Introduction: The Unseen Hurdles of Today's Job Hunt
The pursuit of a new job, or even a promotion within your current organization, is a journey fraught with unique challenges in today’s current job market. For millions of job seekers across Russia and beyond, the dream of a fulfilling career often collides with the daunting reality of high competition, evolving recruitment practices, and the pervasive shadow of interview anxiety. You’ve polished your resume, refined your cover letter, and perhaps even networked diligently. Yet, the moment that interview invitation lands in your inbox, a knot forms in your stomach. Will you stumble over your words? Will you fail to articulate your true value? How do you stand out when countless others are vying for the same role?
This is a pain point many of us know all too well. The traditional methods of interview preparation – poring over generic lists of questions, practicing in front of a mirror, or enlisting a friend for a quick mock session – often fall short. They lack the real-time, objective feedback crucial for genuine improvement. They don't simulate the pressure, the nuances, or the specific demands of a professional interview environment. The result? Unnecessary stress, missed opportunities, and a sense of being perpetually underprepared.
But what if there was a way to truly transform your interview readiness? What if you could approach every interview not just with knowledge, but with unwavering confidence, honed skills, and a clear understanding of your strengths and areas for improvement? This is no longer a pipe dream. Thanks to advancements in artificial intelligence, a new era of personalized interview prep is here, offering job seekers a revolutionary AI tool designed to be your ultimate companion: the Interview Copilot.
This article will delve into the core challenges faced by modern job seekers, explore why traditional preparation often fails, and most importantly, reveal how innovative AI tools like the Interview Copilot from Verve AI are reshaping the landscape of career growth by providing unparalleled study support and a clear path to interview mastery. Get ready to discover your secret weapon for success in the competitive world of employment.
The Evolving Landscape: Why Job Interviews Feel More Challenging Than Ever
The job market is a living, breathing entity, constantly shifting and adapting. What worked for your parents, or even what worked for you five years ago, might not be sufficient today. This evolution contributes significantly to the stress and uncertainty experienced by job seekers.
Beyond Basic Qualifications: The Demand for Soft Skills
Gone are the days when a strong resume and relevant experience alone guaranteed an interview. Today’s employers are looking for more than just technical aptitude. They seek individuals who can integrate seamlessly into their company culture, adapt to change, solve complex problems, and communicate effectively. This means that interviews increasingly focus on behavioral and situational questions designed to probe your:
- Problem-solving abilities: How you approach challenges and find solutions.
- Teamwork and collaboration skills: Your ability to work effectively with others.
- Communication style: How clearly and persuasively you articulate your thoughts.
- Leadership potential: Your capacity to take initiative and guide others.
- Resilience and adaptability: Your ability to navigate setbacks and embrace new environments.
Preparing for these types of questions requires more than memorization; it demands self-awareness, critical thinking, and the ability to articulate past experiences in a compelling narrative that showcases your desired traits.
The Rise of Diverse Interview Formats
Interviews are no longer confined to a single face-to-face meeting. Job seekers now encounter a myriad of formats, each with its own set of demands:
- Phone screenings: Often the first hurdle, requiring concise and impactful communication.
- Video interviews (live and recorded): Demanding attention to body language, eye contact, and technical setup.
- Panel interviews: Navigating multiple interviewers with varying perspectives.
- Case study interviews: Requiring analytical thinking and presenting solutions under pressure.
- Technical assessments: For specific roles, testing practical skills.
- Assessment centers: Multi-stage evaluations designed to observe candidates in various scenarios.
Each format requires a distinct approach and level of preparation. Without targeted practice, it's easy to feel overwhelmed and underperform in an unfamiliar setting.
The Competition is Fierce: Standing Out in a Crowded Field
With globalization and digital accessibility, the pool of applicants for any given role has expanded exponentially. Recruiters and hiring managers often sift through hundreds, if not thousands, of applications. This intense competition means that every interaction, especially the interview, is a critical opportunity to differentiate yourself. You're not just answering questions; you're building a narrative, showcasing your unique value proposition, and making a lasting impression. The margin for error is slimmer than ever, making effective interview prep an absolute necessity.
The Silent Struggle: Interview Anxiety and Confidence Gaps
Perhaps the most insidious hurdle is interview anxiety. Even the most qualified and experienced professionals can find themselves paralyzed by nerves. This anxiety manifests in various ways:
- Mental blocks: Forgetting well-rehearsed answers.
