Interview Coaching Services from Interview Expert Bill Cole

We offer specialized, expert interview coaching for high tech, engineering, the executive suite, sales, finance, consulting, customer service, education, politicians, government, medical school, dental school, all allied health professions and all other professional interviews. We help you answer difficult and tricky questions, tell compelling stories that showcase your strengths, and help you handle any situation that can arise in an interview so you can perform with confidence. We give you insightful and practical feedback and guidance on your answers, vocal skills, eye contact and body language.

If you experience interview anxiety or stage fright we have a special mental training program to teach you mental toughness, poise, and calmness and focus skills so you'll go into your interviews feeling confident.

If you tend to freeze up and go blank, or forget what you wanted to say, we teach you advanced communication techniques that help you gracefully and diplomatically "stall for time" and gain more data while you can think of what to say.

We teach you the art and science of rapport building so you can reduce your discomfort with small talk and have the interviewer like you.

Our collaborative, professional relationship supports, guides and advises you across the full range of the interview process.

Ultimately, we help you come across to interviewers as a person who will be highly desirable and successful at their institution.

One on One Coaching: Silicon Valley Bay Area, Globally

For over 20 years we maintained first-class offices in the heart of Silicon Valley, in Cupertino, and Palo Alto, California. However, with the 2020 COVID-19 phenomenon, we have decided to move our business to a virtual basis.

We've been doing distance coaching all over the world each week for decades and the quality of coaching using video is completely equal to coaching done in an office.

It's also possible that we could come to your location in the San Francisco Bay Area to see you practice, to compete or for coaching in your home or office. We've done that for years. Please contact us for details. Travel fees may apply. We are based in Palo Alto, California.

Video And Telephone Coaching: US, Internationally

Are You Ready To Improve Your Interview Skills And Learn The Secrets Of Being Great At Interviewing?

I will help you put your best foot forward in all your interviews, and help you get the results you desire. I will be your advisor, consultant and coach, every step of the way.

Here are 20 ways I can help you succeed in your interviews, and in your overall interviewing campaign.

Audio Recording Your Interview Coaching Sessions

Feel free to audio record our coaching sessions when we meet in our offices to help you remember and master the material. You can do this by bringing your cell phone, laptop, camcorder or other device. You have our advance permission to use this for your personal educational use, but not to share with anyone or to sell or post on the web. There is no charge for your recording in our offices.

If we are doing distance coaching, we can record your coaching sessions via Skype or by phone very easily. We have a special Skype audio program, and also a special high-quality audio-recording conference call line, if we are using a phone. The fee for recording and sending you this mp3 audio by email is $10 per session recording. We send the mp3 to you within 24 hours so you can review the class. That is your copy to keep. The mp3 format is the only format option.

Take This Free Interview Skills Assessment

Discover Your Strengths And Weaknesses

We are making this valuable 65-item assessment tool available to you at no charge to assist you in determining what is getting in the way of your performing to your full potential in interview situations. It will help you quickly discover your strengths and weaknesses and provide you with an overview of where you stand in these often stressful, yet critical performances.

We will email you a copy and you can then decide if you want to arrange a brief, free, no-obligation review of the results, and of your strengths and weaknesses as an interviewee by phone, FaceTime or Skype.

Take this free Interview Skills Assessment now.

Order Interview Coaching Services - Organizations

The standard hourly coaching rate for one person in corporate, governmental, academic, military or other organizational entities is $275, with some potential adjustments, based on a quote as part of a custom volume package, and for example, when we include speaking, training and consulting. For coaching sessions outside our offices, for sessions with more than one person, and for coaching with organizations, whether in person, or by distance, additional coaching fees and travel fees apply. We also offer two discounted packages, one of five hours and one of ten hours.

The hourly coaching rate for one person in corporate, governmental, academic, military or other organizational entities is $275.

Coaching Five-Pack (Organizational): Buy five hours of coaching and instead of paying $275/hour, you pay only $265/hour. You SAVE $50.

Coaching Ten-Pack (Organizational): Buy ten hours of coaching and instead of paying $275/hour, you pay only $260/hour. You SAVE $150.

