Mock Interview Fair to Feature Professional Guidance, Headshots and More

The College of Professional Programs and the Career Center are hosting a Mock Interview Fair to give Eastern students an opportunity to practice their interviewing skills with professionals from various industries.

The annual fair, now in its second year, will be held from 4 to 6:45 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 22, in the PUB NCR. The fair is open to both undergraduates and graduate students in all fields of study.

Aly Rode, student services administrator for CPP, is the event’s organizer. She says the fair will feature six 18-minute rotations during which students can sit down with any of the 10 professionals conducting interviews.

“At each station there will be a different professional providing a different type of interview question,” Rode says. “Students can bring their friends, so there will be seats for three at each station, and they’ll get their feedback in turn.”

Local professionals volunteering this year include:

Mike Syron, principal at Wilson Elementary School, Spokane Public Schools
Erin Marini, associate controller of operations at Eastern Washington University
Ben Bledsoe, talent acquisition specialist in HR at Enterprise Mobility
Shari Bolander, retired elementary educator from Moses Lake School District
Tom Fox, retired computer scientist from Boeing and Amazon
Juliet Hochheiser, program specialist in the School of Business at EWU
Mary Savage, philanthropy officer at the Anna Shindler Foundation
Karen Klein, customer experience manager at Vitalant
Mandy Carstensen, mortgage advisor at Q Home Loans
Mike Bolander, retired human resources and operations management professional from Nestle and Columbia Colstor

Organizers say this fall’s fair continues to evolve, with slight pivots based on feedback from some of the 60 students who attended last year’s event. This year, for instance, the Dean Team and campus partners recruited twice as many professional volunteers to increase capacity and reduce wait times.

Wait times notwithstanding, Rode says student participants last year noted that they had a positive experience at the fair. Participants said the fair was helpful because, previous to attending the event, most had limited experience with in-person, professional interviews — interviews that require a greater degree of interpersonal engagement.

At the end of the evening, Rode says she hopes students will have a greater sense of confidence in such interviews, and be better prepared to highlight their skills, accomplishments, and career goals.

“I want them to walk away feeling like they can communicate with a professional, someone they’ve never met before, go to a networking event on campus or off campus, and feel okay going and introducing themselves,” Rode says.

The Mock Interview Fair will offer the following:

Practice interviews with experienced professionals from 4 to 6 p.m.
Networking with professionals from 6 to 6:45 p.m.
Free LinkedIn photos taken by a professional photographer
Debriefing with Career Center advisors who will direct students to helpful resources
Free food and beverages
Participation-based raffle passports for entry into a drawing for five Stanley Quenchers and numerous coffee gift cards (Students who receive three participation stickers are eligible and must be present at the 6 p.m. drawing to win.)

Students are encouraged to register on EagleSync.