Why You Should Apply Interview Questions to Your Studies

By Jessica Stasiw
Editor, In Military Education

This article originally appeared on our fellow APUS blog, Online Learning Tips.

As you move through your degree or certificate program you should be creating a portfolio of your work. It is important to start while you study, and build as you make new contacts and learn new practical skills. One of the ways to keep yourself on track is through asking a few simple questions as you develop your career skills, and career knowledge.

A great way to get started is by rooting through old interview questions you may have experienced in the past. If you haven’t been on an interview in a while I have some questions below that can get you started.

1. Can you describe a time when your work was criticized?
2. What assignment was too difficult for you, and how did you resolve the issue?
3. How do you want to improve yourself in the next year?
4. What’s the most difficult decision you’ve made in the last two years and how did you come to that decision?
5. What is your personal mission statement?

One day you will be quizzed on these questions, but for now use them as a reference. Look at your responses from your professor, what areas were you told to work on? What are your weaknesses within your major? Do you have a personal mission statement? A personal mission statement can be held to a body of work, a lifelong dream, or a career aspiration. This will give you something to strive for, and will show a potential employer how serious you are about what you do. As for your other responses try answering them in relation to the classes you’re struggling with. If you need more guidance to course correct then reach out to your professor for more context, or get in touch with your advising department and ask them for help in finding a tutor or a mentor.

Getting an education can be your training grounds for the real world. In many cases your professors are practitioners that practice what they preach, giving you further insight into what is expected in the industry. Give yourself some lead time by reviewing these questions a few times a year to keep your ideas, and inspiration, fresh.