My Thoughts Before the Interview

Since I have yet to meet with Professor Rogers due to her illness, I am unable to write a reflection.  Hooray! No blog assignment due this week for me!  

Well, sort of. 

I have been in such a good habit of writing a blog post Sunday night of each week that I feel I should continue. So I will write about some of the thoughts and feelings I have before conducting the mock interview. Here are a few:

• I am fairly confident in my ability to speak professionally with a possible future employer.
• However, I must remember to keep eye contact and be attentive at all times, and keep my posture upright.
• I should mention things pertaining to successes in my life, and try to relate it to adding value to the firm for which I am applying.
• Towards the end of the meeting, I should insist on continued correspondence and demonstrate my interest in a second interview.

I feel that things will run relatively smoothly, but I must always be mindful of the possibility that a question could stump me.  If so, I should remain relaxed, think about my response, and present my thoughts clearly.  

P.S.  I will likely update this post with a reflection after the mock interview.

And here it is...

The interview with Ms. Rogers went relatively well, with the exception of one part.  I felt comfortable speaking with her; this might be attributed to the fact that I have a class with her.  

Despite this, I acted as if it were real, and knew she would conduct it as such.  I answered her questions as I had learned to do in class.  This involved being collected and prepared to be put on the spot.  

Although I practiced answering certain important matters, one question that stumped me was "What is your biggest weakness?"  It was difficult to respond to this, because it is imperative that one stress his or her strengths in an interview, not his or her weaknesses.

I stalled.

And stalled.

And made jokes.

And they were not funny.

Basically, I choked.

I was not prepared to answer a question about my shortcomings, as I had been too invested in expounding on my successes.  Other than this hiccup, I felt satisfied with my performance in the mock interview.  I now know that it pays to be equipped to address cases of failure as well as triumph.