The Traction-To-Action™ Interview Coaching Starter Package

I will help you build more interview confidence, make a positive impact and sell yourself and your ideas to people. Here's what I will teach you:

New Client Coaching Package Offer

Our standard coaching fees for private pay individuals are $125 an hour, but we want to give you a new client package rate. Choose this Traction-To-Action Starter Package and take off $75 over three hours of coaching. You pay only $300 for all the above 14 points over three valuable hours of coaching with Bill. Travel and associated expenses are extra, if we come to you.

Please note that this private pay for individuals (not organizations) reduced-fee coaching structure is applicable only to individuals who take telephone, Skype or FaceTime sessions, and for an individual taking sessions in our offices in Palo Alto, California. Private pay coaching rates are not applicable to professional athletes or coaches. Professional athletes and coaches would pay the organizational rate, even if not connected with a team. For coaching sessions outside our offices, for sessions with more than one person, and for coaching with organizations, whether in person, or by distance, additional coaching fees and travel fees apply. The hourly coaching rate for one person in corporate, governmental, academic, military or other organizational entities is $275, with some potential adjustments, based on a quote as part of a custom volume package, and for example, when we include speaking, training and consulting.

We have coached individuals from San Jose, Saratoga, Los Gatos, San Francisco, Campbell, Cupertino, Palo Alto, Almaden Valley, Los Altos, Santa Cruz, Monte Sereno, Morgan Hill, Gilroy, Mountain View, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, Alameda, Atherton, Berkeley, Burlingame, Campbell, Concord, Daly City, Danville, Dublin, Foster City, Fremont, Hillsborough, Livermore, Menlo Park, Millbrae, Milpitas, Moraga, Orinda, Pleasant Hill, Pleasanton, Portola Valley, Redwood City, San Leandro, San Mateo, San Ramon, San Rafael, Santa Clara, Union City, Woodside, and many other locations in the San Francisco Bay area, Silicon Valley, and around the United States. You can come to us, or we can come to you, or the coaching can be conducted by telephone or Skype.

We can also work virtually. We also regularly consult with clients by phone and email from countries around the world, such as England, Portugal, Australia, Mexico, China, Canada, Israel and South Africa.

To start your interview coaching, simply email us, call us at 510-270-0311, or click on the button below to sign up now. This new client discount package is for first-time clients only. If you are a continuing client, please choose one of the Interview Coaching Services packages below.

We can often start you the same week you contact us. We stay busy, but we know you have important interviews and media events coming up, and we want you to be prepared, confident, and to give outstanding performances. If you need emergency, last-minute interview coaching, call us, and we will do everything we can to help you right away. We always go the extra mile for our clients!

Order Interview Coaching Services - Private Pay

Our discounted coaching fees are $75 for one half hour (30 minutes) and $125 per hour, with additional price reductions offered for blocks of four, six and twelve hours.

One Hour of Coaching: Buy one hour of coaching for $125/hour. Please note that a one-hour purchase cannot be split into two half-hour coaching sessions. If you wish to book a 30-minute session you must buy the half-hour.

Coaching Four-Pack: Buy four hours of coaching and instead of paying $125/hour, you pay only $117.50/hour. You SAVE $30.

Coaching Six-Pack: Buy six hours of coaching and instead of paying $125/hour, you pay only $115/hour. You SAVE $60.

Coaching Twelve-Pack: Buy twelve hours of coaching and instead of paying $125/hour, you pay only $110/hour. You SAVE $180.

Making Payments Of Any Amount

To make an installment payment or to make another payment to William B. Cole Consultants, go to the page for making payments of any amount.

Normally payments are made using the Credit Card or PayPal buttons on our web site. However, coaching services payments may be made in installments, by special arrangement. Please contact us for details.

Payment And Scheduling Policies

Additional Services

There is no additional charge for reading and responding to reasonable length emails. For emails or attached documents that are longer, any time spent with these activities will be counted as hours in the package you purchased. If the hours exceed the package hours, they will be invoiced weekly.

We can assist you in many other ways in addition to coaching. This is a menu of how you can utilize our expertise to create a robust program of improvement. Any time spent with these activities will be counted as hours in the package you purchased.

