Mock Interview Reflection

Written Reflection - Using your OT student blog, reflect in writing on your experience of preparing for and participating in the mock interview process. What did you learn? Identify something specific that you feel went well or that made you feel successful in the process, and share your thoughts about what you could have done better and what you plan to do to improve in the future.

I was, of course, extremely nervous and anxious about this mock interview. Some of the things I did to prepare were look at the resources provided to us about interviews. What I found to be the most helpful was this link, https://www.aota.org/Education-Careers/Students/Pulse/Archive/job-search/interview.aspx. I think the questions and answers found in this article were the most beneficial and helpful for me in preparing. I think its really difficult to formulate thoughtful answers on the spot without having thought of some situations and examples beforehand. It is a really good idea to go through a resource like this or another to prepare yourself for some common interview questions. Even if you don't get asked the questions you took time to think through and prepare for, you will likely be better apt to handle other questions just through the critical thinking process you used. It is also a good idea to have a question or two prepared to ask the interviewer. In a real life situation, there should be questions that you have about your future potential employer. This situation was a little different, but the interviewer did ask if we had questions and I think it is a good idea to have some prepared, but don't sound too rehearsed. 

I think that I made good eye contact and was confident. The interviewer commented on these things and said that I had a good moderate tone of voice, even though I was really nervous. I liked one of my answers to a question she had that I was not prepared for. I feel like it came from my heart and was an honest answer I was able to come up with on the spot. The interviewer also commented on my ability to "tell a story" with my answers which is hopefully a good and personal quality. 

One thing I think that would be beneficial to work on or change would be the pressure to feel like I need to answer a question right away without taking time to breathe and think about my answer. I think it would be OK and even appropriate to take a second to formulate an answer if I didn't have one right away. I think it would be more genuine to take the time to think about it rather than spitting out the first thing that comes to mind if its not really applicable or not the best example I could give. I realize there is a fine line in the interviewer asking a question and me answering, but I think it would be OK to take a minute and think about my answer. 

In the future, I will utilize these resources as well as have a friend or family member ask me some common interview questions and listen to my responses and provide feedback. I think the more time I spend preparing by thinking of specific examples, the better. 

Overall it was not as bad as I thought it would be and it was a great learning experience that was low stakes and no pressure! I appreciate these kinds of learning opportunities that are strictly geared toward personal growth and reflection to improve in a skill!