Need a job interview practice activity to help your high school students master interview skills?
Several years ago, I taught a personal finance class for high school seniors – many of whom were starting to look for their first job. One morning, a student mentioned that she had a job interview that afternoon. When I asked if she was prepared, she just stared at me and asked, ‘How would you even prepare for an interview?”
I knew we had some work to do.
This is one of those skills that often gets overlooked because it’s not part of any core curriculum or set of standards, yet it is so needed.
Ideas for Practicing Interview Skills with Your Students
You’ll need some common interview questions. I use a set of questions that I’ve typed up and put on task cards. The back of each card has tips for answering each question. I also use a second set of cards with potential job options for high school students, allowing them to answer each question with a specific job in mind.
Ideas for using the task cards in your classroom:
- Speed Dating: I start by giving each student a job card. They’ll hang on to this job card for the entire activity. Then I give each student a question card. They meet with a partner and practice asking and answering the questions on their cards as if they are interviewing for the job on their job card. Once finished, they trade question cards and look for a new partner. They’ll repeat this process until you say the time is up.
- Writing Activity: If you download my set of task cards (see below), I’ve also included a worksheet for students to answer two interview questions in writing. Sometimes, this works best as students’ first attempt at answering questions because they’ll have more time to think about how they’re responding when they’re writing.
- Class Interview: I set up a table at the front of the room with two chairs. I put the job cards and question cards out on the table. Students are called up one by one and draw one card from each set. I ask them the interview question, and they respond in front of the class. This one works better for small classes.
Want to use my set of cards?
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Other Job Skills to Discuss
Besides interviewing, consider practicing handshaking (shockingly, some of my students had never shaken hands with anyone before). Professional dress is another great conversation to have.
It’s also helpful to teach students how to search for potential jobs online. I have another free activity for skill that you can download in my store. You can grab the free job search activity here.
