Recently, approximately 90 CTE students participated in a Mock Job Interview Contest with Dillon Robinson, Lunenburg County Virginia Cooperative Extension Agent. On Monday, Mr. Robinson shared resume building tips with students. Students began working on building their own resumes to showcase their skills, training, and experiences.
On Tuesday, students learned about the appropriate attire for a job interview and were given cover letter writing tips. They participated in a fun activity creating appropriate and inappropriate outfits for their interview. The outfits were designed from simple supplies to represent an appropriate appearance with appropriate length and without too much jewelry, color, etc. Following the activity, students continued to fine-tune their resumes and write their cover letters to be presented to the interview panel later in the week. Mr. Robinson and the CTE teachers assisted the students with composing their cover letters to apply for a position within their chosen career.
On Wednesday, students practiced answering common interview questions in preparation for their interviews on Thursday and Friday. Volunteers from the community interviewed students related to three different career paths. The interview categories included careers in a trade, medically related profession, and a university-educated career field. Students tailored their resumes and cover letters to their chosen career and were asked common interview questions as well as questions related to their specific skills.
The results of the interview contest were phenomenal. Students were awarded certificates based on their class period and interview category. Each student interviewed with a two-person panel. Students were scored on seven different criteria including eye contact, confidence, question answers, etc. The scores from each of the two interviewers were averaged for a final score of 1-28. The top three scorers from the overall contest were: Anna Strigel 1st Place (Perfect Score of 28), Hailey Routt 2nd Place (27.5), and Ethan Thomas 3rd Place (26.5). (These winners are pictured from left to right in the photo above).The first-place winners in each class period were as follows:
Trade
Emma Newton
Hailey Routt
Marvin Byrd
James Boyd
Medical
Dakota Gracia
Alaina Hamm
Breonna Wilkerson
Christine Hofler
University
Katherine Light
David Waldrep
Ethan Thomas
Anna Strigel