Senior Meagan Jones uses her resources at the Career Center to help improve her interview skills.
Jones and senior Carissa Tobe participated in a Skype mock interview workshop. These workshops are small student sessions are one of several services that the Career Center offers.
The services focused around interviews that are offered are mock interviews and Skype mock interviews.
Heather Golden, the assistant director of the Career Center, said that the Skype mock interviews are small workshops that are geared towards building practical interview skills through practice.
Maurice Washington, an Employment Coordinator for the Career Center, said that the Skype mock interviews are held twice a month.
Washington said that employers at a previous Spring Expo said that Skype interviews are sometimes more effective than phone interviews, depending on the distance between the student and employer. Students also have to “dress the part,” so Skype interviews give a better picture of the student, Washington said. He also said Skype interviews are also more cost effective for employers.
Washington said that there were also a few differences between Skype interviews from other forms of interviews.
With Skype interviews, Washington said students have the advantage of being in their own home, the interviewee could potentially have notes in front of them that employers couldn’t see off-screen and students who struggle with eye contact also have a “barrier” between themselves and the employer.
Tobe and Jones both said they would recommend other students to participate in the Skype mock interview workshop.
“It’s important for people to realize that Skype interviews have a different feel,” Tobe said.
Washington said that the Career Center has been offering the Skype mock interview workshops since spring 2014.
If the Skype mock interviews don’t sound appealing, students can also schedule one-on-one mock interviews with staff at the Career Center. Golden said this is a setting where a student, who has an interview with a company set up, can do a mock interview where the staff member poses as a Human Resources representative from the company.
“I’m a hug fan of mock interviews,” Golden said. “I think that one of the largest benefits is that students get to experience being asked questions and answering them in a setting that’s friendly.”
Students are able to enroll in the Skype mock interview workshops and other Career Center services by logging on to WorkNet and clicking on the “workshops” tab.
“All the workshops are really geared to career progression,” Washington said.
