As graduation nears, most seniors have the same thing on their minds: getting a job.
And with interviews being an important part of job hunting, the Suitts Center for Graduate Career Services in Daniels College of Business is offering a new Web-based interview program called InterviewStream to help students be prepared.
The Web-based technology allows students with a camera and an Internet connection to do mock interviews online and in private. Students without a camera can use one at the Suitts office.
“With fewer jobs and plenty of business school talent, today’s job market is more than competitive; it’s brutal,” says Suzanne Dastin, associate director of Daniels’ recruiting and career services.
“We wanted to provide cutting edge tools that will not only prepare our students for an interview but will help them land the job,” Dastin says, noting that interviewees can select interview questions, practice interviewing, record the interview and even send it to family and friends to critique.
“Students tell us they feel more prepared and confident in their interviews as a result of the practice,” says Tanja Hinterstoisser, associate director of career management services. Users also can test a variety of interviewing scenarios and practice different settings, she says.
Geoff Burgess, a second-year graduate student in the MBA program, recently used the Web-based interview program. “It helped me realize the importance of practicing interview questions out loud, and how eye contact, body language, and even smiling are critical to conveying your skill set and personality. There is nothing more unnerving than watching a video of yourself as you stumble through an answer,” he says. “Luckily, I made my mistakes on InterviewStream and not in front of my future employer.”
The InterviewStream program can be accessed through the Daniels website; it is free for all current business students, MBA and graduate students and business alumni. The Suitts Center connects DU MBA and master’s degree students and graduates with top companies and provides lifelong career services.