Career Services is hosting a mock interview workshop featuring visiting employers, human resource professionals and alumni from the area for students to attend Tuesday.

With this workshop, students learn professional communication skills, ways to present themselves in a positive and confident way, methods to help themselves organize their thoughts to avoid rambling and ways to answer their questions as professional and composed as possible, said John Marr, career adviser for Career Services.

The workshop will be held from 9 a.m. until 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. until 4 p.m. in the Human Services Building.

Career Services director Bobbi Kingery said strong interview skills are very important in the professional world.

Besides a resume, a student’s interview is the first impression they make on a possible employer; therefore, being able to have a strong sense of professionalism and being prepared for the questions the interviewer may ask is crucial, she said.

Marr said students who attend are going to dress professionally and bring resumes for the mock interviews, just as they would be if they were going to real interviews.

Students will be interviewed for positions they want as shown on their resumes.

The interview sessions last 45 minutes, with the first 30-35 minutes being the mock interview and the last ten minutes dedicated to feedback, Marr said.

Marr said the interviewers are professionals with whom the employees of Career Services often work with.

Most often, Marr said the interviewers also attend the job fair, which is just a week after the mock interview session.

There have also been times when the students who attended the mock interviews have actually had interviews for an internship or job with the same interviewer just a day after the job fair, Marr said.

Career Services has received feedback from students who have attended the workshop in the past who have said the interview sessions have helped them build their professional confidence, Kingery and Marr said.

Kingery said students should reserve their time slots because they fill up quickly.

For students who have not reserved a time yet but would still like to attend the mock interview workshop, Kingery said they should call Career Services at 581-2412.

Leah Goldstein can be reached at 581-2812 or at ljgoldstein@eiu.edu.