Mock Interviewers
Throughout the year, we pair alumni, parents, and friends with students and recent grads to conduct mock interviews. The mock interviews are practice sessions and a chance to go over resume and cover letter writing. Right now, we are pairing for in-person and virtual/remote video meetings. We try to match students and alums as closely as possible by field of expertise.
Below are our volunteers. Students, please fill out the Registration Form and if you have a preference for any of the alumni below, please include their name in the form.
Program Summary
Every year, Florida Tech seniors graduate and many begin to enter the workforce. They may not have much real-world experience interviewing. First year students also need to hone their interviewing skills as they seek part-time jobs, summer positions and internships that will enhance their academic experience. And young alums early in their career crave the advice and mentorship of those who have moved well past their first position to enjoy meaningful careers.
You have been invited to bring your skills, developed from your own interviewing and even more importantly as someone who has interviewed others, to help our current students and recent graduates to be better interviewers. Mock interviews provide students with crucial skills that will serve them throughout their careers. By pairing these students with successful alumni, parents, and friends from around the world for mock interviews, we can strengthen our students’ chances of securing a job and the jobs they most want. We hope you find this to be a fun way to stay engaged with Florida Tech and our students.
Not all students will need interviewing practice, necessarily. Some of them will use their time with you to seek counsel on other aspects of early career success, asking for help on improving resumes, cover letters, and LinkedIn pages. Others may want to learn about what you enjoy and do not in your field as they decide what they want to do. And still others may ask for your input into how they can, having secured a job, best position themselves for advancement in their field. Please feel free to personalize every mock interview experience into whatever guidance is needed by your mentee.
Lastly, feel free to stay connected with them. We hope the program will result in some longer-term mentorship and friendship opportunities as Florida Tech graduates support one another.
General Tips and Guidelines
- Interviewers are encouraged to practice social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Videoconferencing works well with tools such as 8x8, Zoom, Skype, and Sococo, etc. Please do not meet in a private residence.
- As stated above, do not feel bound to do a “mock interview” if you both prefer to use the time in other ways. You may use the time to help improve their resume, LinkedIn page, cover letter, and you are welcomed to provide more general career advice and answer questions they may have.
- Please respond to communications from your paired student via text/call/email in a timely manner.
- Feel free to use your own sample job description for the mock interview.
- If you wish to include others from your company, that is fine. Some companies interview as a group and it can be helpful for a student to become acquainted with that.
- Please make sure to complete the feedback form when done!!
THANK YOU FOR GIVING YOUR TIME TO SUPPORT OUR STUDENTS!
Dear [student name],
My name is [interviewer name] and I have been selected to be your interviewer for the Florida Tech Mock Interview Program this summer. I work at [company] in [industry, field] and live in [city]. I look forward to meeting you via video-conference, helping you develop and sharpen your interview skills and sharing my perspective and feedback on the entire job-seeking process from resume building to accepting an offer.
I will be available to meet during the days and times listed below. Here is my video-conference link: Please send a resume and cover letter prior to the meeting.
[date and time]
[date and time]
[date and time]
I look forward to hearing from you soon and please let me know if the times and dates listed above do not work for you.
Sincerely,
[interviewer name]
- Tell me about yourself
- What are your professional strengths and weaknesses?
- Whta is your greatest professional achievement?
- Why did you choose your major?
- What are your goals?
- Tell me about a challenge or conflict you faced at work or school. Tell me how you dealt with it.
- Where do you see yourself in five years?
- Tell me about a time that you exercised initiative.
- How do you deal with pressure or stressful situations?
- What role do you prefer to play on a team? (leader, mediator, motivator, planner, organizer, researcher, etc.)
- What makes you stand out amongst other candidates?
Unfortunately, this will happen more frequently than we wish. Some may not respond because they have secured a job and don’t always understand the need to reply anyway. Some may have changed their email address or are just not be reading their email.
We recommend that you email at least twice and if you can, try calling and texting to connect with the student. If they do not respond, you are not obligated to keep trying.
If you get no response, please still fill out the Volunteer Feedback Form to let us know. We may make our own attempt as well to reconnect them and troubleshoot the issue.
Yes. Feel free to meet more than once if you and the student wish. You are encouraged to exchange contact information and provide an ongoing mentorship if you and the students wish.
Absolutely. If you have a job or internship and wish to offer one to the student who impresses you, you are more than welcomed to do so. Students are told that this is a practice experience only, but it is wonderful if the conversation leads to a good hire.