My job history is rather eclectic and eccentric. I started out teaching in a junior college, moved on to working in a polytechnic, ventured to work as an Assistant Language Teacher in Japan, came back to instruct junior high school students, and accepted a secondment to an elementary school before returning back to teach at the junior high school. Phew. This is rather a mouthful.
You probably don’t care about my job history, but I just wish to underscore how I have a wealth of interview experience under my belt. So, I’m quite excited about teaching how to ace interviews to my graduation students. So many tips to impart to them!
First, I got each student to make a book out of a A3 sheet of paper. I gave them time to decorate the title page because I wanted them to use this book as a “parking lot” to record down the key points they ought to say to prospective interviewers.
Secondly, I encouraged them to write five important things about themselves that they wished to conveyed to the interviewers. Hence, regardless of the kinds of questions the interviewers asked them, they could use these five important things as key anchors to sell themselves and showcase their strengths and skills successfully.
Next, I taught them to anticipate possible interview questions. For instance, interviewers typically ask “Tell me something about yourself” as the first question. Since my students are Hospitality students, I elicited some responses about their course, told them that these should be included as part of the five important things to tell the interviewers and got them to jot down key points for their self-introduction.
I also taught them the PEEL (Point, Explain, Elaborate, Link) approach so that they could expound on their responses and come across as interesting, thoughtful individuals. I’m still working with them at this stage. Some are able to come up with examples that substantiate their line of thought. Others struggle to go beyond formulaic responses. Fighting!
After coming out with responses for the more popular interview questions, I intend to get them to practise saying their interview answers individually. We all think that we will know what to say when we have to rise to the occasion, but nothing beats uttering them out loud. That way, we will know if we can manipulate the phrases swimming in our minds into eloquent sentences.
Lastly, I plan to organise mock interviews so that students can form pairs and take turns to practise expressing their interview answers in front of each other. I’m sure some of my spunky students will love grilling their classmate!