California State University, Monterey Bay (CSUMB) students attended a virtual interview preparation workshop on Tuesday, Feb. 27 to gain some tips and strategies for their upcoming interviews.
With graduation in the spring, students joined the seminar to prepare themselves for the oncoming flood of interviews they will be participating in post-graduation.
Around 20 students attended the event, the majority of whom were a part of CSUMB’s Educational Opportunity Program (EOP).
EOP aims to improve the access and retention of low-income and first-generation college students by helping them gain the skills and support networks necessary to ensure their success. EOP frequently endorses CSUMB’s Career Development Office and its workshops.
This workshop was led by Career Services Advisor Jenny Martinez.
“I really love doing these workshops because they’re always just so practical for college students,” said Martinez. “Yes, you are focusing a lot right now on getting through each semester, but always in the back of your mind, you should be asking ‘what is next to come?’”
Martinez explained the purpose of an interview and gave tips on how to guarantee successful interviews. Some of these tips included researching the company, practicing your responses to common interview questions, dressing professionally yet appropriately for your field, rereading the job description beforehand and preparing your own set of questions for the interviewer.
She also led engaging activities with the participants, asking students to draft and share their own responses to the dreaded question, “Tell me about yourself.”
Martinez’s presentation showcased common interview questions so that students could practice their responses as well as some example questions to ask their interviewer.
Some examples of these questions mentioned in the workshop were, “What would a typical day in this position look like?” and “What does training look like?”
Martinez also shared her top five interview strategies for the day of an interview:
- Arrive around 10 minutes early.
- Bring something to take notes with.
- Smile.
- Respond truthfully and accurately to questions.
- Follow up after the interview with a thank you.
For CSUMB students who are gearing up for their post-graduation job search, more Career Services events and opportunities can be found here (https://myraft.csumb.edu/events?group_ids=59685).