Interview classes

I had the sudden inspiration to write about this "service" the college counselors help students with, though it's pretty under-the-radar. Not many students have heard of it, probably because it travels by word-of-mouth.

I'm referring to interview classes.

What happens is that you have a bunch of students sitting around a conference table, and they each take turns to be the interviewee, with everyone else firing questions at them. One of the college counselors (or someone designated by them) facilitates the entire process and can ask questions as well. At the end of your mock interview, there'll be a short discussion on how you performed in the interview.

Our college counselors can be quite perceptive and brutal. Perceptive because they can tell which questions break you. Brutal because they ask them anyway. But based on my personal experience, this is very beneficial as preparation. A large part of the reason why we're scared is because it's our first time and we only have a theoretical vision of what to expect. The interview classes will dissect all that, show you what your weaknesses are and which questions you need to look out for. You'll also get opinions on how to answer weird questions and how to respond to skepticism. And you get to see how others fare under the same conditions, which you can adapt to your own style.

This doesn't mean you won't be nervous at all during the actual interview. No matter how much preparation you do, there's still the element of the unknown. However, knowing that you were totally crushed during your mock interview makes you a lot more confident about yourself, and then you'll be less likely to stutter, stammer or screw up in general :) After all, you've already been put through an emotional trainwreck; how much worse can it get?

Contact the college counselors if you want an interview class. The best arrangement is to find a group of, say, six to seven acquaintances, and try to schedule a 2-hour slot. The earlier the better, as the college counselors' workload increases exponentially in the 2nd half of the year. Why acquaintances? Because you want to be able to ask all types of questions without risking hurt feelings. That requires some sort of distance and unfamiliarity. If you go with your best friends, it might be extremely awkward. You will also not get feedback about how your character appears to strangers, because your friends know you too well.

That's all I have on this topic. Again I'll emphasize that it was a great help for me. I went for it one day before my interview, which is not a good idea because you need some sort of 'recovery time' - but it was still better than nothing. Ask the college counselors for more details. Schedule one early; this can only advantage you.