Deans List Interview
 

I know that all deans list students get interviewed, does anyone know what kind of questions they will ask or if I should bring anything like recommendation letters or pictures.

Re: Deans List Interview
 

Since phone interviews are an option, I'm going to assume you won't need your recommendations and pictures.

If I were judging (and I'm not), I'd be asking questions to find out how you match up with the award criteria:

Here are a couple of questions I came up with off the top of my head:

- How do you help keep your team motivated when things aren't going well?
- How do you try to increase awareness of FIRST?
- Tell me about a time when you had to come up with a creative solution to a problem.

Re: Deans List Interview
 

I would love to hear from students who were interviewed last week.
What questions did the judges ask you?
Did you receive a feedback form after the interview like they do for CA?

Re: Deans List Interview
 

How much emphasis is placed on STEM things that you do outside of FIRST?

Re: Deans List Interview
 

Study the essay that was submitted. Start with that. If you were nominated buy your mentors you are already a winner in the eyes of your team. The rest if you win is gravy on the potatoes so to speak. You might not be the best in the eyes of strangers but you are the best amongst the people that know you. That's a very good thing. Hold your head high.

Re: Deans List Interview
 

I agree.
I think we're really hoping for some more information here though. :)

Anytime there's a procedure at FIRST events, it's nice when people from weeks 1 and 2 competitions an share their experiences.

A few specific questions that I have:
1. Did students sign up for a time-slot the way you do with Chairman's Award interviews?
2. How many judges were in the interview room?
3. Was feedback about the essays/interviews given in anyway?

I belive there are at least two judges in the interview

Re: Deans List Interview
 

By saying "believe" does this mean you have experience from someone who went through the process, or that you have access to information from an event about judges assigned to roles?

Re: Deans List Interview
 

I have access to information that two judges are assigned as 'Dean's List Judges'.

I don't know about other areas, but in NE they're using online scheduling for DL.

Re: Deans List Interview
 

Hey, I'm one of the students that was interviewed for Dean's List recently. To answer some questions, the interview was five minutes long, there were three judges when I went, I signed up exactly like Chairmans, and you get a feedback sheet, but it isn't very detailed. At all.

Re: Deans List Interview
 

What kinds of questions did they ask?

Re: Deans List Interview
 

I didn't actually get to answer a lot of questions since of the short time limit. From what I remember, most of the questions were focused on what you do on the team. They asked me what my jobs were how I helped improve the team, etc.

Re: Deans List Interview
 

I was interviewed just recently

1. Yes, the interviews were on Friday. Much like chairman's.
2. Two
3. There may have been feedback, I haven't seen it yet if there was some.

As for questions they used your submission as a guide. It was pretty generic and they let you lead the direction of the conversation. Questions like "What is your role on the team?" and "How do you spread the message of FIRST?" was more the focus of my interview, but I suspect that they want to talk about whatever you guide the conversation towards.

Re: Deans List Interview
 

1. Yes
2. 2
3. Feedback sheets are available at pit administration after awards, just like Chairmans.

Re: Deans List Interview
 

Hi, I was interviewed at the Groton District this past Saturday and to answer a few questions this is what I think I'm allowed to say. The judges asked about five questions pertaining to my involvement, experiences, and accolades since joining FIRST and how I apply them and will apply them in the future. One of which I felt I should share because it really requires some thought to answer.
The question was, "Do you plan on returning to FIRST as a mentor after you graduate and transferring on the knowledge and skills you've learn to future generations and shape their minds the same way your mentors did?"
I thought this would be good to share with not only Dean's List nominees but also for all students to ponder on and ask themselves, "Will I come back," and if so, "What information have I learned that I can implement into the young minds of the future?" I know it sounds cheesy (#ejshuffle):p but its honestly a question I like to ask myself frequently.
For me it's not "Will I come back," it's when? And "What info can I transfer on?" The same info that mentors like Dave Ferreira (D@ve), Rick Blight (Ricksta), Tom Dolan (TD78), etc. transferred onto to me during the past four years. I can't list all of my great mentors but thank you to every single one for teaching me the tools and skills I now have, from something as simple as using a hand drill, to putting together the final product of a robot week 6 of build season. I know I have one more year but I just wanted to let you all know it is beyond words my gratitude to all of you.
Okay this is getting A LOT longer than I thought so all I have left to say is a # that I think would best clarify my answer to the Dean's List question I was asked on Saturday. #giveback

Re: Deans List Interview
 

I was interviewed this past Thursday at the UNH District event. The two judges who interviewed me asked questions about my community involvement outside of FIRST as well as questions about the team. One of the questions I was asked was "How do you motivate students to do jobs that aren't fun".

