With the right coaching from the right person – Carole Martin, The Interview Coach
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FBI – Phase II – SA
LAW ENFORCEMENT —-
PASSING THIS JUNE, JULY, AUGUST
“I cannot speak highly enough about your coaching! My stories were on point, my confidence was through the roof, and I talked for the entire hour. I had the agents chuckling at some of my stories, and one had to put the pencil down to shake out her wrist she was writing so much. The difference between my first interview and this second attempt were night and day! Thank you for your help and I highly recommend your program to anyone who is serious about passing ANY interview!”
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FBI – Phase III – IA
“I’m letting you know that I passed Phase III with your excellent help. You asked me the same kinds of questions that the interviewers asked me. I wasn’t surprised by anything. You really guided me in making my stories more personable and interesting. I saw a few smiles from the interviewers at times. The coaching put me more at ease, which is big for someone who gets incredibly anxious for interviews. Your coaching no doubt helped me get through it successfully, even though we started just a few days before the interview. “
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FBI – Phase II – SA
“I wanted to let you know that I passed Phase 2. Thank you for your help and tough feedback. I believe the thing you taught me that was most impactful was for me to talk more about my feelings and obstacles rather than just saying an action. This helped the interviewers learn more about me as a person and presented a better picture of who I am.”
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FBI/DEA – PASSED
“I’m pleased to tell you that I passed phase II with the FBI!
Everything we did together was crucial in my preparation
for success. Your method is spot on.
Your coaching gave me a lot of
confidence and taught me how to tell better stories.
I ended having to think back to
a story I did previously practice and your method allowed me to tell the story
in a logical method.
I was able to think quickly on
my feet and present myself well.
I applied what I learned for my DEA interview and passed that first time as well!”
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FBI – PHASE TWO – SA – SELF-PREP PACKAGE ONLY
Dear Carole,
“Against all odds, I passed my Phase 2 Test thanks to your materials. I was under a time crunch and had only 36 hours to prepare because my grad school program backed nearly right up to my interview date.
If it hadn’t been for your materials (I did the self-study packet due to time constraints), I would not have known how to properly format my responses. As you know, I am not allowed to say anything about how the test was conducted, but I can say that your packets were very helpful. “
CAN’T AFFORD – OR
DON’T WANT TO SPEND/INVEST – OR, JUST DON’T HAVE ENOUGH TIME – CHECK OUT MY
SELF-PREP PACKAGE
RECEIVED 05-02-19 “Just wanted to update you – I just received word that I passed Phase 2. While we didn’t get a chance to do a full coaching package, your self-help package was the right type of material to get me on the right track that I needed to be on. Thank you so much for your services, it proved to be crucial!”
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What I offer is TIP, TOOLS, TECHNIQUES, AND FEEDBACK. The
rest is up to you. I have no way of controlling what you do with the
information.
I realize budgets can make a difference regarding what you
can afford – or want to invest.
All I can tell you is that I have worked with over 3500
candidates in the past six years with a high rate of passing.
Here are some possible options for you.
A book recommendation – quiz book – to teach you how to write a good
“behavioral story.”
Boost Your Interview IQ –
Second Edition (white cover –
published – 2012) – for a quick brush up on Behavioral Interviewing as well as
other questions. It’s a quiz and you determine which is the strongest answer.
The book is available at many
bookstores.
On line —- Paperback and
Kindle
FROM SOMEONE WHO DID NOT PASS
THE FBI EXAM THE FIRST TIME
“Boost Your Interview
IQ” by Carole Martin provides you with the essential skills and techniques
you need to apply in any real life interviewing scenario. If you are truly
interested in exploring the fundamentals and learning the essentials of
job interviewing, then this book will be an important guide.
Before I read Carole Martin’s
book, I must admit that I was lost when it came to interviews. As a young
lawyer with three years of experience in my field, I truly thought that I knew
everything it took to effectively express myself and market my skills to a
potential employer. I had conducted countless client interviews
myself, and so I thought I had most question and answer techniques down to
a science. But when I flunked my first major interview for a dream job
with a prestigious employer, I realized that I needed help from an
expert. In hindsight, I wish I had sought out this information earlier.
Perhaps because I was too accustomed to being sought out by others as an
expert in my own field of law that I did not realize I needed an
expert’s advice on basic interview techniques.
I am thankful that I contacted Carole Martin and found her book “Boost Your Interview IQ.” I feel that I have begun the journey towards interview success. In my opinion, learning real life interview techniques should not be about “gimmicks” or “tricks”. Instead, Carole Martin provides a wide-range of examples that point you in the right direction. You will learn through a question and answer technique designed by Carole that will give you a thorough understanding of the basics. Reading this book is the beginning of a journey that will equip you with the essentials of interviewing. So if you are curious about how to interview, then I recommend you read this book first. The rest is up to you!”
I will critique a story for you with this package –
important to know if you’re writing the stories in an acceptable manner. I will
also chat with you to answer questions.
