Confident Voices: How Impromptu Interview and Chatham Honors Students Impressed Employers
Written by: Hannah Fischer, Student Assistant for Employer Engagement
Last year on November 14th 2023, Career Development Student Assistants Jackie Clark and Hannah Fischer created a new event called Impromptu Interview. This goal of this event was to humanize the interview process and create a comfortable environment where students could practice their interview skills with Chatham faculty or local Pittsburgh employers.
Impromptu Interview had several employers come to campus and helped students gain experience interviewing with professionals. Due to last year's event's success and positive feedback, Hannah knew she wanted to host this event again. This year Hannah took a little bit of a different spin on the event and specifically partnered with Chatham Honors Program.
Many of the students in the honors program are pursuing humanities-focused majors, which helped decide which employers to invite to Impromptu Interview. This year the office had the privilege of welcoming Terra Teets and Lisa Morse with Literacy Pittsburgh, and Erin Pace with Artists Image Resource (AIR) to campus! It was a pleasure having them and they helped make the event a huge success. Because of their commitment and dedication to partnering with Career Development, students were able to practice their interview skills, build professional networks, and receive critical feedback on responses to interview questions.
Hannah received wonderful feedback from the employers that attended and they were very impressed with the level of professionalism and skill that the honors students exhibited. Employers pointed out the student’s confidence, their diverse interests, and the fact that they spoke from the heart.
One employer specifically stated that the students “all seemed to have strong interviewing skills. My colleague and I agreed that the students we talked to seemed to be more confident interviewees than some long-time professionals in our field.” This comment truly sums up the level of skill Chatham students possess and highlights their abilities. Employers also advised students to be themselves, to not undersell their accomplishments, and to not be afraid to reach out!
A student shared their feedback about how helpful the event was, “Just the experience in general. Interviews are something you can really improve on with practice, so I'm grateful for this opportunity. There is only so many times I can practice with friends and family.”
Events such as Impromptu Interview are crucial to not only helping students build networks, and engage in professional development, but they help students to recognize their own potential and build well-deserved self-confidence. The Fall 2024 Impromptu Interview event was incredibly successful and it would not have been possible without the partnership with Dr. Allie Reznik and the Honors Program students, as well as Terra Teets, Lisa Morse, and Erin Pace. Our office sincerely thanks all of them for their collaboration with our office and look forward to partnering with them in the future.