I recently applied for a scholarship worth $5000, and got an interview this week. The scholarship is given by a successful businessman in my area, and he will interview me personally.
I’ve previously only had one interview, and it went horribly… That being said I am needing some tips for success
What should I wear? How should I prepare?
I’m in the dark about what questions might be asked. Any help will be greatly appreciated
Wear business attire. Learn about his business and what made it successful. Be yourself.
If you don’t mind me asking, why do you feel your previous interview went horribly? It might help to know why it didn’t go smoothly to give advice on what you can improve on.
@492015 My previous interview was for a pretty prestigious club at my high school. When I showed up I felt out of place. I was also very nervous, and repeated myself a lot. Most of the questions were about my resume, and I could have answered much better. What makes me so nervous about this scholarship is being in the dark and not knowing what to prepare for.
@BobWallace I found a biography that tells a lot about him, thanks for the advice!
Any universal advice that has a pretty good success rate for interviews?
I find that at least for job interviews if you can get the interviewer talking a lot that reflects well on you. People tend to remember conversations with fondness if they got to talk about their favorite topic (themselves). The questions that he will ask you are important, sure, but the questions that you ask him are equally so in my opinion.
Do you remember what kind of questions you were asked during the club interview? If you can come up with a short list of them and some key points that you definitely want to drive home when replying that can help you stay focus and ramble. I had (well, have) that issue too and it really helps me to focus on the things that I want the interviewer to remember about me.
There is no universal advice, just practice, practice and more practice! I am no interview expert by any means but I had to interview three times alone to study abroad and I actually just had a scholarship interview last week. So I definitely understand your nerves! One phrase I will carry with me that was told to me when I was preparing for a competition was “nerves are a sign you care”. It’s okay to say you are nervous BUT explain why. You are nervous because this scholarship has tremendous value to help further your education.
This is probably different from what most people would say but don’t put the entire focus on your resume. Yes, you should expand upon and explain awards but go deeper. The interviewer can read the resume (or scholarship application, etc) that got you the interview in the first place! Explain what makes you unique within those activities and descriptions and then take that further. Let’s say one of your activities was National Honor Society. NHS in itself is merely three words on a page; expand the activities you did within the club, your favorite part, an impactful project, etc. and then explain how you applied this in another activity outside the society. In answering this pretend question about National Honors Society, you could answer that it gave you the opportunity to further leadership skills when you lead a classroom in a literacy project and then you took those new-found leadership skill to volunteer to provide free music lessons to local children. Without NHS, you wouldn’t have had the confidence to apply yourself to this new project. By expanding your answer, you are able to show 1) your involvement with NHS and 2) your music lessons (which might not have been asked in the interview if you wouldn’t have mentioned it). These activities in projects show you are unique.
If the interviewer is not following your resume, then enter panic mode (just kidding, don’t). The same concept applies as before. Listen closely to the question and find a trait/experience to build from. If the interviewer asks you how you show leadership in your school, focus on finding a trait that describes your leadership and an example in which you utilized that skill. You could explain that you showed commitment when you volunteered to act as historian for your history club. Expanding upon BobWallace’s advice, you have the advantage of knowing your interviewer. If he values determination, give him determination. If he values honesty, give him honesty. Stay true to yourself but try to show you understand his journey and perspective as well.
Something that really helps me before an interview or even filling out a scholarship application is to know my personality type. 16personalities.com has a short test you can use to find this out. In the profile, there is a section that will describe strengths/weaknesses of your personality type. This is a very helpful way to answer the usually expected “describe your greatest strength/weakness”. Yes, I know my strengths/weaknesses but having them laid out clearly is surprisingly helpful.
I think simple and classy is the way to go. Think black/white/navy/grey. Jewelry should be small and minimalist, if you chose any (this applies to guys and girls, believe it or not there was a guy with a very distracting nose ring at one of my interviews). Drink plenty of water and try to speak a bit before heading into your interview so your voice sounds “warmed up” and confident. If you are nervous, you can try doing the same thing sports players do. In my speech class we had one guy who would always do ten jumping jacks and ten push-ups before giving a speech to work off the last minute nerves (just don’t get sweaty or that would be a turn off). Remind yourself that you have an interview because something made him want to learn more about you so you should not feel out of place. You are there for a reason and own it.
Hopefully from this very long post you can discern one useful thing. I am sure you already know all of these things but sometimes it is a matter of being reminded of them just to reassure yourself 
Think positively. If things go well, 5,000 is yours! If not, you have gained valuable experience. Good luck!
@492015 I genuinely appreciate you taking the time to reply all of that, thank you. This is great advice, I’ll definitely consider everything
Thanks again!
@492015 The interview went well, but not at all like I had imagined. When I arrived I learned that it was a group interview, at least I think that is what it’s called. It was more of a discussion than an interview. Anyways, 8 of the students applying for the scholarship including myself sat around a table and answered 1 question, “tell me about yourself”. The interviewer rambled almost the entire time, which lasted two and a half hours… My face was hurting from smiling so long. Haha That said, none of us really got to speak much, so I asked him questions at the end to have an opportunity to talk more. My guess is the “interview” was more of a test to see how well we presented ourselves in a group, not how well we present our ideas. Because of the lack of interaction, I’m hoping he will base most of his choice off of our papers.
Wish me luck, and thanks again for the advice. I’ll post again once I hear any news
Before the interview, review a list of your goals (short and long term), strengths and accomplishments so they’ll be fresh in your head. Make sure you know a bit about the scholarship and the person awarding it.
Greet the person with EYE contact, a smile, and a handshake and introduce yourself.
Keep a pleasant interested expression on your face
Maintain eye contact.
Don’t fidget , don’t look at your feet or touch your hair or fiddle with your clothes.
Don’t mumble. Answer in sentences. Don’t repeat yourself.
Don’t interrupt.
Feel free to ask pertinent and appropriate questions.
Thank them for the opportunity when you leave