... and your drafted application is being refined. It is now time to consider the interview. While not all graduate programs offer an interview as part of the admission process, it is considered a crucial element of the selection criteria to those programs that do. Clearly, the interview is an opportunity, and your preparation for it needs to be as well-defined and refined as your application. To make sure that it is, Maxx Associates offers its clients an Interview Strategy and Simulation Session.
Creating an Interview Strategy
The first half of Maxx Associates' Interview Session addresses the "preparatory" stage prior to your interview. We start by outlining what you need to know and what homework you need to do prior to your interview. We make sure that you are clear as to how the interview meshes with the admission criteria and your specific situation. We give you an analysis of your "standing" in the admission process, so as to help you understand what you need to achieve in the interview. We help you determine your specific goals for the interview:
What multidimensional elements do you want them to know?
What should be emphasized in light of your goals and their program?
What needs countering and how is this done?
What sets you apart from other applicants?
What additional information should you provide that is not in the application?
We teach you how to interpret any question that is asked, so you'll be prepared for the numerous and ever-changing questions asked by admission interviewers. We define for you the underlying theme of what it is Admissions wants to know. We then discuss that theme in terms of the various types of questions asked, including:
Questions tailored to your specific situation
Questions linked to elements of the admissions criteria
Questions related to the philosophy/tenets of the program
Questions meant to test you
Questions that might scare you
Questions to Ask the Interviewer
We follow up this discussion with its complementary topic: Questions to Ask the Interviewer. We suggest categories to explore in order to ask probing questions. We point out common pitfalls. We prepare you to ask the sort of questions which will make your interview stand out.
Profile of the Interviewers
The strategy session then continues with a discussion on the Profile of Interviewers. We look at their status (admission officer, professor, alumnus, current student), their techniques, and their mandate. We discuss the control and flow of the interview. We discuss your capabilities in the various interview settings (on- or off-campus interview, phone interview).
Basic Tips on Selling Yourself
Next, Maxx Associates provides you with some Basic Tips On Selling Yourself in an admissions interview. It starts with logistics, expands to demeanor, broadens to tone, and ends with rapport!
The Interview Simulation
Practice makes perfect ... or at least comfortable. So Maxx Associates provides you with an opportunity to work out the "kinks" of an admission interview in advance of the interview itself. From the content of your answers to the techniques you employ in giving them, you can test your interview savvy and prepare yourself for the real thing.
We ask you an array of questions and give you immediate feedback on your responses. We tell you what is working and what is not. We tell you what you need to add or delete. We tell you what you might volunteer. We tell you what the Admission Representative is thinking or feeling as you answer. Then... we give you a second chance and more feedback!
By the time you have completed Maxx Associates' Interview Strategy and Simulation Session you will be prepared to put your personal stamp on your next crucial interview... and have the Admission Representative put her or his stamp of approval on you!
