{"id":127,"date":"2012-04-10T10:34:08","date_gmt":"2012-04-10T14:34:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.wabash.edu\/littlegiants-bigresults\/?p=127"},"modified":"2025-07-08T19:32:54","modified_gmt":"2025-07-08T19:32:54","slug":"lessons-from-the-interview-front","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/plastics\/2012\/04\/10\/lessons-from-the-interview-front\/","title":{"rendered":"Lessons from the Interview Front"},"content":{"rendered":"

-Austin Weaver<\/em><\/p>\n

From beginning to the follow up, what I\u2019ve learned through the interview process.<\/p>\n

Over the past couple of years, I have been involved in several interviews\u2014on both sides of the table, and even on the phone as well.\u00a0 I have learned what to do and what not to do.\u00a0 Mistakes have been made by myself, and I have witnessed others make mistakes as well.\u00a0 Here is what I have learned so far:<\/p>\n

Before you even land an internship, you must always show the employer that you are interested and reliable.\u00a0 This is most obvious in two cases:\u00a0 the time in which you apply, and how you respond to them contacting you regarding an interview.\u00a0 Never wait until the application deadline to apply\u2014I have made that mistake and learned the hard way.\u00a0 Don\u2019t apply the exact day the internship is posted, but definitely don\u2019t wait until the final day of the posting.\u00a0 Following that, if an employer contacts you regarding an interview, be prompt in your response to their email.\u00a0 Addressing the employer with Mr. and Ms. can never hurt either.<\/p>\n

For those who are interviewing with an employer over the phone, these can surprisingly be much more difficult than in person.\u00a0 During an in-person interview, you often get a read on when the interviewer is satisfied with your answer and ready to move on.\u00a0 This doesn\u2019t happen on the phone.\u00a0 Therefore, answer the question, and when your thought is over, stop talking and wait for the interviewer\u2019s response.\u00a0 Also, if you are one who doesn\u2019t have a very exciting voice, make sure you don\u2019t fall into the monotone voice during the interview.\u00a0 Always sound interested\u2014standing up and walking around while talking can help.<\/p>\n

Once landing the personal interview, people have often made the mistake of not being appropriately dressed.\u00a0 At this level of interviews, a suit with a white dress shirt and tie is usually always a safe call.<\/p>\n

Before the interview begins, be sure to shake the hand of everyone who is interviewing you.\u00a0 Be prepared for the interview as well.\u00a0 A standard interview is going to be conducted by the employer stating \u201cTell me about a time when\u2026,\u201d usually regarding a time when you showcased your leadership, ability to deal with ambiguity, or other attributes relevant to the job you are applying to.\u00a0 Also, every employer ends the interview by saying \u201cDo you have any questions for us?\u201d\u00a0 Spend time researching the company and the position prior to the interview, and come up with 3 questions or so to show that you truly are interested in the position.<\/p>\n

Finally, follow up every single interview with a \u201cthank you\u201d email sent to each person who interviewed you\u2014I was offered a position and told that a key difference was that I was the only one who followed up with a \u201cthank you\u201d email.<\/p>\n

If you have any questions or need to improve your interviewing skills, the Career Services office here at Wabash often runs Mock Interview sessions for students.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

-Austin Weaver From beginning to the follow up, what I\u2019ve learned through the interview process. Over the past couple of years, I have been involved in several interviews\u2014on both sides of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-127","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-interviews","category-nuts"],"w_featured_image_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/plastics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/plastics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/plastics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/plastics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/plastics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=127"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/plastics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1027,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/plastics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127\/revisions\/1027"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/plastics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=127"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/plastics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=127"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/plastics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=127"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}