Practice Interview Reflection

By Julianne.

While practicing interviews in class, I think I have improved my interviewing skills and this practice will prepare me for interviewing an adult about my chosen eminent person. Some things I have been told I did well, were being confident, calm, comfortable, and having good body language. I had great posture during the interview and faced my interviewee directly. I also supported my interviewee after they were having trouble elaborating on certain topics. I was open to skipping questions and asked follow-up questions to continue the flow of the conversation. These follow-up questions helped bring answers to the interviewee’s mind and they were able to give me more information. In the beginning, the flow was shaky, and there were pauses in between questions as well as unrelated questions one after another. I have been told that the conversational flow got better as the interview went on and by the end, it was going smoothly as I had progressed. 

I have learned many different strategies to help improve my interviewing skills based on the feedback I have received from my classmates. Something I would work on is speaking louder as I was wearing a mask. As the real interview will be virtual, I will not be wearing a mask. I think wearing a mask while practicing was actually a benefit as the practice will continue to help me speak louder when it comes to the real interview. Speaking up will allow the interviewee to be aware I am comfortable and confident when addressing them with questions. I have also been told to work on my eye contact to show them I am focused on their answers and there are no distractions. I contact is hard social skill, but an important one. Eye contact can contribute to body language which lets people know that you are interested in their topic, or not interested. When practicing, I do not think I was uninterested in the topic, but just nervous as I was being evaluated while interviewing. Regardless, I need to improve my eye contact. 

To summarize, I am happy with my practice interview, but would like to improve on little things for my real interview with an adult to show them that I am interested and focused on what they are saying. I would also like to run the interview in a smooth flow and make it as professional as possible.