Mock Interview Reflection

Angela Rogers performed a mock interview with me on October 22, 2007. She interviewed me for a full-time position as a sales and customer service account manager at NUTRA Manufacturing, Inc. Though I have interviewed for a job before, my mock interview taught me a lot about what to expect in future interviews.

I believe that this practice interview was very valuable. Though I usually find it very easy to talk to people, I always get extremely nervous before interviews. Though this feeling of nervousness before interviews may never dissipate, the experience will only get easier with practice.

Compared to my previous interview, Angela’s questions were a slightly more difficult. She asked, very thoroughly, about my school and work experiences and why I was a good fit for the job at hand. My last interview focused more on previous personal experiences. This made me feel really good after the interview because I felt that I answered most of her questions well. There were, however, one or two questions that I should have thought about more precisely before starting to speak.

Even though I was extremely nervous all day before the interview, I think that the practice and experience will certainly pay off in the future.

Post for Oct 17

My post for this week is on the Tigers for Haiti Blog.

I was unable to do my interview this week but October 22 at 1:30pm will be just fine for my rescheduled interview.

Presentations

I remember Bob's blog the most. I felt like the humor that he incorporated made it so memorable. His topic related well to the audience. I also loved that he was in a lot of his pictures and that they were his, and not just pictures taken from the internet.

October 7th

My blog for this week is on the Tigers for Haiti Blog page. I also blogged on the group site on September 23 and forgot to mention it here.

Resume Advice

I thought that the article about finding the right key words to get your resume noticed was very helpful. I thought that the advice to search the key words in the requirements and job descriptions on ads was very smart, and i've never thought to do that before. I never really understood how employment databases worked until reading this article.

The next article I read, Eagle-Eyed Employers Scour Resumes for Little White Lies, was really quite surprising to me at first. I could not believe that 43% of all resumes placed on a site had at least 1 inaccuracy. Howeever, as I continued reading, I saw how serious just little innacuries were. For instance, when people said that they were employed for a couple months more than they actually were (to cover up months of unemployment), they were completely thrown out of the database. I agree with this article when they describe that employers realize that people are unemployed sometimes. It takes time to find a new job after leaving a job, and there is no reason to try to cover that up.

Where I want to be in 10 years

I will start with my personal life. Ten years from now, I definitely want to be married. Having companionship and love in my life is very important to me. I want to have at least one child by the time I'm 31, possibly two. I want to eventually have two or three children. While my children are in their infancy, I plan to take a few years off of work and take care of them at home. I hope to be living in a house that I love somewhere in the south east. I would really love to live in the Upstate of South Carolina, Charlotte, or Charleston. I really like the weather in the south, no matter how crazy it may be. I want to travel the world. I have never left the United States. By the time I'm 31, I really hope that I have at least made it to Europe.

After graduating in May of 2008, I hope to have a job that I enjoy. I am not exactly sure of exactly who I want to work for, or what I want to do after graduation. I would not mind finding a job in market research or pharmaceutical sales.

True Story: A biography of Jessica Odom :)

General Information
My name is Jessica Odom and I am from this great state, South Carolina. I was born in Columbia on June 16, 1986. I have an older sister named Cassi. She is the best friend anyone could ask for. I also have younger twin brothers, Cory and Cody. They are more trouble than anyone should ever have to deal with, but they are great. I went to Irmo High School and graduated in 2004. I cheered in high school, but I have really done anything with cheerleading since then. I was a Carolina fan my entire life, but just had to get out of Columbia. I am now a senior here at Clemson and my blood could not have changed from garnett to orange any faster. I will graduate in May of 2008 with a degree in Marketing.

In my spare time, like most people, I like being around the people I love. I have wonderful friends and a great family. I have been dating a guy named Matt for about a year and 8 months now. He lives in Greenville so I go there quite a bit. I like to go out and have a good time. That is me "in a nut shell."

Work Experience
I, unfortunately, have not gotten the opportunity to join the true world of business yet, but I am looking forward to after graduation. I, however, have had some part-time jobs along the way. In high school, I worked as a hostess at Texas Road House. After a couple years at Clemson, I got another job in a restaurant. I was a server at the Buffalo's Southwest Cafe on Clemson Boulevard in Anderson. The summer after that, I lived in Greenville, South Carolina and transferred to the Buffalo's there. This past summer, I worked the front desk at Peak Fitness in Greenville. It has been my favorite job so far. I know that no one actually likes to work, but I truly enjoyed working there. I got to meet a lot of great people and my co-workers were all wonderful.

Last words...
I would just like to say that I hope everyone has a great year at Clemson. I wish everyone luck with all of their ventures. Go Tigers!