My team's other Dean's List nominee was asked questions pertaining to his academic achievement as well as questions about the team. I believe the questions the judges ask you are correlated to the major points of your Dean's List essay. If you want to really nail the interview, it might be a good idea to read over the essay submitted for you before you go into the interview.

Re: Deans List Interview
 

Probably a very dumb question, but is this an interview where dressing up and looking a bit more formal (but not too much) is necessary? Or can we just go in the typical team shirt and stained pants?

Re: Deans List Interview
 

Well for chairmans we went in a Suit & Tie. My thoughts were that I was going to do the same or I was going to wear every team shirt from everyone sporting and academic event I was on and talk about them and take them off to reveal the next one. (I am joking about this but It would be pretty awesome to see.)

But to answer your question I see no problem in dressing up or going in a pair of jeans and team shirt. I think that will reflect who you are. So think about how you want to present yourself.

Re: Deans List Interview
 

I was selected as a Dean's List Finalist in 2013 and this year definitely brought some changes. I would have to say that the interview went bad....I was asked one question: Tell us about yourself. I absolutely bombed it *Maybe I'll use this to help me in the future*

Oh well....congrats to all Dean's List Nominees and Finalists

Re: Deans List Interview
 

I've never made Dean's List, but it sounds like a job interview (like many award interviews are). And that's good that you bombed it. You make David's List *heh* if you take that bombed interview and learn from it and apply what you learned to the next interview! I know I bombed a super important summer internship interview in December, but I learned to expect every sort of question and be prepared for the hard ones. Even if you don't think you're prepared, jump at every interview experience you have because it will only make you better!

Re: Deans List Interview
 

You will get this exact question again, frequently, when you start doing job interviews. It's a tough question, and it really help to have practiced answering it. It doesn't give you a lot of hints as to what of the millions of things you know about you to say, and it comes early enough you probably don't have a feel for who you are talking to. I train-wrecked on it quite a few times before I finally learned how to do a "me in a nutshell" that was coherent and relevant.

Re: Deans List Interview
 

For NE we signed up online. There were two judges in my room. I can't say exactly because my interview was a little weird but for mine they didn't time it.

But again, mine was different. On a side note, if your mentors weren't able to submit through TIMs on the due date or it didn't go through, bring a copy of the paperwork and depending on the judge, they may allow your candidate to interview anyway.

Hope that helps!

Re: Deans List Interview
 

Yeah, I'm sure the interview session was high up on the Dean's List judges "I wish we could..." list, but I'm not so sure it works well in practice. Yes, the Dean's List people enjoy meeting the kids, but what can you determine in 3 minutes other than the overall perkiness of their demeanor (and maybe generally determine if the essay writer was lying - not that it would be GP at all to do so)?

At Arkansas, the kids walked into the room in front of the judges and the judges said something to the effect of, "So tell us what you do on the team." Really? Yeah. The student then spends 3 minutes recapping basically what's in the Dean's List essay (the essay should be a highlight summary of the student's accomplishments!). Yes, the kids are "selling" themselves to the Dean's List committee, but a humble kid is toast in this type of interview situation.

One of our Dean's List nominee students is a driver, and the Dean's List schedule was released before the match schedules were released. Once we found out both schedules I had to negotiate with other Dean's List candidates (because our driver was in queue or on the field most of the time) to find a time during the interview window where we weren't on the field and we could trade interview sessions. Mad props to 1985 for being so willing to swap! If you've got drivers up for Dean's List, understand this is going to be a challenge you may have to work out.

