Brewster High School Seniors Prepare for the Future

Interviewing for a job can be one of the most challenging tasks for a new graduate.

That’s why Kayla Corvino has seniors in her economics class at Brewster High School conduct mock interviews that give students the opportunity to be both recruiter and interviewee.

Before the activity, students created resumes and crafted elevator pitches for their ideal post-high school jobs as part of their Invest In Yourself unit. For the mock interviews, Corvino created a list of jobs potential jobs students had shown interest in. Some were technical jobs, some require further education and others can begin as soon as they leave high school. Jobs ranged from marketing director and police officer to real estate agent, telemarketing representative and veterinarian.

In each pair of students, there was a recruiter and an interviewee. The recruiters graded their classmates with a rubric (criteria included things like appearance, body language, general attitude, demonstration of interview skills and more) and, at the end, they had to decide whether they would hire the job candidate.

“These interviews are a culminating activity for the seniors,” Corvino said. Throughout the semester, they learned about personal finance through economic lenses, studying topics that will be of the upmost importance when they enter the “real world” after graduation. Subjects included how to buy a house or car, taxes, insurance, debt, school loans, the ethics of economics, how to read a W2 and more. They also learned how to create contacts through mutual relationships and how to mingle in a job-oriented environment.

“Students just completed a unit where they had to really analyze themselves and ask tough questions like if they will go to college, what their goals are for the future and how they would brand themselves if they were a company,” Corvino said. “They made mission statements, resumes, cover letters and elevator pitches all focused on their career goals.”

Before the interviews started, Corvino reminded interviewees to make eye contact, to sit up straight and to remember to ask a question at the end.

“If they ask you about a job, don’t say you were the highest seller of TJ Maxx credit cards if you weren’t,” she said.

She also reminded students to think of how their experience might be applicable to the jobs they were interviewing for, even if it was not a perfect match.

“If you’re interviewing to be a police officer, you don’t have tactical training, but you did learn CPR in tenth grade,” she reminded them.

Once the mock interviews started, it was obvious that students kept Corvino’s suggestions in mind.

“I’m mostly skilled in managing and keeping track of things,” said one student who was interviewing for a medical billing job.

Another student, who was interviewing to be a real estate agent, sat up straight in his seat and remembered to ask a question as the interview was ending.

“I know I have to help people find properties, but do I have to seek them out or will you provide them?” he asked his recruiter.

“That was a good question,” she said, obviously impressed. “I would hire you.”

In the end, this exercise got students used to answering questions about potential jobs and made them think about things from a recruiter’s perspective.

“They are learning how hard it is to interview people for jobs,” Corvino said. While students only interviewed four candidates, they realized how difficult it is to keep all of the paperwork organized while remembering who said what.

“It is important for them to experience that because now they realize they have to make a lasting impression otherwise they may get lost in the process,” Corvino said. “We discussed how sending a handwritten thank you note that brings up common topics they bonded over during the interview can really help them stand out from other candidates.”