Recruitment Interview Guidelines
I. Introduction to the interview process:
“I am ______from the Upward Bound Program. I’m going to do your application interview today. This is not like a job interview for IBM, so you can just relax and be yourself. There is no need to impress me or try to tell me what you think I want to hear. There are no right or wrong answers, it’s just to find out more information about you. * For English Language Learners: “If you don’t understand what I am saying, just say so and I’ll try to say it differently or find someone who can translate for me.”
II. Review of Student’s Application:
Check the student’s application for completeness, section by section
Complete or correct any missing information (SS#, GPA, coursework, signatures)
Check for missing documents (financial documents, transcripts, proof of residency)
III. Interview form questions and rating criteria:
- Federal Eligibility: Refer to the section on the application for income information and cross-reference with “Federal Poverty Levels” guidelines. Refer to the section on the application for parents’ highest level of education for “first generation” status. Note: Students of parents who have graduated from a college outside the U.S. are still considered “first generation.”
2. Parent’s Education: “Completed college of degree” can include an “AA”degree or higher or graduation from a technical school.
3. Pre-College Courses:Refer to the student’s cum file and/or transcript. Note that some pre-college classes like algebra can be taken in the 8th grade and will count on the interview score as a course. If you are not sure whether or not the course is pre-college, check with a school site counselor or “A-G” pattern chart.
4. Demographics:During final selection, we make every attempt to match the ethnic demographics of the school site. This scoring criteria is inversely proportional. If the student’s ethnicity is the majority at the school they should get less points. If the student’s ethnicity is under-represented, they get more points.
5. Academic Need: Get a full history for the three different grade levels of school (7th, 8th and 9th – 12th).For each different level ask questions that will tease out problems that they may have experienced or are currently experiencing in the sample areas. *In addition, review standardized test score(s) on their transcript to determine any deficiency area(s). If you need additional information in any area, ask some other clarifying questions:
“What class(es) did you like the least in school ?”
“What classes were harder than others for you?”
“Which classes were usually difficult for you?”
“Any subjects that were harder than others for you?
“What problems do you have with English language...
problems with reading? writing? speaking?”
“In what subjects did you get C’s, D’s, or F’s”?
“Why do you think you got the grade that you did?
“What subjects did you do the worst in?”
“What made this particular class difficult for you?”
“Was it understanding the concepts or motivation?”
“What other things were difficult in this class?”
“What else was it that was difficult about this class?”
6. Personal Need: Try to get a sense of how specific issues in each of the following areas has a direct impact on the student’s academic achievement (can be either a positive or negative influence). Try to use some sub-questions in each of these areas:
Self-esteem
How do other people’s opinions effect how you feel about yourself?
How would you rate your own level of self-esteem? (low? some? high?)
How do you feel about your ability to succeed academically?
Friends/peers
In what ways do you allow your friends influence you in a positive way?
In what ways do you allow your friends influence you in a negative way?
How do you think most of your friends feel about school and going to college?
Family
What kinds of things stress you out about your family members or home life?
In what ways do issues at home affect your ability to do well in school?
How does your family support you in school (check homework, praise, see grades, etc)
Emotions
How do you think your emotions effect your ability to do well in school?
When you are upset or stressed out, how do you cope with this? (cry, sleep, talk, etc.)
What kinds of things are going on in your life right now that make you worry?
Work/home duties
How much time on average do you spend each day on work and/or home duties?
How do work and/or your duties at home affect your ability to do well in school?
What happens if you don’t get your home duties done? If your homework is not done?
Other activities
What kinds of other activities do you have on a regular basis, outside your schoolwork?
How much time on average do you spend each day on these outside activities?
How do these extracurricular activities affect your ability to do well in school?
7. Study Skills Need: Ask specific sub-questions about each study skills area:
Time management
“How do you prioritize your work, how do you decide which homework to do first, second third (easiest to hardest, first to last period, longest to shortest) ?”
“How do you balance all the things you have to do in a day? In a week?”
“What other activities do you do that can take some time away from school work?”
Test Preparation and Test Taking
“How do you usually prepare for tests? How does that work for you?”
“How do you rate yourself as a poor, average, or good test taker? Why?”
“How are you at actually taking tests? Do you get test-taking anxiety?”
Note-Taking
“How do you do with note-taking?”
“When do you take notes?” “Which classes do you take notes in?”
“What problems do you have with note-taking?”
“How does English language comprehension affect your ability to take notes?”
Binder Organization
“How do you go about organizing your work?”
“How organized are you in terms of your binder? Home work? Other areas?”
“How do you keep track of the homework assignments you have to do?”
8. Motivational Need
How often do you experience problems motivating yourself to do school work?
How would you rate your own level of personal motivation? (low? medium? high?)
What are your current academic goals? What is your biggest life long goal?
9. Ability to Participate: Try to get a sense of factors that could potentially interfere with attendance during the school year (part-time job, family duties, after school sports practice, school clubs, babysitting, etc.).
Also ask about those factors that might interfere with the summer program (family vacations, sports practice, cheerleading camp, church camp, etc.)
Conclude by asking “Is there anything else that might prevent you from participating in our program activities on a regular basis?”
10. Informational Need: Assess their level of knowledge by asking these questions:
How will you and your family go about paying for college?
What tests do you need to take to apply for college?
Which school(s) are you planning to apply to?
What is the difference between a community college and a university?
6. “What kinds of things have gotten in the way of your personal or academic success?”
This question is meant to follow-up on the last one regarding academic history to ascertain some of the other factors that may have interfered with academics, by asking questions like:
“What other things outside school have kept you from getting higher grades ?”
“What else has ever gotten in the way of doing your best at school ?”
“How did or does your social life effect your academic work ?”
“How did or does your home life affect your academic work ?”
“How do your language skills affect your school work...reading in English,writing in English, speaking in English ?”
8. Parent InvolvementThis question tries to get information about the degree of parent/family involvement in school and some of the values that the family may hold regarding education, by asking things like:
“In what ways is your family involved with you concerning school?”
“Some parents are not involved at all and some are overly involved. How are your parents involved or not so involved with you in terms of school ?”
“In what ways are your parents involved with your homework?”
“How do your parents feel about how you are doing in school?”
“What support do you need at home that you may not be getting now?”
“What other kinds of support do you need outside your home regarding school?”
“How does English as a second language affect your families involvement?”
“What other ways are family members involved or not involved in school?”
Last but not least...
“What questions do you have about the Upward Bound program?”
“We will be finishing-up interviews around ______and letting people know if they have been accepted or put on our waiting list by about ______. We will be calling you or sending you a letter to let you know if you were accepted or put on our waiting list. Thank you for applying for the program!”