Talking to Recruiter on Campus:

Last week Ernst & Young had a carnival going on at the School of Management building, follow by a information session. The event was a great opportunity for students to network with recruiters and learn more about the firm. However, since the firm is very well known the event was very crowded. After waiting for about half an hour, I got the chance to talk to the recruiter about some summer programs.

At the moment I had to think about what I was going to say about myself and what am I going to ask her about the firm. In order to sound intelligent and respectable, I had to do the proper research about the firm. In addition to that I also took note of her non-verbal communication cues to, like her posture and facial expressions. It was very cool to interact with her with my new knowledge from the class.

Phone Interviews:

I had a phone interview about three months ago that did not go too well. I think it was very difficult because there were only verbal communication cues. It was hard to know when to talk, we spoke over each other a lot. This is why I don’t think phone interview is a good way to assess candidates. Skype is much better because you see and hear the other person. I have never had a Skype interview but it would be interesting to try. I wonder why employers use phone interviews because I really do not think they are good.

How did these help me improve?

Without experience we will never improve. After experiencing those events I feel more confident in my communication abilities. I hope other students have the chance to meet recruiters and have interviews while in school, so when they graduate they would be much more experienced and feel more confident when talking to professionals. It had helped me because now I am not as nervous while talking to recruiters, and know what are things that I should say and ask. Besides verbal communication I also improved on my postures and facial expressions while communicating with the professionals.