Acing Your Interviews
Acing Your Interviews
Congratulations! You’ve made it to competition! Your team has just submitted your Portfolios and are ready for the in-person interviews. As you gear up, here’s some curated tips to help your team ace your interviews!
Review the Scorecards BEFORE the interview
Judges are given the same scorecards as you - from the Appendix of the Competition Regulations. The categories listed are what the interview will primarily revolve around. Before your interview, review the scorecard and your portfolio. Ask yourself…
Do our portfolios address all of the scorecard categories?
Are there any complex items we may have to explain in further detail to the judges?
Are there any specific KPIs that we do not cover in the portfolios?
KPIs, or Key Performance Indicators, are specific items within the scorecard used to compare teams and assess your project. For instance, a KPI in Engineering under the Manufacturing category is “Appropriate use of manufacturing resources documented (i.e. tools, finishes, jigs, fixtures)”. Judges will be reviewing your portfolio to find where you’ve talked about this. If you forgot to talk about it in your portfolio, if the judges have questions about how/why, or if they are just impressed and want to know more, then they may ask about it in your interview! The highest scoring teams address all scorecard points within their portfolios and then are able to use the interview time with Judges to talk more in-depth about the topics. Keep in mind, 7-10 pages in your portfolio is a very limited amount of space to talk about all of the achievements of your team. The interview allows your time to talk about everything you couldn’t fit on paper!
Props - Seeing is believing
Does your team have a unique or difficult to explain innovation? Consider bringing a prop! If your team has a unique innovation - whether it’s an aspect of your car or marketing campaign - bringing a prop or physical copy of your element is a great way to help explain the innovation to the judges. For instance…
Have a unique wheel assembly design? Consider 3D printing a scaled up version to make it easier for the judges to see as you explain it in the interview.
Did you repurpose materials in a sustainable way? Bring a sample to the Enterprise interview to hand to the judges!
Did your team have physical documentation you used to track Project status during meetings? Bring it to your PM Interview!
Have resources prepared on a dedicated laptop
You may be asked to further clarify something from your portfolio in your interview. Be prepared with any relevant files and have them open on your laptop. You don’t want to waste precious interview time loading your file! This could mean your Gantt chart for your PM interview or your final car CAD for your Engineering interview.
PRO TIP: Go the extra mile and be on brand with custom screensavers for your computer. As you open your laptop, your judges see your logo again and are reminded about who your team is- instead of photos of your last family vacation to Disney.
Be on time EARLY
Interview time at competition is precious and limited. Due to the tight nature of the timeline, teams that are late to their interview time may forfeit any of the time they are late. Always remember to save reminders and alarms in your phone for your interview time and show up to the waiting area 5-10 minutes early.
What if you have a conflict? If a conflict comes up at competition (ex. Racing is running late and suddenly your racing time and interview time are going to overlap) find a member of the event staff. They will be able to connect you with the lead judge for the categories and coordinate a solution, such as rescheduling your interview time to a later slot in the day. Try to reach out to staff as soon as you see a conflict - not at the start of the interview time if you can avoid it. Don’t just skip your interview - make sure to tell the lead judge or event staff.
Silence your Devices
Give your judges your full attention during your interview time. Be sure to silence all devices before entering your interview room or leaving them with your Lead Adult outside of the room during your interview. It’s distracting to hear text message pings or see members on their phone as you are asking/answering questions.
Have Partners for all Information
You never know what can happen at competition! A team member could get sick and held up at another competition area. You may be without your full team when you go into an interview. While they may be sympathetic, judges will not be able to make an exception. To be prepared, we recommend having a second member of your team knowledge in each relevant area. Obviously, your Sponsorship Manager for instance may not know everything about your Graphic Designer’s approach to designing your brand materials but they should be able to cover the basics in an interview setting in case they have to miss. You want to avoid the “ummm, Jane did that and none of us know what she did”.
Little actions can leave a BIG impression
Seeing your team work as a team can truly impact the judges. While you won’t find any scorecard category for Team Coordination and Dynamics, being a unit can leave a subconscious impression on the judges. How to achieve this? Get everyone involved! Obviously this doesn’t mean having your graphic designer talk about your car’s CAD design in your Engineering interview, but they could be holding the props. When your engineer brings up the topic, they can hand the coordinating prop to them and the judges. This shows that all team members are actively involved and working together.
Remember, this is an INTERVIEW not a presentation.
As you prepare for competition and your Verbal Presentation, it can be easy to get into the mindset that you should also have something prepared for the Engineering, Enterprise, and Project Management Interviews. BUT, these sessions are designed to be a conversation with the judges, not a presentation. While it can be common for the judges to ask a few open ended questions during your interview (such as “tell us about your car”) you DO NOT want to talk for 10 minutes and leave the judges without any time to ask you questions. It is a smart idea to have a 30-second prepared response for each interview in case a general question is asked and keep in mind the points you want to talk about for the interview to score points (I.e. if you’re asked to “tell me about your car” be sure to mention your innovative element that sets your team apart and is part of the scorecard categories). This should be a quick elevator pitch on your team instead of a presentation. The judges will have a set of questions for you they are trying to get through during the interview. Likewise, in your responses to questions answer fully but be conscious of time.
RELAX and SMILE
This is often the hardest tip to master. As you enter your interviews, remember above all that the judges are your friend. They want to learn about your team’s project and award you as many points as possible! The questions they prepare are often picked to give you opportunities to discuss areas they felt were not covered as fully as they would have liked within the portfolio. This allowed them the opportunity to hear that you did the work and are then able to give you points! The judges are excited every year to meet you and your team and hear about your project - be sure to smile, introduce yourself and your role when you enter the room, and remember: you lived your project, you know it, now just show it off!