Dos and Don’ts of Interviewing

Wondering if you should schedule interviews at the colleges you’re applying to? Wondering what the heck you should do if you do schedule them? Interviews for college can be daunting and it can be easy to avoid them all together because you’re not sure what to wear, do or say. However, interviews are one of the best ways to get noticed by an admissions officer! So sign up for yours and watch today’s Vlog on what to do and what NOT to do in your college interviews.

 
Transcription:
 

Welcome to another edition of the college mapper Vlog! Today we are going to talk a little bit about interviewing. Many colleges offer interviews, some colleges require them and, in my very humble opinion, if you are a little bit outgoing it is always to your benefit to interview because the person who’s reading your file gets to put a face with the name and like nine times out of ten that is going to help you. So, things to do in your interview, things to remember are: be yourself; it’s okay being nervous. The people who are interviewing you have done it thousands of times and they remember what it was like to be a college applicant. So, it’s okay to be nervous, it’s actually kind of charming. So, be ready. So, be yourself, try to relax, be ready.
 
You can take your resume if you’d like to have a copy of your resume there, sometimes that really helps when you’re nervous. But be ready to talk about the things in your life, in your high school career, that you’re the proudest of. Your accomplishments, what have you done. And I would be sure at the end of the interview to take that person’s card and contact information and follow up with the thank you note. I would also be prepared. This should actually go before be sure but, I would be prepared with some questions that you could ask during the interview because it shows interest if you’ve researched the college a bit and you have some questions ready.
 
We have a great handout for that on the site of questions that, sample questions that you could ask during interview.

 

Those are some things that you should do it and things that, you know, I would avoid doing. Don’t brag, you really don’t need to brag, and make sure you’re not so humble that you don’t sell yourself. You certainly want to present your accomplishments in the best light, you don’t want to be so humble that no one can even get to hear about the great things you’ve done. And if you’re shy you’re going to need to push yourself out of your comfort zone a little bit to talk a little more then you might like to and just try to be a little pluckier than ordinary because that will help you. I think being shy can actually hurt you in an interview set because the person might be thinking to themselves, “Well, if you come to our college, you know, are you ever going to talk to anyone?” So, just try to pluck up some courage and speak out the little bit more.
 
I think something I would not do during the interview is to be too casual. So, you wouldn’t want to be inappropriately dressed or have some crazy inappropriate posture like you really don’t care, you can’t be bothered. I would not be on your telephone in any way, shape or form during the interview. I would avoid swearing or chewing gum or things like that. If you know that caffeine affects you like it does me, I would not have coffee before the interview because you’re already going to be a little bit nervous and you’re gonna want to be as calm as you possibly can. So, these are just some quick tips about Dos and Don’ts of Interviews. Feel free to send us more questions we love answering your questions. Good luck with those interviews, I absolutely think you should try to schedule them if the college offers them. Take care! Bye.
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