s going to change your life for the better,” he said.

Want to know more? Book a call.

Just like at the end of an interview, you can — and should — ask questions. For that reason, we love to have prospective students meet with our team to chat about our curriculum, coaching, and other aspects of our program. You can book a call today!