Everything you need to know about preparing students for the interview process
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This document discusses how career centers can help prepare college students for the job interview process. It notes that over 40% of college students never visit their career center. Career centers can help students choose careers, prepare for interviews through mock interviews, and provide networking opportunities. They can also teach students how to perfect resumes and cover letters, negotiate job offers, know when to move on to new jobs, and build long-term career paths. The document includes sample interview questions for common college majors.
Everything you need to know about preparing students for the interview process
- 1. Everything You Need to Know About Preparing Students for the Interview Process 1 Everything You Need to Know About Preparing Students for the Interview Process A RIVS WHITE PAPER
- 2. Everything You Need to Know About Preparing Students for the Interview Process 2 It’s crucial for college students to be strategic about the first job they take after graduating. Over 40 per- cent of college students take jobs that don’t require a degree, according to CNBC, and taking such a job can have a serious impact on the rest of their ca- reers. Those who take a job that doesn’t require a degree are five times more likely to be in a similar position five years later than those who use their college degrees right away. And ten years later, about 75 percent of graduates who take jobs that don’t require a degree will be in a similar job and earning about $10,000 less per year than their colleagues who took jobs requir- ing degrees early on. In fact, more than one in five college graduates are still working in jobs that don’t require a degree a decade after graduating. Employers now have increased expectations, and it can be difficult for college graduates to meet these demands, even for entry-level jobs. Most employ- ers expect that candidates have both the hard skills required for the gig and work-ready soft skills like communication and collaboration. Part of the reason college students aren’t prepared for job interviews or aren’t knowledgeable about the soft skills required is that they have not fully prepared by visiting their college or university’s career center. In fact, about 40 percent of under- graduate students never visit their Career Services department. Over 40% of college students take job that don’t require a degree According to CNBC
- 3. Everything You Need to Know About Preparing Students for the Interview Process 3 Role of Career Services Colleges and Universities Career Services Centers provide a diverse range of services to help students or even alumni meet the goals of pursuing careers after graduating.
- 4. Everything You Need to Know About Preparing Students for the Interview Process 4 Choose a career. For students that are still not sure what they want to do or are leaning towards a particular industry but need more information, the Career Services depart- ment can help them choose a career, using self-as- sessment tools to examine values, personality, inter- ests and abilities and determine which career options are most suitable for them. For students just starting college, the Career Services center can be a great tool for deciding which academic major will help them meet their career goals. Prepare for interviews. For students that are still not sure what they want to do or are leaning towards a particular industry but need more information, the Career Services depart- ment can help them choose a career, using self-as- sessment tools to examine values, personality, inter- ests and abilities and determine which career options are most suitable for them. For students just starting college, the Career Services center can be a great tool for deciding which academic major will help them meet their career goals.
- 5. Everything You Need to Know About Preparing Students for the Interview Process 5 Recruiting services. Career centers tend to host job fairs, where employ- ers visit campus to recruit graduating students. They often keep student files with letters of recommenda- tion from faculty to forward to potential employers and graduate schools. In addition to job fairs, career centers also keep job portals with employment and internship listings, which students can access to apply to jobs and internships on their own time. Networking. Career centers often help set students up with net- working events and opportunities where they can connect with professionals in their prospective career or industry. College or university alumni usually want to help connect students with job opportunities and are available to provide career advice. Career cen- ters can help prepare students for these networking events, as well as job interviews and job fairs. Up-to-date trends. Career Services departments are often responsible for staying up to date on employer hiring processes and trends. Current trends include assessments or tests for personality or company fit, as well as text mes- sage touchpoints during the interview process. They also need to prepare students to adapt to these trends during interview prep. Fit tests are often a way for companies or organizations to test graduating stu- dents’ soft skills, so career centers should ensure that students are aware of the required soft skills for their position or industry during interview prep. Assessments for company fit is a upward trend in the interview process Career centers can help prepare students for job interviews and job fairs
- 6. Everything You Need to Know About Preparing Students for the Interview Process 6 Decentralized vs. Centralized Career Services What’s the difference between a centralized Career Services department and decentralized Career Services?
- 7. Everything You Need to Know About Preparing Students for the Interview Process 7 A centralized Career Services department means that a school campus has one central office to manage their entire Career Services operation. One central- ized office is still the most com- mon arrangement, with nearly three-quarters of schools reporting identifying their Career Services office as centralized, according to a 2018 NACE survey. A centralized office can provide a variety of ben- efits, including a one-stop shop for employers or jobs, a consolidated staff and budget, optimal integra- tion of services and less duplica- tion of efforts. A decentralized Career Services operation means that each school or department, the law school or medical school, for example, has its own Career Services cen- ter. While this tends to lead to the school spending more money on Career Services overall, decen- tralization offers its own advan- tages. Employers have a more customized recruiting experience, because they’re able to focus on candidates within specialized ac- ademic programs within a single college or department. Schools themselves can also focus special- ized efforts or resources on con- necting students and employers who are the best fit. A third option, a hybrid Career Services operation means that a college or university has both a central office to manage their overall Career Services depart- ment, along with school-based offices that deliver highly special- ized services to students enrolled in that specific school. This hy- brid option is newer and likely the most expensive, but it also offers many of the benefits of both cen- tralized and decentralized Career Services operations. More and more schools are opting for hybrid Career Services operations to reap the benefits of both.
