Deans List Interview

[A. Estrella 78]

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) 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

[jafisher]

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.

[Mrcope9]

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?

[safiq10]

Originally Posted by Mrcope9

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?

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.

[geomapguy]

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

[runneals]

Originally Posted by geomapguy

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*

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!

[vhcook]

Originally Posted by geomapguy

Tell us about yourself.

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.

[Miss157]

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!

[Danny Diaz]

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

[RoboMom]

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).

[Randaline]

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!

[Loralyn P]

Originally Posted by Randaline

They didn't time my 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.

[ToddF]

Originally Posted by Danny Diaz

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)?

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.

[Jon Stratis]

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

The students who earn FIRST Dean’s List Award status as either a Nominee, Finalist or Winner, will not only be great examples of student leaders who have led their teams and communities to increased awareness for FIRST and its mission all the while achieving personal technical expertise and accomplishment, but it is the intention of FIRST that they will continue on, post-award, as great leaders of FIRST ever growing student alumni and as advocates of FIRST.

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.

[sergioCorral842]

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.