Why Interviewers Ask About Your Favorite Books (and How to Give a Great Response)
Your cover letter caught their eye and your resume knocked their socks off, but now comes the tricky part: acing the interview.
In an effort to get applicants to open up about themselves, job interviewers commonly throw candidates this curveball: What’s your favorite book, and why?
Your response speaks volumes about you, so it’s important to have an answer that impresses your interviewer, displays your personality, and demonstrates the depth of your knowledge. But in today’s fast-paced world, it’s tough finding time to read any book, let alone one that will wow your potential employer.
Employers like it when they hear the candidate reads non-fiction books. Why? It shows that they have a curiosity to learn.
What if you don’t read non-fiction books? No worries, that’s where the Blinkist app comes in. The Blinkist app makes it easier than ever to keep up with today’s top nonfiction, so you can effortlessly chat about your favorite book to your future boss.
The app gives you the key insights from top nonfiction books that you read or listen to in less than 15 minutes.
You can get the main ideas from 4 books in just 1 hour with the Blinkist app.
Here are 4 ways the Blinkist app can help you crush every interview and land your dream job.
1. Find the perfect books for the position
When preparing a response to the “favorite book” question, a good rule of thumb is to tailor your answer to the specific role you’re interviewing for.
To help you find the perfect titles for any position, Blinkist’s library is divided up into more than a dozen categories, ranging from science to psychology and marketing to mindfulness.
So whether you want to work with kids or computers, finances or the future, you’ll find plenty of eye-opening books to mention to the hiring manager.
2. Listen and learn anywhere and everywhere
In addition to being easy to use, the Blinkist app was designed to be easy on the eyes—and on the ears. When your hands are free (or if you don’t have headphones nearby), you can swipe through books-in-blinks and read their key insights.
And if you learn better by listening, Blinkist’s audio feature lets your ears do the heavy lifting while your hands are otherwise occupied. You can even listen to the key insights from books while driving to the interview, or read them while waiting for the questioning to commence.
3. Use it as a refresher or to round out your knowledge
We all want to know more. Not only to impress interviewers but also to do well at our jobs — and at home. So once you begin Blinkist, odds are you’ll want to branch out from your specific field and learn about something entirely unrelated to your work.
By rounding out your general knowledge, you’ll be more likely to make connections to topics your interviewer might mention, helping you appear more relatable-and more knowledgeable-than competing candidates.
Plus, all of Blinkist’s content is scientifically formulated to be memorable and clear, making it easy to confidently drop facts and figures should the opportunity arise
4. It’s much more than just an app
When you sign up for Blinkist, you’re joining a global network of people who thirst for knowledge and are committed to self-improvement.
This rapidly growing community recently surpassed 2 million learners, many of whom have been in the same position as you and have plenty of advice to offer interviewees.
Looking for some tips or a few words of encouragement? Post a message in Blinkist’s Facebook group, and prepare for a flurry of replies from smart learners suggesting books and swapping success stories.
With a growing library of more than 2,000 titles, the Blinkist app can help you quickly prepare the perfect response when asked about your favorite book.
And if you’re also interested in improving your interviewing skills, several books-in-blinks offer winning tips to help you hit a homerun and obtain a job offer.
Download the app today for free, and you’ll be that much closer to landing the job you want. You’ve got this!
Originally published at https://www.blinkist.com.