A new online interview and resume-building service will soon be available to students and alumni.

The Office of Career Services is preparing to integrate Big Interview, an online tool that assists with job interviews for all students and alumni entering the job market. The site offers a step-by-step system in which students can record themselves in a mock interview. A series of common interview questions for several different industries are available to assist students.

A series of videos and learning modules are also available to help students feel fully prepared for an interview.

Kim Readlinger, career counselor, explained that OCS decided to integrate this service after receiving recommendations from other universities.

“Well, after doing research, this program came highly recommended through our National Association of Colleges and Employers,” said Readlinger. “Universities were telling us that students were really liking it. With our transition to Handshake from LionHire, Handshake does not have an interview component, while LionHire did. We did not want to take that away and provide students with a replacement.”

Readlinger explained that OCS plans to utilize the new service in many different ways and that there are plans to collaborate with other departments and on-campus organizations.

“Individual appointments will utilize it,” shared Readlinger. “People who contact our office will be able to use it online. Distance learning students can utilize it. We also plan to work with the career planning instructors because they often give an interview assignment to their classes to practice interviewing. Basically, any student will be able to use this system if they need practice with their interviewing skills.”

Readlinger also elaborated on how the mock interviews will work on the new service.

“You log into the system and create an account,” explained Readlinger. “You need a webcam and microphone on your computer. Once you log in, it will give you tips and videos to review first before you get started. So, there are video lessons and then you are able to practice. You can select the interview questions that you want to be asked, and you can actually record yourself on your own computer answering the questions.”

The recorded interviews will be viewed by career counselors at OCS, professors or instructors so that feedback can be given to the student.

One of the biggest advantages of this new service, according to Readlinger, is that it gives students far more opportunities to practice.

“This is a user-friendly system, and it is very easy to use,” said Readlinger. “It is something that I know our instructors are excited for. It is easy, and it is fun too. Interviews can be stressful, and we have lots of anxiety when it comes to interviewing someone, so this is more practice just to help ease that.”

Readlinger believes that students will benefit greatly from all of the programs that are contained within the service. Integration with Big Interview has not been fully completed. The OCS will inform students once the program becomes available.