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Last week one of our career counselors put on a workshop on
how to succeed in interviews. I personally learned quite a bit from it.
Two things I took home that I knew I needed to fix when I go
in for interviews, and the third thing that was reinforced (as I had learned
the hard way):
1.
I need to buy a portfolio. I have gone
into interviews without them before and gotten hired at places like a local
grocery store. It’s very different, however, when going in for interviews for
graduate school or jobs in the workplace. In situations like these, a portfolio
is necessary.
2.
How to
dress the part. I have never owned a pair of slacks. Up till now I refused
to buy them simply because I didn’t think they were cute or worth any amount of
money. If you don’t go in to an interview properly dressed (including, slacks/
professional business skirt, a button up shirt/ professional-looking blouse
that covers everything) you most likely will not get the job. So, after
attending the work shop I invested in some slacks, shirts, and flats, from
H&M that were professional and cute. Girls, if you are looking for a good
deal on professional attire, Forever 21 and H&M are stepping up their game.
I’d start there. As for guys, I did see a professional attire section on the
guy’s side at H&M as well. Here is a prezi from our website on how to dress
for an interview: http://prezi.com/pvxnuxbwy9mx/interview-attire/
3.
Ask
questions at the end of an interview. In my experience with interviews thus
far with college, this actually does make a difference. I have had three
interviews for on-campus jobs total in my two years at USF, and the one that I
didn’t get the job went embarrassingly like this:
Interviewer: So do you have any questions?
Me: No
At
this point I was so nervous, my cheeks were turning red. Honestly, I was so
nervous I couldn’t think of any questions because my mind had blanked.
Interviewer: Ok, it was nice to meet you. We
will be in contact with you shortly.
It was probably a combination of being so nervous and not
asking any questions about the job as to why I wasn’t chosen. Which leads me to
my next tip…how do you stay calm during interviews? As a freshman, I had zero
job experience and zero experience with interviews. On top of that I am a
painfully shy person. The best advice anyone can give you is to practice what
you are going to say and how you are going to say it, as well as putting
perspective on the interview process so you don’t work yourself up into a ball
of nerves. With that being said, a great tool you can use to practice
interviewing is through our Mock Interview program. You can have a mock
interview with a recruiter or with a career counselor. Check out our website
for more details:
Next time, I will I talk in more detail about how I
personally learned how to stay calm and collected during interviews…
-Elaine
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