These additional services can be paid for in two ways, which we will ask you to designate before beginning them. They could be counted as part of your existing package hours, or charged as additional services beyond the package, at the hourly rate within the package you purchased. If these services exceed the hours in your package, they will be invoiced the week they are delivered, with payment due at that time.

Policies And Pricing On Urgent, Rush Service And After-Hours Project Requests

Urgent, rush service and after-hours project requests count as time-and-a-half. These rates apply upon your approval only.

We have many interview clients, executives, business owners and others who often need immediate turn-around of resumes and cover letters, and other documents. We wish we could accommodate everyone instantly. We know that speed is of the essence in responding to job announcements and last-minute interviews. We do our best to accommodate you so you can be nimble on these, and so you can apply for these positions early.

Most of our clients are working full time and cannot properly respond to a job announcement during their workday. They come home and then ask us to respond with their written work, at the end of their day. We are happy to do so. We do have time constraints, but if we are able, we respond as quickly as possible, often the same day.

However, when you ask us to produce a work product on an urgent basis, or to work outside our normal working hours, we find it necessary to charge a premium for that. The premium we charge for this expedited service is time and a half. So, for example, if you have a coaching-consulting package of 3, 4, 6 or 12 hours and you engage us in rush work, each hour is counted as 90 minutes, and would be deducted from your package accordingly.

We will only designate your work "rush service", or as an "after-hours project" if you specifically tell us this, and if you agree to pay the time and a half rate. Only you can designate such a rush order. We will always ask you to confirm this before proceeding.

Alternatively, instead of engaging us in a rush order, you can simply make your project normal priority. We'll get it done as fast as we can, in our normal business hours, and you won't get charged a premium. Your non-priority work may not get done immediately. In fact, we can't guarantee it will be done quickly if there are other folks ahead of you who have paid for priority rush jobs. And if your request comes in on a Thursday, Friday or weekend, the following week may be the first we can get to it.

Travel Expenses For Coaching And Consulting

We handle travel differently for speaking and training versus coaching and consulting. For speaking engagements we can build the travel, hotel and per diem and other expenses into a custom-quoted all-inclusive fee, or itemize these expenses separate from the speaking fee. For this type of engagement, there is no separate per-hour travel fee in addition to the actual travel expenses incurred. You simply cover our actual travel expenses.

For consulting and coaching engagements, we have two tiers of travel fees. When we drive our company car to such an engagement, our hourly travel fee is $100/hour. We charge that because our time is valuable, and while we are driving we are unable to do work or engage in client coaching or consulting. In addition, there is wear and tear and an increase in mileage on the vehicle, and gas and oil expenses. If we travel by air, train or boat, our hourly travel fee is reduced to $50/hour, since we do not incur expenses to our company car.

Travel From Palo Alto, California

Travel time begins when we leave our offices in Palo Alto, California, and ends when we arrive at your door or the door of the place you designate. Travel expenses include: Taxi, shuttle, ferry, subway, train, or any other conveyance, and tolls and parking fees. We fly out of any of three nearby Bay area airports: San Francisco International Airport (SFO), San Jose International Airport (SJC) and Oakland International Airport (OAK).

Travel time is not computed only by distance via an online map service for driving. It's based on time, since once we get near your office we may be searching and waiting for a parking spot, taking another conveyance and walking to your offices. We also may be held up by heavy traffic, road work, detours or traffic accidents. All this time counts towards the total travel time. Travel time is also counted the same way when we return from your office.

Travel, Other Fees And Expenses And Time Frames

Travel, hotel and per diem expenses and fees can be handled in any of these ways: You can book and pay for our travel expenses, we can invoice you, or we can take these expenses and fees off any coaching package you purchase.

We serve our clients far beyond normal 9-5pm Monday-Friday working hours, because our clients work across the US and the globe, and because we often travel to observe and coach our clients as they perform, compete and work. We often work early in the morning, late at night, and on Saturday and Sunday to best meet their needs. Travel fees are due anytime we drive our company car to you or an event for you. When we travel to you or to an event for you by plane, and the plane leaves after 8pm and arrives prior to 6am, there are no travel fees assessed, since we could not be serving other clients at those times. Travel fees are waived if any daily coaching / consulting contract exceeds $4,000.

