Google launches ‘Interview Warmup’ to help job seekers prepare for interviews

Google has gone live with the launch of ‘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 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.

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. ‘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.

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. 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.

“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”,  says Mojolaoluwa Aderemi-Makinde, head of brand and reputation at Google Africa. “The tool can help create more opportunities for African job seekers.”