Voorhees Middle School eighth graders get special lesson with mock job interviews
They’re only in eighth grade, and already some students at Voorhees Middle School have interviewed for their future careers — sort of.
As part of a new project run by teachers Marc Del Rossi and Stacey Tosadori, VMS students recently learned how to snag their dream job by creating cover letters and resumes for their future careers and learning how to dress for potential job interviews.
With resumes and letters in hard, those students then dressed in professional clothes on May 18 and 19 and presented their work to members of the community during mock interviews, where various volunteers grilled the students about their work history, skills and goals for the future.
According to Tosadori, students were able to pick their college of choice, past activities, mock work experience and more, and then members of the community were invited to help give students some practical, real-world experience.
“I think it’s important for them to have practice talking about their strengths and getting real-world experience, and it’s important for them to set goals and then come up with a plan to achieve those goals,” Tosadori said.
Tosadori said the project was helpful to students because anytime the students can practice something they’re going to have to do in their future, it means they’ll be better prepared for when that day inevitably arrives.
Tosadori said the experience might have even already benefited one student interested in a criminal analyst field who spoke with an actual criminal analyst during the mock interviews and learned of internships available at her company.
“There’s a student who might have an opportunity for a future internship based on this project, which is amazing,” Tosadori said.
Just some of professionals who helped conduct the mock interviews included an attorney, a professor from Rutgers University, a nurse, a psychologist and even a member of the U.S. Air Force.
Psychologist Carla Tinari said her advice to the students during her interviews was for them to make connections when they go to college or graduate programs and to go the extra step and do more than just what is asked of them.
“Get the internship, work on the grant, do all the grunt work that nobody else wants to do, because honestly, that’s the stuff that sets you apart from all the kids you sat in your lecture hall with,” Tinari said.
Nurse and business owner Mindy Dahan tried to prepare students for a tough job market by telling them to not only create themselves on paper but to also create themselves as a personality to help them stand out to interviewers.
“Their resumes looked awesome, and I think this is a really good thing for the kids to have to get them to really realize what it is to be prepared for the future,” Dahan said.
U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Jesse Arnstein also praised the work of the students and said one thing the students did particularly well was preparation, which he said can be rare when conducting certain interviews.
“I’ve been both an interviewer and interviewee continuously for the past 12 years or so, and they answered the questions and addressed the challenges as well as the adults I’ve spoken with,” Arnstein said.
