(Journal 21)

3 Questions I Might Ask During an Interview:

  1. How would you approach engaging with first-year students to understand their needs and convince them of the value of The Rolling Clouds handbook in their academic journey?
  2. In a hypothetical scenario where a student expresses skepticism about the handbook’s usefulness, how would you handle the situation and articulate the benefits effectively?
  3. Can you share an experience from your past where you successfully sold or promoted a product/service to a target audience, and how would you apply those skills to selling The Rolling Clouds handbook?

3 Big Moments Demonstrating My Value:

  1. Last summer, I worked for a moving and storage company.  After about a month of working there, I found myself as the man in charge of a crew of 4-5 movers to complete a job professionally and in a timely manner.  I was responsible for calling the customer to let her know when we would be arriving, answering any questions the customer might’ve had, filling out the paperwork correctly, as well as the actual moving of boxes and furniture, assembling anything that was needed, and placing certain items to the customer’s desire.  The job went extremely well as the crew received a 5-star rating review.
  2. After a tough first semester of college, my grades were almost to the point where I would be placed on academic probation from the basketball team.  In order to turn this problem around, my coach and I set up weekly meetings to review my attendance, upcoming due dates, and if I was keeping up with my assignments.  After a couple weeks of the next semester, I got myself into a routine that allowed me to get all my school work completed, get shots up, work out, and even socialize.  This demonstrates that I can collaborate with a higher up and develop good habits that benefit me individually as well as the team.
  3. When I was in high school, every summer from my freshman year til sophomore year of college, I would be a basketball camp counselor for kids from elementary school through 8th grade.  I was responsible for designing basketball games and drills to engage kids in fundamentals such as teamwork, discipline, and communication as well as ensuring their well-being and offering emotional support.  I developed leadership, coaching, instructional and communication skills helping oversee children, as well as getting involved with the community.

3 Questions an Interview Committee Might Ask Me:

  1. How do you plan to tailor your approach when promoting The Rolling Clouds handbook to students with diverse academic interests and backgrounds?
  2. Can you provide an example of a challenging sales situation you’ve faced in the past, and how did you overcome it?
  3. What strategies would you employ to stay informed about the evolving needs and concerns of first-year college students, ensuring their handbook remains relevant and valuable?

Potential Improvements for our Sample Job Description:

The use of “decision makers” could be refined to be more specific. Instead of targeting decision makers generally, specifying roles like university administrators, academic advisors, or relevant faculty members could ensure a more targeted and inclusive approach.  Specifying the types of software or tools relevant to the role could make the requirement more concrete and allow candidates to better understand the expectations.  A little thing that we could do to improve our job description could be specifying if the job will be a full-time or part-time position.  This will allow the candidates to decide if this job will bring in enough income for their current and future needs.