Washington High School freshman participate in mock interviews

WASHINGTON - Keaton Crawford does not normally wear a pressed shirt and tie to school but he did on Monday.

The Washington High School freshman was one of more than 130 students registered to participate in mock interviews with local business professionals.

Judy Marshall, Program Coordinator with Kirkwood Workplace Learning Connection, said the mock interviews are something that are put on for freshmen in the Mid-Prairie, Highland and Washington school districts every year. This year 18 businesses professionals each sat at a table and hosted a high school student.

There was no job to interview for but instead the experience offered the students a chance to see what being in an interview felt like. Marshall said students were given an application to fill out and hand to the interviewer, instead of a resume.

'The reason we do that is we feel (an application) is probably what they're going to start out with since they don't have a lot of work experience (to create a resume from,)” she said. 'It is just basically an opportunity for them to complete an application and practice interviewing questions and how to answer them.”

The students are scored based on a rubric that critiques students on a variety of details related to their performance such as first impressions, professional dress and content of answers.

'I feel its important for students to get that one on one critiquing by a business professional. The simple things such as the handshake, the first impression, this is just practicing, but also if you're a business professional it gives them a chance to give important feedback.”

Larry Northway, plant manager at Engineered Building Design LC in Washington, echoed that sentiment. This year Northway brought two employees with him, adding to the one he brought last year, to participate in the program.

'I think it has value not just for the students but for my employees as well. It lets them be a little more outgoing and open with people,” he said.

Northway said when students came to his table he was trying to let them know this was a learning experience and he was there to help coach them to speak in a way that would be attractive to an employer.

'They're very nervous and their experiences are very limited so they aren't going to have a lot of references or things to say so what you get a lot from them is personalized things about their families and their pets but you just try to keep them on task the best you can,” he said. 'If they take one or two bits of advice out of it, maybe it well help them when they are ready to enter the real world.”

Crawford said it helped him to realize there were nervous habits he had that he was unaware of and by sitting with someone who was there to coach him through the experience, it helped to know what to look out for in the future.

Kadence Howell, a fellow freshman, agreed. Going in she was quite nervous of what would unfold but when it was all said and done, it was not nearly as hard as she expected.

'It was good practice and a good way to work on communication skills with strangers. I learned not to be too scared because it's not that bad,” she said.