- Physical symptoms: Sweating, trembling, a racing heart.
- Communication difficulties: Speaking too fast, stammering, or failing to articulate thoughts clearly.
- Lack of confidence: Projecting uncertainty, even when you know the answers.
This emotional and psychological burden significantly impacts performance. It's not enough to know the answers; you must be able to deliver them with poise and self-assurance. Addressing this confidence gap is paramount for genuine success. An Interview Copilot can be instrumental in mitigating this.
Time as a Precious Commodity: The Preparation Dilemma
For many job seekers, especially those currently employed, time is a luxury they don't have. Juggling work, family, and personal commitments leaves little room for extensive interview prep. Traditional methods are often time-consuming and inefficient. You need a solution that maximizes your limited time, providing targeted, effective practice without adding to your already packed schedule. This is where an AI tool focused on efficiency, like an Interview Copilot, truly shines as a productivity tool.
Beyond Traditional Prep: Embracing Smart Strategies for Success
Given the complexities of the modern job market, relying solely on outdated preparation methods is a recipe for frustration. To truly excel, job seekers need to embrace smarter, more effective strategies that go beyond surface-level practice. This is where the power of targeted, feedback-driven preparation, often facilitated by advanced AI tools, becomes indispensable.
The Power of Targeted Practice and Simulation
One of the most significant shortcomings of traditional interview prep is its lack of realism and targeted feedback. Practicing in front of a mirror, for example, offers no objective evaluation of your performance. A friend, while well-intentioned, may not have the expertise to provide constructive criticism on elements like your tone, pacing, or the substance of your answers relative to a specific role.
Targeted practice means focusing on the types of questions and scenarios you are likely to face for a particular role and industry. It involves:
- Customized Question Sets: Moving beyond generic questions to those tailored to the job description and company culture.
- Scenario-Based Learning: Practicing how you would respond to specific challenges relevant to the role.
- Stress Inoculation: Gradually exposing yourself to interview pressure in a controlled environment to build resilience.
Simulations are key here. Imagine a flight simulator for pilots – they don't just read manuals; they practice in realistic environments to hone their skills under pressure. Similarly, job seekers need a "flight simulator" for interviews. This is precisely what an Interview Copilot offers, providing a safe, private, and highly effective environment for repeated, targeted practice.
Mastering Behavioral Questions: The STAR Method Reimagined
Behavioral questions ("Tell me about a time when...") are a cornerstone of modern interviews. They aim to predict future performance based on past behavior. The STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) is a widely recognized framework for answering these questions effectively. However, simply knowing the STAR method isn't enough; you need to master its application.
Many job seekers struggle with:
- Identifying relevant stories: Digging deep into their experience for compelling examples.
- Structuring answers concisely: Ensuring each part of STAR is present and flows well.
- Highlighting the "Result": Quantifying achievements and demonstrating impact.
- Connecting to the job: Explaining why that specific experience is relevant to the role they're applying for.
An effective Interview Copilot can help job seekers refine their STAR stories by:
- Prompting for detail: Asking follow-up questions to ensure all parts of STAR are covered.
- Analyzing clarity and conciseness: Providing feedback on how well the story is articulated.
- Suggesting improvements: Offering guidance on how to strengthen the "Action" and "Result" sections, or how to better tie the experience to the job requirements.
- Identifying overused phrases or clichés: Helping you craft unique and memorable responses.
This targeted guidance transforms the STAR method from a theoretical framework into a practical tool for showcasing your true capabilities.
Sharpening Your Story: Crafting Compelling Narratives
Beyond individual questions, a successful interview hinges on your ability to weave a cohesive and compelling narrative about yourself. This narrative should connect your past experiences, skills, and aspirations to the specific role and company. It's about answering the implicit question: "Why you for this role at this company?"
Many job seekers struggle with:
- Lack of a central theme: Their answers feel disjointed or fail to build a consistent personal brand.
- Failing to articulate "Why": Not clearly explaining their motivations or passion for the role.
- Generic responses: Sounding like everyone else, rather than highlighting their unique value.
- Connecting the dots: Not clearly linking their diverse experiences to the specific requirements of the job.