Our Coaching Sessions Are Guaranteed

I guarantee the quality of our coaching sessions. I guarantee to you that each coaching session will be of the highest quality, and will give you the best cutting-edge content and success strategies. However, I cannot predict, know, monitor or guarantee what you will do with the lessons, insights and content learned in these sessions. Therefore, when you use our coaching, materials and products you are not guaranteed to improve learning, performance, income, health, fitness or specific earnings. No one can guarantee such outcomes because your results will depend on variables and factors outside our control including, but not limited to: your motivation, your diligence and discipline, your capabilities, your creativity, your health and fitness, your compliance with our recommendations and suggestions, and other factors which neither party has control over.

I will ask you, many times in each coaching session, if things make sense, and if you know how to practice and actually use what we discuss, and what I teach you. At the end of each coaching session, I will ask if that session met your expectations. If you say yes, we will consider that session successful. If you say no, I will spend additional time with you, at no additional charge, at that time, or at a mutually convenient time, to resolve your concerns. If I cannot resolve your concerns at that time, I will refund all your monies paid for that particular coaching session in question. If this coaching session in question was part of a package, when you receive a refund for that session, we will also refund the rest of your unused coaching package monies. This will be prorated per the package you purchased, not at the full non-package hourly rate. Whenever you make the next coaching package payment that is due or make a pay as you go payment, this indicates that you are satisfied with the coaching up to that point, and that you wish to continue the coaching program.

Our Coaching Is Confidential

Trust forms the core of the coaching relationship. We respect what you say, and will not repeat your material to anyone or to any entity. We maintain your confidentiality and privacy in all communications and we maintain safe and secure written records of your account. We do not disclose that you are a client if you do not want that known.

Read These Interview Coaching Articles

These articles describe different types of interviews and provide guidelines to help you prepare for a job interview and sell yourself in the interview.

Do You Know The 19 Types Of Interviews?

To Win At The Interview Game You Must Be Ready For All These Interview Formats

Bill Cole, MS, MA

Before you launch yourself into the interview cauldron you need to know the lay of the land. Not only do you need to be aware of how interviews are conducted from a question and answer level, you need to know their structural format. Read this article about Types of Interviews to learn the big picture on the 19 different types of interview formats and what to expect as you move through the interview process.

Behavioral Interviewing Techniques

Smart Strategies To Help You Master This Challenging Approach

Bill Cole, MS, MA

Behavioral interviewing techniques use open-ended questions that require you to tell timelines of your behavior, thoughts, analysis, values and character, in story form. These are known as "competency-based" interviews that attempt to gauge your "behavioral competencies", where traditional interview questions cannot. Read this article about Behavioral Interviewing Techniques to learn about this approach and find guidelines on preparing for and performing well in a behavioral interview.

How To Sell Yourself In A Job Interview

Sales Secrets From An Interviewing Skills Coach

Bill Cole, MS, MA

As an interviewing skills coach, I help people navigate their job campaigns from the moment they realize they need or want a job, to the time they shake hands and sign the employment contract. Since I am also an experienced sales coach, I can help my clients gain that extra special edge in promoting themselves to an interviewer, to convince the interviewer they are indeed perfect for the job. Gain that special edge in promoting yourself by reading this article about Selling Yourself in a Job Interview
.

Bill Cole, Expert Interview Coach

Bill Cole, MS, MA, interview coaching expert Bill Cole, MS, MA is a nationally-recognized interview coach and the author of the well-selling book, The Interview Success Guide.

Bill is regularly interviewed by the media on interviewing strategies by such career outlets as U. S. News & World Report, Monster.com, LEADx.org, Riley Guide Careers Blog, Yahoo! Finance, Chief Executive Magazine, Dice magazine, Workforcexpert.com, SimplyHired.com, Yahoo Style Magazine, Business Insider Magazine-Malaysia, Business Insider Magazine-Singapore, Business Insider Magazine-US and College Recruiter Magazine, and many others.