- 8. Everything You Need to Know About Preparing Students for the Interview Process 8 Perfecting the resume and cover letter. Resumes are typically the most common document requested from students during job applications. A CV in- cludes more information than a resume with particular emphasis on academic background, including degrees, research, awards, publications, presentations and teaching experience. Employers tend to spend less than a min- ute scanning a resume or CV, so it’s essential that students craft an organized and easy-to-read document. Similarly, the cover letter is an important document for students to perfect before applying to jobs. A cover letter is a letter of introduction that accompanies a resume or CV. Make sure your students include the following com- ponents when writing and perfecting their resumes: • Contact Information. A student’s name and contact information, including email address and phone num- ber, should be consistent across all personal branding materials, including resume, CV, business cards, Linke- dIn profile and online portfolio, blog or website. • Online Presence. It’s also crucial that students include a link to any relevant professional social media pro- files, especially LinkedIn. According to a recent Jobvite survey, 93 percent of recruiters search for online pro- files before deciding to interview a candidate. Ensure that your students include links to LinkedIn, personal websites or portfolios and any professional Twitter or Instagram accounts. • Desirable Skills or Requirements. Before writing their resumes, students should search for sample job de- scriptions for positions in their industry, highlight any requirements or desirable skills from these descriptions and make sure to showcase these qualifications throughout their resume. • Professional Experience. Students should highlight any professional experience, especially experience that is relevant to their industry, including summer internships and jobs. Make sure that students begin with their most recent job and work their way backwards and include the company name, URL, job title, start and end dates, job description and achievements. • Language Skills. Language skills are the perfect selling point. If students are bilingual or multilingual, ensure that they list each language they speak and the proficiency level on their resume. • Third-Party Feedback. Have your students received any stellar performance reviews from internships or past employers? If so, make sure that they include these reviews in their resume to demonstrate their amazing hard and soft skills in a work environment.
- 9. Everything You Need to Know About Preparing Students for the Interview Process 9 Preparing for the interview process It’s crucial that students are prepared for the interview process. Career Services centers can help students with a number of aspects of the interview process, including practicing potential interview questions, knowing the position and company inside and out and perfecting their body movements and oral presentation.
- 10. Everything You Need to Know About Preparing Students for the Interview Process 10 RIVS Interview Prep enables Career Services to help hundreds of students prepare for both phone and on- site interviews. Using Interview Prep, Career Services centers give students mock video interviews and in- struct them on how to improve their interview presen- tation by changing their body language, avoiding filler words and more. Negotiating the offer. Before accepting a job, a student should be fully aware of the salary, benefits and retirement plan, then nego- tiate if they’re not okay with any part of the terms of agreement. You can help students learn how to nego- tiate these terms of agreement. It’s also important for students to know how much they’re worth when go- ing into a negotiation by searching average salaries for their position, industry and region. Climbing past the first job. When students decide that it’s time to move on to the next role, it is crucial that Career Services has given them the knowledge and resources to move on and thrive in a second job. How to know it’s time to move on. Make sure to relay to your students the signs that it’s time to move on from or quit their first job. Typically, it’s important to find a new job before quitting, but if one is working in a toxic environment or feels physi- cally or mentally unhealthy at their current job, that’s a sign to quit the job as quickly as possible. Other signs to move onto a second job include feelings that a student is too comfortable or not being challenged enough or simply that they don’t ever feel like going to work. Career Services should relay these signs to stu- dents during the interview prep process. Building a personal career path. It’s also crucial that Career Services teach students how to build a personal career path. When creating a career path, it’s important for students to take stock of their current job or set of skills and determine whether there are potential opportunities for advancement where they are now or if they need to look into new certifi- cations or positions. It’s also essential to network with as many colleagues and mentors as possible. Career Services should provide students with opportunities to network with mentors and gather valuable insights and advice by asking questions about how to navigate your industry.
