Hi! A society I applied for has asked me for an interview.. do u have any tips on what to prepare and what kind of questions they may ask? thank u!
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hey,
congrats on the interview! that’s very cool.
the way you said “society” reminds me of my exchange student friend from edinburgh, back in the good old days of … airplanes and exchange students and seeing people outside your immediate household. you’re only the second person i’ve ever heard use that word in this context.
as someone who’s conducted interviews for student organizations, the first thing i think you should know is that there’s no need to let your nerves get the best of you! think of it as just chatting with another student to see if a position is a good fit for you. if it helps, you can remember that the student on the other end could also be nervous as well. i know that i’m usually nervous when i interview people.
anyway, here are my top eight club interview tips. i tried to make it to 10, but alas. no thoughts head empty.
- research the organization and get a sense of who they are, what they do, and what makes them special. this information will give you an edge when predicting what kind of questions they may ask. it’s also useful to know what you’re getting into!
- be prepared to answer super vague questions like “tell me about yourself” or “tell us why you’re interested in this position.” basically, just know who you are, why you’re going into this, what you bring to the table, and what you hope to get out of the experience.
- act like a more professional version of your regular self. showing that you have a personality will give the interviewers a better sense of what it would be like to work with you and have you on their team.
- build rapport with the interviewer! ask them how they are and make a little small talk at the beginning if you’re able.
- give an honest, but not too honest, answer if they ask you about a weakness or failure. most people who have conducted interviews can spot bs and non-answers instantly. don’t say that your weakness is that you’re a perfectionist, or that you work too hard. i mainly add the “not too honest” qualifier because sometimes people say things that get a lil awkward or too personal.
- if you talk about a weakness or failure, give the interviewer a sense of what you learned from the bad experience or how you’re working to improve yourself!
- if the position is something that requires creativity (writing blog posts, managing social media, planning events, etc.) come up with some innovative ideas for how you’d want to go about doing your job. something that’ll make you stand out if other candidates are being interviewed.
- prepare some good questions for the interviewer, in case you’re given an opportunity to ask questions at the end of your time. obviously you’ll want to tailor those questions to your position as well as the group you’ll be working with. here’s a list that might prompt some ideas. i usually like to ask about workload, since i like to know what i’m committing to.
linking you to a few additional resources as well:
UTM’s “preparing for interviews” page
studentlife’s interview techniques info package
u of t’s career community interview videos
and for future resources, if you ever want to practice your interview skills with a real person, you can check out this mock interviewers with employers program.
i hope this helped and that you saw the post in time for the interview! i did try to get to it sooner but as we all know, the week before reading week is absolutely brutal.
best of luck! i hope you get the position.
be Boundless,
aska