Houston students prepare for their adult lives

HOUSTON — Feb. 14 and 16 were very important to business class students at Houston High School. These students received a rare opportunity to sit down with representatives from real businesses to gain new interview skills.

Resource teacher Beth Longshore organized mock interviews as an attempt to help students prepare for the transition from high school to their adult lives. Only students from Kris Wagoner’s business classes and Mike Hess’ occupational knowledge class could participate in the mock interviews.

A total of eight businesses showed up during a two-day interviewing process. Representatives from Spenard Builders Supply, CCS Headstart, Steve’s Food Boy, Houston City Hall, Wal-Mart, Carrs, Miller’s Market and Blockbuster came to HHS to interview students.

Each business representative sat down with a student and interviewed her/him like any other interviewee. At the end of each interview, the representative would discuss the student’s strong points, weaknesses and various other skills.

“I was amazed at the time businesses took to give suggestions to students,” Longshore said. “The businesses have been very generous, and several representatives stayed after to help the kids.”

According to Longshore, representatives not only helped students with their interview skills, but also took the time to give them tips on their applications, what kind of education they should look into, and the student’s goals even if their goals weren’t related to the interview itself.

Many of the businesses were impressed with the students they interviewed. Nicole Gdula, a representative from Blockbuster, interviewed students for a job as a customer care associate.

“If I had another high school student slot, I would definitely hire the person I spoke to today,” Gdula stated. “I felt that they could have given me multiple answers to questions I asked, and I was surprised at how prepared they were.”

Gdula said practice and research are the keys to preparing for any interview.

“Look into the company, even if it’s a local business, and have a reason to want to work there,” Gdula said. “My No. 1 pet peeve is when the applicant says, ‘I need a job.’”

Gdula was full of advice for students, such as lack of eye contact equals lack of confidence and how long an interview should be.

“The more I have to struggle to get information out of them, the shorter the interview is. A short interview is a bad sign,” Gdula said.

Gdula hopes students take the constructive criticism they received will benefit students as they prepare to enter the workforce.

JoJenna Gage, a representative from Carrs, interviewed students for a job as a barista and courtesy clerk. Many of the students’ resumes surprised Gage.

“They were chalk full of interests and things they accomplished, like four years of language, sports and all sorts of things,” she said.

Gage said the most important thing for students to remember is a professional image.

“Professional image is very important; to keep that in focus when coming to the interview is very important,” she said.

Gage also found that younger students were trying to do everything by the book, while older students were more confident and sure of where they were going as well as what steps they needed to take to get there.

Three fourths of the students Gage interviewed she said she would have hired. “All the kids were energetic and willing to work hard. One girl is actually going to fill out an application.”

Domonic Harper, a Wal-Mart representative, interviewed students for a job as a cashier. According to Harper, the entire mock interview process is all about getting students to think about their adult lives and begin important transitions.

“I was most fascinated with the questions asked to us and that they were eager for that information,” Harper said. “What was really enlightening was how many of these young people have given thought to their life after high school.”

Senior Elizabeth Mitchell was interviewed at Wal-Mart, Blockbuster and Carrs.

“I decided to do the interviews because I’m a senior and getting ready to graduate, and I’d like to get involved in the workforce,” Mitchell said. “I actually got really interested in the jobs at Carrs as a barista and a courtesy clerk. I started asking her a bunch of questions.”

Mitchell said the best way to prepare for an interview is to be relaxed.

“You need to be confident in yourself,” she said. “Instead of being nervous, you should be relaxed about it.”

Freshman Nicole Forto interviewed with Gage for a job at Carrs.

“It was my first interview ever,” Forto stated. “I learned that I’m actually very professional for my age. It was a good experience and it really helped me better understand an interview process.”

Longshore said she hopes there will be more mock interviews in the future.

“I would like to have more students and have it set up when people are hiring and get more kids jobs,” Longshore said. “A lot of teachers who weren’t involved in the interview want to (in the future), so I think popular demand will dictate another interview process.”

Longshore is working with HHS counselors and teachers to set up another round of mock interviews, but she said she does not want students going into the interview without support from teachers. Longshore said she also wishes to see more businesses involved.

Business representatives felt the mock interviews were beneficial for all the students involved.

“It’s nice to say, ‘Hey, you need to work on this,’” Gage said. “We don’t get to do that in a real interview. They had a rare opportunity to learn from this experience. I wish it would be a way more regular thing.”

Harper said he’d like to see mock job interviews and job fairs at all the local high schools.

“Kids seem to love it, and the process of preparing our young people for integrating into the workplace is what it’s all about,” he said.

Holly Brett is a three-year journalism student at Houston High School. This is her first year writing for the School’s page.