Impressing a potential employer is a crucial skill when looking for a job and Fairfield University’s Mock Interview Week aims to give students the experience they need to nail a big interview.
Marketing Department Chair Dr. Rajasree Rajamma and Professor John Neal of the Dolan School of Business, along with Sarah Bollinger, director of internships and professional development, have collaborated with the Marketing Club to create Fairfield University’s first full week of mock interviews. The interviews are being held in the Dolan School of Business from Feb. 13 to 19. Representatives from over 14 multinational corporations such as ESPN, Viacom and Pepperidge Farm conduct the interviews with students.
In the past, mock interviews would be held for only a day or two at a time. This limited the number of students and companies that could participate in the interviews. Rajamma believes that students need to practice being interviewed and that the mock interviews this week are great opportunities for feedback.
According to Rajamma, “A mock interview allows a student to become more career ready and marketable to an employer and it lets them practice selling themselves as professionals in a competitive job market.”
Students are evaluated on everything from appearance to attitude and receive both written and verbal feedback from their interviewer. Sophomore Eddie Falcigno learned a lot from his previous mock interview with a representative from Frontier Communications.
“He commented on things like my posture, not talking too fast and other stuff, like what questions will always be asked in an interview,” he said. “It’s less about what is on your résumé and more on how you can present that and yourself to a company you want a job offer from.”
Falcigno found the mock interview to be “really informative and definitely gave me some things to think about for when I go in for an actual interview.”
He added that he would consider doing a second interview and suggested other students should sign up as well.
However, these mock interviews aren’t just an opportunity for students to improve on how they handle an interview, according to Rajamma. She believes the entire week is a chance for companies to interact with students from Fairfield, encouraging employers to hire students from Fairfield who show promise in the future and build on the University’s reputation.
Rajamma believes it is both an opportunity for “students to make themselves ready to sell themselves to an interviewer as well as attracting other businesses and companies to Fairfield, to give more opportunities and recognition to students from the University.”
Senior Damien Quinn believes the mock interviews are nearly identical to a real interview.
“They asked me questions that were used in real interviews I had and they gave me tips on ways I could make myself appear more professional,” Quinn said.
The mock interviews are one of the few places students can ask questions and receive answers on the dos and don’ts of an interview, something Quinn says is imperative for nailing any interview.
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