Online LearningCareer Education7 Best Interview Preparation Courses Help Land Your Dream Job

7 Best Interview Preparation Courses Help Land Your Dream Job

An essential part of creating a great career path is facing your job interviews. Though it sounds simple, at times, this can be a very challenging thing to do.

You have to convince your potential employer that you are the best qualified to be hired. It’s a nerve-wracking situation, and many aspirants, including me, find it difficult to crack an interview. Thus, preparing in advance is always necessary.

One of the best and most comfortable ways to prepare for an interview is through online courses taught by professional trainers. They will provide excellent tips and tricks to improve your interviewing and communication skills so that you can get through the interview process with ease.

Interviewing
Interviewing

However, there are lots of interview preparation courses available today on the internet. The question is: which one is best for you? This seemed to be the most challenging yet important question that I had to answer!

After doing hours of digging through countless websites to find a good interview course, I believe I have found the best online interview preparation courses. You can then cherry-pick to choose the one that fits your learning style most.

Things You Should Know

This post will include only general interview preparation courses. Those who need coding interview training or other technical interviews (for example, for a software engineer role) might have to wait for my future posts. However, these courses on this post can also be useful for them.

Those who want to prepare for college, MBA, or medical school interviews could find these courses beneficial as well.

This post from Victory Tale contains affiliate links. I will receive a commission from course providers if you purchase through my links. I will use this income to create better content for all visitors.

1. Interviewing and Resume Writing in English Specialization

This Coursera specialization from the University of Maryland is a complete preparation course for the job recruitment process. You will learn resume writing, interview research, and interviewing techniques from experienced specialists in the field.

Interview course from the University of Maryland - one of the best interview preparation courses
Interview course from the University of Maryland

Course Content

Within a specialization, the University of Maryland offers four minor courses and one capstone project as follows.

  1. Interview Research and Preparation – This first course will teach you how to discover your talents and competencies to empower your strength. Finally, you will learn how to communicate to the interviewer that these skills make you the most qualified for the role.
  2. Successful Interviewing – The second course will teach you all aspects of successful interviewing. For example, you will know how to conduct research on a company, use persuasive speech techniques and deal with common interview questions.
  3. Advanced Interviewing Techniques – This course will help you handle the toughest of interview questions and processes. The instructors will also provide excellent strategies to help you get through competency-based or behavioral interviews and improve your overall communication skills.
  4. Writing Winning Resumes and Cover Letters – The final course will help you write a persuasive resume/CV or cover letter. Many techniques will also be included, such as using the easy-reading language that everyone could understand and appreciate your talents.
  5. Capstone Project – You will utilize all the skills you learned from previous courses in this project. You will create your new resume, cover letter, elevator pitch, and record responses for interview questions. Your instructors will provide feedback on these to help you eliminate any potential weaknesses prior to the actual interview.

The instructor suggests you spend 4 hours a week for seven months to complete the entire specialization.

You can audit the specialization for free, but you won’t get feedback from experts. If you want a complete experience, it will cost $49 per month.

Comments and Tips

This specialization is more like complete training for job search. You will understand how to land your dream job from the very beginning, which is perfect for college students who want to find internships or entry-level positions.

This specialization will be very beneficial for those who want to prepare for the job interviews in advance since you will need at least 6-7 months to finish it. However, the specialization is not suitable for those who will have job interviews next week or next month.

Some might hesitate between auditing or enrolling in an entire course. I recommend the latter option, as experts can provide you personalized feedback that identifies your weaknesses. You can then solve them before the actual job interview.

However, if you are experienced, this specialization might be less helpful to you, as many tips and techniques explained in this course are introductory or for first-time job seekers. I suggest you choose the more advanced interview preparation courses below.

This course has a 7-day free trial.

2. Resume, Networking, and Interview Skills

Created by FullbridgeX, this edX course will provide skills, tips, and tricks for your success in the entire recruiting process.