A powerful AI tool like an Interview Copilot can act as a narrative coach. It can help you identify your core strengths and experiences, articulate your career goals, and ensure that your entire interview performance reinforces a consistent and persuasive message. By practicing how you introduce yourself, explain career transitions, and discuss your aspirations, you can refine your overall story, making it more impactful and memorable. This level of personalized guidance is a significant leap beyond traditional methods and crucial for effective career growth.
Introducing Your Secret Weapon: How AI Transforms Your Interview Preparation
The challenges outlined above are real and impactful, but they are not insurmountable. The emergence of artificial intelligence has revolutionized many aspects of our lives, and interview prep is no exception. For job seekers navigating the complexities of the current job market, an AI tool offers a level of personalized, objective, and efficient study support that was previously unimaginable. This is where Verve AI's Interview Copilot enters the scene, positioning itself as the ultimate productivity tool for anyone serious about their career growth.
Real-Time Feedback and Personalized Coaching
Imagine having a dedicated interview coach available 24/7, ready to provide honest, unbiased feedback on every aspect of your performance. That's the core promise of the Interview Copilot. Unlike practicing alone or with a well-meaning friend, an AI tool can analyze your responses with unparalleled precision.
The Interview Copilot leverages advanced machine learning algorithms to evaluate:
- Verbal Content: Are your answers clear, concise, and relevant? Are you using appropriate vocabulary? Are there any logical gaps?
- Speech Analytics: This includes pacing (speaking too fast or too slow), filler words (um, ah, like), pauses, and even the tone and pitch of your voice. Are you sounding confident, assertive, or hesitant?
- Non-Verbal Cues (for video interviews): While more advanced, some AI can assess aspects like eye contact, facial expressions, and even body language, providing insights into how you are perceived.
This real-time feedback is invaluable. You don't just get a general assessment; you receive specific, actionable insights that highlight exactly where you need to improve. For example, the Interview Copilot might tell you, "You used 'um' 7 times in that answer," or "Your response to the 'weakness' question lacked a clear action plan for improvement." This granular feedback allows for rapid learning and refinement, making it an indispensable productivity tool.
Simulating Real-World Interview Scenarios
One of the greatest benefits of an AI tool like the Interview Copilot is its ability to simulate realistic interview environments. This isn't just about asking questions; it's about replicating the pressure and unpredictability of a real interview.
The Interview Copilot can:
- Generate dynamic follow-up questions: Mimicking a human interviewer who probes deeper based on your initial answer.
- Adapt to your responses: Shifting the conversation based on your strengths and weaknesses.
- Vary interview styles: Simulating different interview personalities or approaches.
- Offer industry-specific scenarios: Tailoring questions to the specific demands of the field you're targeting.
This level of simulation helps job seekers build resilience and adaptability. When you've practiced under conditions that closely mirror the real thing, you're less likely to be flustered by unexpected questions or format changes. This targeted interview prep significantly boosts confidence.
Building Confidence, One Practice Session at a Time
Confidence isn't something you're born with; it's built through preparation and positive reinforcement. Repeated practice with the Interview Copilot systematically chips away at interview anxiety. Each session provides:
- Safe Space for Mistakes: A judgment-free zone to experiment with answers, make mistakes, and learn from them without fear of real-world consequences.
- Measurable Progress: Seeing your performance metrics improve over time (e.g., fewer filler words, clearer answers) provides tangible proof of progress, boosting self-assurance.
- Familiarity Breeds Comfort: The more you practice, the more familiar you become with the interview process, reducing the unknown elements that fuel anxiety.
By consistently refining your responses and observing your improvements, you gradually replace apprehension with self-assurance. The Interview Copilot essentially acts as your personal confidence builder, ensuring you walk into every interview feeling prepared and empowered.
A Comprehensive AI Tool for Every Stage of Preparation
The scope of an advanced AI tool like the Interview Copilot extends beyond just answering questions. It serves as a comprehensive productivity tool and study support system throughout your job search journey.
- Pre-Interview Research: It can help you identify common questions for specific roles or companies.
- Skill Identification: By analyzing your resume and job descriptions, it can help you pinpoint the skills to emphasize.
- Post-Interview Reflection: After a real interview, you can input the questions you were asked and practice those responses, ensuring you're even better prepared for the next opportunity.
- Continuous Learning: It provides a platform for ongoing skill development, contributing directly to your long-term career growth.
