As a student on the Killer Bees I had to fill out an application, collect two recommendations (one from a teacher at our school) and be interviewed by two mentors on the team. It was a great experience. I learned more about the program before I became involved, the mentors were able to get an idea of my personality and what I might be interested in doing on the team, and I was able to ask questions before making a final commitment.
It was also the first application and interview process that I went though, which turned out to be a very useful experience for later in life (well, later that year actually...) when I applied for jobs.
On the mentor side of things, interviews have always been one of my favorite aspects of this program. The applications and interviews are an awesome way to get to know potential students, but we even interview our returning students, and that is sometimes the most rewarding. We ask them questions like the following:
- What was your favorite part of the build season (and/or competition season)?
- What was your favorite event and why?
- What was your least favorite event and why?
- What did you accomplish this year?
- What do you want to accomplish next year?
- What can we do better as a team?
- What can the mentors do better to improve the team?
- How can you take a leadership role next year?
- etc....
It's a great way to get feedback and assess what we need to do differently (or the same!) for the next year.
My impression is that 33 students generally enjoy the interviews and see the benefits of filling out an application. At least I haven't heard any complaints about it so far.
(side note: the two mentors that interviewed me as a student are now two of my favorite people in FIRST. I still remember that interview: me dressed in my softball uniform and meeting these two people who ended up making such a huge impact on my life...pretty awesome.
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