Written for College Students, equally applicable in any interview!
When you think of the college interview on campus, you might think that you will be meeting with some imposing admissions officer who is there to judge you and scrutinize your every word while you are on the Hot Seat. Indeed, that is a very remote possibility! Many times the admissions office interviewer is a fairly recent grad from that school or another (who else could read all those applications!). The interviewer wants to find the gem in you. They want to discover more about you. How you will fit into the rest of the incoming class? What did not come across in the paper application? The interviewer can become your advocate before the admissions committee. They are ON YOUR SIDE.
I have heard of more and more schools using their work-study or other volunteer students to conduct the applicant interview. This can be a student from any class. It is not at all a slight to find out that you are meeting with a student, not an Admissions Officer, for your interview. Indeed, in speaking with some Admissions Officers, I have been told that the yield (those who come as a percentage of those who are accepted, a factor in evaluating the admissions officers themselves) is considerably higher from the student interviewers. Turns out the students are better evaluators of "fit." So when you get a student interviewer consider its benefit. If ever there were a time to have questions about student life, this would be it! Also, be sure to treat the student interviewer with respect. They might be particularly sensitive about this.
Student Interviewers tend not to ask questions from your resume. They won't ask you to explain why you got a 1 in the some AP test. They know it happens. They want to meet the real you. They want to know that you will become actively involved in the campus. They are figuring out whether you'll be a good classmate and can benefit campus life. They want a great conversation, after all, they are "volunteers." For this reason, it is important to work on your conversational skills as well as or as part of your interview skills. Make sure your conversation is a mutual sharing of information, thoughts and strengths stories. Give details in your responses. You want to make sure that being an easy conversationalist becomes your new natural. If it is, you will have better, more comfortable conversations with the interviewer, no matter how stressful the situation might be for you.
To learn more tips and techniques for better communication results, please contact Making Conversation at www.makingconversation.com. Peggy Wallace, Making Conversation LLC. (www.makingconversation.com) can improve your communication skills and enhance your interview preparation.
Present your best self by being authentic and enthusiastically showing your own unique personality; open doors by winning with words.
Contact Peggy for private sessions at Tel # (760) 803-2641 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (760) 803-2641 end_of_the_skype_highlighting or e-mail Peggy at peggy@makingconversation.com
Be authentically yourself. Establish rapport. Making Conversation can assist you to develop responses which are thought out ahead of time, not the "automatic” or “right" response, but your personal best answer. If you communicate effectively with confidence and ease, your answers will persuade the interviewer to become your advocate.
Author Bio: Peggy Wallace's Making Conversation offers group and private conversational skills sessions as well as private interview preparation, with videotaped interview practice. Interview prep for college, jobs and scholarships assists you in developing clear, concise, persuasive and relevant personal stories which exhibit your individual strengths. Peggy is a graduate of University of Pennsylvania/Wharton School and Boston University School of Law. Peggy was a regional alumna volunteer interviewer for undergraduate admissions to Penn/Wharton for over 25 years. Peggy's business experience includes corporate attorney, fundraiser and financial services sales consultant.
