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Mock Interview: A test of readiness to enter the German labor market

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MBA students had an opportunity to test their interviewing skills with professional HR Recruiters

Sascher Fischer, HR Recruiter from Ikea and Olaitan, MBA student from Nigeria

A unique experience that third-semester MBA students had to meet with professional HR Recruiters from international enterprises and medium-sized hidden champions, to test their interviewing skills and receive feedback. The goal of the mock interview is to give MBA students the opportunity to practice answering challenging interview questions to help prepare them for a real job interview.

HR recruiters observed body posture, eye contact, quality of responses, volume and clarity of voice, preparedness of the interviewee, and overall attitude and energy of the MBA candidates. Students received valuable feedback after a 45-minute mock interview. The feedback included the interview itself and additionally, the cover letter, CV, and the accompanying application documents. The job positions that students applied varied from finance positions to strategy manager and business transformation manager. Furthermore, students also had the opportunity to interview in either German or English. The MBA team would like to thank the recruiters from Blanc and Fischer, Ikea, Magna, SEG Automotive, and Volvo Group, for their dedication to their HR field and their support to the MBA students.

Here are what students commented about the event. 

Himanshu from India said, “The mock interview was a great learning experience for me as it helped me analyse my strengths and weaknesses and truly test my readiness to enter the German labor market through real job interviews. The post-interview feedback was the best part about the activity as it was the first time that I gained an insight into the observations that an HR person makes about a candidate during an interview. The honest and constructive feedback given to me by the HR professional was highly insightful and one that will surely help me in improving my skills to become a more attractive candidate for companies.”

Olaitan from Nigeria commented, “It was interesting for me to know the small things I do wrong in interviews. The interviewer was professional and created the real atmosphere of an interview.”

 

Text: Hellen Phan-Lesti, MBA class of 2019 / MBA Office
Photos: MBA

Ruth Elsaesser from Pforzheim University's Career Center with Sascha Fischer from Ikea's HR Recruiting