Bill has trained people in better interview and career-strategies in high tech, the executive suite, engineering, sales, finance, consulting, customer service, education, politics, government, medical school, osteopathic school, dental school, pharmacy school, chiropractic school, physical therapy school, nursing school, and all other allied health care field interviews. He has taught state of the art interviewing skills to foreign dentists and physicians wishing to begin US practices, physicians seeking residency programs and fellowships, psychiatrists, psychologists, MFT's, LCSW's, therapists, counselors, police, law enforcement, civil service, and law firms.

Interview Coaching Expert For Job And School Interviews

How does anyone become an interview coach or trainer? How many people go to college thinking, "I'd like to be an interview coach!" Well, Bill has been regularly interviewed by the media over the past 20 years, and he's studied how to give great interviews for his own purposes. He also is interviewed daily by firms and individuals wishing to hire him as a coach, trainer, speaker and consultant.

For many, many years Bill has been helping people deal with the stresses and pressures of sports competitions, as a mental game coach, and years ago, many of his sports clients asked, "Can you also help me with the stress of an interview? I get terrible stage fright". Bill said, "Yes, it's the same set of performance psychology skills", and a new coaching division was born in Bill's company. Bill also had already been providing presentation coaching for many years, and shifting into interview coaching was a natural progression.

Since then, Bill extensively studied the art and science of the interview game and became deeply knowledgeable about the field. Bill wrote the well-selling book, The Interview Success Guide in 2012, and has other interview skills books and audios under development.

There is a counseling and career coaching perspective to Bill's work as an interview coach that few other interview coaches possess. He was a psychotherapist at one time and holds a master's degree in Counseling Psychology. Bill regularly helps his clients "figure out who they are" and what their values, goals and dreams are so they can portray themselves authentically in their interviews and match themselves precisely to the position or school they are seeking.

Media Interview Coaching Expert For Authors And Subject Matter Experts

Bill Cole is an expert at coaching people on how to shine in media interviews. He developed this skill set over decades of being involved with the media—on the inside—and on the outside. Countless times, Bill has either been interviewed by the media himself and/or coached people to give successful interviews with them. You no doubt recognize these big media outlets where Bill's work has appeared, and/or where he has helped his clients get press attention:

MSNBC.com, Golf Magazine, the BBC, ABC-TV, Fox News, the Associated Press Radio, Sirius Radio, The New York Times, Success Magazine, The Washington Post, Corporate & Incentive Travel magazine, The San Francisco Examiner and Chronicle, Yahoo! Sports, ABC-TV, Entrepreneur Magazine, The San Jose Mercury News, The Denver Post, The Detroit News, The Buffalo News, The Kansas City Star, Tennis Magazine, Runner's World, Fitness Magazine, Presentations Magazine, Professionally Speaking, Time Magazine, the Los Angeles Times and USA Today. There are many others.

Bill practices what he preaches.

Bill understands the pressures, challenges and interests of the media. He should. He's a former sports writer, business and sports columnist, magazine correspondent, book author and the executive editor of numerous professional newsletters. He earned his first press credentials in 1980. He has conducted hundreds of interviews himself with experts and celebrities and knows how the media work. He'll team with you to make your media interview successful.

Bill has interviewed celebrities, famous sports figures, musicians, artists, politicians, well-known book authors, military figures, business owners, executives and social figures. He'll help you craft smart strategies to navigate the media world to create the right kind of street buzz and polished image that will help you and your cause.

A best-selling book author called Bill to help her navigate the media on her book tours and she said this about Bill's interview coaching and consulting:

"As a Stanford performance expert and credentialed sports psychologist who worked with top athletes at the Olympic Training Center in Greece, I was looking for the best media coach possible to help me prepare for my international interviews on major TV networks - BBC, ABC, Fox News, and Associated Press Radio.

Choosing to work with Bill Cole, The Mental Game Coach, is without a doubt, one of the best decisions I've ever made. His brilliant media coaching, including scripting, clever sound bytes, media strategies, and performance methods helped me to feel prepared for anything that might happen during my national TV interviews. The mock interviews we did helped me to think through and craft my material to the reporter's needs. With Bill's expertise, I learned how to play the media game and feel comfortable in high pressure media situations.

As a result of our intensive coaching, the TV interviews went extremely well. I felt relaxed and ready, I was confident with my material and delivery. The reporters loved the sound bytes that we created, and I got national and international exposure that I never thought possible.

