Real Time: What the Interviewer Asked

A weekend or so ago, a PHS senior had a personal interview with an alum of a highly selective institution. Last week, I invited the student to describe the experience for the other SoMD CAN program students in his session. I was sorry that he couldn't spend the rest of the sessions talking with other attendees as well. Let me get out this important message to anyone else who is making plans to get to the next step in education beyond high school - because it holds true no matter where you apply and what your goals are.

First, the interviewer spent a little time establishing a rapport with our student and talking some about his experiences at the school and then the kinds of things he has experienced in his career. Soon, the real essence began to bubble up. The dialog came 'round to our senior and here is what the interviewer spent the most time on:

• What do you do in your spare time?
  
• Who do you do it with? What do your friends like to spend time doing when they are with you?
  
• Why do you like doing those things and what does spending time in that way give to you?
  
• What do you bring to those activities as a participant?

Questions and answers of this kind go a long way in revealing to a thoughtful interviewer so much about individual values, interests, abilities and social awareness. Most of all, these kinds of questions and the answers to them help the interviewer get a sense, or a better sense, of what the student will bring to the student community in terms of energy, viewpoint, level of engagement and just plain total package.

When you are considering your values, your interests, your talents, begin to create opportunities in the week or the day that you can apply these to your community or to your school. Interactions with familiar and unfamiliar groups or individuals that allow you to stretch your development go so far to illuminate your path and give you meaningful experiences to grow from. They also help you build your resume and prepare for job, school or other interviews like this one, no matter what direction you are aiming for. Get comfortable in speaking to others about what you have learned, want to learn and how you really learned it!

Thanks to our source and y'all keep on keepin on! Have some insights to share on this process?
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