-Danny

Re: Deans List Interview
 

There is a white paper on NEMO "PACE Yourself for that Interview".
http://www.firstnemo.org/resources.htm

Written to help with some simple tips for internship or job interviews, but some good advice here. Thanks to Kathy Dougan (who is a mentor as well as working for a large corporation that hires FIRSTers).

Re: Deans List Interview
 

I did my Dean's List Interview at WPI. :)

The two judges there asked me numerous questions about I do on the team, my community service, my entrepreneurship, how I've inspired others, etc. They didn't time my interview, but they did ask for specific examples of some things while I was talking, even though the questions had obvious answers in the essay.

Although I went in with my normal team attire on, I don't regret the decision because I only saw one person there dressed formally.

As far as drive team conflicts, the other student nominee on our team faced the same problem. Rather than face a timing issue, he chose to do his interview at a regional that our team wasn't attending, but he would be at anyways. It's a little late to do the same, and the method obviously won't work for everyone's schedule; it's food for thought for next year, though.

Hope this helps! :)

Re: Deans List Interview
 

I was interviewed at Lake Superior Regional. I'm on a technical subteam on my team, and I wear pink overalls to every meeting. They keep me organized with 11 pockets (hence my name) and they're part of who I am on my team. If something is ever lost during build, chances are it's in my pocket. Anyways, I wore my overalls and team shirt to my Dean's List interview because they make me feel comfortable, capable, and most like myself. They're also memorable, fun, and unique.

There were 2 judges for me. They were nice. Here were a couple of questions that I remember:
Tell us ab out your experience in FIRST.
What is a challenge that your team has faced and how did you overcome it?
What do you do on your team?

I did freeze up when they asked, "do you have anything else you want to talk about?" I did, but my mind went blank, so I said no.

Ultimately, the interview is about having a real people conversation with the Judges and showing them how much you love your team, FIRST, and STEM. I was terrified going in, but I just pretended that I was super excited to be there and meet the judges and be at competition, because I was, and then we talked about robots for a while and then I left. So here's my best advice: be yourself.
Also, have something small to fiddle with in your pocket if you get nervous. :)

Re: Deans List Interview
 

This raises quite a few red flags for me. Why didn't they make standard guidelines for the interviews to follow? The fact that there were several different time limits (as far as I can gather) and sometimes none at all is really unfair and can be devastating to a potential winner. More time should have been put into this new addition.

Re: Deans List Interview
 

The fact that this can happen is disturbing. We're expected to submit everything (Chairman's, Business Plan, Dean's List, Woodie Flowers) online by the deadline and FIRST has been pretty clear about deadlines being deadlines.

Re: Deans List Interview
 

This entire interview addition seems like a good idea that was completely abandoned in its early stages, but still left in the manual.

Re: Deans List Interview
 

The requirement for a Dean's List interview makes more sense once you realize that this has evolved into a marketing and PR award. When working on our essays this year, we started by looking at the stated criteria for the award:
• demonstrated leadership and commitment to the ideals of FIRST;
• interest in and passion for a long term commitment to FIRST and its ideals;
• overall individual contribution to their team;
• technical expertise and passion;
• entrepreneurship and creativity;
• ability to motivate and lead fellow team members; and
• effectiveness at increasing awareness of FIRST in their school and community

We rearranged these how we suspected FIRST felt they were important:
• effectiveness at increasing awareness of FIRST in their school and community
• demonstrated leadership and commitment to the ideals of FIRST;
• interest in and passion for a long term commitment to FIRST and its ideals;
• entrepreneurship and creativity;
• ability to motivate and lead fellow team members
• overall individual contribution to their team;
• technical expertise and passion;

Essentially, they are looking for one person Chairman’s Award teams. They aren’t really interested in students who are good for their team, they are interested in students who are aggressive ambassadors for FIRST. In this context, an interview makes perfect sense. It enables the judges to see whether the candidate really is a good representative for FIRST, or if they just look good on paper. If a student looks great in the essay, but can barely stumble through an interview with a couple judges in a closed room, that's evidence that they really haven't been all that great a representative, and the mentors are just talking them up. If a student has really been out there, doing demos, and talking with the public about the FIRST message, they learn PR skills that make a simple interview with a couple judges a piece of cake.

