Tag Archives: mock interview

First Job Interview

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I’ve always found it incredibly uncomfortable to brag, boast, or talk up myself. It’s something that I had been coached not to do, until I had to prepare for college and job interviews the past two years. With interviews, there are so many unknowns – the interviewer, the questions, the environment – that it feels impossible to prepare.

When I applied for my first job, I was so nervous. It was at the local library, a place I had been volunteering for year, and I wanted to step up and try for a paid shelving position. I had a friend that worked in the same job there, so I knew it was low-stress. It was the sort of job that you could wear whatever you want and listen to music on earbuds as you worked, and had relatively flexible hours. In short, the perfect high school job.

In preparation for the interview, I looked up practice questions online and spoke to my reflection, thinking about eye contact, body language, and tone (Tip #1: Scripps CP&R offers mock interviews http://www.scrippscollege.edu/careerplanning). Personally, I know I don’t always sit very still, so I tried to think about that as I practiced. (Anyone else a hand talker?)

Finally, the interview day rolled around, and I was still nervous, but a healthy amount so. I knew that I had done what I could to prepare, and I just had to get dressed and go. I knew that my work ‘uniform’ would just be street clothes and a name tag if I were hired, but I still dressed up in order to give a good first impression (Tip #2: Dress or overdress the part for the interview, aka always dress nicely)

When I got to the interview, I shook my interviewers’ hands (Tip #3: Have a firm handshake, not a limp hand or an aggressive grip) before we began to chat. I answered their questions honestly (Tip #4: Be real with your interviews, but also remember your audience) and worked in informational nuggets about my related experience and made sure to make myself shine (Tip #5: Show off yourself and why you’d be good at the position, but also try not to brag).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the end of the interview, I shook hands with my interviewers one last time and thanked them for their time. Afterward, I sent an email to follow up, nothing long, just reiterating my thanks and saying that I was looking forward to hearing back (Tip #6: ALWAYS say thank you, it shows your interest, and it’s a nice thing to do. If you send an email, keep it simple).

After what felt like years of waiting, I did hear back with a job offer from the library. I responded right away to confirm my interest and subsequently celebrated the good news with my family (Tip #7: Respond promptly whether or not you get the job, thanking the person for the offer/their time).

Funny enough, after all of that, I found myself working a different job my senior year. The library position fell through because of conflict of interest problems – as a member of the Library Board I couldn’t work at the library. I interviewed at Hy-Vee, a Midwestern grocery store chain (“Where there’s a helpful smile in every aisle”), as a prospective Courtesy Clerk (aka cart pusher and grocery bagger) and was hired as a worker in the floral department. Even though I didn’t end up with my first choice of job, I ended up somewhere where I was still very happy (Tip #8: Be optimistic). My coworkers are fantastic and fun to talk with, my managers are nice, and I’m surrounded by flowers (as well as Italian and Chinese food – we’re next to those departments) every time I work. It could easily be worse.

I wasn’t kidding about the ‘helpful smiles’ bit! It’s part of my job description.

 

Post-mock, pre-real interview thoughts and reflections

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First and foremost—a huge congratulations to everyone who submitted Fulbright and Watson applications last week! We did it—wahoo! On Friday, I had my mock-interview in preparation for the actual Fulbright interview this week. It was so helpful that I decided to share some general tips that I think can apply universally to any interview:

1) It is okay to pause. During interviews, I am so anxious to start talking that I immediately plunge into an answer. I sometimes end up missing the actual point of the question (not ideal) and a train-wreck of fragmented thoughts instead spills out. Silence in an interview feels terribly awkward, but actually pausing a moment to think about the question and mentally outline a response will help you immensely. It is perfectly, 100% acceptable to take a second (though it may seem like a painful eternity to you) to organize and collect your thoughts. Ultimately, you will sound more articulate, qualified, and confident because your reply will be well formulated and structured rather than a jumble of disjointed ideas.

2) Select, in advance, a list of five achievements/ experiences/ qualities that you definitely want to incorporate into the interview. For instance, personally significant moments in my life (that are relevant in a Fulbright context) include studying public health in India, working with AmeriCorps last summer, building community through spearheading various South Asian organizations on campus—and so on. By pre-preparing concrete cases that truly define me and speak to my interests, I can be presented with any question and be prepared with a solid answer. Entering the interview with five specific points to highlight, I will adapt them to a question and work to weave them into my response. The goal is that this will help eliminate any curve-balls and make it so that you are not scrambling for an example to draw on during the interview.

3) Don’t shy away from your own greatness. The hardest question in any interview for me is “We have many strong applicants—why should we choose you?” I feel wildly uncomfortable by questions that so directly shine the spotlight on me and my qualifications, and I know others share this unease as well. My friend recently had a mock interview at CP&R for medical school, and while describing her involvement on campus, she failed to mention that she serves in positions of leadership—including president—in many of the organizations. In emphasizing the important and meaningful work of the organizations, she unknowingly downplayed her role and minimized her own outstanding contributions. It has been extensively proven that women are socially conditioned from childhood to be modest and humble. The resulting hesitation to take ownership of our personal merit and success means that we are constantly devaluing our strengths and experiences. (Did you know that one of the reasons for the wage gap between women and men is that men will aggressively negotiate a salary while women are much more likely to accept an offer immediately without any discussion?) An interview is meant for you to market yourself, and while I’m not encouraging you to lavishly embellish every minor detail of your life, I think it is imperative that we actively work on being comfortable with self-promotion and proudly voicing our unique achievements and ambitions. Don’t short-change yourself.

Life After Scripps (happening NOW!) is offering various workshops that address this critical issue. Be sure to check out ‘Negotiating Skills’ on Tuesday and ‘Crafting Your Identity: Personal Branding and The Post-Scripps Transition’ on Wednesday for expert guidance and advice on how to effectively communicate your worth.

In reference to last week’s blog entry, my friends vetoed the black blazer and grey pants combination (Where would I be in life without them to dress me?). Here are some pictures featuring our interview outfits if you are searching for a little inspiration:

Not the most flattering of pictures (it was really early in the morning in our defense), but Emily and me in the Motley beforehand doing mock mock-interviews.

Bryn (another fellow blogger!) and me after our interviews at the lovely CP&R staff lunch. 

My friend Monica looking super trendy for her mock-interview on Friday as well. Yay!

The (wardrobe-malfunction free) interview

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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.