WORKSHOP: Acing the Interview – ‘PREPARE’ With Seven Tried and True Steps

Interviewing skills are essential for career success and will be utilized time and again throughout a person’s lifetime. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that millennials (who make up the largest percentage of the U.S. workforce) will hold a job for less than two years. And any worker over age 25 will hold a job for only about five years. That means that all STEM graduates, regardless of their age, will have several job transitions, and therefore numerous job interviews, throughout their professional careers. Now is the time to develop and perfect interviewing skills. It is important to know how to prepare for an interview, how to come across as confident and knowledgeable, how to communicate nontechnical (“transferable”) skills in addition to technical skills and abilities, what questions an employer will ask, and what questions to ask.

This workshop uses STEM Career Services’ PREPARE method to improve comfort and confidence with job interviews. The PREPARE method focuses on seven steps: Plan, Research, Enthusiasm, Power Posing, Answer/Ask Questions, Recap and Evaluate. This proven seven-step method addresses the different types of interviews job candidates might encounter; increases their confidence articulating their skills and value to an employer; teaches them how to research an employer and plan the logistics for their interview; and helps them establish what questions to ask an employer, why to ask them and how to evaluate the answers to determine position and company compatibility.

As a supplement to this workshop, STEM Career Services will conduct private one-on-one or small group interview preparation sessions with participants. These private sessions will cover any requested interview situation. Sample concepts include targeting specific questions about interviewing; helping answer questions through mock interviews to improve confidence and the ability to answer interview questions effectively and professionally; identifying unique skills and abilities that are important to share with an employer based on the position sought; and using a resume as a tool to reinforce skills at the interview and to make a favorable impression.