As part of the College & Careers program in Indianapolis, each Spring all senior students participate in speed interview sessions with community professionals. “It’s a really great opportunity to practice their job interview skills and get feedback,” says Paige Pittman, Christel House Watanabe High School Principal, “before it’s the real deal.”
The mock job interviews are organized to give students fast 10-minute sessions with three different professionals according to Kara Moreland, College & Careers Administrator. “We give them the experience of what a job interview would be like,” she says. Afterwards, students reflect on how they did from their perspective. They then compare their perceptions to written feedback from the professionals. Ann Schneider, retired Director of Internal Communications at Allison Transmission, enjoyed the interaction with the students. “The challenges of COVID came up in the interviews and it’s a problem they’ve had to deal with.” She says constructive criticism is key to helping the students improve their skills. “There are kids here I would have hired.” Daisy M., who will be studying biology at the University of Indianapolis in the fall, says the speed interviews were especially exciting for her. “I loved it – I was offered a job!” She found the experience useful for the entire class. “It’s setting us up for the future.”