One of our nominees was a repeat from last year. Our essay last year emphasized their contribution to our team. This was not what the judges were looking for. Once we realized that this award was a marketing award, we were able to write our 2014 essays accordingly and properly prepare our nominees. As a result, this same student will be going to St. Louis as a Dean's List finalist, even if the rest of us don't earn our way there.

Re: Deans List Interview
 

That's an interesting view of it, Todd. Personally, when I look at the award, I've focused more on this passage:

This seems to indicate to me that they're looking for well-balanced students who excel at everything, and some sort of indication that they will continue to give back to FIRST long after they've graduated.

Towards that end, when I write nominations (like the ones for my team's finalists for the past two years), I treat the 7 criteria like boxes that need to be checked off in each nomination. Once I know what I'll say that goes against each of those criteria, I then try to weave that into a coherent story that sums up everything there is to know about the student. Unfortunately, this means a lot gets left out (stupid character limit!), but if done right it can help show a pattern of behavior for a student that allows you to easily project their future involvement with the program. In the end, the goal is to write an essay that makes you say "wow" when you read it!

It's no joke when I tell you that the two Dean's List nominations I've wrote each took 4+ months of effort, feedback from dozens of individuals, and probably a hundred drafts each before I was happy enough to submit them. These are our best and brightest, and they deserve a great effort from us to help them get an award they truly deserve.

As for the interview... I think it's less about quantity than it is quality. The judges don't need to know every last thing you've done for the team and for FIRST - that's in the essay. They do, however, need to get to know you. What makes you special? What's unique about you? What can you do to leave the judges with a lasting impression after you leave the interview room? Your goal shouldn't be to regurgitate the essay in the interview - it should be to inspire the judges to want to go back and read the essay again because they "just know" you're something special.

Re: Deans List Interview
 

I was interviewed in the Arizona Regional and I will share what I was asked in the interview:

1. If your essay included helping the community, get ready to explain how you did so in detail. Mine included mentoring FLL teams and participating in numerous events.

2. Something asked to me was already posted in this thread. "Tell us about yourself." I had to explain to the judges what I did on the team and what I have done in the past years on the team.

3. Finally, know your essay. When I entered the room, they had my essay right in front of them with notes written on it. Most of the questions asked to me revolved around my essay with the occasional "How do you spread FIRST?" kind of question.

Re: Deans List Interview
 

Just so you know, this situation is exactly how it will be when you go for a real job interview. Managers will sift through a stack of resumes, discarding the ones that obviously don't fit the bill. They will usually do phone interviews with maybe half a dozen candidates to narrow the choices down to 2 or 3. Then they will pay your travel expenses to come to a face to face interview. This usually takes about 1/2 a day. Usually you will be interviewed by a couple people in the morning, then go out to lunch with some potential coworkers, then talk to some more after lunch. There will usually be a facility tour in there somewhere.

All of these people will have seen your resume, and will be asking you questions about it. Often, how you present yourself is more important than the actual answers you give to the questions. Also very important are the questions you ask about the company during the tour, and during your interviews. You don't just want to give answers, you want to engage the interviewer in a conversation.

Same thing applies to your Dean's List interview. When the judges are asking you questions, they are trying to get to know you and see if who you are in person matches up with how your mentors have presented you on paper. Approach the interview as an opportunity to make a couple new friends. Be respectful, but friendly, like you would be to members of the general public asking you the same sorts of questions at a Demo. Think of the interview as a demo, except instead of talking about FIRST, you are talking about yourself. But since you are a dedicated FIRST'er (otherwise you wouldn't be nominated by your mentors) you'll end up talking about FIRST anyway.

Re: Deans List Interview
 

So knowing your essay down to last comma is important, also it wouldn't be a bad idea to hearse yourself over your essay and try to cover and come up with question yourself. I will be competing in OKC this week and will try to post some of the question I received.

Re: Deans List Interview
 

I too was interviewed this weekend at the Arizona Regional. They asked me four or five questions and none were directly about anything from my essay. They asked if I planned on continuing with FIRST and to what extent, what my role was on the team, and what my favorite part of being on my team was. They also asked what I was planning on doing after graduation. Those are all the questions I remember. I am not sure why the questions were so generic; perhaps because I was the first interview, but I'm not really sure.

