The Interview

Lesson Content

• Lesson Plan Template:

  CTE Lesson Plan

• CTE Course Info and Benchmark Notes

  
  

  Program Title (as applicable): N/A

  Course Title: Computer Applications in Business 2

  Course Number: 8200210

  Career Cluster: Business Management and Administration

  CIP Number: 05079999EX

  Course Type: Orientation/Exploratory

  Standard(s) or benchmarks

  • 05.13 : Demonstrate skills and appropriate dress/attire necessary for a successful job interview

• Unit Outline

  
  

  This lesson can be part of a unit focused on helping students seek out and obtain employment. The first few lessons could focus on creating a resume and cover letter. Next, students could focus on finding employment opportunities and filling out applications. This particular lesson can help students get ready for the interview process. Subsequent lessons can focus on common post-hiring paperwork and training.

• Career Connection

  
  

  Career connections that could be made all stem from pre-employment. The skills students would need in this lesson is interviewing for a job. This skill is relevant for students because almost every employer will have interviews for positions that are open. Another career connection that could be made is for the job of hiring manager. While this lesson does not focus on becoming a hiring manager it would be good for students to learn different aspects of a company. Students can also learn how to properly answer questions to create a complete answer instead of giving short and not thorough answers. While at work students will have to be able to answer their boss's questions.

• Learning Objectives

  
  

  Students will be able to:

  • Demonstrate the ability to engage in an interview.
  • Demonstrate oral communication skills for a successful job interview.

• Prior Knowledge

  
  

  Students should be familiar with/able to:

  • Communicating professionally with each other.
  • Verbal and nonverbal communication skills.

• Guiding Questions

  
  
  • How do job interviews that you see on TV differ from what you went through today?
  • if you were the hiring manager, would you hire yourself, why or why not?
  • What skills are businesses looking for when they interview a potential employee?
  • What does effective oral communication look/sound like during a job interview?

• Procedure

  
  
  1. To introduce the lesson, consider sharing a positive and/or negative experience from interviews you have been involved in or heard about.
  2. Instruct the students to pull out the interview questions they previously generated.
     • In the days leading up to the lesson, ask students to research 3 general job interview questions and what employers are looking for in a response.
  3. Students will practice their interviews by asking and answering the questions with a partner.
     • Students will need to have their 3 questions in hand alongside a checklist that is provided in the attachments. Partners will take turns asking and answering the 3 questions from their sheets. Students should exchange checklists before they begin so their partner can record feedback based on their responses to the 3 questions. After each response, students should discuss how the response compares to what employers are looking for in an answer to that type of question. After they complete a full round of 3 questions, they will return the checklist to its owner and find another partner. Students will repeat this process until there are about 10 minutes remaining in class.
     • Students in the class will also create a “comment sandwich” to give feedback. A comment sandwich consists of two positive comments with a constructive comment in the middle to make sure the student is getting effective feedback.
  4. To bring the lesson to a close, give general feedback based on things you heard during the interviews.
     • Refer back the first interviews you talked about and tell the students the outcome of the interviews and explain interviews can get you the job or lose them.
     • Have the students identify questions that came up time and time again or that they found interesting or unique.
     • Have students reflect on how presenting information orally in a logical sequence influenced how well a question was answered. Ask them to think about how key points were emphasized or not and how this affected the quality of the response.
     • Have students discuss nonverbal communication played an important role in the interview.
  5. Exit Ticket: Have students generalize some takeaways that may help them one day in a future interview.

• Teacher Notes

  
  
  • Before implementing this lesson, students should have pre-generated some general job interview questions. This can be through a homework task or an in-class research activity. Students will need these pre-generated questions for this lesson.
  • Consider conducting your own internet search for common job interview questions and quality responses. It may even be helpful to research common mistakes people make when they are being interviewed.

• Optional

  
  

  Formative Assessment Ideas:

  • Have students reflect on their own answers to the interview questions and consider whether they would hire someone who answered similarly.

  Summative Assessment Ideas:

  • Use the exit ticket as a summative assessment of student thinking.

  Extension Idea:

  • If you can, it could be useful to have a business leader in the area come and talk to the students about interview skills.
  • You could have students interview each other using an online video chat platform and record their interview. Then, you could play the interview for the class and have the class evaluate the quality of responses based on the logical presentation of information and professionalism of the individual being interviewed.