When a team of researchers asked over 1,000 adults, “how do you feel about job interviews?”, 92% said they dread being interviewed.
Now imagine being an adolescent or young adult, faced with a high-stakes school, university, or internship interview. Not only do our children experience the same fears of tongue-tie, jitters, and memory blanks that adults experience – their minds also race with worries, including:
“What if I let my parents down?”
“What if I forget my algebra?”
Or “What if my language skills aren’t good enough?”
It is no surprise then that interviews can feel like a make-or-break event for our children. The good news is, there is a lot we can do as teachers, parents, and guardians to support your child through interviews – so they can show off their true, talent-filled colours when the big day arrives.
For example, one of the core reasons why we feel nervous about interviews is because we fear the unknown, and that is why pre-interview preparation is so important. Starting with:
Understanding what the interviewer is looking for
For many schools, universities, and companies, interviews are designed to assess your academic understanding, growth potential, and strength of character. So, interviewers are likely to ask what attracted you to them, what subjects you are particularly interested in, and what your outside interests are.
They may also ask you to describe scenarios where you have displayed particular values or character traits. So encourage your child to consider some examples ahead of time, so that they have a bank of stories they can tell.
Researching the interviewing organisation
While we do not recommend spending weeks learning the entire 450-year history of your interviewing organisation, we do recommend researching some of its background, culture, and key members of staff.
This will help your child prepare for the likely tone of their interview, as well as demonstrating a keenness to join the community
Practising expanding on their answers
Many years ago, during my GCSE exams, I remember one student sitting silently through her entire French speaking exam. For 20 minutes, our French teacher posed question after question and received nothing in reply.
I can only imagine how agonising those minutes were for the poor student and teacher. And it is a story I often tell my own children when explaining the importance of offering expansive answers during interviews. Why?
Because we want to make the interviewer’s job as easy as possible – by openly revealing our personality, our likes, and our dislikes.
So encourage your child to practise offering thoughtful, full-sentence answers, instead of short, one-word responses.
Planning your journey to interview
In order to make the best possible first impression, your child should aim to arrive for their interview on time (or – even better – several minutes early). Doing so will allow them to settle their nerves and begin their interview in a relaxed state.
So please plan your pre-interview travel in advance, as well as checking for potential travel disruptions. In case, for any reason, your child is running late, provide them with a contact phone number so that they can notify their interviewer.
Preparing 2-3 questions to ask the interviewer
Interviewers are often keen to see if your child shows enthusiasm for their school, university or company, and one of the best ways to demonstrate this is by asking thoughtful questions.
This shows the interviewer that your child has a genuine desire to contribute and make the best of their opportunity. But please avoid asking direct questions like, “have I been selected?”
We advise preparing 2-3 questions about how their life might look, what the organisational culture is like, and what opportunities there are for future growth.
Being comfortable not knowing all the answers
A final way to prepare your child before their interview is to reassure them that they do not need to know all the answers. In fact, interviewers look favourably on students who display honesty, humility, and the courage to admit to knowledge gaps.
In addition, if your child faces a question they do not know the answer to, they can use it as an opportunity to show their curiosity, by asking a follow-up question.
What Rugby School Japan looks for during interviews
If you have recently applied, or if you are thinking of applying to Rugby School Japan, here is a brief summary of what we are looking for during our interview process, from our Deputy Principal, Simon Palferman:
“When we meet prospective students, we are looking for both aptitude – the ability to thrive in an academic and ambitious environment – and attitude – the appetite to take advantage of the many opportunities here.
“Rugby School Japan is dedicated to holistic education, and the development of the whole person. Through our academic and co-curricular programmes, as well as the immersive boarding house structure of the school, we provide a rich, varied and inspiring educational experience for pupils.
So, we are looking for evidence of the curiosity and aspiration required for making the most of what RSJ has to offer.”
And remember…
“Admissions interviews are not supposed to be nerve racking or uncomfortable. We hope to see pupils at their relaxed best, and successful candidates are able to discuss their motivations for wishing to join the School, their academic drive, and their extra-curricular interests. We are also looking for pupils who are likely to contribute to our School’s culture and embrace our values of kindness, respect, integrity and aspiration.”
If you would like to know more about our application process, or to submit an application to join Rugby School Japan please click the button below:
