GNA CAMPUS – With graduation approaching, most of us are not prepared for life outside of school. Many of us aren’t quite sure how to fill out applications for jobs and most don’t even know what an interview is like. Thanks to Ms. Hyder and Ms. Nin, we were able to experience what a job interview would be like. As a result, Ms. Hyder and Ms. Nin teamed up to give a lesson on the interview process to help students prepare for life in the real world.

Why did you decide to do these mock interviews?

Ms. Nin – During career and college readiness week, there was a mock interview workshop and I felt like it needed more participation than that week. I felt like bringing it to the classroom would help students out more than not. Interviews are aspects of all parts of life outside of high school.

Ms. Hyder –I agree with what Ms. Nin said. Being able to interview well is a part of public speaking and it is good to know just in general. The other part of this was to help kids fill out an application and be able to do it well. 

Who’s idea was it to hold the mock interviews?

It was Ms. Nin’s idea. It started with public speaking interviews but Ms. Nin said we should do it with all of the 11th grade. I needed help and I needed an extra person so we split the load. Ms. Nin found two job listings for public speaking and we used the same ones with all of 11th grade. She came in and taught a class in public speaking on how to properly do an interview. She taught them the STAR method. From her teaching them I was able to teach my classes about the STAR method.

Overall, how would you say most students did with the interviews?

Ms. Hyder – The ones who took it seriously and did the prep work ahead of time did well.

Ms. Nin – I agree with that. I also think that most of the junior class didn’t remember who I was, which made them nervous. Being taken from their class and being with someone in just a room with me definitely made some nervous. 

What content did you go over with the interviews?

We went over the most common interview questions that you would be asked in pretty much every job interview. We went over how to answer in the STAR method as well. We also went over interview etiquette. We talked about what to wear, how to sit properly, eye contact, thank you email, arriving early, and avoiding distractions like phones, earbuds, and chewing gum. Kids were also doing independent work with applications while we were doing the interviews. We also talked about questions you should ask. Like asking about pay, duties, shift availability, and the timeline for the whole process. 

What advice would you give to students who have an interview coming up?

Ms. Nin – My advice would be to take what you did in the prep work and don’t memorize them. You should take what you already have and put stories to each question. The goal was to help students identify stories that they can interpret using the STAR method in any interview setting. 

Ms. Hyder – Definitely look through the job listing for clues that they are looking for because most listings will give you the answers to the questions they ask. Do your homework and practice your answers. But not too much because you don’t want it to sound like you read it from a script.

Will you be doing these mock interviews in the coming years?

I plan to keep it as long as I get help. I definitely can’t do it by myself but I think it was worth it. And we worked well and we are proud of what we did. I had a few kids come back and say they did well with the interviews. Being able to help someone fill out an application as well was nice to know. Most kids didn’t know how to fill out the applications before we did this.

If anyone has any other questions about interviews and life outside of school, you can meet with Ms. Hyder and Ms. Nin to further your discussion. If you have any ideas for curriculums to be taught to help students outside of school life, talk with Ms. Hyder and give her your suggestions.