Thank you for registering for So You Think You Can Interview!
Practice Interviews with Employers allows you to experience an interview in a low stakes environment, improve your interview skills and receive candid feedback on how you performed by your interviewer. Practice interviews with real employers also allow you to understand the job market better by seeing what is available and how to best promote yourself when you are in an actual interview.
Enclosed in this package is useful information to help you prepare for your interview. This information includes:
Tips and suggestions on how to prepare
Instructions for the day of
Interview format
Dress code
This is a learning experience; one which we are committed to ensuring is positive and informative. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us at the Career Centre.
Best of Luck!
Career Centre Staff!
INSTRUCTIONS
The interviews will be taking place in the Career Centre, located in the Koffler Student Services Building, 214 College Street. Please click on the link below for a map: http://map.utoronto.ca/marker/koffler-student-services-centre Please arrive 15 minutes prior to your scheduled appointment and sign in at the front desk. If you need to cancel your appointment, please do so with as much notice as possible; this will allow us to accommodate students who did not receive an interview space. This also respects the interviewer’s time, as they are coming on campus to support UofT students and we’d like to ensure they meet as many as possible. Please bring 2 copies of your resume to the interview. One copy for your reference and one copy for the employer interviewing you.
INTERVIEW FORMAT
The interview may reflect the typical interview format but it will be up to your interviewer to decide what works best for them. Here are the stages you can expect:
Interviewer welcomes you, sets the tone, outlines the process he or she will be following
Interviewer will ask you questions (bulk of the interview)
You are asked if you have questions (be prepared by doing some research beforehand)
The interviewer tells you the next step in the process
If you are not asked for any final comments, end the interview with a strong statement about yourself
After your interview is complete, the employer may provide you with a form on which they took notes during the interview. This constructive feedback can be used to help you succeed in future interviews!
HOW TO PREPARE
The best interviews result from a lot of preparation, research and rehearsing.
Review the Job Description: Go through the job description and highlight the qualifications, skills and experience the employer is looking for. You can then create a list of examples that demonstrate how you fulfill that requirement. And then, if you really want to WOW them, be prepared to share how your experience will benefit them. You may find preparing a chart similar to the one will be helpful to your process:
Qualification:
Your example:
A benefit:
Customer service experience
Worked as cashier at Loblaws
I am able to provide good service in a fast paced environment similar to yours
Prepare a list of possible questions and answers: Using the job description that has been provided to you, make a list of possible questions and prepare answers for them. Do some research of the company’s website so you’re familiar with their organization. If they’re a large/well known company, be sure that you’re up-to-date on any large and recent changes (ex. New technologies they’ve put out recently, or they have a new CEO etc.). Also remember to look for other possible sources of information on the company – Do a Google search, look on Glassdoor.ca for informal feedback.
Practice: Have a friend or family member interview you for practice. Use their feedback to prepare for your interview. While the purpose of this event is to practice, you are meeting with a real
