Making the Grade: Interview Skills for Students

By Sophomore year, most college students start to consider their major and look for an internship as a way to try things on and see what fits. Internships are an opportunity to take the knowledge learned in the classroom and apply it to the workplace - a great way to truly test drive a career. Aside from gaining experience, skills, perspective, and professional connections, an internships is a foot in the door and can be a giant step toward a post-college position.

But landing an internship is a highly competitive process. The hope of gaining an advantage for future employment has increased both the number and quality of internship applications. Companies eliminate the first round of candidates based on their resumes and then use the interview process to make the final cut. So, if a candidate is lucky enough to be granted an interview, it's important to step it up and make it count. Students are given general advice and resources at their college career centers, but at Ty Boyd, we are taking it to another level.

Responding directly to feedback received from our clients, our faculty worked extensively to develop an interactive approach to student career development. In our newest course, Making the Grade: Interview Skills for Students, we provide a career toolkit; an opportunity to practice mock interviews and elevator speeches. Our classroom atmosphere provides a safe environment to try out and improve interviewing skills before applying for an actual internship or job. With the help of our coaches, students who have great stories to tell will learn how to articulate their abilities in the best way possible. The key to getting the job is knowing yourself, knowing your strengths, and then being able to articulate your value.

College students are juggling school work and other commitments while applying for internships, but it's important to set aside productive time to prepare and practice for the interview process. It can make all the difference in the world as employers hire students who are confident, relaxed, and ready to meet challenges.

Making the Grade is being offered as two consecutive afternoon sessions on December 18th and 19th in Charlotte. The class is limited to 12 college students to ensure that each participant receives one-on-one coaching, as well as practice and training in a group setting. Throughout the course we will get the students up on their feet in front of an audience, as well as a video camera. The feedback they receive will show them where their strengths lie, and where they may need to improve their performance. If you have a college age intern, family member or friend who wants to get a leg up on the competition, please tell them about our course.

How They Will Benefit:

• Learn to make a good first impression
• Stand out from the crowd
• Think on one's feet and become more fluent in the ability to answer questions
• Envision a future and articulate a plan without sounding scripted
• Strengthen overall communications skills both verbal and non-verbal
• Become more self-confident through plenty of practice and candid feedback
• Recognize strengths which will result in greater self-awareness
• Become more passionate about who you they are and what they have to offer

Visit our website to register for December's class. Regardless of where a student interns or where he or she might go after graduation, the time spent with the coaches at Ty Boyd working on  communication skills will put any student on the road to a lifetime of professional success.