Colorado Agriscience Curriculum
Section: / Intro to AgribusinessUnit: / Securing employment in Agriculture
Lesson Title: / Completing a Successful Interview
Colorado Ag Education Standards and Competencies / AGB11/12.05 - The student will gain skills in agricultural business operations through practical experience.
Prepare for an interview.
Colorado Model Content Standard(s): / English Standard 2: Students write and speak for a variety of purposes and audiences.
English Standard 3: Students write and speak using conventional grammar usage, sentence structure, punctuation, capitalization, and spelling.
English Standard 4: Students apply thinking skills to their reading, writing, speaking, listening, and viewing
Student Learning Objectives: / Upon completion of this lesson the student will be able to:
1. Know and understand the types of interviews.
2. Understand the steps in preparing for an interview
3. Develop interview responses.
Time: / 50 Minutes
Resource(s): / The Summit Guide, CSU Career Center pamphlet
http://www.career.vt.edu/JOBSEARC/interview/AskQues.htm
Instructions, Tools, Equipment, and Supplies: / Italicized words are instructions to the teacher, normal style text is suggested
script.
Markers
Poster or drawing paper, one per student
Projector and Whiteboard
One copy, per student, worksheet 1 and 2
Interest Approach: / How many of you have actually applied for a job in a formal process, including a resume, application, an interview? How did you do? Were you nervous? It is actually very normal to be nervous during an interview…after all…your future is at stake! Today we are going to focus on ways to make the interview process easier.
Give each student HANDOUT 1.
Have them write down as many things in each column as possible in 2 minutes on their worksheets. Draw a T chart on the board. On the left side of your chart ask students to come up and write things that they think are easy about an interview.
After that column is completed have the students volunteer to come up and write things that scared them or made them nervous about the interview in the right column. (Chances are there will be more in the right column than the left. These will probably correlate directly with the questions on their handout.)
Objective 1: / Know and understand the types of interviews
It becomes pretty evident as a class that you are nervous about interviews. Before we come up with strategies for handling specific questions, we are going to discuss the various types of interviews. As I project the slides on the board, please capture them in your notes.
Students will now look at some of the different types of interviews. Use the power point to have each type of interview. Have class discuss what they think the type of interview would look like and then show the actual definition. Project slides 2 and 3.
There are a few things that you need to be prepared for as your prepare for your interview. For instance, geography may change the type of interview you have with an employer. Every day, people take jobs on the other side of the country; some fly or drive and some simply do their interview over the phone. As employers keep looking for ways to hire the most qualified candidate, they are trying different ways to interview. There are several different types of interviews and depending on the factors in your chosen career path, you need to understand each one.
Objective 2: / Understand the steps in preparing for an interview
Print one copy of HANDOUT 2 for each student. Have students pair up and fill in the answers. Then ask students to come back and go through slide 4 of the PowerPoint presentation. Students can then change or modify their answers according to the PowerPoint.
Interviewing is a necessary part of finding your dream job. We talked about some of the fears you have with an interview. In order to overcome these fears, it is important to understand how to prepare for an interview. Everyone has probably had those dreams where you show up to school and forgot your homework, or even worse, you forgot to get dressed. Interviews can be just as devastating if you are not prepared. I am giving each of you a handout. On that handout, I’d like you to write the first thing that comes to mind when you read the heading. You have 1 minute. Wow me with your “off the cuff” answers!
Stop writing. Raise your hand if you have something to share.
Great job!
Now as I go through the slides, add the following answers to your notes.
Steps to a Successful Interview
1 Know Yourself: Determine what your most marketable skills are for this position and brainstorm specific examples of how you’ve demonstrated each of them.
2. Know the Specific Job: Identify how your overall qualifications meet the specific job requirements.
3. Know the employer: Learn as much as you can about the organization before your interview.’
4. Practice, Practice, Practice: Complete as many practice interviews as possible.
Objective 3: / Develop Interview Responses
The last question on the handout for objective 2 will transition easily into objective 3. First students will brainstorm things that they need to do in an interview to be successful. Then students will generate responses to the sample interview questions on the PowerPoint. Lastly, they will each develop three questions that they would ask a prospective employer.
Now that we are prepared for an interview, we should probably find out what the process of interviewing involves. I want all of you to individually write down things that you think you need to do in order to impress an employer during an interview. You have one minute. Now let’s look at what employers say is important. I bet most of your answers match. Although these are written in a negative fashion, you can turn them into suggestions for a positive interview.
Project slide 5.
We talked about how important it was to be prepared, so I’m going to give you the opportunity to practice a few questions. I need everyone to find a partner. You are going to answer these questions to your partner. After each question, I want you to alternate so both people in your group answer the same amount of questions. One very important aspect of practicing is answering these questions professionally, so I want you to make sure that you sit up and have good posture, and most importantly, a strong, clear voice when you answer your questions.
Project slide 6. and leave it on the board while students interview each other.
Now that we have practiced questions that an employer might ask us, we need to think of questions that we would ask them. One fear a lot of people have in an interview is being judged. However, an interview is a great opportunity for you to judge a prospective boss. Is this someone you would want to work for? Asking questions in the interview also shows the employer that you are interested in the job as well as motivated to learn.
Select one student to write the classroom answers on the whiteboard after the one minute time period..
With your same partner, write down as many questions as you can about a job that you are interested in. You have 1 minute… Time. Let’s compare your answers and look at some others that you can ask.
Are there any questions that are inappropriate to ask of an employer?
As we take a look at slide 7, please capture the following notes as guidelines for asking questions of the employer.
Tips for Asking Questions of the Employer
· Always prepare questions to ask.
· Some of your questions may be answered during the course of the interview, before you are offered the opportunity to ask. If so, you can simply state something to the effect that you were interested in knowing about ..., but that was addressed during the interview.
· Do not ask questions that are clearly answered on the employer's web site and/or in any literature provided by the employer to you in advance.
· Never ask about salary and benefits issues until those subjects are raised by the employer.
Review/Summary: / · Use a karaoke e-moment to summarize the lesson. Students will ask the questions and give the answers in the form of a song. If you would like you can easily set this up as a contest.
Application--Extended Classroom Activity: / · Line up your advisory council members, Young Farmers group, alumni, and administration or community members to conduct mock interviews with your students.
Application--FFA Activity: / · Encourage students to participate in the Job Interview CDE.
Application--SAE Activity: / · This would be an opportunity for students looking for a placement SAE, to have the tools to find a job they are qualified for.
Evaluation: / Use the following questions as a verbal review.
1. Have students get into groups of 3. Each student is interviewed by their peers. Have each student evaluate them using the score sheet from the Colorado FFA CDE. It is also recommended to have the student who interviewed to do a self-assessment. You may also use the extended classroom activity as an evaluation.
Evaluation Answer Key: / Colorado FFA Job Interview Score sheet
Name:
Date:
Enterprise: Ag Business/Careers
Job: Completing a Successful Interview
HANDOUT 1
Name:
Date:
Enterprise: Ag Business/Careers
Job: Getting Your Dream Job!
HANDOUT 2
Use notes from the attached PowerPoint to properly fill in the blanks.
1. Know Yourself:
2. Know the Specific Job:
3. Know the Employer:
4. Practice, Practice, Practice:
Unit 8, Lesson 3: Completing a successful interview 1