Mastering Preparation

“Miss Hannah Wasson, we are ready to see you”.

Just like that, in a few words, my peers had become my interviewing panel. Their once friendly faces now peered at me with straight, stern looks, curious to find out how well I had prepared.

“Excellence is not an art. It is the habit of practice.”

– Aristotle

Using Discrolls mode of reflection, I will discuss just how well I mastered my preparation.

What?

My stimulated interview was for a place on the MSC Music Therapy course I have applied for at Edinburgh Queen Margaret University. After uploading the information I had received about this all so real interview, I began to prepare for my fake one! It has been a stressful few weeks on the run up to my actual interview and so I was very grateful to be allowed a practice run through with my peers.

Nevertheless, my mind was treating this scenario like the real deal. As I sat down opposite my peers I noticed a tremble in my hand, it’s strange how anxious we can make ourselves over even fake scenarios. I didn’t want to appear stupid on a topic I was meant to know so well, it felt like I was in the chair of Mastermind!

“Anxiety and fear are cousins but not twins. Fear sees a threat. Anxiety imagines one.”

– Max Lucado

Nervously I smoothed out my skirt, giving my carefully selected interview outfit of a denim skirt and a turtleneck jumper a look over, I smiled and prepared myself for the inquisition!

The first question I was asked was about what experience I had in my chosen career path so far. This allowed me to give lots of detail on my work placement with Every Day Harmony. I was able to describe my observations in a way my peers described as passionately and enthusiastically. Unfortunately, here I do not think I expanded on everything I’d done as well as I could. I missed out on an opportunity to speak about the music based activities I led at a local down syndrome group back home. My group picked up on this in my feedback and gave me the advice of really making sure I ‘sold myself’.

“The price you will offer yourself to the world is how much they will buy you.”

– Lalia Gifty Akita

So What?

‘Selling yourself” is an interesting term. What does it really mean? When I think of selling an item on my depop shop I want to advertise it as the best possible item on the market, I want to convince my customers that although the jeans I’m selling might be a little bit more expensive than others on the market, mine are the best quality. When selling something we often think of its USP, Unique Selling Point, what makes it stand out from other similar items. As slightly immoral as it sounds, I think ‘selling yourself’ at an interview is similar, we need to put across not only how we fit the role advertised but also what unique qualities and skills we have that make us stand out from the other candidates. According to Indeed, ‘selling yourself’ is all about consistently presenting yourself as the best candidate for the role. Whether this be by aligning yourself continually with the company needs or by showing enthusiasm and passion for the role. (Indeed Editorial Team (2021))

Looking back at how my practice interview went, another part that stuck out to me was my feedback on the more academic questions I was asked. Here, my peers encouraged me to expand on research I had done in the music therapy field and the feedback I got from these questions was all incredibly positive. I, myself, however, was not so positive about the way I answered the questions. I felt like I panicked in the spotlight, rambled a little in my answers and was not as specific with my references as I had been in practice. When expressing this to my peers they were shocked, convincing me that they had believed I was calm and confident in all that I had said. This is perhaps where my music performance experience comes in handy, being used to performing and presenting myself to others has given me good experience in ‘bluffing’ confidence. An interesting thing to consider. Nevertheless, this doubt in my ability also could have simply been me overanalysing and being too ‘tough’ on myself.

“Don’t be too hard on yourself, there are plenty of people willing to do that for you.”

– Susan Gale

Now What?

In an overall summary of how I think my interview went, I will use the “reflective strategy” of two stars and a wish! (Link, L. (2020)). As my first star, I am proud of how I presented myself. Physically, in terms of posture and outward appearance, I held myself with confidence. However, I was pulled up on my denim skirt, and can now say all denim has been eliminated from my potential interview wardrobe!

As my second star, I want to discuss how I am also proud of how I presented myself academically, agreeing that although I did not speak at the perhaps all too high standard I hold myself to, I did not embarrass myself and covered the academic questions quite well with my peers giving my answer content a 5/5. They commented on how I talked about some of the university lecturers research, liking how I had made my answers personal. This is something I intend to implement further in my real interview!

As a wish, I want to learn from this experience and not be afraid to indulge myself in conversation about the relevant experience I have for the role. This is something I should be proud of and not afraid to boast about a little ensured in a relevant context. I think in Northern Ireland in particular, we have a culture of self depreciation and are scared to boast about our accomplishments but in the words of Muhammad Ali “it’s not bragging if you can back it up”.

Bibliography:

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• A quote by Lailah Gifty akita (no date) Goodreads. Goodreads. Available at: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/1400756-the-price-you-will-offer-yourself-to-theworld-is (Accessed: February 24, 2023).
• A quote by Susan Gale (no date) Goodreads. Goodreads. Available at: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/10252735-don-t-be-too-hard-on-yourselfthereare-plenty-of (Accessed: February 24, 2023).
• Indeed – crunchbase company profile & funding (no date) Crunchbase. Available at:https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/indeed (Accessed: February 22, 2023).
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