Today’s job search is unlike any we’ve seen before. Competition is especially fierce in this economy, and candidates get weeded out quickly. If you’ve landed the interview, you need to bring your best game right off the bat and knock the socks off the hiring manager. One of the most effective ways to become an all-star candidate is to hire an interview coach. Individualized coaching takes your personal work history and talents into account and customizes solutions for you.

How do you find a great interview coach? Look for someone who’s specialized in your field with lots of experience. Look for testimonials from other clients, and take advantage of the consultation that they (should) offer. If you find someone with the right credentials that you feel you can work with comfortably, you’re good to go.

What should you look for? A really great interview coach will get to the bottom of your problem as quickly as possible. They won’t want to waste your time or money, and will be interested in helping you land the job you want. They’ll want to help you identify your goals and pinpoint the areas you need to improve.

You’ll probably get some homework to do on your own, like books to read or specific changes to make to your resume. It’s great if they can help you arrange a job-shadowing experience, and help you incorporate the keywords you’ll gain from that experience into your new resume.

But the best thing about interview coaching is that it’s personalized. A great coach won’t have a standard plan they make everyone adhere to—they’ll customize the plan to what you need to be a winning candidate.

A good coach won’t make you crazy promises, but he or she will want you to succeed as badly as you do, and will give you the tools, training, and expertise to make it happen.

Author's Bio: 

Peggy McKee has over 15 years of experience in sales, sales management, sales recruiting, and career coaching. Her website, Career Confidential (http://www.career-confidential.com) is packed with job-landing tips and advice as well as the practical, powerful, innovative tools every job seeker needs to be successful.

Find out more about what interview coaching can do for you—job-search strategies, social media help, role-playing interview questions, resumes that get the interview, 30/60/90-day plans that get the job, and much more at http://www.phcconsulting.com/interview-coaching/. Learn to be the candidate that everyone wants to hire.