The Academic and Career Planning Center welcomed students to a session to help prepare them for interviews they may receive after last week's career fair.

​

On Monday the ACPC invited students to participate in a session on interviewing etiquette and answering tough questions in Burke room 202. The session was lead by Billy Rountree the student ambassador for ACPC, and supervised by Danielle Young a career counselor. Rountree warmly greeted everyone with a handshake before launching into his lecture based off of Robin Ryan’s  60 seconds and you're hired.

​

Rountree explained that there are many things students can do before the interview in order to be better prepared. Before the interview students should preparing by doing their research on the company. While researching for the interview they should prepare a five point agenda which features simple points which highlight their talents and strong suits which best correlate with the company. These points can be focused around talents or past experiences, which can include specific school projects.

​

While preparing ahead of time, map out your route to the interview and arrive early if not on time. Arriving early doesn’t only look good to employers but it also gives people time to calm down and prepare for the oncoming questions. During the presentation the point of keeping in mind that the interview starts before you sit down to answer questions was stressed several times. Anyone can have input on how they perceive you and it may impact the hiring decision  so be kind to every person you interact with. This may have something to say about you once you leave so be polite to receptionists, waiters, or any other person you interact with. Remember to use names when talking to people. Rountree joked, “not to the point where it becomes creepy,” but suggests referring to people by name one or two times. By referring to people by name it shows interest in them and makes them feel important.

​

Once the questions begin it's important to remain calm but not to get to relaxed. Interviewers may ask questions which seem as though they are targeting interviewees. Rountree stressed that it is important not to get defensive. If interviews are asking questions which feature negative items about your personality they are likely look at  how do you think and handle various problems.When faced with these types of questions first acknowledge the problem and then explain what you are doing to improve upon the situation. Other helpful tips provided where to ensure that when answering questions you don’t brag, lie, or talk down about yourself or others.

​

Finally when the interviewers have finished asking questions they often ask if you have any questions they can answer. It’s important to have a few questions ready. These should be questions that are not easily found on the internet, but are relevant to the company. An example of a question would be, “what are some of the challenges you currently face”?

​

If interested in attending a skill building session the next one will be held Monday in Burke 202 at 3:30. The session will be held by Young and Rountree again and will be focusing on building good habits for workplace professionals.