Rose Eney
Co-Commentary Editor
Have you ever been asked the following question: “If you were a brick in a wall, which one would you be?”
That is one of the questions that senior Josh Smith was asked while on a job interview. It isn’t always easy to anticipate what an interviewer will ask, but if you know how to prepare for an interview then it is easy to be successful.
Assistant Director of Career Services Amanda Blankenship says, “the best way to have a successful interview is to prepare. This is not a simple step and encompasses many different things.”
Blankenship goes on to say that necessary preparation includes things like: learning to articulate one’s strengths to an employer, using appropriate examples to illustrate those strengths, researching the employer, asking questions, and realizing that first impressions really do count.
In addition to this advice, Career Services has many online guides and tutorials to help students prepare. These guides cover the multiple components of an interview as well as how to research employers.
The office will even work one-on-one with students through mock interviews and coaching. Last but not least, students can go to Smith House to view free professional business attire which has been donated by the campus and community.
These resources are incredibly helpful in preparing students to go on that first big job interview. However, many students refrain from using Career Services to its full potential.
I’ve found that even if the office does not have exactly the information one is looking for, they are ready and willing to point students in the right direction. It is definitely advisable for students (of any year) to begin checking out what Career Services has to offer. Even sending in a first draft of a r?sum? can help.
So what words of advice do students have to offer? Senior Alex Hussein mimics Blankenship’s advice on being overly prepared. However, she has one more piece of advice to offer: “regardless of the questions an interviewer may ask, always remember the message you want to convey and creatively incorporate the message into you’re response.”
Class of 2008 alumnus Brad Behles believes that the worst things you can possibly do as an interviewee are: being late, dressing inappropriately for the situation, not making eye contact, and projecting a lack of confidence.
Though you may have done all the necessary preparation, interviews can always throw you for a loop. Though Behles knows how to be successful, he was still caught unaware by an unnamed company whose marketing techniques seemed like a live infomercial.
He interviewed for them and quickly found that they were trying to con him into being stuck working for them for five years, on commission based pay, trying to sell “package deals.”
Though a company may seem credible, a good interviewee must always be aware of what a position offers.
So do your homework, learn how to be successful, and overall?be prepared!