Tutorial 8 - Ali

1. COMM 202Tutorial 8: Employment Interviews
Welcome to your last tutorial!

2. AGENDA For today
Resume/CL Debrief
Employment Interview
Interview Q&A
Wisdom and Stuff

3. Course Timeline
Employment interview next week!
Week 12 Week 14Week 13
• Tutorial:
Employment
interviews
• Employment
interview sign-up:
March 27-29th (if
you applied to
COOL on time)
and March 30th (if
you applied to
COOL in the 2nd
round)
• Lecture:
When
you’ve got
the job!
• Employment
Interviews
(25%): April
3rd, 4th and
6th.
• Informational interview
assignment due (April
14th at 11:59PM via
TurnItIn!)

4. Resume & CL
Debrief

5. Moving on to the
Employment
Interview

6. Employment Interview
• WHEN: April 3rd, 4th and 6th!
• WHAT TO BRING:
1. Resume
2. Cover Letter
3. Job Description
4. Padfolio
5. Pen
6. Research Notes

7. Employment Interview
• THE INTERVIEW:
o Check in with “reception” in Birmingham (IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO FIND
THE CHECK-IN DESK)
o BE EARLY! – Ideally about 10 minutes, if you’re not there by your scheduled
interview time, you will receive an automatic ZERO. (YOU MUST ALSO BRING
YOUR RESUME, COVER LETTER, and JOB POSTING PRINTED OUT TO BE ABLE
TO DO THE INTERVIEW)
o Interview is approximately 20 minutes long with one COMM 202 team
member/coach or external consultant (allot 30 minutes total).
o You can sign up for timeslots for interviews starting Monday Match 27th at
8:30AM until Wednesday March 29th. (You can sign up on the 30th if you applied
to COOL late).

8. Employment Interview
Dressing to IMPRESS is dressing for SUCCESS
DRESS BUSINESS FORMAL

9. Interview
Question + Answers

10. Interview Q&A

11. What is the most common
Interview Question?

12. So…
Tell me about yourself

13. Q1: Tell me about yourself
• Keep it under 2 minutes
• Brand yourself – give them something to remember you by
• Sound natural – not like you’re reading off a script!
• Speak to your skills and accomplishments
• Show passion
• Provide a well-rounded picture

14. Q1: Tell me about yourself
The
Beginning
The Spark
Growing
Interest
Your
Future
Why you
are here?
The Goal: Tell them a story that no one else can
replicate and impress them in the first 2 minutes

15. Q1: Tell me about yourself
• telling YOUR story
Introduction
Realization that this is the right career for you
Your formula and how it has helped lead you to this role
Where you see yourself
How this position ties into it all
Growing interest
The spark
Your future
The beginning
Why you are here

16. Q1: Tell me about yourself
• My formula
+ +
“Building Relationships”
Building
relationships
through shared
passions
(Agriculture /
Blueberry
Farming)
Building
relationships
through
teaching
COMM 202 and
working at FCC
Building
relationships at
_____!

17. Q1: Tell me about yourself
Question Types I would consider you a
strong candidate. (3pts.)
I would like to interview
you again. (2pts.)
I would not consider you
a top candidate. (1pts.)
I would not hire you.
(0 pts.)
Tell me about yourself
Does the student provide
an overview of their
skills, fit and desire for
the role?
The student provides a
relevant “story”
highlighting their
passions,
accomplishments, goals
and fit to the organization
in a concise manner
(2mins or less)
The student provides a
“story” highlighting some
but not all aspects in
column one or answer was
longer than 2 minutes
Student provided a
“story” that is not
concise and is more than
2 minutes
Student fails to answer
the question or answer is
not coherent and is longer
than 2 minutes
• Rubric

18. Q1: ACTIVITY
• Activity: grab a partner and swap “tell me about yourself stories”
• 2.5 minutes story telling; 1 minute feedback
• Goal: convey the elements of the story in a logical way and experiment with
finding your formula
The
Beginning
The Spark
Growing
Interest
Your
Future
Why you
are here?

19. Question 2
What are your
strengths?

20. Q2: What are your strengths?
• Way for the interviewer to tell if you know yourself and
that you know you have what it takes to do the job
• Can also be asked in different ways! Prepare multiple
strengths
• There is no right answer – just good answers and bad
answers

21. Q2: What are your strengths?
• Rubric
Strengths
Is the student able to
convey their brand and
relevant skills/strengths
for the role?
Student is able to choose
strengths relevant to the
position, gives a strong
examples and
communicates concisely
Student is able to choose
strengths relevant to the
position gives a strong
example of execution but
may lack link to the
position
Student’s strengths may
be irrelevant to the
position and/or lacks
proof of execution or link
to the job opportunity
Student fails to provide
strengths and strengths are
totally irrelevant to the
position

22. Question 3
What are your
Weaknesses?

23. Q3: What are your Weaknesses?
• Be authentic
• Pick a weakness that is acceptable for the job (prepare multiple)
• Pick a weakness that is “fixable”
• Demonstrate that you are working on your weakness
• Do not flip WEAKNESSES into STRENGTHS!

