This is a reflection on a mock interview we did in class a few days ago. I was interviewing Anita and I was being assessed by Kavyan. The point of the interview was to develop our interviewing skills and help us develop questions to ask our eminent mentor. 

 

Through this experience, I learned the importance of being friendly during an interview. My friendly attitude throughout the discussion was one of the strengths Kavyan described in his assessment. He said I was very friendly. Being friendly will allow me to break the ice during the start of the interview, creating a friendly and open environment early in the interview. Kavyan also told me I did a good job being conversational, relatable, and elaborate. I did this by trying to connect with the answers that Anita gave me. This kept the conversation going and allowed me to generate follow-up questions in a smooth and natural way. It also let me relate to Anita, so we became more comfortable talking. I believe this is valuable because it makes us more comfortable talking to each other and it keeps the conversation flowing and generates questions at the same time. The final strength Kavyan gave me was my appearance. I was well dressed. I doubt this will help on a phone call, but I will try it just in case. 

I learned what I need to improve from my stretches. One of my stretches was I ask odd/ random questions. An example of this was when I asked Anita what her least favorite ice-cream flavour was. She was caught off guard by this question and it seemed to distract her. To improve on this next time, I will plan my questions, so they don’t juxtapose each other. This means I will have my questions all be on the same subject throughout the interview. This will keep the interviewee focused on the subject I am trying to learn about. The other major stretch he gave me was distracting. I am not sure how I was doing this, he didn’t tell me, but I will try my best not to be distracting during the interview. This will keep both me and the interviewee on topic and allow the interview to go smoothly. 

Thanks for reading.