If, you decide to add on the coaching (we take into account
what you have already purchased – and never charge for the same thing twice.)
you can do that at any time.
THE BIGGEST DIFFERENCE
BETWEEN THE BASIC PACKAGE AND THE PREMIER PACKAGE IS TIME SPENT BY ME – EITHER
IN COACHING (2 ½ HOURS VS 1 HOUR 40 MINUTES)
AS WELL AS THE WRITING FOR
YOU OR HELPING YOU WRITE THE 5 POINTS – WHAT YOU HAVE TO OFFER THE BUREAU.
*The five-point system is a summary of what you bring to
the position – matched to what you bring to the Bureau.
The system is aligned with your five fingers to keep you
focused and succinct.
Basic package
– you receive a template and I will help you with what to write.
Premier package
– I write the 5 points for you based on our sessions
Here are some questions that could be answered with the same
5 points.
Q. Tell me about yourself.
Q. What can you bring that the other candidates can’t bring to this job?
Q. What are your strengths?
Q. What makes you unique?
Q. Why should we hire you?
Also can be used as a summary at the end of the interview.
“Before I leave I would like to
summarize what I would bring to the job.”
“This is who helped me with my resume. She was awesome.
She works for a resume company but I’ve could email her directly and get set
up. I highly recommend her.”
A CRUTIAL PART OF THE
PHASE II OR III INTERVIEW IS WRITING STORIES.
THE INTERVIEW FOCUSES
ON BEHAVIORAL INTERVIEWING TECHNIQUES.
HOW TO ANSWER A
BEHAVIORAL QUESTION – WITH A STORY
PROPORTIONS OF A BEHAVIORAL ANSWER
The proportions of the story are almost more important than the story itself.
ALWAYS START WITH THE FACTOR YOU
ARE GOING FOR FIRST –
FACTOR – Planning, Organizing, Prioritizing
PROBLEM/SITUATION (20%) 5-7
sentences
Setup –
One of the successful projects I had in college was a
presentation Asian and Pacific Islander American-VOTE, a non-governmental
organization aimed at addressing and ending Asian American voter apathy.
My team was assigned to report on key management personnel, divisions and number of employees.
I was selected as the team lead by my teammates.
Transition sentence – feelings, thoughts…
I felt pressured. This was an intense assignment, and I knew
I would have to put time and energy into the preparation if my team was to do a
good job.
ACTION (60%) 7 -9 steps — more or less
“WHAT I DID WAS……” (use this phrase to signal to them and to you that the main part of the story is beginning. Once you begin the ACTON you can’t go back to the problem.) —
I arranged a meeting with my team and facilitated an active discussion on our topic so that everyone felt included. Once the group of myself and three other students agreed on a plan of action I laid out our groundwork for the project.
I divided each subject matter into categories, i.e. mission
statements, coalition partners, number of employees, etc.
Then I evenly distributed the work amongst the group members in accordance with what I felt were there strengths and weaknesses. There was some push and pull about the division, but in the end we were in agreement.
I also was able to arrange and organize a trip to HQ in Washington D.C. to interview employees and gather visual aids for the presentation. This took a lot of effort on my part, but was the highlight of the project. Everyone became very motivated when we were able to see what we were working toward.
I then collected and coordinated all of the
information. Each respective member
prepared the pieces and articles relevant to our goal.
I put in extra effort, organizing and writing the final
presentation. Many late nights, while still trying to keep up my class
load. There were times this was a real challenge to meet all of my deadlines.
Then I spent time reviewing my portion of the speech over a
period of several days, keeping in mind that I had a time commitment.
Spending weekends and late evenings was very difficult
sometimes, but I persisted and it paid off in the end.
RESULT (20%) —- 3-5 sentences
As a result, I felt calm and confident while giving the presentation and that helped the others feel the same. I received an “A” for my portion of the project.
The team’s overall grade was an A+.
I received many comments from my team and my professor
telling me what a great job I did. One team member told me that he had
never felt more organized on a project.
KUDO
(If there was any kind of kudo or comment given – be sure to
include that in the end of your story.) Third party endorsement is like a “gold
star.”
TEMPLATE
The structure above is the “template.”
Once you write the story, you will turn it into a conversational dialogue. Would you talk
this way if you were talking to professional colleagues? Probably not.
Make it a conversation where you were sharing the story with others. We tend to write more formally than when we speak – especially to colleagues. These people who are interviewing you are equivalent to your colleagues. At least you hope that they will be.
RULE – THE ACTION MUST MATCH THE “FACTOR” –
WHEN YOU BEGIN TO WRITE YOUR STORIES – CHOOSE ONE FACTOR AT
A TIME. AS YOU BECOME MORE CONFIDENT, YOU CAN BE MORE CONFIDENT ABOUT MOVING
THE STORIES AROUND – AS THOUGH THEY WERE ON WHEELS.