This experiment has brought together EHL Master Students in the role of interviewers, and second-year Bachelor students in the role of job applicants.

Everybody involved in the experiment had to commit to a lot of preparation. Everybody also had to agree to be observed, whether as interviewers or interviewees, and receive some very candid feedback. Many found that it is not easy to be watched. Yet all agreed that this slightly uncomfortable experience was really worth it in the end.

Why learn to interview?
This year’s Master students are nearing the end of their studies. They are learning to prepare for job interviews as, armed with their new qualifications, they set out to fast-track their previous careers or launch into a new field. They are also preparing for the many jobs – in Human Resources and elsewhere – that will require them to interview others. Thus the idea was born that interviewing and being interviewed are two sides of the same question: the more you learn about one, the more you learn about the other.

The Master students followed a fairly gruelling preparation programme, led by faculty and outside experts. They learned how to ask – and to deal with – probing questions that can put pressure on job candidates and throw them off balance. They learned that it was often not the content of the question that is important, or even their answer: often, what interviewers are looking for is the strategy a candidate finds to deal with difficulties and wriggle elegantly out of a sticky situation.

Students help students
The interviewing exercise was also in line with the firm convictions of all those who work in the Career Centre: by helping and interacting with each other, students learn far more than they do in isolation – and they learn to test out their knowledge in contact with real people.