Interview course on edX by FullbridgeX - one of the best interview preparation courses on edX
Interview course on edX by FullbridgeX

Course Content

  • Creating eye-catching resumes, cover letters, and other application materials, which will help you get numerous interviews
  • Build appropriate professional social network profiles to showcase your talents, skills, and strengths
  • Networking strategically
  • Preparing for an interview and acing it with ease
  • Follow up with interviewers and communicate effectively with managers

Course length is three weeks, while FullbridgeX recommends spending 2-3 hours a week on the course.

Unlike other edX courses, this interview preparation course is not free to audit. You need to pay $149 for an entire course.

Comments and Tips

This course covers similar content to the first course, albeit in a much more concise way. You can finish the material within three weeks. Furthermore, the course is self-paced, so you can even complete it much faster, hence suitable for those who will have an interview next week.

The only drawback is that the price is relatively high. At $149, you can get as many as 15 interview courses from Udemy. Each one might have more content than this course itself.

3. The Complete Job Interviewing Skills Masterclass Course

This Udemy course by TJ Walker is unarguably one of the most detailed interview prep courses on the market.

TJ Walker is a renowned expert in public speaking and personal development. Throughout his many decades of teaching, his students were presidents, prime ministers, senators, Miss Universes, and many more. Therefore, his interview prep is 100% worth your consideration.

The Complete Job Interviewing Skills Masterclass Course
The Complete Job Interviewing Skills Masterclass Course

Course Content

TJ Walker breaks down the course into bite-sized video lectures, which you can follow along with easily. Below is what you will learn from this interview preparation course

  • Developing mindset and maintaining a winner’s mental state
  • Interview preparation (rehearsing like Pro, Opposition research and many more)
  • Body language and clothing for a successful interview
  • How to calm your nerves
  • Last-minute tips before entering the room
  • Answering questions with skill
  • Asking thoughtful questions to market yourself
  • What to avoid during a job interview and delicate issues to beware
  • Post-interviewing follow-ups
  • Special tips and tricks for phone interviews
  • Tips on special situations (obnoxious questions, group interviews, case study interviews)
  • Salary negotiation
  • Storytelling techniques
  • Other communication skills enhancement

In total, video lectures are 22 hours long.

Ratings: 4.4/5.0, Students: 74,000+

Comments and Tips

Whether you have work experience or not, I suggest taking this course. TJ Walker creates an approach that fits everyone.

His course covers all possible encounters that you might face in the interview process. For example, there is a session on answering questions about delicate topics like politics, religion, or even your recent dismissal from your former company.

Other courses rarely teach these specific real-world situations. Thus, it could prove extremely valuable for many job-seekers.

He also includes a list of common questions that you should prepare beforehand. For each interview question, TJ Walker will advise how to answer them professionally, which would be the secret sauce that helps you land your dream job.

The course is self-paced. If you have an interview in a few days, I suggest watching the videos at 1.5x or 2x speed and skip the final part on communication skills. Therefore, you can save time for mock interviews or preparations.

4. Win Any Job Interview – TOP Strategies For Job Interviews

If you want to work for top companies, this self-paced guide on Udemy by Jimmy Naraine should be on your radar. Jimmy is a Goldman Sachs employee turned entrepreneur. Therefore, he has tons of experience that could help you succeed in the upcoming interview with no problems.

Win Any Job Interview – TOP Strategies For Job Interviews

Course Content

This interview preparation course has both audio and video content. You can choose either as the content is not different.

Below is what you will learn from the course.

  • Interview Preparation – Mock interviews, most common questions, interview research
  • Developing the winner’s mindset
  • How to handle interview questions
  • Body language
  • Phone interviews and Skype (video interviews)
  • Salary negotiation

Each part of the course is approximately 2.5 hours long. Therefore, it is possible to complete it in one sitting.

The course is well-received with a 4.7/5.0 rating from 19,300+ students.

Comments and Tips

If you are looking for self-paced interview prep that you can quickly complete in a few hours, this course is probably one of your best choices. The course summarizes all you need to know to master the interview and provides useful tips and techniques that you can utilize.

