Sweat Yourself

It’s one thing for a job seeker (or an internship seeker) to inform potential employers about his or her knowledge and skills through an online job application or a paper résumé. It’s a whole different experience when a job applicant needs to discuss the same information on the phone or in-person with a hiring manager.

Direct interactions with job interviewers can be a nerve-racking experience and it is quite common for ‘newbie’ job candidates to get very, very nervous during any kind of live exchange, whether by phone, Skype, or in person. In fact, the in-person interview will definitely challenge the power of an interviewee’s deodorant. The only way to become comfortable with that particular part of the job acquisition process is to do it over, and over, and over again. At some point, the process will be something a job seeker will become comfortable doing and ultimately be more successful.

The biggest test we give to our high school seniors — our Rainmakers Candidates — is that they need to secure their own internship Host, and in doing so mirror the processes each individual will have to master to get a real job when it really counts. They will need to cold-call potential internship hosts the same way they will need to call potential employers when they are older.

We want to make sure our Rainmakers Candidates can do well in their first live interactions with potential internship Hosts, so we offer them the opportunity to improve their telephone solicitation skills by participating in and/or listen to mock telephone interviews via telecommunications technology.

Our volunteer Mentors who play the roll of the interviewers are business people with significant experience in the process and will provide eye-opening feedback to our participating students.