What You Need to Know About StandOut (Benefits, Challenges, Alternatives)

Mock interviews can be difficult. It can be even more difficult to find a platform on which you can practice.

The internet is inundated with options, but they all differ and it can be hard to know what you’ll be getting into, especially if those platforms don’t offer a free trial. One platform — StandOut — has been used among universities and other employers. 

In our review, we’ll break down everything you need to know about StandOut, including its benefits, any drawbacks of the platform, and alternative options for those looking for mock interview prep.

What Is StandOut?

StandOut is a mock interview practice platform that allows individuals to prepare for and practice for interviews. It’s also a tool for colleges and universities, as well as employers. 

While individual users will use StandOut for interview practice and prep, universities and employers use it differently. For colleges and universities, it can be used for:

• Video interview admissions
• On-campus hiring
• Classroom services

With regard to employers, they can use StandOut for things like:

• Interviewing candidates
• Employee engagement and authenticity training

CollegeNET is the brand behind this video interview tool. 

What Are the Biggest Benefits of StandOut? 

As a video interviewing platform, there are a few benefits worth noting that potential users should know about. The biggest benefits to StandOut include: 

• The interview practice and preparation capability
• Its uses in the classroom
• Its uses as a hiring tool
• And the potential career improvement aspect

Interview Practice and Preparation

StandOut’s most obvious benefit is as an interview practice and preparation tool. This benefit is especially relevant to individual users (as opposed to universities, colleges, and employers). 

Users are able to select an interview and record a response to the question asked. Then, users can see their recording, as well as the resulting interview analysis by StandOut. They can also track their progress to see where they’re improving (or falling behind). 

As a Classroom Tool

For universities, the ability to use StandOut as a tool in the classroom is a big draw. 

Professors can use StandOut’s interview practice and preparation capabilities mentioned above to help their students improve and build on their interview skills. 

Instructors can also use the platform’s existing video questions located in the StandOut library to build practice interviews for students to participate in. By inserting these practice interview questions into interview scripts, students can get direct practice in class using this tool. However, if the professor or instructor doesn’t feel like curating specific interview practice options, they can take advantage of StandOut’s industry-related or pre-built interviews.

StandOut can be used in university and college classrooms by providing an instructional video board that has all the class materials students need. It’s also fully searchable, so that students or teachers can find what they need quickly. 

For university advisers, you can use StandOut instead of struggling to find common meeting times, while also providing advising services through video messaging. 

As a Hiring Tool

Another benefit to StandOut is that it can be used as a hiring tool for employers (including universities and colleges). 

By making pre-recorded interviews that candidates can complete in their own time, employers can save both money and time while evaluating candidates much faster than the traditional means. 

Like professors or instructors, other employers can create custom interviews for candidates to complete using either questions they come up with or using questions they select from StandOut’s interview question library.

For Career Improvement

Of course, StandOut can also be used for improving one’s career. 

Users can leverage the platform to practice for internship interviews or job interviews. These mock interviews can build up the user’s confidence and make them more comfortable holding their own in an interview. 

StandOut is also helpful in mock interview programs. 

What Are the Biggest Challenges with StandOut?

StandOut’s services are pretty straightforward. However, there are two primary disadvantages to StandOut: the cost and the platform’s layout.

Cost

If you’re considering experimenting with a platform like StandOut, cost is an important factor. Unfortunately, StandOut isn’t as affordable as other options. It also doesn’t seem to offer a free trial or any sort of free subscription. Instead, it offers individuals three paid options:

• A monthly subscription
• A three-month subscription 
• A six-month subscription

The monthly subscription will cost users about $29 per month. On the other hand, users scan opt for the three-month subscription, which comes out to be $87 per month (though at the time of this review, it’s currently on sale for $69)

The six-month subscription is the best bang for your buck, coming in at $174 (though at the time of this review, it’s currently on sale for $119).

For universities, colleges, and employers, the pricing isn’t listed. Instead, StandOut advises those entities to directly reach out for a quote and long-term volume discounts.

If affordability is a concern, StandOut might not be the best option for you.  

Overwhelming Layout

Depending on how comfortable you are navigating the StandOut platform, it can seem a bit overwhelming. It’s not as user friendly as other platforms, and it can take some time getting used to it. 

While it’s not a dealbreaker for everyone, it’s an aspect of StandOut worth mentioning. 

Yoodli: The Best Alternative to StandOut

A great (and completely free) alternative to StandOut is Yoodli. 

Yoodli — an AI-powered communication coach — is similar to StandOut. Thanks to its innovative AI technology, Yoodli can evaluate your speaking patterns and speech, as well as your body language.

It works like this: Users can upload (or record directly on Yoodli) a video of themselves practicing speaking and will then receive instant, real-time analytics. 

You’ll be able to find out exactly how fast or slow you speak, if your word choice can be improved, and which filler words you use (and how often), among other insights. 

Because Yoodli is an AI speech coach, you’ll also get coaching comments with actionable feedback. This platform leverages innovative, new generative AI to provide you with contextual follow up questions and a summary of your main talking points. To learn more about these specifics, check out Yoodli’s quick video explainer:

Yoodli + Interview Prep

In comparison to StandOut, Yoodli excels at interview prep. People who use Yoodli for preparing for interviews will get real-time analytics during your mock interview. That way, you can skip the guesswork and pin down exactly what you need to work on, whether that be your pacing, your word choice, or even just your virtual presence.

To best take advantage of Yoodli’s mock interview practice and prep, explore the library of pre-made interview questions. You don’t even have to upload an existing video of yourself practicing; you can actually record directly on Yoodli. 

The library of mock interview questions can be divided into categories, like general, product marketing (PM), marketing, and consulting. While the general category has all the most asked general interview questions, the more industry-specific categories offer interview questions unique to that industry. If you’d rather practice interview questions at random, try the “Surprise Me” function. 

In addition to those, you can also input your own questions. That way, if you’re anticipating a certain industry- or career-related question to come up in your interview, you can input that question and practice it ahead of time. 

How Does It Work?

After you’ve selected the questions you want to practice, you’ll be timed and recorded. Then, you’ll get to review your personalized analytics and feedback to help you improve and become more prepared for your interview. 

You’ll get real-time metrics as well as live reminders. These will make sure you nail your main talking points and don’t forget a critical part of your response.

All of the individualized insights and analytics are provided to you in a safe, nonjudgmental space, so you (and you alone) can feel secure in reviewing your results. 

If you’ve got a few interviews down the line (or even if you only have one upcoming), Yoodli allows you to track your progress over time, so you can see exactly where you improved (or need to improve). Using your dashboard, you can take a look at common trends and explore your core metrics. 

One of the best things about Yoodli is that it’s a popular option for many, including students, teachers, TEDx speakers and coaches, Toastmasters, universities like Stanford and Harvard, and world champions of public speaking. You can read more about Yoodli in some of the top media brands, like GeekWire, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Inc., and others. It’s truly a tried-and-true platform.

The Takeaway

When it comes to StandOut, Yoodli is a worthy, free alternative, especially for people who don’t have a large monthly budget to spend on a subscription. 

Besides the benefit of Yoodli being cost-free, it also offers users the best chance they have of improving their public speaking skills, especially in the context of interviews. Coaching comments, personalized speaking analytics, and actionable suggestions make Yoodli an excellent choice for anyone who wants to improve their speaking abilities and confidence. 

No matter if you’re a teacher, student, university, or an interview candidate, Yoodli can help you get on track and excel at public speaking.