About 2,000 use mock interviews annually, career services hopes for more

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Assistant Director of Career Services Tori Stevens said she hopes to increase the number of students who sign up for mock interviews by 500 this year.

About 2,000 mock interviews are done annually. The interviews, along with resume critiques, are some of the professional development opportunities Career Services offers all students free of charge.

Stevens said students need to develop themselves professionally as soon as possible, rather than waiting until they are seniors.

“It’s all about who they know and what they can bring to the table, which will land them the job at the end of the day,” Stevens said.

However, some students said they feel career services does not advertise mock interviews well.

Troy senior Anthony Rink, a construction management major, said the last time he remembered hearing about mock interviews was in a psychology class sophomore year. At the time, he was not interested because of the schooling he still had to complete.

Still, Rink said he is very interested in doing a mock interview before he graduates.

“I figure that it is a good experience to go through before you have your first interview out of school,” Rink said.

Chairman of the school of accounting and professor Philip Kintzele said mock interviews are so beneficial that five accounting classes require mock interview as an assignment for class credit. This is the third year with the requirement, he said.

“Evidence has shown that it has helped position students in the job market,” Kintzele said.

Students interested in scheduling a mock interview must first submit an updated resume to Central Michigan University’s eRecruiting website. Career services will then create a custom interview, matching the student’s career choices with specialized questions.

The mock interviews are conducted by volunteer Human Resource undergraduate majors in their sophomore year or above. The 45-minute interview is divided into two sections: a recorded interview and a review of the interview with feedback.

After completing a mock interview, students receive a detailed hard copy of their evaluation and are taught resources for future interviewing success.

Students should come to the interview prepared to learn and be open to constructive feedback, Stevens said.

Rochester Hills senior Scott Walbrun highly recommended students to take advantage of the mock interviews. He participated in one as an assignment for his business communications class.

“The interview was effective because you can never get enough opportunities to practice talking to people in a professional setting,” Walbrun said. “The fact that we were able to evaluate my abilities post-interview made the entire process very valuable.”

Stevens said experiences like internships, part-time jobs and on- or off-campus organizations will ultimately land students jobs.

“It’s not always about the 4.0 GPA,” he said.