Plains students get job interview test run

Plains High School held its "mock interview" curriculum to help students get a jump on jobs after high school. The program must be working because Justin Richards of Rehbein Transportation Incorporated gave out three applications to students of the mock interviews.

It was all part of Business Essentials, a class that helps prepare seniors for applying for work once they graduate. A dozen local business men and women volunteered their time last Monday in the school's gymnasium to provide a realistic job application experience to 10 boys and two girls. Each of the volunteers performed four interviews, which took nearly two hours. The mock interviews used to be a part of the Jobs For Montana Graduates program, which merged with Business Essentials last year, but JMG is no longer offered and Business Essentials took over the entire program with Kati Mitchell running the operation.

"They did a great job and would be very prepared for an interview in their future," said Mitchell, who has participated with the program for six years. The practice interviews began when JMG began at Plains High School in the 1990s to help students get realistic pointers when seeking employment after graduation. Mitchell taught Business Essentials for five years before taking over JMG last year. The class was designed to improve their employment success rate by learning such things as professionalism, on-the-job ethics, initiative, manners, and even a proper introductory handshake.

Lola-Grace Rodriguez got the best grade for the night, taking 77 out of 80 maximum points. Rodriguez's first practice for the evening was with Shelby Zenahlik, an emergency room nurse at Clark Fork Valley Hospital, where Rodriguez has been working as a certified nursing aide since January. "I stole her from Quinn's and now we have her," said Zenahlik.

Rodriguez wasn't the only student that already had a job with one of the interviewers that night. Kasey Craft of the Forest Service in Plains said that Will Tatum had already gone through the interview process with the Plains-Thompson Falls Ranger District and will be a seasonal firefighter.

It was the first time for nearly all of the volunteer interviewers. Only Joel Collett, owner of Studs Building and Home, and Jesse Jermyn, the school's chief maintenance staffer, had participated in the mock interviews in the past.

Each interview was 30 minutes long. The students had to find one "potential employer" on their own and Mitchell chose which additional three the students would interview with. The teacher selected the other three to take the students out of their comfort zone and make the interview more challenging. The students were graded on several things, such as their cover letter, resume, poise, dress, skill presentation, delivery, language, and leadership qualities. The interviewers also gave the students a one-on-one critique after each of the sessions. They also received written comments in class the next day.

Students with 18-20 points received a "You're Hired" stamp of approval. "We're Considering You" went to those with 15-17 points. Between 12-14 points got them a "We Might Have Hired You, But..." tag, and "Don't Call Us, We'll Call You" was for those with 11 points and below.

"I would have hired two of them tonight. They knocked it out of the park," said Marcie Halden, who runs the school's daycare center, but is moving after this school year. Doran VonHeeder, interviewing for an excavator and paver, was impressed with his interviewees, as were Matt Fields of Wild Horse Electrical and Ben Miller, who was looking for a lineman for NorthWestern Energy.

Kyle Weeks of Riverside Construction was unable to get there, but conducted phone interviews with the students. Pilot Randy Garrison couldn't make it because of a schedule conflict, which prompted Mitchell to fill in. "I just asked pilot related questions, but they did well," said Mitchell, who provided the interviewers with questions, although Richards added his own questions to the mix.

Collett, who has owned Studs for 10 years, also felt that the students he interviewed did well. He was interviewing for someone in sales or in the lumber or saw shop. "I think this is very important and I think interviewing is a skill learned through practice," he said. "This is a great thing they have here to let their kiddos practice," said Halden.

Mitchell said the mock interviews help them build their career skills by guiding them toward student driven tasks. "This will help them by giving them a pathway to employability skills, leadership development, social and civic responsibility, and career awareness," she said. The average grade for the interviews was a B. Mitchell believes the mock interviewees will have a better chance of landing a job. Several of her students got summer jobs because of how well they did in the school's mock interviews.

"To me their biggest strengths were being able to think on their toes with weird questions we haven't been practicing all year and being able to build a professional resume/cover letter. Sometimes when they get nervous they rush through things," said Mitchell.

The teacher also noted that the volunteers were a big help with the program. "It is amazing that such great community members take time out of their busy schedules to help our students become better for the future," said Mitchell.

"Again, this doesn't just benefit our kids, but also allows the interviewers to know about possible kids coming into the workforce soon."