This week at Girls Inc. was busy – background checks, site tour, curriculum prep, mock interview prep, college speed dating, and resume workshops – with numerous “icebreaker” activities in between. I will write about the latter three – activities that truly depended on our skills to improvise, learn on the job, and learn quickly, because we basically were thrown into them.
Girls Inc. was holding a program for rising high school juniors to learn financial literacy, write their resumes, and learn interview skills that culminated in a mock job interview. Our job was to help out with interview prep – and that was all we were told. I was a bit apprehensive going into this because of the lack of specifics, and my lack of confidence in my own interview skills. If anything, I felt that I could use an interview prep class or two – let alone being able to help some high school girls with interviewing skills. After having 30 minutes beforehand to prepare and answering the girls’ questions about interviewing, as well as looking at the provided information sheet on interview skills, I learned three things – one, that being honest and confident about your own skills and abilities is key; two, that I should consider taking some interview prep classes; and three, the girls look to and trust me as an authority on information and experience.
And to that latter point I kept coming back to over and over, when I gave advice about resume formatting and content, when I spoke about college applications and options, and when I talked about college life and campus culture. To the girls we are adults, with experiences, skills, and knowledge years beyond them; we are professionals, with wisdom, authority and privilege that are not available to them; and we are staff, whose actions, words, and guidance they can trust and rely on.
May I never break that privilege.