Job interviews

Look at the ad that was placed in the window of a local restaurant. The business owner wants to fill this position as quickly as possible and wants job applicants to apply in person.

Look at the job interview simulation where Sally interviews Tony for the position of kitchenhand. As part of the simulation exercise, enter your own responses to the interview questions. You can edit your responses and then print them. Compare your answers to Tony’s. Are your answers better than his? What makes them better?

Now it’s your turn to be interviewed! Firstly find out about how to prepare for job interviews (.pptx 58kB).

Working with a group of 5-6 of your classmates:

• Choose one person to be the owner of the restaurant who will conduct the interviews.

• Use the questions that Sally asked in the simulation interview or develop your own questions for the interview.

• Use your webcam to video the job interviews. The restaurant owner will interview job applicants (the rest of the members of your group).

When you have finished, view the videos and analyse each applicant’s responses:

• Were the answers to the questions effective? What made them effective (or ineffective)?

• Did the applicant seem confident?

• Were the body language and eye contact appropriate?

When you have completed the analysis, decide as a group which applicant would get the job and why they would get it. What feedback would you give to unsuccessful applicants?

Now that you have honed your job interview skills, prepare a Captivate tutorial for other students to show them how to prepare for, and take part in, a successful job interview. Use the video of the most successful interview for the job at the restaurant as an example to show them what to do. You might also like to include a section on what not to do. For example, you could video a job applicant who is not appropriately dressed; who does not make eye contact with the interviewer; who gives incomplete or inappropriate responses to questions. You can share your presentation with your classmates and other students as a .pdf by following this tutorial.