Google’s Interview Warm-up to help Africans prepare for job interviews
By Onome Amuge
Google has commenced activation of Interview Warmup, a machine-learning powered tool that enables job seekers to become more confident and comfortable with job interview questions in preparation for the real-life application process.
The tool, initially announced in October 2022 at the second Google for Africa Event, was designed to help Google Career Certificates learners maximise their career opportunities, and is currently available for everyone to use.
Highlighting the challenges of landing a job in Africa, Google noted that an average job listing in the continent attracts over 2,400 applicants, an indication that the chances of landing a job can be very difficult. Google also pointed out that 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.
The multinational technology company explained that Interview Warmup as a solution to these challenges, 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.
On how to get started, Google 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.
Afterwards, users will also be able to see insights or 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. It also enables users to track how much time they spend talking about areas like their experience, skills and goals.
Commenting on the innovation, Mojolaoluwa Aderemi-Makinde, head of brand and reputation at Google Africa, noted that the development shows how new technologies have the potential to help young people in Africa hone the skills needed to grow their careers.
Aderemi-Makinde, who expressed confidence that the tool can help create more opportunities for African job seekers, said Africa has the youngest population in the world, with 70 percent of sub-Saharan Africa under the age of 30. He added that many of them are creative and entrepreneurial, and over the next five years, 300 million people will come online in Africa. The digital exposure of young Africans, he explained, will create opportunities to acquire digital skills through training to assist them in getting the right jobs.
“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,” he said.
The head of brand and reputation at Google Africa further noted that 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.
Interview Warmup makes it a little easier for anyone who plans to complete one of the most important parts of the job search, which is the interview. The tool is available at grow.google/interview-warmup and can be accessed on the latest versions of Chrome on OSX, Windows, Android, as well as the latest version of Safari on iOS devices.