Mock interviews using CAR statements

Today in section you'll discuss your recent assignment to Compose challenge-action-result statements. Here are some of the questions and activities your TA might suggest:

  • Which of the "top ten" skills that employers value did you find it most difficult to write a CAR statement for?  Why do you think that is?  What could you do to build experience in this area, either at UW or outside of UW?
    • What kinds of different areas of your life did you draw upon in finding examples for your CAR statements -- past summer jobs?  past classes?  family or community or religious activities?  recreational activities or hobbies?  Your TA may ask for examples and write a range of options on the board.  What areas of experience did other students draw upon, which you did not?  Would it be useful to "mine" those areas for CAR experiences?
    • Your TA may pair you up to use each other's CAR statements in a "mock interview" situation -- rephrasing each skill as a question, like "Tell me about a time when you showed the skill of X" -- in order to get practice talking about these challenges and connecting them to the strengths you identified in your assignment to Conduct a strengths analysis. Is it easy to come up with something to say (a small story to tell) about each of these CAR statements?  How is talking through your accomplishments in an interview situation different from writing them down as bullet points?  Which do you find easier?
    • The language of CAR statements help you connect your experiences and achievements to the needs of a particular job as expressed in their advertisement.  Check this out for yourself: Visit the UW-Madison Student Jobs board at https://studentjobs.wisc.edu and see if you can decode an interesting student job posting in terms of the skills it is asking for.  How would you write CAR statements that would support an application for this job?

    Remember, the advisers at SuccessWorks can offer great feedback on your CAR statements, and advice about how to work them into your resume or discuss them in a job interview.