- 11. Everything You Need to Know About Preparing Students for the Interview Process 11 Appendix Top Majors 1. Business/Management: Business analyst a. Which steps do you follow to design a use case? b. What are the differences between a BRD and an SRS? c. What is the difference between a requirement and a need from a business analysis perspective? 2. Nursing: Nurse a. What is your greatest skill as a nurse? b. How do you handle someone who isn’t satisfied with your patient care? c. Why did you choose a career in nursing? 3. Health Professions: Home health aide a. Why did you choose to become a home health aide? b. What would you do if you were taking care of someone and they fell out of bed? c. What types of conditions have you helped clients man age in the past? 4. Biology: Biological technician or research assistant a. Which methods do you find most effective for conduct- ing research? b. Share an experience where you applied new technology in your job. c. Do you consider analyzing data or information a strength? How so? 5. Psychology: Psychiatrist a. How would you react in a crisis situation? b. How do you work with a team when there are differing opinions on how to proceed? c. Describe a difficult interaction you’ve had with a client and how you handled it. 6. Medical Assistant/Technician: Medical assistant a. How will you ensure that you are following HIPAA guidelines? b. Tell me about your computer skills. c. What are some of your strengths and weaknesses? 7. Education: Teacher a. Where do you see yourself in five years? b. Why do you want to be a teacher? c. What is your teaching philosophy? 8. Engineering: Electrical engineer a. Why did you decide to become an electrical engineer? b. What are your strengths and weaknesses? c. What are your short term and long term goals? 9. Finance/Accounting: Financial analyst a. Why do you want to be a financial analyst? b. How would you develop an investment recommenda- tion for senior management? c. Describe a situation in which you had to meet a tight deadline. 10. Communications/Journalism: Journalist a. How do you ensure your work is accurate and factual? b. How do you manage the stress of tight deadlines? c. List three current stories that impact our publication.
- 12. Everything You Need to Know About Preparing Students for the Interview Process 12 11. Building and Construction: Construction and building inspector a. What is the key to success when communicating with the public? b. Describe an experience in which you analyzed informa- tion and evaluated results to choose the best solution to a problem. c. How do you organize, plan and prioritize your work? 12. Mechanics/Repair: Auto mechanic a. What is your preferred work environment? Busy or slow? b. How do you troubleshoot problems? c. Describe a situation in which you applied new technology in your job. 13. Computer Science: Software developer a. When reviewing someone else’s code, where do you place the most focus? b. How do you ensure that debugging a program while it’s being used will not affect its functionality? c. Describe a situation where a program you developed didn’t run. How did you troubleshoot the code? 14. Rehabilitation and Therapy: Physical therapist a. Why did you choose physical therapy as a career? b. What are some of the challenges of working with geriatric patients? c. Describe a situation in which you felt you delivered excellent patient care. 15. English: Digital copywriter a. Name some ways you can optimize your content for SEO. b. How do you handle working under tight deadlines? c. Which types of content have you worked with before? 16. Economics: Economic consultant a. How do you organize, plan and prioritize your work? b. Share an experience where you applied new technology in your job. c. Do you consider analyzing data or information a strength? How so? 17. Administrative and Clerical: Administrative assistant a. In which type of office environment do you excel the most? b. Why do you think you’re well-suited for a position as an administrative assistant? c. What do you enjoy most about administrative work? 18. Information and Technology: IT consultant a. How do you measure a project’s success? b. How do you communicate with people who aren’t tech savvy? c. How do you stay on track when you undertake multiple projects with tight deadlines? 19. History: Historian, library and museum services a. Who is your favorite historical figure and why? b. Why did you decide to become a historian? c. What do you think are the most essential qualities in a historian? 20. Political Science: Policy analyst a. How do you handle stress? b. Why did you decide to become a policy analyst? c. Describe an experience in which you applied new technology in your job.
- 13. Everything You Need to Know About Preparing Students for the Interview Process 13 21. Design: Graphic designer a. Why did you choose graphic design as a profession? b. What are your strengths and weaknesses? c. Describe a time when you had a conflict or challenge at work. 22. Visual Arts: Art director a. How influenced are you by current trends? b. Which tools do you use in your day-to-day work? c. Describe one of the most challenging design projects you’ve worked on. 23. Earth and Environmental Sciences: Geologist a. Why did you decide to become a geologist? b. How do you organize, plan and prioritize your work? c. Describe a time when you applied new technology in your job? 24. Culinary Arts and Food Service: Chef, food service manager a. Why did you decide to become a chef? b. Where and how were you trained? c. What is your management style? 25. Mathematics: Economist a. Which global trends will shape the world economy over the next 10 years? b. How do you communicate economic data to your audience? c. What is the most important quality in an economist? 26. Dental: Dentist a. How do you adapt in a fast-paced environment? b. What are your strengths and weaknesses? c. How would you respond to a patient who is afraid or in pain? 27. Foreign Languages: Foreign language teacher or professor a. Why are you interested in teaching this language? b. How do you engage your students during instruction? c. What is the role of grammar and accuracy in language learning?
- 14. Everything You Need to Know About Preparing Students for the Interview Process 14 Schedule a demo today! www.rivs.com sales@rivs.com 312.583.7499 20 North Wacker, Suite 1200, Chicago, IL 60606