Thursday, October 9, 2008

Mock Interview

This mock interview process was very beneficial to me. I have not ever had an interview, so it was my first experience. I was nervous, but I get nervous about everything. To deal with this I kept reminding myself that it was not a real interview, so I might be freaking out a little more in my first real interview. Breathing helps me get relaxed. I also thought through the things that I knew like answers to possible interview questions and convinced myself that I was prepared for the interview.

The first comment of the interview actually threw me off a bit: Tell me a little about yourself. It makes sense that this would be an opening comment for the interview but it was something that I hadn't planned out. Or maybe it was the fact that it was the first thing that was said, like realizing "oh, its time to start". I reply to this first comment I simply within a few milliseconds pulled back out of my life and took a look at where I was in life at the moment: student at Clemson, on the swim team, studying Health Science, and then composed and simple introduction. I will remember this section of the interview and plan for it better next time.

From this experience I was able to learn that it is much easier to communicate when you relax and just try to be yourself. I didn't want to go into the interview making a big story and telling crazy things about myself so that I could look good, I just wanted to walk in and be very genuine and honest. I tried to think of the interviewer as a friend, someone who I wasn't nervous to be around. It was after the first few questions were asked that I was able to take a quick breath and simply answer the questions.

It is hard to search in your mind for the best answers to say and think clearly when you are nervous. Being relaxed is going to be the hardest but most important thing for me to do in my real life job interviews.

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