- Joined
- Apr 1, 2016
- Messages
- 625
- Reaction score
- 557
Interviews are a common part of college admissions and are one of the parts that applicants get the least amount of practice for in everyday life. I've been rather successful in my interviews and my mother does interviews for an MBA fellowship program--unrelated field, but she's told me what makes for a bad, good, and great applicant (among the 30-year-olds!) This should all hopefully be advice you haven't heard a million times before--I imagine you all know to wear a suit by now.
1) Most people think they're good at interviews because they're good at talking with their friends. This isn't necessarily true. Practice interviews.
2) Practice with people you don't know well and record it. In your suit. Then watch the whole thing and take not of what your body is doing.
3) The proper way to explain something bad--a bad grade or whatever is: "I failed for [this reason--if you have a sympathetic reason], but I learned from [these specific skillsets] which helps me accomplish [this thing that uses those skillsets]" and then keep talking about that positive thing. My mom has a person with a great application but a low standardized test score who, when asked, ranted about the unfairness of standardized tests. We know dude, but the institution you're applying to thinks it's good enough.
4) Consider your values--friends, family, success, charity, academic curiosity? Which have your actions displayed?
5) The answer to "what is your biggest weakness?" is not "this strength poorly disguised as a weakness," it's "the weakness I used to have that I have been working on improving, which you can see by whatever part of my resume"
6) Interviewers will leave long pauses to make sure you have nothing else to say. If you have nothing else to say, don't fill the pause with useless babble.
7) Don't be too obviously rehearsed. This is a conversation. You should expect some questions, but you shouldn't recite a pre-planned answer. You sound fake and like you don't care about your achievements.
8) Don't be a bragger, but don't underscore yourself, either. It's a delicate balance. You have to be comfortable admitting you're a good applicant.
9) Have questions to ask the person. If there is a good opportunity in the conversation, say it then. Otherwise, wait til the end.
10) Have some things you want to say that are not in your application thus far. Usually what you are doing your senior year--if you apply early (which you should!!!), some of it shouldn't be on your application. If it doesn't come up, it's okay to bring it up because "there's something that is important to me and I think is important for you to know about me but isn't on my application because it's recent."
1) Most people think they're good at interviews because they're good at talking with their friends. This isn't necessarily true. Practice interviews.
2) Practice with people you don't know well and record it. In your suit. Then watch the whole thing and take not of what your body is doing.
3) The proper way to explain something bad--a bad grade or whatever is: "I failed for [this reason--if you have a sympathetic reason], but I learned from [these specific skillsets] which helps me accomplish [this thing that uses those skillsets]" and then keep talking about that positive thing. My mom has a person with a great application but a low standardized test score who, when asked, ranted about the unfairness of standardized tests. We know dude, but the institution you're applying to thinks it's good enough.
4) Consider your values--friends, family, success, charity, academic curiosity? Which have your actions displayed?
5) The answer to "what is your biggest weakness?" is not "this strength poorly disguised as a weakness," it's "the weakness I used to have that I have been working on improving, which you can see by whatever part of my resume"
6) Interviewers will leave long pauses to make sure you have nothing else to say. If you have nothing else to say, don't fill the pause with useless babble.
7) Don't be too obviously rehearsed. This is a conversation. You should expect some questions, but you shouldn't recite a pre-planned answer. You sound fake and like you don't care about your achievements.
8) Don't be a bragger, but don't underscore yourself, either. It's a delicate balance. You have to be comfortable admitting you're a good applicant.
9) Have questions to ask the person. If there is a good opportunity in the conversation, say it then. Otherwise, wait til the end.
10) Have some things you want to say that are not in your application thus far. Usually what you are doing your senior year--if you apply early (which you should!!!), some of it shouldn't be on your application. If it doesn't come up, it's okay to bring it up because "there's something that is important to me and I think is important for you to know about me but isn't on my application because it's recent."
