Interview 101

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

<p>I'm suspecting that many of you fellow high school awesomes have had to do an interview for internships, jobs, school newspapers, or if you are an oldie coming back to reminiscence about high school in this form, college. </p>

<p>For those introvert and unsocial students out there, what would your advice for interviewing be?</p>

<p>I know for sure that I always screw up in interviews (i.e. not being able to think of anything to say). Sometimes it amazes me how people can just shoot out an amazing paragraph of awesomeness for the interviewer on the spot. </p>

<p>I always learn through examples, so how would you answer the following questions? If you see that another person's answer is faulty, explain to them why and what they could have said better! You can answer as many or as few as you want</p>

<p>Questions:</p>

<p>1) What's the most creative thought you've ever had?
2) What is the most important thing you've learned?
3) How do you define "success?"
4) How would you describe yourself to someone who did not know you?
5) What are your strengths? Weaknesses?
6) What has been your proudest achievement so far?
7) If you could talk with any one living (or deceased) person, whom would it be and why?
8) What events have been crucial in your life?
9) What about you is unique?</p>

<p>So is it all about witty answers? Intellectual?</p>

2

<p>I’ve only ever done one interview, and all they really did was ask me when I was going to start working already. So that was pretty cool. :D</p>

<p>1) What’s the most creative thought you’ve ever had?</p>

<p>Why north is always at the top of maps:</p>

<p>Some northern proto-cartographers
considered Antarcticans lessers,
and now satellite photographers
don’t challenge their predecessors. </p>

<p>2) What is the most important thing you’ve learned?
How to read.</p>

<p>3) How do you define "success?"
Long-lasting happiness achieved through ethical means. </p>

<p>4) How would you describe yourself to someone who did not know you?
Pretentious overanxious redheaded wannabe intellectual.</p>

<p>7) If you could talk with any one living (or deceased) person, whom would it be and why?
My grandmother. She was my legal guardian and I never really got to say goodbye. Don’t care if it’s cliche. </p>

<p>8) What events have been crucial in your life?
Being in foster care (ages 9-12) and moving in with my cousins so I could take dual-enrollment classes at a university close to their house (age 17). It was the first time I ever lived in a city.</p>

3

<p>Wow great! Sorry to hear about your grandmother…
It seems like you would be an awesome person to talk to!</p>

4

<p>At this point I’ve been through eight interviews (I’m a junior in college), and have come to realize that how well you do in an interview really comes down to how much time you spend preparing for it.</p>

<p>Interviews can be nerve-wracking at first, but after you get a few under your belt they will become much easier and you will start to become a lot more comfortable talking about yourself.*</p>

<p>Of the questions you listed, you should focus on 4) and 5). </p>

<p>These are the most important questions you need to answer for yourself before you can answer any other question during an interview. You can think of your answer to these questions as a sort of thesis for the rest of your interview, in the sense that all other answers should tie back to how you define yourself and what your strengths and weaknesses are. </p>

<p>Are you a leader, an organizer, a critical thinker, a problem solver? Keep your answers brief and relevant with a few supporting examples.</p>

5

<p>1) What’s the most creative thought you’ve ever had?</p>

<p>Delivery coffee needs to be a thing someday. </p>

<p>2) What is the most important thing you’ve learned?</p>

<p>I’m not more special or more entitled to success than anyone else. </p>

<p>3) How do you define “success?”</p>

<p>I’ll know it when I reach it, but I imagine it’s more or less like an ultra deluxe happiness package. </p>

<p>4) How would you describe yourself to someone who did not know you?</p>

<p>I want to be a Renaissance person. </p>

<p>5) What are your strengths? Weaknesses?</p>

<p>My biggest strength is the ability to move forward, and I am also good at organization and planning. My weaknesses are my lack of trust in others and my inability to remember to take in consideration others’ feelings. </p>

<p>6) What has been your proudest achievement so far?</p>

<p>My proudest achievement is a novel that I wrote for fun in sixth grade. It really showed a part of me that I didn’t know existed, especially since I grew up in a house of scientists. </p>

<p>7) If you could talk with any one living (or deceased) person, whom would it be and why?</p>

<p>I would talk to this guy named Ben Starr, who is a chef and traveler writer. He faces each day with a sense of adventure and a need for progress, while savoring the simple things in life. He opens an underground restaurant, hunts down ingredients from their source, and believes in helping others instead of helping himself. So, to me he represents what the world has lost due to its need for efficiency and complexity. </p>

<p>8) What events have been crucial in your life?</p>

<p>(Not answering to preserve anonymity) </p>

<p>9) What about you is unique?</p>

<p>(Not answering to preserve anonymity)</p>

6

<p>

</p>

<p>Lol, I think I might go ahead and use that in my real interviews when I can’t think of an answer. :)</p>

7

<p>Ahahaha yeah </p>

<p>Gotta play hard to get</p>

8

<p>Delivery coffee exists yo</p>