Volunteers Give East Students Interview Experience

After being prepped with classroom lessons about the world of work, 8th graders at spent Wednesday taking one last step to help prepare them for future careers. 

Lita Hoyer, who works in career development for , said the career units taught by English teachers end with mock interviews, conducted by parents and other community volunteers. 

"Students come dressed for success," Hoyer said. "They spend about five or six minutes with each interview, and then they rotate. The interviewer will give them feedback about what they can do to improve."

Kalyani Ramamurtay, 13, thought she did pretty well as she made the rounds.

"It was really fun, a great experience," she said. In the classroom, she "practiced handshaking and watched a lot of videos of people making mistakes in interviews."

While Ramamurtay, who said she wants to be a pediatrician, generally felt well prepared for Wednesday's activity, she said, "I didn't expect (the interviewers) to be so friendly with me." 

"It was really fun," Matthew Bean, 14, said. Teacher Mary Leyman prepared him well, he added. "She told us everything they were going to ask ... She did a fake interview and taught us what to say and not to stutter."

Bean said he plans to be a professional photographer.  

Adult volunteers represented a variety of career fields, including engineers, firefighters, municipal employees and information technology workers, Hoyer said.