However, if you want to know in-depth interview techniques or ways to answer tough interview questions comfortably, this course is not for you.

5. How to Succeed at: Interviews

This course by the University of Sheffield is a solid alternative for those who need interview training. Experts from the university will help you with preparations for that big day.

How to Succeed at Interviews
How to Succeed at Interviews

Course Content

  • Preparing for interviews – The instructor will provide insights about the interview questions and how you should prepare for them physically and mentally.
  • How to create a positive impression
  • Strategies to deal with interview questions
  • How to perform well in special-situation interviews

This course is entirely free to learn. However, there is a time limit. After enrolling, you will be able to access the course for five weeks. If you want to access the course after that time, you need to pay $49.

Comments and Tips

The instructor recommends spending 3 hours for three weeks to finish the course. Thus, you have plenty of time to complete it before the free access expires, which is excellent.

As you cannot review what you learn after five weeks, make sure you understand the material well.

By the way, this course is not going to provide in-depth interview training. You will learn only the basics, but I believe they are enough for you to do well on that big day.

Other Technical Interview Preparation Courses

Below are special interview preparation courses that I plan to write more articles on these topics. I will update them in this section once the new posts are completed.

  • Coding Interviews – A special interview for tech roles. The purpose is to test candidates’ understanding of essential concepts such as data structures, algorithms, dynamic programming, or specific programming languages such as Python.
  • Case Interviews – A unique interview for management consulting jobs, testing every candidate’s problem-solving skills.

Extra Interview Courses for Non-Native Speakers

If you are not a native English speaker, an interview in the English language will be much more challenging if your English is not 100% fluent. You may lack confidence and end up bombing an interview (I did, lol.)

Fortunately, I have a solution to this problem. Finding an online tutor who is a native-speaker can be particularly helpful.

Your tutor, who is a certified English instructor, can help you improve your fluency and accent, correct your mistakes, and enhance your confidence in conversing in English.

Furthermore, you can have mock interviews with them and ask them to provide feedback. You will understand your weaknesses and be familiar with the environment, so you will not be nervous in front of your potential employer on the interview day.

Let’s see where you can find such as a tutor.

Live Lingua

Live Lingua is an online platform that provides language tutoring to students. All tutors at this platform are certified teachers with tons of teaching experience.

Live Lingua English
Live Lingua English

As the curriculum at Live Lingua is 100% personalized, you can request job interview coaching. Live Lingua will be responsible for finding the right tutor for you.

You can then take the free trial class to evaluate whether you like the selected tutor. If it is a pass, you can pay for the course and start training immediately.

For the pricing, you can pay course fees hourly, which costs $24. Nevertheless, if you buy more hours, you will get a discount.

Italki

Italki is quite similar to Live Lingua. However, you will choose the tutor on your own based on their experience, hourly rates, popularity, and many more.

Italki
Italki

Italki’s tutors are more diverse than Live Lingua. You can even select “community tutors” who are not certified instructors to help you with interview preparation. This could be a double-edged sword. Hence, please read their bios and select them well.

There is no free trial lesson for Italki. You will need to pay but at a 50%-80% discount of normal hourly rates.

Final Thoughts

Practice makes perfect! If you have completed the online course and mock interview. You can practice on your own. For instance, you can stand in front of the mirror and answer practice questions out loud.

After some time, you will be familiar with the interview format. You will gain confidence and successfully handle the toughest part of the interviewing process, whether it is a behavioral interview, programming interview, residency interview, or coding problems.

Pun Anansakunwat
Pun Anansakunwathttps://victorytale.com/about-victorytale/
Founder of Victory Tale, a multipotentialite who has a particular interest in technology. He loves to spend time testing new products and learning interesting topics to broaden his insights. After graduating from Columbia University in 2014, he makes a living by being a stock market investor, a private tutor, a writer of three published books, and finally a website owner.

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