Career & Professional Development Center

A Great Interview (For a Job I Didn’t Get)

By Dan Moseson, Ph.D., CPDC Graduate Career Coach

Our CPDC blog is called Peaks and Valleys because the job search process has natural ups and downs. Like a trail up a mountain, there will be wide, smooth paths with beautiful vistas. There will also be steep rock-falls you’re not sure how to navigate while keeping your ankles intact. There will even be times when you fall down, fail, or need to turn around. There may even be moose. Don’t provoke them.

My career has worked the same way. My biggest false start was an interview for a job I really wanted. I put my all into preparing for the day to perform at my best, and in the end, I didn’t get the job. However, I still think of it as one of the most valuable experiences of my career. It taught me a lot about myself and helped me identify what I needed to do to up my game for future interviews.

Below is a summary of what I learned from this interview:

• Thoroughly read the job posting…multiple times
  After my interview, I finally understood how important it is to identify an employer’s specific needs from their job posting and determine how my accomplishments matched them.
• Learn how to write a successful cover letter and resume
  At the time, I learned how important it is to articulate your accomplishments in your resume and cover letter so you show the employer clear evidence of how you would do the job well and add value to the role.
• Learn how to prepare for an interview
  Be sure to study the organization, learn about and take notes on everyone you may meet and prepare questions for each of them, hone your presentation, and prepare to dress professionally.
• Learn how to answer different types of interview questions
  This interview was the first time I realized I needed to be prepared to answer behavioral questions, which are very common in interviews. Make sure you prepare for them!
• Prepare to experience a full-day interview, with everything on the line
  Experiencing this full-day interview was so enlightening! I’ve never felt so in-the-moment, ready, and engaged. It showed me a new version of who I can be in an interview setting.
• Trust that you can still perform at 110% under less than ideal circumstances
  I didn’t sleep the night before (or much the night before that), and still performed at my best (…until about the 7th meeting). This was a major confidence boost!
• Accept that you can give it your all, not achieve your goal, and still feel good about yourself
  While I didn’t get the job, I was still thrilled and enlightened by the experience. I now know how to interview. I know what I can really do under pressure. And I know enough now so I can help others prepare as their Career Coach!

I hope these lessons will help you better prepare for future interviews, as they have since helped me. For additional support preparing for interviews, meet with a Career Coach.

How To Better Describe Your Strengths In An Interview

By Crystal Cory, CPDC Undergraduate Career Coach

Hardworking. Detail-oriented. Organized. Passionate. Over the years, I’ve heard students use these words to describe their strengths in practice interviews more times than I can count. (I did count once – and I had 26 separate students tell me that they were hardworking over the course of four weeks!) Why is it problematic that all of these students used the same four words to describe their strengths? It makes everyone sound the same!

Because I’ve heard these words used so frequently, I’ve taken time to reflect on why I’ve heard these words so much. I believe that these four words are what our U.S. society thinks a great worker should be. They should work really hard at their jobs, be super passionate about their work, and let no detail or deadline fall through the cracks. Inherently, these aren’t bad qualities to have. But by using the same words as everyone else, you are doing yourself a disservice.

The entire point of an interview is to make yourself stand out from the rest of the candidates in the pool and highlight what makes you a unique fit for the position. If you use the same words as the rest of the candidates to describe your strengths, you completely ruin your chances of standing out in the employers’ memory. But don’t worry, there is a way to dig deeper to help yourself stand out!

The first strategy you can use is to think about how you would personally define these very broad terms. Let’s take hardworking, for example. For one student, hardworking could mean that no matter the obstacle, they are going to get the job done. For another student, it could mean that they will keep trying until they reach their goals. What do you think of when you read these definitions? Sure, they both fall under the broad term of hardworking, but the first student could say instead that they are perseverant, while the second could say they are persistent. Completely different, right?

Another strategy you can use is to think about the reason you are the way you are. For example, I consider myself to be pretty organized. I keep to-do lists and color code things whenever I can. But upon further reflection, I realized that my organization allows me to be efficient in my work. I pride myself on getting tasks done quickly and effectively, and my ability to organize is just one strategy I use to do that. Saying that you are efficient (instead of organized) will help you stand out more in an interview.

While these common words aren’t inherently bad to use, you run the risk of sounding like all other candidates when you use them. Dig a little deeper and really reflect on what you uniquely bring to the table. If you’re struggling, Undergraduate Career Coaches and Graduate Career Coaches are at the ready to help you! Give yourself the best shot of standing out in an interview by reflecting on what makes you, you!

Key Takeaways I Learned From 3 Informational Interviews

By Dan Moseson, Ph.D., CPDC Graduate Career Coach 

Recently, my colleague, Crystal Cory, wrote a superb article about how to network during this unprecedented time. Adding to Crystal’s advice, I encourage you to think outside the box as you seek out new and exciting career conversations. You’ll gain new perspectives on your current work or study, and an expanded sense of what’s possible.

To prove this point, I set up three informational interviews with professionals who work in areas I knew hardly anything about: tornado science, landscape photography, and outdoor education. Below, I’ve broken down three takeaways from each interview: How these professionals built their careers, what I learned that can aid me in my current job, and how I plan to learn more.

Interview #1: Dr. Kim Klockow McLain, Research Scientist and Social Applications Coordinator at NOAA National Severe Storms Laboratory in Norman, Oklahoma

Kim built her career in risk communication by pursuing academic training in weather science and the psychology of risk, then learning to support research during a science policy fellowship in the U.S. Senate. She helps community members learn to protect themselves by “thinking more like the storm”. Kim passed on great lessons in working across disciplines: learn each side’s language, create spaces for overlap, and build trust over time. I can use this advice to help graduate students and faculty re-imagine career paths. I plan to follow-up by surveying jobs at weather and hazard labs where, Kim told me, my students can make a difference.

Interview #2: Dave Koch, Landscape and Real Estate Photographer in Salt Lake City, Utah

Dave studied film in college and got his first job in television, largely by hanging out and engaging with people who already worked in television. He learned photography by taking background images for weather forecasts. The first of two great lessons from Dave: “Take pictures every day” and “Create every day”. You’ll surprise yourself when, one day, you have a good body of work. Second, Dave said how useful it was to shoot on assignment when he worked in television. “If you self-assign things,” he said, “you’ll play to your strengths”. In other words, you may benefit if you’re not in charge right away. I plan to follow-up by speaking with two photographers Dave kindly recommended.

Interview #3: Allison Hughes, Co-Manager of Outdoor Adventures at the University of Utah’s Campus Recreation Services

Allison has built her career through study and a series of recreation and student development roles, despite not growing up outdoorsy. She passed on two great leadership lessons. First, “Confidence is contagious”. If you project confidence, you’ll grow confidence in those you lead. Second, learn to take feedback. You’ll grow faster than those who can’t. Allison recommend that I follow-up by visiting the Association for Outdoor Recreation and Education’s website, which provides information on a wide range of outdoor careers.

I hope these interviews were as enlightening for you as they were for me. I stepped well outside of my field, learned a lot, and made wonderful new connections. Try it out!