24. Q3: What are your Weaknesses?
✘ “I’m such a perfectionist”
✘ “Too detail-oriented”
✘ “Over-achiever”
✘ “I work too hard sometimes”

26. Q3: What are your Weaknesses?
• Rubric

27. Question 4
Behavioural
Questions

28. Q4: Tell me about a time when…
S T A R
SITUATION ACTIONTASK RESULT
what position
and where
were you?
what was the
challenge you
faced?
what did YOU
do and how did
you do it?
what was the
accomplishment
and the impact?
+ LINK back to job and why the story is relevant

29. Q4: Tell me about a time when…
• Rubric

30. Question 5
WILDCARD

31. Q5: WILDCARD QUESTION
• Industry/Job Specific or…a surprise!
• Way for interviewer to gauge your interest and knowledge of the
position and industry
• Test your ability to communicate clearly
• Shows the interviewer how you think (rash vs. critically)
• It’s the question you WON’T be able to prepare for!

33. if all the barbers in Vancouver were
to get on a bus and leave tomorrow,
how many barbers do you need to
hire to replace all of them?

34. FINANCE
WHAT ARE THE THREE WAYS TO VALUE A COMPANY?
PITCH ME A STOCK
SO MANY CURVEBALLS…
ACCOUNTING
WHY DO YOU WANT TO PURSUE YOUR CPA?
WHY DO YOU WANT TO WORK FOR X FIRM?
WALK ME THROUGH AN ACCOUNTS PAYABLE CYCLE?
MANAGEMENT CONSULTING
HOW MANY WORDS ARE ON THE FRONT PAGE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES?
WHAT ARE YOUR 5 WEAKNESSES? … TELL ME ANOTHER … AND ANOTHER
CASES
MARKETING
HOW WOULD YOU INCREASE SALES OF X PRODUCT BY X%?
SELL ME THIS PEN
TLOG
WHAT WOULD YOU DO TO INCREASE OUR PRODUCTIVITY?
HOW MANY CHAIRS ARE IN SAUDER?
HUMAN RESOURCES
HOW SHOULD WE CHANGE OUR HIRING PROCESS?
HOW WOULD YOU FIRE ME IF YOU HAD TO DO IT RIGHT NOW?
RANDOM QUESTIONS OR
SCENARIOS
WOULD YOU RATHER GO SKY DIVING OR SCUBA DIVING AND WHY?
HOW WOULD YOU DIVIDE A CAKE INTO 8 EQUAL PIECES WITH ONLY 3 KNIFE CUTS? [ROLE PLAYING A DECISION MAKING
SITUATION]
TELL ME ABOUT SOME NEWS YOU HAVE READ RECENTLY AND HOW IT RELATES TO THIS JOB?

35. Q5: WILDCARD QUESTION
• Rubric
Creative/stumper
questions
Student “aces” every
opportunity to differentiate
themselves during the
interview: e.g., they offer a
credible, logically
organized, and concise
answer for every
question.
Student “handles” some
opportunities to
differentiate themselves
during the interview: e.g.,
they offer credible and/or
logically organized and/or
concise answers for many
questions.
They “miss” too many
opportunities to
differentiate themselves
during interview: e.g.,
they offer widely varying
answers in terms of
credibility and/or
logical organization
and/or conciseness.
Student fails to provide a
clear answer or doesn’t
attempt to answer

36. Do you have any
Questions?

37. Do you have any questions?
• Always have at least 2 questions!
o Avoid asking questions you could find the answer to on google
o Do not ask something that has already been addressed in the interview
o Always safe to get them talking about themselves – maybe ask
something directly related to their job/industry

38. Closing the Interview
• Thank them
• Reiterate your interest
• End with a handshake
• Ask for their business card
• Ask if you can call to follow-up
• Use their Name!

39. The follow up
• Send an email or handwritten card
• Reference the interview – something you want to emphasize or something unsaid
that you want them to know
• Reiterate your interest in the position
• Thank them for the opportunity again
• Reference an answer they gave you to one of your end of interview questions
• If you interviewed with multiple people make sure the follow-up is personalized to
each person

40. Ali’s
Interview Tips

41. Guide the
conversation

42. Answer the Darn
Question

43. Know your own
documents

44. Do your
research

45. Let your brand
shine through

46. Bring energy to
the room

47. Practice.

48. Remember that you are
interviewing them too.

49. Action items
1. Optional interview stream available untilapril 7th at 11:59PM
2. EMPLOYMENT interviews are on April 3rd, 4th, and 6th (Check your email
tomorrow and the blog this week for instructions on signing up!)
3. Informational interviews are due April 14th @ 11:59PM on TURNITIN
4. Next week is (Final) Lecture! *Only happening on Tues/wed

50. And now…
Some words of wisdom
(I think)

51. Follow your own path.

52. Savour the journey.

53. Never settle.

54. And above all else

55. Make happiness your priority.

56. Are there any
questions for me?

57. One last
thing

58. Thank You

59. Ways to keep in touch
Ali Jatoi
@alijatoi
ajatoi1808@gmail.com