I had my first interview in a long time today. As a whole, it was a pretty positive experience. At the time I thought it was strange that I didn’t feel nervous at all. I kept wondering when that nervousness would kick in, but it never showed. I knew going into the interview that it was for a very good program and the stakes were high.
So what happened?
I was initially stumped. But I’ve since realized that for me, it came down to feeling comfortable and confident in my ability to handle anything they threw at me. I was lucky enough to do a mock interview with someone who had already been through that same internship program, which helped me think more strategically about their own interviewing style and what they were looking for in candidates. Going through that thought process and putting myself in the interviewer’s shoes helped me focus on what they wanted as well as make everything seem less scary.
Knowing that I did a good job preparing helped me feel relaxed throughout the process. I researched the company by carefully combing through their website and reading their various publications, talking to people with experience with the program, and keeping an eye out for recent news stories. I paid particular attention to the language they used in their newsletters, read through how they were representing themselves to potential donors, and made sure to read their annual reports.
When I was preparing for this interview, everything I was doing felt familiar. This familiarity was unexpected but certainly came in handy. When reading through the material itself, it was just like preparing for any class—I highlighted key terms, looked up unfamiliar words, kept a list of running questions, and made the connections to other things I knew. Employing my detective skills (honed by many history classes and professors who enjoy referring to footnotes) I remembered to consider bias (or perspective), follow through on sources, and put everything in context. At the end, I condensed my notes into a one-page cheat sheet that I took with me to the interview like a safety blanket.
I had an a-ha! moment today; I thought to myself now this is where all the schooling comes in handy! During my interview, I thought I’d be asked how my major qualifies me for the position, but I wasn’t. If I had been asked, I would have told them that particularly with American Studies (but certainly from a liberal arts education in general) comes the ability to cross traditional boundaries and be comfortable being truly interdisciplinary. Thanks to my history major, I had a lot of practice synthesizing and analyzing large amounts of materials—compared to what I’m used to reading for class, this research was a piece of cake. And these are specific strengths I bring to the job as well as to the interviewing process.
Today was a good day. It wasn’t boiling out or raining heavily, which made getting to my interview relaxed (and presentable) happen more easily. My transportation worked out well ( I didn’t get lost). Although I developed a wicked blister thanks to my brand-spanking new fancy shoes, aside from that I faced no wardrobe malfunctions. And I was confident in the material and confident with the education that had gotten me there. I came from my interview feeling good, not because I was sure that afterwards they would be knocking down my door to hire me (although by all means be my guest), but because I did the best prep work possible, used the strengths I have gained from my academics, and represented myself fairly. And so the waiting game begins.