In essence, Verve AI's Interview Copilot becomes an indispensable partner, guiding job seekers through every facet of the interview process with intelligence, objectivity, and personalized attention. It transforms a daunting challenge into a structured, manageable, and ultimately rewarding endeavor.
Verve AI's Interview Copilot: Your Partner in Career Growth
Verve AI's Interview Copilot isn't just another practice tool; it's a sophisticated AI tool designed from the ground up to empower job seekers and propel their career growth. By leveraging cutting-edge artificial intelligence, it provides a comprehensive, personalized, and efficient solution for mastering the art of the job interview.
Deep Dive into Key Features
Let's explore some of the specific functionalities that make the Interview Copilot an indispensable asset for modern job seekers:
- Personalized Question Generation:
- Tailored to You: Input your resume, the specific job description, and even the company you're interviewing with. The Interview Copilot will then generate highly relevant and customized questions, moving beyond generic queries to focus on what truly matters for your role and your target company. This ensures your interview prep is always laser-focused.
- Behavioral and Situational Focus: It excels at crafting questions that probe soft skills, problem-solving abilities, and cultural fit, mirroring the demands of today's most competitive roles.
- Progressive Difficulty: As you improve, the questions can become more challenging, pushing you to refine your thinking and articulation.
- Advanced Speech Analysis & Tone Detection:
- Word Choice & Clarity: The Interview Copilot analyzes the content of your answers, identifying jargon, ambiguity, and areas where your message could be clearer or more impactful.
- Filler Word Detection: It meticulously tracks and highlights instances of "um," "ah," "like," "you know," and other verbal tics that can detract from your professionalism.
- Pacing & Fluency: It measures your speaking speed, identifying if you're rushing or dragging, and provides feedback on how to maintain a natural, confident flow.
- Tone & Emotion: Using sophisticated algorithms, it assesses the perceived tone of your voice – confident, hesitant, enthusiastic, defensive – providing insights into the emotional impact of your delivery. This is crucial for projecting the right image.
- Contextual Feedback & Improvement Plans:
- Specific Recommendations: Unlike vague advice, the Interview Copilot offers actionable suggestions for improvement. For example, instead of "be more confident," it might suggest, "Try to elaborate more on the 'Result' section of your STAR answer for stronger impact," or "Practice maintaining a consistent pace throughout your response."
- Detailed Performance Reports: After each session, you receive a comprehensive report summarizing your strengths and weaknesses, complete with data visualizations that track your progress over time. This data-driven approach is vital for efficient study support.
- Personalized Study Paths: Based on your performance, the AI tool can recommend specific areas to focus on, ensuring your subsequent practice sessions are optimized for maximum impact.
- Simulated Practice Environments (Video & Audio):
- Realistic Mock Interviews: Engage in mock interviews via video or audio, replicating the actual experience of a live interview. This helps you get comfortable with the format and technical aspects.
- Time Constraints: Practice answering questions within realistic timeframes, simulating the pressure of a real interview where conciseness is key.
- Diverse Interviewer Styles: The Interview Copilot can simulate different types of interviewers, from warm and encouraging to more direct and challenging, preparing you for a variety of interactions.
- Integration of Industry-Specific Scenarios:
- Whether you're targeting tech, finance, marketing, healthcare, or any other sector, the Interview Copilot can incorporate industry-specific jargon, challenges, and expectations into its questions and feedback. This ensures your preparation is always relevant to the current job market demands of your chosen field.
How Interview Copilot Addresses Common Job Seeker Pain Points
Let's revisit the pain points we discussed earlier and see how Verve AI's Interview Copilot directly addresses them:
- Interview Anxiety & Lack of Confidence: By providing a safe, private space for unlimited practice with objective feedback, the Interview Copilot helps job seekers build confidence incrementally. The more you practice and see tangible improvement, the less daunting the real interview becomes.
- Ineffective Preparation Strategies: It replaces generic practice with personalized, data-driven interview prep that focuses on your specific needs and the demands of the target role. No more wasted time on irrelevant questions.
- Difficulty Articulating Skills & Experiences: Through structured feedback on content, clarity, and conciseness, it helps you refine your answers to highlight your value proposition effectively. It guides you in crafting compelling narratives using frameworks like STAR.
