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| Happy Halloween! |
Entering UC Merced as a freshman, I decided to apply for an
on campus job, because I wanted to use my free time wisely. I started looking
at the Career Services website. The first job that caught my attention was at
the Dinning Commons, because they had the most positions opened. Even though I
applied, I began to realize that I didn’t have much experience right out of
high school. I waited patiently for a
response and a week before school started I received an email saying that I got
the job. I was ecstatic! This was the first job I ever applied for and I got
the position. But suddenly, my desire
for this job went away. Since I was still adapting to living “the college life”,
I decided that the best thing was to focus more on my academics so I turned
this job offer down. Once I became accustomed to being in the college
atmosphere, I would apply again.
Within two years I gained more experience and was managing life
between school and work. Beginning my junior year, I knew that it was time to
start polishing up my Resume. I needed
insight and experience working in a professional field, so I began applying to
various jobs. I applied to become a chemistry lab assistant, a teacher’s aide
at the Early Educational Childcare Center, a tutor, an office assistant at Housing
and Residence Life, a student assistant at the Library and a career consultant
at Career Services. As you can see I applied to many positions because one, I
wanted to keep my options opened, and second, I knew I needed to compete with students.
After submitting my application, I waited patiently for an
interview. I experienced different interviews ranging from a group, to
individual, and my first case interview. The group interview was challenging, because
I was competing against many candidates. It was difficult to stand out because everyone
had great responses to the same questions. Also, I could not fully engage and
create a personal connection with the interviewer. Because I had to acknowledge others in the
room, I could not have a well-developed and descriptive response. I felt rushed and didn’t want to be that one
person who talks too much.
The case interview was the most challenging interview that I
have ever experienced. This interview
was for a tutoring position teaching students basic Algebra and Geometry. I
felt confident while applying for this position because I did fairly well in
Algebra and Geometry in high school. The
interviewer told me I was going to host a “pretend” tutoring session, where she
was going to act as a student and I was going to be the tutor. She gave me a Geometry problem to solve, but since
I was put on the spot, I was too nervous and couldn’t think it through. She was understanding and gave me a different
problem to solve. I solved an Algebra problem and showed how I would teach this
problem to a student. As I was teaching,
she kept interrupting me, saying things such as, “Wow those are nice earrings”,
and “I don’t want to do this can you just give me the answer?” At this point I
was nervous and overwhelmed. The amount of pressure for me to succeed in this
interview definitely took a toll on me. I
don’t know how, but I found it in me to finish teaching her how to solve for
the problem. This interview was difficult because I was under pressure and it
mimicked a real life scenario.
When applying to various jobs, you will encounter situations
that you may not be familiar with. I believe that having the background and
experience with these interviews will help me become more prepared in the
future.
Laura Li
STEM Career Consultant
Do you need help
practicing in an interview setting? Set
up a mock interview with any of the Career Services Center staff to practice
basic interview questions, gain insight, and receive positive feedback.
Career Services Center
209-228-7272
Kolligian Library,
Suite 127
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