Final Steps: In Reflections and In Interviews

The content for this past week all had to do with things coming to an end. From completing a portfolio, in order to graduate, compiled with a number of things that I have done over my time at WT to learning about the best way to end an interview. This past week has been a form of a "final step" for me as I will soon be graduating from school and beginning a career.

I learned a number of things this past week. Beginning with my portfolio, I am happy that I got the chance to look back on everything I have accomplished. This assignment allowed me to reflect on my progress and my growth over the years and I was glad to learn that all of my hard work has been paying off. Not only that, but as I worked on my portfolio, it was interesting to learn about how to best present myself and my work to others in order for me to best stand out and get the job. I enjoyed learning more about using all of LinkedIn's features in order to make my profile as best as it can be. I worked tediously in selecting the best projects to showcase and in making my profile stand out, so I can only hope that I was successful.

The other half of this week's class content had to do with ending interviews which I really enjoyed learning about since it is a part of the interview process that is often overlooked. Deniz Sasal's Youtube video, "What To Say At The End of A Job Interview? (How To End The Interview)" is a quick video that gets to the point and provides many ways one can end an interview. He provides questions one can ask and even provides an opportunity that can help an interviewee gain extra points. Some of the best questions he provides has to do with asking about timelines, which in my opinion is the perfect way to smoothly transition the interview to end. These questions include: "May I ask what the next steps are?" or even "Do you mind if I follow up with you?" Another set of questions Sasal provides creates an opportunity for one to make an impression and create reciprocity. "Is there anything I can do even before I join?" This sort of question can help prove one's expertise and smoothly end the interview.

Sasal's video was only one of the three videos that were provided for this week's lesson in class. The content from this video stood out the most to me due to its simplicity. Sasal is honest and gets to the point and provides questions that anyone, including someone as awkward as me, can easily ask. Since I will soon be graduating and will soon be in the interview process, I will make sure to put some of these questions to test.

All the knowledge I gained from reflecting, making the most of using LinkedIn's features, and learning about how to best end interviews, only contributes to the number of things I have learned about in this class. The more I have learned, the more I feel prepared to face my future and start a career.