Troy students take part in mock interviews to prepare for real world

TROY — Each year, eighth graders in Troy Public Schools go through a trial by fire, a mock interview conducted by real members of the Troy business community.

The interviews are conducted at each middle school and are designed to show the students what a real interview for something like a job or college will be like.

Amy Scott is an eighth grade English teacher at Larson Middle School and is one of the educators preparing the students for the interviews.

“The idea is that when they have their first job interview — maybe when they get their first job in high school or if they are interviewing for a college or scholarship — they would know the ins and outs of an interview and be a bit less nervous,” she explained.

The preparation for the interviews begins when they enter middle school as they build a portfolio demonstrating their work and experiences.

“When students enter middle school they start an electronic portfolio to showcase their work and to showcase who they are both inside and outside of school,” said Scott. “The idea is that by the time they get to their eighth grade year, we give them the experience of an actual interview. We have people from the Troy community come in. Our students are prepped in how to dress, and how to shake hands and how to present themselves. We also try to prepare them how to best show someone their credentials and their electronic portfolio in a 15-minute interview.”

The students prepare for the interviews for months.

“We prepare them. There’s always some nerves, but we tell them how they have to learn to work while nervous. … They, along with building their portfolio throughout middle school, all throughout eighth grade they are taught how to write a resume, introduce themselves, shake hands, and we go through mock interviews in their English classes.”

The teachers coaching the students on the interview preparation want their portfolio work to focus on their core four classes, so, English, math, social studies and science. They also want them to highlight their electives and pull in who they are outside of school to show they are a well-rounded individual. Scott said that showing off who they are as people can be just as important as showing what they have accomplished.

“This year, we revamped the program to highlight their skills,” said Scott. “So, this year, if you ask them to show them something from their portfolio, you might ask them, ‘Show me something where you demonstrated leadership,’ or ‘Show me something where you collaborated with other students.’”

Deneen Macedonia is a business development consultant at Trion Solutions in Troy. She is among the interviewers who come to the Troy district’s middle schools each year to act as a mock interviewer.

“I started doing this through my kids’ schools. The Troy Chamber of Commerce had introduced me to the idea earlier when they did this in previous years, and were looking for volunteers,” she said. “They are nervous, so getting those nerves out now in a safe, community-minded environment is great. … It gets them thinking about opportunities and what’s out there.”

Macedonia said the mock interview process is not only about testing what they have learned but also helping coach them how to open up and engage in a real-world scenario where they are put on the spot.

“When we do the interviews, I try to warm them up with some softball questions early on about their family or how they like school,” she said. “Then I like to get them to do a little more critical thinking, so I’ll ask about times they had to overcome a challenge and how they did so. I might ask how they work with a team or when they do how they can push forward without alienating the team, that sort of thing. Some are a little harder to draw scenarios out of and some of them are ready to go.”

The district hopes they will be able to show off not only skills and credentials, but also hurdles that they have overcome.

“Who else is teaching them this skill?” said Scott. “There are a lot of rules and ins and outs of an interview, so why not teach them before they are even entering into these scenarios? This way they can have the best interview possible when it is something that really matters to them. We also think this helps them reflect on what they have done and overcome so the next time they come across a similar hurdle, they won’t be stopped by it.”

Eighth graders Merisa Grebovic and Joseph Kseri were among the Larson students who had their mock interviews this year, and each said it was a great experience for someone of their age.

“This was a great opportunity as we prepare to go into high school and, obviously, interviewing will become a big part of our life, especially with scholarships and internships and so forth. It was great to learn how to prepare for this process, and it was very rewarding,” Grebovic said. “There was so much I wanted to share, so I spent a lot of time talking about how my portfolio is a great example of myself. I also had to work on my social skills and knowing how to read a situation.”

“This is like a practice for real life and getting older, since we will be finding ourselves in these kinds of situations more and more,” Kseri added. “It’s important to know what to say and what to expect.”

Each offered their best lessons learned and advice they would give others.

“My best advice is to be prepared for anything,” Grebovic remarked. “There were some questions my interviewer asked that I didn’t practice for, so we always have to do some on-the-spot thinking, but you need to just learn how to make a conversation flow well.”

“I was more focused on certain questions than others, since we went through a lot of common questions beforehand,” Kseri added. “(I’d tell others to) be relaxed. Don’t stress too much, but make sure you have your questions ready.”

Macedonia hopes the students will take what is a lot of hard work as part of their preparation for these mock interviews and take them to heart so they can use it in the real world.

“This is the culmination of a lot of work they have done over the course of years,” she said. “This isn’t a one-day or one-week project. You can tell what they lay out in their portfolios is something they have worked very hard on.”