I wore the dress and blazer I wear for our Chairman's presentation since we had it about an hour after my Dean's List Interview.

They also asked me if I had anything to add. I took this opportunity to explain how honored I am to have been nominated as my team and to thank them for their time.

It really seemed very short. But the judges are very friendly, and remember that they are there because they are excited to talk to you. Just have fun and be yourself. They really just want to talk to you and get to know you :)

Re: Deans List Interview
 

I was one of the deans list students going on to PNW championships from the Wilsonville district. I'm not really sure if my interview went well, but because I was a "winner" (or whatever you call it), I think I'll share my experience.

I was in the pits talking to a parent from another team about a swerve drive from the robot, when someone came to get me for the interview. I started to pack the drive that was in my hand away, but I stopped part way through and decided to ask if I could bring it with me. He said "I don't see why not." So I fallowed him to the hall outside the interview room. We talked for a couple minutes, until exactly 11:45.

When I entered the interview room, there were two judges sitting at a desk. They asked me to sit down in the open chair across the table from them. I sat down and introduced myself. One of the judges was new to me, but I recognized the other as one of the robot judges from the Oregon city district event two weeks earlier. The second judge (the one I had never met) said that he was glad I brought a swerve drive with me because he had heard about it but never seen one.

They started a timer that was sitting in the desk. I'm not sure how long it was set for (it felt like about 6.5 seconds :D), but right then the first judge (the one I met in Oregon city) asked me how the swerve drive project came to be. I talked about that for a while. I had just gotten to the part where we used a prototype version for an off-season event hosted by team 1540 the flaming chickens, when the second judge said that we shouldn't talk about the same thing for the whole time. the first judge then asked me about how the designs affected the robot of the local team 2517. I get the feeling that I had already told her the answer at Oregon City. Then again, it could also have been in the essay that was submitted by my mentors, because I've never read it. Right about then, the timer went off, and they said that we didn't have much time left.

I quickly talked about the designs of 2517, and how we influenced them. Part way through that, the first judge asked how I promoted first and spread its message in my community. I had talked about most of the important points there, when someone opened the door to say that we were out of time. As I began to stand up. The second judge asked me how the competition was going. I told him that it wasn't going as well as I hoped. There were a lot of small tuning and maintenance issues that were costing us matches. But I said that I was proud of my robot and that I was beginning to fall in love with it. As I was opening the door to leave I said that When its not doing well, I give it a kiss. They both smiled and laughed. They told me to have a nice day, and almost by accident, I said "See you later." Like they were a part of the team.

I was definitely a great experience, and I look forward to submitting at PNW district champs!

Sorry for the giant post. I hope that someone finds it useful. If you actually got through the whole thing, thanks for reading :D

Re: Deans List Interview
 

Me and my friend had our deans list interview at Oklahoma City. When we both walked in the judges had questions ready and we didnt have the dreaded "Tell me about yourself" question. Some of the questions they asked us included

• Tell us about the effects of FIRST in your life?
• What do you do on the team?
• What does FIRST mean to you?
• How do you motivate your team?
• Why do you want to win deans list award?
• How long have you been in FIRST?

I recommend you revierw these questions and get your coach to make more questions. Also the deans list interview is like a job interview so ask your coach to run a practice match with you. I think they allowed mentors inside judging room but like chairmans you cant say anything. Now I'm not sure about this but that is what I think.

Re: Deans List Interview
 

Does anyone know if there are interviews before or after matches start and end for the day?

How easy was it for any of you to swap times with another team on short notice?

Re: Deans List Interview
 

Not sure about switching matches but in OKC we had the interviews on thursday and you had the option of doing in the inbetween matches or before. Coming from texas that day I choose the afternoon times. But it was only the practice matches. I'd recommend you to talk with the person who does the sign up times and tell them your problem and ask what you should do if you can't make the interview because of a match.

Good luck! if you need anything else please ask and I'll try to do my best to provide information on this topic.