Oak Forest HS BPA Participate in Mock Interviews

Oak Forest High School Senior Sarah Crawford answers mock interview questions from a Junior Achievement businessperson during a mock interview portion of their current Junior Achievement project. Oak Forest High School BPA students were very nervous when their sponsor, Oak Forest High School teacher Connie McSweeney, told them that they were going to be interviewing with some real life community business people.

The mock interviews are a part of the Junior Achievement program the students are participating in, explained McSweeney. “The program they are participating in is a Junior Achievement program called the Company Program where students create and operate a company.” In class, students had just completed their career portfolios. This was a portfolio for a position in the field that the students want to get into. They used these portfolios when they were interviewing with the Junior Achievement business people.

Students saw the benefit for the mock interviews immediately after completing the the interview with their business. McSweeney said, “After they interviewed, the business people gave immediate feedback on their resume and on their interview.” Students got tips from the business people on how to present themselves better and what items would present them better on paper and on their resume as well.

Oak Forest High School Junior Mikella Klimson reflected on the interview she participated in. “They asked what are my strengths and weaknesses and what I could bring to the company. My strengths are that I’m an organized hard worker. The interview was a good experience. She made me feel comfortable and not as nervous to interview for a real job later.”

Now that the OFHS BPA students have completed their mock interviews, they are going to concentrate on an online portfolio to complete that phase of their project.