Lazarus
Center Offers a Chance to Practice Interviewing
By Anne Berman '15
an event hosted on January
23 by the Lazarus Center for Career Development, gave
students an opportunity to practice presenting themselves
to potential employers in a supportive environment.
 Patricia
Woods, assistant director of the Lazarus Center, organized
the event. Echoing recent articles in LinkedIn, Woods says
that students "are very rarely taught how to get the job
to do the skills they want to do. They need to have opportunities
to verbalize the answers to interview questions."
Many of the participating students,
eager for anything that will give them a leg up in a shaky
economy, have attended several events sponsored by the center.
Emuna David ’14, a theatre major interested in broadcasting and writing for theatre,
film, and television, transferred to Smith and became a self-proclaimed “CDO
junkie” right away. “A lot of my friends are transfers as well,” she says, “and
we all pretty much hit the ground running when we came here, determined to take
advantage of all of Smith’s job-finding resources. Thanks to career services,
I’ve been able to develop a very great resume and although I’m anxious about
getting a job after Smith, I feel well prepared.”
For David, job interviewing
gets easier the more she does it, so she wants all the experience
she can get. “I want to be able to present myself succinctly and
eloquently.”
Julianne Roseman ’13 signed up for the mock interviews when she saw that one
of the participating alumnae worked in consulting, the business she hopes to
enter after Smith.
“In consulting, the types of interviews are really specific because you have
to solve a case during the interview,” she says, “like, they’ll ask you how many
taxis there are in New York, and you have to ask framing questions, it’s very
tricky. And besides this workshop, there aren’t any other ways to learn how to
give an interview like this.”
Because she’s an English major—not
the traditional background for management consulting—Roseman
says she worries about getting an interview in the first
place, and she sought information from her
interviewer about how the hiring process works, as well as
other information.
Jim Meck, whose wife is an Ada
Comstock Scholar, class of 2014, participated as a mock
interviewer as a way to stay active in the Smith community. “This
is a way to give back,” says Meck, who has
worked in the systems engineering industry since 1985. “The
biggest pattern I noticed is that students tend to assume
that potential employers only care about your academic record,” he
explains. “But we want to know, have you ever gotten
a paycheck? Some other advice I have for students is to take
advantage of all of Smith’s great job-finding resources,
and to make human interactions every time you get a chance.”
Like Meck, Beth Likely ’81,
who owns a healthcare public relations and marketing communications
firm, also participated as a mock interviewer as a way
of giving back to Smith.
“Smith has been, and will always be, a large part of my life and who I am,” she
says. “This program is an opportunity for me to share some of what I’ve been
able to accomplish because of Smith, and to help new Smith grads launch successful
careers right out of college.”
She says students should know
that employers look for candidates who “have done
their homework and come to the interview with a good understanding of the type
of work we do. Also, be ready with specific examples from college, or summer
jobs/internships, that demonstrate skills relevant to the position. Just because
you haven’t fully entered the workforce doesn’t mean you can’t point to great
examples of leadership, creativity, collaboration, problem-solving, etc. Always
keep in mind that the interview is the single most important opportunity to convince
me why you are the person I should hire.”
For students who might feel
discouraged about their job search, Woods urges them to keep
their chins up. “Remember, if you don't get the job, it wasn't that you
were a failure, it was just that the job/company was not a match. This is a blessing
in disguise because there is a better fit out there for you. Keep optimistic.
Keep working with us at the Lazarus Center.” |
