Mike Simpson is the co-founder of The Interview Guys, the career-advice site he launched in February 2013 to help job seekers actually land the roles they want. Over the last 13 years, the site has reached more than 100 million job seekers worldwide, and Mike's particular focus is interview preparation: how candidates can actually answer the questions hiring managers really care about.
He holds a Business degree from Bishop's University (HR major, Economics minor) and is an active member of the Professional Association of Résumé Writers & Career Coaches (PARWCC) and the National Career Development Association (NCDA). His advice has been featured in Forbes, Entrepreneur, and CNBC, and is referenced by career-services teams at the University of Michigan, Penn State, Northeastern, the University of Toronto, McGill, Wellesley College, and Kansas State, among others.
Articles credited to Mike on The Interview Guys are reviewed and edited by him personally to make sure the frameworks, examples, and recommendations match what actually works in real interviews.
If you’ve been staring at your resume wondering how to make it stand out in 2026, you’re not alone. The job market has changed fast, and employers have changed with it. Skills-based hiring is no longer a trend — it’s the new standard for a growing number of companies, and verifiable credentials are how you…
When a job posting closes, the average position receives around 242 applications. For roles at well-known companies, that number climbs fast. The brutal reality is that most of those applications look nearly identical — same resume format, same generic summary, same cover letter that starts with “I am writing to express my interest.” Tailoring your…
Getting hired as a forklift operator comes down to one thing more than anything else: proving you take safety seriously. Hiring managers have seen candidates who talk a big game about their experience but can’t explain a basic pre-operation checklist. They’ve also seen candidates with limited hours who walk in confident, specific, and clearly invested…
Why Employer Recognition Is the Only Metric That Actually Matters Not all online certifications are created equal. You could spend six months completing a certificate from a platform no hiring manager has ever heard of, list it proudly on your resume, and watch it get completely ignored. Or you could spend three months earning a…
Most people who negotiate their salary get more money. Most people don’t negotiate. That’s the uncomfortable truth sitting at the center of every job offer you’ll ever receive. Research shows that people who negotiate their salary receive an average increase of 18.83% over those who accept the first offer. Yet more than half of job…
The AI disruption conversation tends to go one of two ways. Either AI is coming for every job, or it’s all overblown panic. The truth sits somewhere more useful in the middle. Yes, AI is reshaping the workforce. Radically. But not every job is at equal risk, and understanding which roles are built on fundamentally…
You submitted the application. You double-checked your resume. You maybe even drafted a thank-you note in your head just in case. And then… nothing. No email. No call. No automated “we received your application” update. Just silence. Two weeks of it. If you’re sitting there refreshing your inbox and wondering whether you’ve been forgotten, rejected,…
Plumbing is one of the most in-demand skilled trades in the country right now. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects 4.5% employment growth for plumbers through 2034, and with roughly 44,000 job openings expected each year, companies are actively hiring. That’s great news for you. But it also means the interview bar is higher than…
Getting an electrician job comes down to more than just your hours logged or your license. Hiring managers want to know how you think under pressure, whether you’ll keep their crew safe, and if you can explain a circuit breaker to a homeowner who has never picked up a wire stripper. The good news is…
Hiring managers in 2026 are drowning in applications. When a resume lands on their desk from someone without a traditional four-year degree in the target field, they’re making a fast judgment call: does this person have the skills or not? Career certificates have emerged as one of the most reliable signals that a candidate is…