- Keeping Up with Modern Interview Techniques: Its ability to simulate diverse interview formats and behavioral questions ensures you are prepared for the multifaceted nature of today's recruitment processes.
- Time Constraints: As a highly efficient productivity tool, it allows you to practice whenever and wherever you have a few minutes, maximizing your limited time without compromising on quality of preparation.
- Lack of Objective Feedback: It offers unbiased, real-time analysis that human coaches might miss or be hesitant to provide, allowing for faster and more accurate self-correction.
By tackling these challenges head-on, the Interview Copilot empowers job seekers not just to survive interviews, but to truly excel in them, paving the way for significant career growth.
Illustrative Scenario: Maria's Transformation
Consider Maria, a marketing specialist in Moscow, looking to transition into a senior management role. She was highly skilled but struggled with interview confidence, often rambling or understating her achievements.
- Initial Challenge: Maria felt overwhelmed by the thought of presenting her strategic accomplishments concisely to a panel of directors. Her past mock interviews with friends felt unhelpful.
- Using Interview Copilot: Maria uploaded the job description and her resume to the Interview Copilot. It generated targeted questions about leadership, conflict resolution, and strategic planning.
- Feedback Loop: After her first few practice sessions, the AI tool highlighted her tendency to use filler words, speak too quickly when nervous, and occasionally lose focus on the "Result" in her STAR answers.
- Improvement: The Interview Copilot suggested focusing on specific phrases for opening and closing answers, practicing a slower pace, and always quantifying her achievements.
- Outcome: Within two weeks, Maria noticed a dramatic improvement. Her answers were crisp, her delivery confident, and her stories compelling. She walked into her final interview feeling genuinely prepared, leading to a successful offer.
This scenario, while illustrative, highlights the transformative potential of having an Interview Copilot as your dedicated study support and productivity tool.
Beyond Interviews: The Broader Impact of Smart Preparation on Your Career Growth
While the immediate goal of Verve AI's Interview Copilot is to help job seekers ace their interviews, its benefits extend far beyond securing the next role. The skills honed through this advanced AI tool have a profound and lasting impact on your overall career growth and professional development.
Developing Essential Communication Skills
Effective communication is the bedrock of success in any professional setting, regardless of your industry or position. The structured practice and detailed feedback provided by the Interview Copilot directly enhance these vital skills:
- Clarity and Conciseness: Learning to articulate complex ideas simply and directly, eliminating unnecessary jargon and rambling. This skill is invaluable for presentations, team meetings, and client interactions.
- Active Listening: While the Interview Copilot is an AI, the practice of carefully listening to its questions and formulating thoughtful responses sharpens your ability to process information and respond appropriately in real-time conversations.
- Persuasion and Storytelling: The emphasis on crafting compelling narratives for behavioral questions directly translates to your ability to influence others, present proposals, and advocate for your ideas within your organization.
- Non-Verbal Communication: For video interviews, the feedback on eye contact, posture, and facial expressions helps you project confidence and professionalism in all virtual interactions, which are increasingly common in the current job market.
These are not just "interview skills"; they are fundamental professional competencies that will serve you throughout your entire career trajectory.
Boosting Overall Professional Confidence
Confidence cultivated through rigorous interview prep permeates all aspects of your professional life. When you know you can articulate your value, handle tough questions, and present yourself professionally, this self-assurance manifests in:
- Proactive Engagement: You'll be more likely to volunteer for challenging projects, speak up in meetings, and take on leadership roles.
- Effective Networking: Approaching new connections and engaging in professional discussions becomes less daunting.
- Negotiation Skills: Your ability to articulate your worth during salary negotiations or when discussing promotions will be significantly enhanced.
- Resilience: You'll be better equipped to handle setbacks and criticism, viewing them as opportunities for growth rather than failures.
The Interview Copilot doesn't just prepare you for an interview; it empowers you to become a more confident and effective professional, ready to seize opportunities for career growth.
The Long-Term Benefits for Career Growth
Think of the Interview Copilot as an investment in your long-term career growth. The skills and confidence you gain are not fleeting; they accumulate and compound over time.
- Continuous Learning: The platform fosters a mindset of continuous improvement. The habit of self-assessment and targeted practice, initiated during interview prep, can be applied to other areas of professional development.
