I attended GRF Seema’s seminar on interview preparation hoping to learn some new tips to relieve my anxiety when it comes to interviews. I, like most people, do not look forward to interviews at all because of the pressure that every question puts on me. I have trouble thinking of answers on the spot and it is extremely difficult to try and cater my responses to what the interviewer would look positively on. Over the past few years, I’ve gone rounds of interviews for college selection, job application, and internship possibilities. Through each and every interview, I’ve learned at least one thing that I could work on for the next interview. And although my fear of interviews has not gotten that much better over the years, I would like to think that my overall performance is significantly stronger over the recent interviews than the first.

I had reflected on a couple of interviews that I had been on and applied GRF Seema’s ideas with my past experiences. My first ever interview was about 3 years ago during my junior year of high school. The interview was going relatively well until the interviewer had asked me a question that I simply blanked on. I could not think of an answer and there was an awkward silence for about a minute and it was the most excruciating silence ever. After I had given an offhand response, my morale had sunk. I believed that the interview had ended at that moment and it was obvious to the interviewer with my change of attitude. GRF Seema told us to not think so hard about the mistakes that we make during an interview. Perhaps if I had ignored the mistake totally after the question had passed, the interview may have gone so much better.

A more recent interview I had gone was during the last summer for a highly intensive and competitive marketing internship in New York City. The process was composed of three interviews with the first and third being relatively short and straight to the point. The second interview was an extremely tough challenge, with the interviewer asking us questions tailored to critical thinking in the marketing world while completing certain tasks. Coming from a very weak background in marketing, the interview pushed me to my limits. The interview lasted about six hours and had a lot of downtime in between. I made sure to leave a good impression with my interviewer and keep casual conversation to let him know that I am personable, a trait extremely important in marketing. GRF Seema emphasized to keep a certain professional and casual relationship with the interviewer depending on the situation. I recalled my second interview during this and will know to keep this strategy going on in the future.