Today’s Class: December 9, 2016
Today’s guest was Nan Quinlan.
Nan was the Director of Training and Development at a large, international company located in Cranston, RI called TACO, Inc. Nan has been coming to the Hope Life Skills class for over 10 years teaching job interviewing skills and resume writing. Nan is presently a senior career consultant at a management consulting company called Transition Solutions. Please check Nan’s Linked In page for more information about her career.
We had two hosts for today’s class, Aimon Foreman and Gerardo Castenada.
Aimon welcomed Nan to Hope High School prior to the beginning of class. Aimon then introduced Nan to Gerardo who introduced Nan to the Hope Life Skills class.
Aimon (right) Nan (center) and Gerardo in the corridor after introductions and greetings before class.
Gerard and Aimon escort Nan into the classroom after their pre-class greetings and introduction.
Gerardo introduces Nan to the entire Hope Life Skills class to begin today’s program.
Ingris Izaguirre Maradiaga welcomes Nan to Hope Life Skills following Gerardo’s introduction. Mohamadou Mbaye, Imani Turner and Ralph Waite await their turn to do the same.
Our mission for today’s class was preparing students for successful job interviews.
Nan began the class introducing and explaining some of the fundamental preparations for job, internship, or college admissions interviews like researching the company or school you are hoping to get the job or internship or acceptance and the appropriate clothes to wear for the interview. Students then asked Nan about these preparations.
- Nan answers student questions about preparing for job interviews.
The class then transitioned to role playing a job interview,
from walking in the door of the company and greeting the receptionist (also called The Director of First Impressions) to actually being interviewed for a hypothetical job working as
a customer service specialist with Providence’s International Tourism Agency.
Marisleysis Contreras volunteered to role play a job applicant. Marisleysis begins by entering the hypothetical office of Providence’s Tourism Agency to be greeted by receptionist, Mohamadou Mbaye.
Mohamadou escorted Marisleysis into Nan’s hypothetical office at Providence’s Tourism Agency. Marisleysis greets Nan prior to the start of the interview. You notice Marisleysis’ great eye contact and firm handshake during the greeting. What you don’t see is Marisleyis’ wonderful smile and “it’s nice to meet you” greeting to Nan.
The job interview. Notice Marisleysis’s perfect posture and eye contact with Nan during the interview.
Sara Jackson also volunteered to be a job applicant today. Notice Sara’s eye contact during the interview. Perfect! What you don’t see is the passion and enthusiasm Sara brought to her conversation with Nan. You could tell Sara wanted the job! Sara also displayed confidence when she asked Nan “I don’t understand your question; could you please rephrase it for me?……thank you.”
Sara introducing herself to the Director of First Impressions, Mohamadou, at the Providence Tourism Agency and informing Mohamadou of her scheduled job interview with Nan Quinlan. You can see receptionist, Mohamadou, calling Nan in her office to announce Sara’s arrival.
Yael Torres‘ impressive interview with Nan. Yael made sure during the interview Nan knew he was bilingual. For this tourism customer service position, his bilingual capabilities gave him an advantage over other applicants. Yael also explained his leadership responsibilities while in the ROTC program at Hope High School. And, finally, Nan observed “you have a great smile. You seem a very positive person. We like this personality trait at our agency!”
After the role playing activities, the class concluded. Many students made a point of
networking with Nan. Business cards were given to Nan in the hope Nan would be part of their network.
One never knows when a wonderful internship or job opportunity becomes available and Nan could offer invaluable advice for getting the job or internship.
Aimon reconnects with Nan at the end of class to offer Nan her business card.
I learned that preparing for an interview is very important. The things you might think are not important actually are in the interview; little things do matter. For instance, the way you present yourself, how you act, speak, your body language and dress are important. You should also do research about the company or organization before you go to the interview and expect a job.