- Strategic Career Planning: By systematically analyzing your strengths and weaknesses through interview practice, you gain deeper insights into your ideal roles and industries, allowing for more strategic career growth planning.
- Enhanced Employability: In a dynamic current job market, continuous skill development and strong interview performance make you a highly desirable candidate, opening doors to more opportunities throughout your career.
- Leadership Development: Strong communication, self-awareness, and the ability to articulate vision are critical traits for leaders. The Interview Copilot helps cultivate these foundational qualities.
By embracing an AI tool like the Interview Copilot, you're not just preparing for your next job; you're building a foundation for a successful and fulfilling professional journey. It’s a dedicated productivity tool for your long-term success.
Maximizing Your Preparation with Verve AI and Your Interview Copilot
To truly unlock the full potential of Verve AI's Interview Copilot, it's crucial to integrate it strategically into your interview prep routine. This isn't just about occasional practice; it's about making it a consistent part of your study support system.
Tips for Effective Integration:
- Start Early: Don't wait until the last minute. Begin using your Interview Copilot as soon as you start your job search, or even before, to proactively build your skills. This allows ample time for improvement and confidence building.
- Upload & Personalize: Always upload your most recent resume and the specific job description for the role you're targeting. This ensures the AI tool generates the most relevant questions and feedback, making your interview prep highly efficient. The more context you provide, the better your Interview Copilot can assist.
- Focus on Weaknesses: While it's tempting to practice what you're good at, prioritize the areas where the Interview Copilot identifies weaknesses. If it flags filler words, dedicate sessions specifically to minimizing them. If it notes vague answers, work on concrete examples using the STAR method.
- Record and Review: Take advantage of the recording features. Watching yourself back (or simply listening to your audio) after receiving AI feedback provides invaluable self-awareness. You'll catch nuances you missed in the moment and better understand the AI's suggestions.
- Simulate Real Conditions: Dress professionally (even for practice video sessions), find a quiet space, and minimize distractions. Treat your mock interviews with the Interview Copilot as seriously as the real thing to get accustomed to the pressure.
- Practice Diverse Scenarios: Don't just stick to common behavioral questions. Use the AI tool to practice different interview formats (e.g., case studies, technical questions if applicable) and scenarios to build versatility.
- Iterate and Track Progress: The beauty of an AI tool is its ability to track your performance over time. Regularly review your progress reports. Celebrate small improvements and adjust your focus based on what the Interview Copilot tells you. Consistency and iteration are key to genuine improvement and long-term career growth.
- Combine with Other Prep: While powerful, the Interview Copilot should complement, not replace, other forms of interview prep. Continue researching companies, networking, and refining your understanding of the roles you're applying for. The Interview Copilot sharpens your delivery of that knowledge.
Your Indispensable Study Support
The Interview Copilot serves as a constant, intelligent study support system. It’s always available, never judges, and provides objective, data-driven insights tailored to your unique needs. It turns the often-solitary and anxiety-inducing process of interview prep into a structured, supported, and ultimately empowering journey. For job seekers in today's competitive climate, having such a sophisticated productivity tool isn't just an advantage; it's rapidly becoming a necessity.
Conclusion: Embrace the Future of Interview Preparation with Your Interview Copilot
The journey of job seekers in the current job market is undeniably challenging, marked by intense competition, diverse interview formats, and the ever-present shadow of anxiety. Traditional interview prep methods often fall short, leaving aspiring professionals feeling underprepared and overwhelmed. However, the future of career growth is here, offering innovative solutions that transform these challenges into opportunities.
Verve AI's Interview Copilot stands at the forefront of this transformation. As an advanced AI tool and an unparalleled productivity tool, it provides job seekers with the objective, personalized, and efficient study support needed to conquer interview anxiety and truly shine. From personalized question generation and sophisticated speech analysis to real-time feedback and comprehensive progress tracking, the Interview Copilot empowers you to refine your communication skills, build unwavering confidence, and master the art of the interview.
Don't let outdated methods hold you back from achieving your professional aspirations. Embrace the power of artificial intelligence and give yourself the ultimate advantage. With your Interview Copilot by your side, every interview becomes an opportunity to showcase your best self, leading directly to the career growth you deserve.
Are you ready to transform your interview performance and unlock your full potential? Learn more about Verve AI's Interview Copilot and try it today. Take the first step towards a more confident and successful career journey.