Thanks Careers Class
Target audience: High School students getting the effects of Careers class (maybe only my school's horrible careers program, maybe more)
Bias: Okay, I hate careers class because of my horrible teacher (you know me enough to know this isn't simply a naive statement) and it is evident in this article. But nonetheless, that isn't the purpose of the article... so still read on.
I have a problem with what we learn in our grade 10 careers class. This pretty much is where we are first introduced to "job interviews", and what we are taught is "Be formal. Give them perfect responses. Give a good impression..." Ok these tips all have merit, but their vagueness and oversimplistic statements just so wrong. For an average student, here's the response to these suggestions: "Ok, so to be formal I'll be quiet and do exactly what the interviewer says. I'll give perfect responses by bullshitting every answer and say what seems most 'ideal'. A good impression would be a suck-up laugh to anything they say. A ha ha!"
You can see where it goes wrong, right?
I have to admit, I've even been suckered by this mindset as well. The opinions stated above of the "average student" were pretty good at representing me as well. But now that I'm looking for a job and this learned knowledge comes in to application; I've realised it's gotten me nowhere.
Sure I've learned how to write a resume (a horrible resume nonetheless. They didn't teach me how to properly make a skills based resume for a summer job, which my sister had to tutor) but in terms of interviews it didn't do anything. It made me worse probably. So while asking my dad for tips regarding my resume and job interviews, he told me the reality of things:
Of course, how obvious was that? Yet we don't learn these things.
We're misguided with the idea from careers class that the point of an interview is strictly for the interviewer to see if you have the right answers. No. Absolutely not, there is more depth in an interview. The main purpose is for the interviewer to see who you are as a person, and how can he or she do so when all your responses are "ideal" and "bullshit" answers?
Your bullshit isn't worth the little treasures it may hold.
Don't be afraid to let them know who you are. Of course you should be more formal and more polite than when you are talking to friends, but at the same time you need to be as honest and as comfortable for them to even begin wanting to hire you. You're getting to know the interviewer for your job as much as he or she is getting to know you.
Now I could go on "bullshitting" about how careers class may be worthy of a class... but HA I wont. I wouldn't bullshit like that, because unlike what they taught us, I'd rather be honest and like myself. I honestly think that my careers class has ruiened it for many students who were victoms of it (that would be everyone at my school grade 10+). Thanks.
Bias: Okay, I hate careers class because of my horrible teacher (you know me enough to know this isn't simply a naive statement) and it is evident in this article. But nonetheless, that isn't the purpose of the article... so still read on.
I have a problem with what we learn in our grade 10 careers class. This pretty much is where we are first introduced to "job interviews", and what we are taught is "Be formal. Give them perfect responses. Give a good impression..." Ok these tips all have merit, but their vagueness and oversimplistic statements just so wrong. For an average student, here's the response to these suggestions: "Ok, so to be formal I'll be quiet and do exactly what the interviewer says. I'll give perfect responses by bullshitting every answer and say what seems most 'ideal'. A good impression would be a suck-up laugh to anything they say. A ha ha!"
You can see where it goes wrong, right?
I have to admit, I've even been suckered by this mindset as well. The opinions stated above of the "average student" were pretty good at representing me as well. But now that I'm looking for a job and this learned knowledge comes in to application; I've realised it's gotten me nowhere.
Sure I've learned how to write a resume (a horrible resume nonetheless. They didn't teach me how to properly make a skills based resume for a summer job, which my sister had to tutor) but in terms of interviews it didn't do anything. It made me worse probably. So while asking my dad for tips regarding my resume and job interviews, he told me the reality of things:
The purpose of an interview are for two things: to let the employer get to know who you are and if you're what they need, and also for you to get to know the employer to see if you want to work for them.
Of course, how obvious was that? Yet we don't learn these things.
We're misguided with the idea from careers class that the point of an interview is strictly for the interviewer to see if you have the right answers. No. Absolutely not, there is more depth in an interview. The main purpose is for the interviewer to see who you are as a person, and how can he or she do so when all your responses are "ideal" and "bullshit" answers?
Your bullshit isn't worth the little treasures it may hold.
Don't be afraid to let them know who you are. Of course you should be more formal and more polite than when you are talking to friends, but at the same time you need to be as honest and as comfortable for them to even begin wanting to hire you. You're getting to know the interviewer for your job as much as he or she is getting to know you.
Now I could go on "bullshitting" about how careers class may be worthy of a class... but HA I wont. I wouldn't bullshit like that, because unlike what they taught us, I'd rather be honest and like myself. I honestly think that my careers class has ruiened it for many students who were victoms of it (that would be everyone at my school grade 10+). Thanks.
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