Help Your Students Succeed
On the QT Newsletter, Help Your Students Succeed
September 23, 2008
CommonQuestions.pdf (52 KB)
Did you know? Talking too much is the most common interview mistake that job candidates make. Nervous job candidates often try to cover up their anxiety with excessive talking. Instead of helping them move forward in the interview process, talking too much eliminates many candidates from consideration. To do well in a job interview, good interview preparation is key. When job seekers review common questions, prepare possible responses, and rehearse their delivery, they develop added confidence that enhances their performance and reduces those jitters. As CCC students acquire new knowledge and skills, they need good interviewing prowess to move up to better jobs. Don’t let your student talk themselves out of a job. Encourage them to get ready for those critical job interviews by completing the activity outlined here.
Try this:
- Ask students some questions about mistakes people make in a job interview and record their responses or show the 2-minute video clip.
- Explain that preparing and rehearsing responses to common job interview questions will help reduce nervousness and enhance performance.
- Distribute Common Questions activity sheet attached and give students a few minutes to complete it.
- Share and compare responses.
- Give students additional practice and resources: assign the online Ace Your Job Interview lesson.
Add an Experience
Why not plan a class visit to your campus career center or invite the career center staff to your class? They undoubtedly have information, resources, and possibly workshops to help students prepare for job interviews as well as a host of other career opportunities. Before you set up this experience, find out what kind of connections your students already have with the career center and what specific experiences they are interested in pursuing. Then arrange a meeting with the career center coordinator prior to the visit and explain the purpose of the visit and what outcomes you would like from this interaction. If your career center has the Perfect Interview system, like Saddleback College’s Career Center, arrange for students to utilize this incredible, interactive interviewing tool.
Quik Quote: The first thing I tell our students is to be super-prepared for all the expected questions…the better prepared you are for those, the more confident you will be.
Lynne A. Sarikas, Director of MBA Center Northeastern University, Boston
