Reflecting on Chapter 8: Interviews “From University to Career: Creating a Successful Transition, TRU”
This post comes to you from Sarah Ladd, currently a Coordinator in the Faculty of Education and Social Work and Graduate Programs, TRU.
When I was in my 20’s and trying to break out of a job and into a career, I struggled with interviewing. I was shortlisted for dozens of interviews. I prepared, I practiced, I studied. I didn’t get hired. Finally, after one unsuccessful interview for a Co-op Coordinator position at Simon Fraser University (SFU) one of the interviewers met with me and gave me detailed constructive feedback. Thank you, Tony Botehlo, and all of the other amazing mentors I had in my years at SFU. I have never forgotten his advice and much of what he shared with me is reflected in the specific techniques found within my Interviews chapter within University to Career. Not long after that meeting, I secured my first job as a Co-op Coordinator and Career Advisor for the Faculty of Science and Computing Science at the University of Calgary. I later moved to UBC Engineering Co-op, and then to Thompson Rivers University (TRU).
My past struggles and then dramatic improvement at interviewing heavily influenced my deep interest in the job interview process, and especially in helping others navigate it successfully in ways that feel authentic. I used to tease students in my Career Management classes that if you could do something wrong in an interview I had probably done it already, so they could learn from my mistakes instead of making their own. I hope that those reading my chapter will see areas for improvement, but also take comfort knowing that we can all struggle if we don’t have the information needed to succeed.
For those looking to improve their job interviewing techniques, the most important piece of advice I can give is this: learn to identify the type of interview question you are being asked, and then apply the technique that best addresses that question. My second piece of advice is: do not skip or skim the chapters in University to Career on Self-Assessment and Application Documents. The work you do in those chapters builds your awareness of your skill-set and makes up your example bank; both of which are critical to answering interview questions well.
Since authoring this chapter, I have moved away from my former career in Co-operative Education. Though I no longer work with students, I am heavily involved in hiring staff. All of the material in my chapter works ‘in reverse’ when designing interview questions and conducting interviews, making it a strong resource not just for students and individuals learning how to interview, but also for hiring managers learning how to improve the way they design their interviews and evaluate candidates.
Sarah Ladd recently participated in a collaborative Truth and Reconciliation learning journey that resulted in the creation of a book (currently in press) co-edited by Garry Gottfriedson and Dr. Tory Handford titled Dangling in the Glimmer of Hope: Academic Action on Truth and Reconciliation. Her chapter in this book examines the unique barriers faced by Indigenous candidates during job interviews and the cultural dissonance between Indigenous ways of knowing and traditional western interview methods and expectations