Mock Interview Reflection

     I believe that this assignment is an extremely beneficial and critical part of our curriculum, especially at this point in OT school. By preparing answers to common interview questions, I was given the opportunity to really reflect on the things I have learned about myself and the profession. It also allowed me to explore the areas that I have challenged myself and grown in during my time so far in OT school. I am able to process and reflect best when I write things down or journal, so I utilized this method primarily to prepare for the mock interview. Through my own personal reflection and through exploring resources that were posted for us to look at, I learned the importance of having goals and looking prospectively. Employers really do want to see that you are not desiring to remain stagnant as an OT practitioner. They commonly will ask about your professional goals for the next year or five years, or how you plan on continuing to be a life-long learner even after OT school. I also learned the importance of making connections as much as possible during the interview. For example, tie in your career goals with the position you are applying for, or tie in experiences that directly relate to the position you are applying for. Overall, I felt the interview went well, and I was pleased with how I had prepared. I felt more confident than I usually feel with interviews and I felt I articulated what I wanted to say. Something that went differently than I expected was the minimal amount of dialogue. I know it probably depends on the person conducting the interview, but I expected more conversation instead of my just firing away answers at different questions. While it was a little uncomfortable, this is something I will need to get used to, because not everyone that I will interview with will want to offer dialogue and feedback throughout the interview. One thing that I personally feel I did well at during my mock interview was plugging in leadership experience from the very first question. I was asked, "Tell me about yourself", and I had read that you should try to incorporate leadership roles or other aspects that may set you apart from other candidates along with personal things about you. That is an opportune question to really sell yourself as you may not get asked specifically what your strengths are or what leadership opportunities you have had. My interviewer noted that she liked that I brought up my leadership role with RKS within that first question I was asked. I feel I could have done better with answering questions about what type of supervision or team I prefer. This seemed at first like a simple question, but I really had not spent enough time exploring this question prior to my interview. I fumbled with my words a little bit as it hit me then that I really do not know at the current moment what qualities in a supervisor I want or what qualities I want my other rehab team members to have. I will reflect on this question more over the coming weeks, especially when Level 2 fieldwork starts as I will have more exposure to different team members and supervisors/fieldwork educators. An addition aspect of the interview I could have done better is explaining why I want to work for that specific company. It was a little challenging because the facilities we were applying for were fictional. However, I mostly talked about how I had experience in that certain setting, and I think I could have gone more in depth and included things such as my passions or goals that directly relate to that position, or how their mission lines up with what I want to accomplish an an OT. To accomplish this, I will do extensive research into the company before I interview and come prepared with how my goals and passions directly relate to the company I am applying for.