Jodi Scott
DELAVAN — In today’s job market, it’s critical to have the right skills to complete the work that’s needed to be done. But just because you can do the job doesn’t mean you’ll get it.
Having interviewing skills that put you on the top of the stack of applications is just as important.
On Thursday, May 31, and Friday, June 1, Delavan-Darien High School keyboarding students had the opportunity to participate in practice job interviews with a number of local community members. The event was coordinated by DDHS business education teachers Jodi Scott and Carrie Schuknecht.
Students had completed a unit in class where they prepared a resume and cover letter.
Students were then required to participate in a mock interview to practice their interview skills. Students were critiqued on overall first impression, appearance, eye contact, enthusiasm, voice clarity and poise. They were also rated on the quality of their resume and cover letter. Students were given feedback from a panel of adults to help improve their interview skills.
Carrie Schuknecht
Students were genuinely excited about the chance to practice interviewing with people in the business world who hire for a living, Scott said.
Student comments ranged from saying the activity will help them find a summer job to reflecting about what might have gone wrong in a previous job interview.
Scott thanked the local business and community members who participated in the exercise. Mock interviewers included Amber McCrea, Aram Public Library; John Scherer, The Alder Company; Rita Butke, McDonalds; Heather Nichols, Kunes Country Ford; Sharon Gonzalez, SPX; Denise Pieroni, City of Delavan; and Derek Schultz, human resources student at UW-Whitewater.
