No faking: Students learn real world interview skills in high school class

Published 12:11 am Wednesday, February 5, 2020

NATCHEZ — Natchez High School students spent Tuesday morning preparing for life after high school during mock interviews.

The mock interviews were assigned to students by their College and Career Readiness instructor, Chantal Marsaw, who utilized help from local volunteers and business leaders to conduct realistic job interviews for her students.

“I wanted to prepare them for real-world events,” Marsaw said. “This is their first experience like this in my class. We started out with interview questions in class. I created some questions and allowed the students to create their own questions and interview one another.”

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After guiding her students through their answers, Marsaw said she had them all create a resumé to use during the mock interviews Tuesday in the school library.

Seniors Terranishala Hannon and Endya Bynum said they were both able to take something away from the experience.

“This taught me how to prepare myself,” Hannon said. “I practiced at home and I watched some YouTube videos that taught me how to do a real interview and answer the questions.”

Bynum said she was already accustomed to job interviews before Tuesday’s lesson after getting a job at Sonic but learned more from building her resumé.

“It taught me how to make a resumé because I had no idea how,” Bynum said.

Vershaunda Ware-Norman of Ware Property Management said she felt it was her duty as a former Natchez High School student to help prepare other students for real-world job interviews.

“Natchez High School helped me get to the University of Kentucky in my junior year,” she said. “It is only right that I give back to those who helped me.”