The most powerful advice I've received yet is to practice, practice, practice! This advice resonates with me because it is so simple but transformative. Many of us go into an interview thinking that we know ourselves, know our skills and experience. Why would we need to practice being ourselves, and isn't that disingenuous? 

No. It is not. Reflecting on the common interview questions I may be asked actually helps me understand my own skills and thought process better. Taking the time to articulate to myself, first and foremost, why I think I have a certain competency or how it applies across different industries doesn't make me disingenuous it makes me confident in the strength of my self-knowledge. 

In my Abnormal Psych class in college, we spent weeks of classes on behaviors like the bystander effect or Milgram's experiment. All the ways in which we as human beings can fail each other. At the end of those classes, my professor included one class on heroism. I admit that I don't remember the name of the researcher or study that she referenced, but the conclusion has stuck with me for over a decade. The conclusion, roughly paraphrased, is that what drives some people to behave in a way that others consider heroic is having first reflected upon what they consider to be a heroic or even appropriate response in an emergency situation. You may see articles about off-duty cops and firemen or military veterans acting heroically. Perhaps because they have already built up the preexisting thought or response patterns that reflect proactive solutions in emergent situations. Ultimately, if we want heroes, we need to teach people to think about what that means to them in specific situations. The more they ponder, and reflect, and build their mental picture of what they should do, the more likely they are to do it if or when that moment arrives. 

I feel like it is a similar concept that the more I ponder, the more I reflect, and the more I build my mental picture of my own belief system and skills, the more honest and rich my discourse during the interview will be. I guess I like to think that that benefits me on a deeper level, whether or not I get the job. 

Philosophizing aside, One of the greatest things about living in our modern era is the wealth of technological tools we can now leverage to help us achieve. With this focus on practice, the most amazing things I was given access to through my Google professional certificate are Interview Warmup and Career Circle. Both tools allow me to film responses to typical questions and play them back to evaluate my performance. These tools also offer advice and instruction, to help you know how interviewers are expecting you to format your answers. I have found it extremely insightful and helpful so far. Highly recommend!