Google’s new tool to help job seekers prepare for interviews

Google has gone live with the Interview Warmup, a tool that enables job seekers to practise answering interview questions to become more confident and comfortable with job interviews.

The tool, initially announced in October, 2022 at the second Google for Africa Event, was designed to help Google Career Certificates learners prepare for job interviews, but it is available for everyone to use.

Research showed that an average job listing in Africa attracts over 2,400 applicants showing that the chances of landing a job can be very difficult. Interviewing in a new field can also be hard, especially when a job seeker does not have access to friends, family or mentors in the field, who can help them practise and prepare.

According to Google, Interview Warmup enables job seekers to practise answering questions carefully selected by industry experts and uses machine learning developed by Google Research to transcribe their answers and help them discover ways to improve.

The technology firm explained that individuals preparing for interviews can simply start practising with a simple click on the homepage, choose the kind of job they are interviewing for, and then do a practice interview that consists of five randomly selected questions or individual interview questions.

According to Google, users will also be able to see insights, patterns detected by machine learning that can help them discover things about their answers. These include job related terms, words used most often and talking points that are mentioned in each answer, so users can see how much time they spend talking about areas like their experience, skills and goals.

Head of Brand and Reputation at Google Africa, Mojolaoluwa Aderemi-Makinde, said: “We are excited about Interview Warmup because it shows how new technologies have the potential to help young people in Africa hone the skills needed to grow their careers. The tool can help create more opportunities for African job seekers.”

Google noted that Africa has the youngest population in the world, with 70 per cent of sub-Saharan Africa under the age of 30, with many of them being creative and entrepreneurial, “and over the next five years, 300 million people will come online in Africa. The digital exposure of young Africans will create opportunities to acquire digital skills through training to assist them in getting the right jobs.”

According to the American company, just as important as it is for them to acquire digital skills, it is also important that they have the skills to successfully scale an interview session to land their dream jobs. The Interview Warmup tool reinforces Google’s commitment to continue helping job seekers in Africa improve their interview skills and prepare them for the careers they want.

“As important as it is to learn the skills needed to perform well on a new job, it is even more important to learn the skills needed to qualify for roles,” Aderemi-Makinde added.