Bill Cole knows the media well and he is fun and a joy to work with. I always enjoy our sessions. He comes up with some amazingly clever phrases that keep the media coming back again and again.

Bill is an expert at creating and building good relationships with his clients and with the media. While in Greece at the Olympic Games, I was interviewed by the Associated Press Radio. This interview was syndicated and broadcast to over 5,000 stations worldwide. I've done repeat interviews with the BBC-TV and ABC, as well as the New York Times, Time Magazine, and the Los Angeles Times and USA Today.

I highly recommend Bill Cole's media coaching services to anyone who wants more positive exposure to skyrocket their career. If you really want to see IMMEDIATE and SIGNIFICANT results, Bill Cole, the Mental Game Coach is the best resource in the business. His coaching was well worth the investment."

JoAnn Dahlkoetter, Ph.D
Keynote Speaker
Best-selling book author, YOUR PERFORMING EDGE
Winner, San Francisco Marathon
Stanford Performance Expert
www.YourPerformingEdge.com

Bill was hired as the head speech writer and presentation coach to famed Silicon Valley SnapTrack CEO and Founder Steve Poizner, who is ranked in the top six of all-time Silicon Valley CEO's, since selling his company to Qualcomm for $1 billion. He has served as the California State Insurance Commissioner. Poizner ran for the State Assembly in California in 2004 and was one of a handful of politicians who were endorsed by "The California Governator", Arnold Schwarzenegger. Bill crafted the content and staging for Poizner's speeches, debates, TV and radio spots and other appearances. Steve had this to say about Bill's presentation consultation:

"Bill, thank you for your excellent writing, coaching and guidance with my speeches and presentations. Your help was invaluable in my political campaign."

Bill also helped Steve Poizner as Speechwriter and Presentation Coach in his role as the California State Insurance Commissioner.

To learn more: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Poizner

Bill prepared this internationally known inventor-speaker-author before he shot a national TV infomercial in Los Angeles.

"Bill Cole was helpful from the first minute we started media training coaching. He was insightful, supportive and clearly possessed a level of expertise and understanding that allowed us to be very productive. The net effect was that while on camera, I was rock solid confident that I knew how to come across, due to my training with Bill. I recommend him highly."

Ed Strachar
Author/Speaker
www.geniuszone.com

Bill recently provided interview coaching services for an Assistant Superintendent of Schools in a major school district in her quest for interviewing for the top Education Chief's position. This included interview strategies, crafting position modules, peak performance approaches and videotape of her in action. She got the job. She was quite grateful and wrote:

"Bill, I wanted to tell you how much you helped me prepare for the series of interviews I recently completed in seeking the position of Superintendent. Your assistance was invaluable in helping me achieve success in this job-seeking campaign.

Our sessions prior to each interview gave me a lot of confidence and helped me prepare in ways I couldn't have by myself. Thanks for coming over to my office that time on such short notice, and on a weekend! That's going the extra mile for your clients. I really appreciate it.

I used many of the things we had talked about. The 'interview mini-speeches' content we crafted and the facial expressions you helped me be aware of, including 'smiles' was very, very helpful. Our videotape sessions were eye-opening! You helped me know what to expect once in the interview, and how to turn the stress into peak performance. I felt very calm once I got through the very first question. You are a great coach! So, thanks to you for all of your support and helpful feedback. Once the dust settles, I know I would like to call upon you again--there will be many speaking opportunities and I would like to continue to work on my skills in this area.

I will certainly recommend you to other people who could use your expert coaching. Many thanks again for all your help and your great coaching."

Suzanne Boxer-Gassman, Ed. D.
Superintendent
Los Gatos Union School District
17010 Roberts Road
Los Gatos, CA 95032

"Coach Bill has the winning blueprint to help you feel more confident, polished and prepared in any speaking or performing situation. His energetic and witty approach makes learning fun. It's obvious he loves what he does and he's the best at it."

Nancy Pristine, author of the books The Zen Of Tennis and The Victory Dance: Placing Yourself in the Winner's Circle

For more about Bill, see his full bio.

Are You Ready for
Interview Coaching?