GB
— ½
1½
3
4
6
—
2½
5
5½
6½
7
GB
3
3½
4½
7
8
1
5
6½
7½
8
University Daily Kansan, April 30, 1982
Page 5
Preparation important for job interviews
By VINCE HESS Staff Reporter
The key for a college student who has a job interview is knowing himself and the business, according to several KU placement officials.
Also important are feeling comfortable during the interview and following up with the interview.
"The first thing is to be prepared," Vernon Geissler, director of the KU University Placement Center, said recently. "Go out and explore."
GEISLER SAID that a student should contact either his office or one of the individual school placement offices. The offices can provide information on prospective employers and can schedule interviews.
The student needs to compile a resume and to research the business in which he is interested, Geissler said. For example, a letter of application to a business should be addressed to a specific person in the common "To Whom It May Concern."
The College Placement Council, which aids career planning and placement personnel at colleges as well as employers who hire graduates of these colleges, said in its College Placement Annual 1982, "Nothing turns recruits into employees. The interview and discover that the candidate knows little or nothing about the firm."
Geisler said the annual, which lists employees' hours, was one more week on business.
THE ANNUAL lists other sources of information, including the yellow pages of telephone directories, Chamber of Commerce lists from professional associations, commercial and
state employment agencies, the businesses' annual reports and prospectus and such business publications as Register and Moody's industrials.
ourstaff
in the College Placement Council advised
in the annual, "You should research a
company as though you were buying stock
in it."
IN A. Maggie Cartar, director of the KU School of Law placement office, said the personality of a student may not fit with that of a business, and the student can usually find this out by learning about the business.
Geisler said that for the actual interview, the student should dress well and adopt an attitude of flexibility and trust. The student should be flexible in telling the business what type of job or responsibilities he wants and trusting in the recruiter's word on job openings and responsibilities.
"Cultivate your confidence before beginning an interview. Be enthusiastic! Job offers are lost because of seeming indifference."
The annual also said a student should avoid a limp handshake, shaky voice, restless hands, wandering eyes, smoking, chewing gum and slouching in a seat.
THE COUNCIL Placement Annual said, 'How you present yourself in the interviews is as important as what you have to present. Dress appropriately—coat and tie, preferably a suit, for men and tailored dress or suit for women.
tation to what the teacher said.
Cartart also suggested that the student
Carrat said a student should have in mind several questions about the business. They need not be complex questions but should show an honest interest in the business and explain why they will help the "know what he wants to do in relation to what the firm does," she said.
approach the recruiter at the beginning of the interview with an outstretched hand and a greeting like, "I'm pleased to meet you , . , . . . The student should remember the name of the recruiter and thank him at the end of the interview.
ALSO IMPORTANT is maintaining eye contact with the recruiter, she said.
Cartarr said the student should bring along extra copies of his resume and transcript in case the recruiter forgets to bring his copies along. The student should also have an extra snapshot of himself because a recruiter sometimes meets so many students that he needs pictures to help remember each student.
The College Placement Annual said of job interviews on a college campus, "Generally, these interviews are 30 minutes in length and designed mainly as an evaluation process; the job is an evaluation process." The pool. The interviewer is merely trying to identify the candidates who will be given further consideration."
The annual said the student should not bring up such matters as salary, fringe benefits or vacations, but he should be prepared for questions from the recruiter on such subjects as the student's knowledge of the company, his reasons for applying with the company, and what responsibilities he is an employee, what he considers important about his personality or work habits and what he considers his strengths and weaknesses.
The annual said the student should not apologize for his grades in college but did not.
"DON'T TELL an interviewer that you could do better if you had to do it over," it said. "Employers are aware, however, that sometimes special circumstances affect grades, and they are receptive to legitimate explanations."
Often, it said, a company's application form has two blanks for the student's grade point average—one blank for the college and the other for the last two years.
Near the end of the interview, the annual sa.c. the recruiter will either tell the student what to expect next, such as a letter on his job application. Otherwise, the student should ask what he might do next or when the company will contact him.
The annual suggested a follow-up by the student, something strongly recommended by Geissler, Cartart and Parni. The annual suggested a follow-up by the School of Engineering placement office.
The annual said the follow-up could be a brief letter either thanking the recruiter for the chance to be interviewed or asking questions. The latter is used or about the status of the job applications.
about theSALES.
USUALLY, GEISSLER said, a student will think of more questions after the interview.
Cartart said a student should write a short letter about every three weeks to a business in which he is very interested.
The student should also write a letter of acceptance to the company with which he gets a job, the annual said. He should write letters of rejection to businesses that gave him job offers or to which he applied for a job.
The annual also suggested that a student practice being interviewed so he can feel prepared. Geissler said his office offered 90 workshops this semester that included videotaped mock interviews of students and group sessions. Some employers volunteer to conduct the mock interviews and to critique the students afterwards.
and oversee the work.
A student can also make an appointment for a mock interview at the placement office, Geissler said.