Mock Interview Initiative
By Vivian Engen, Process Improvement Intern
June 12, 2018
An internal effort at the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) to enhance employee development is embodied by a recent pilot mock interview program. “There is a firm belief (at CDOT) that when our employees grow, we get better too,” said Neil Lacey, Project Development Branch Manager and one of the project leads.
The idea for the course materialized when Jerad Esquibel, the Director of Project Support, noticed that qualified CDOT employees were not being selected for promotions or new positions within the organization because of trouble during the interview process. He prioritized the need to give employees the opportunity to practice their interview skills and turned to the division’s mentorship program to develop a collaborative structure for the initiative.
The mock interview initiative built on transferable skills employees already acquired at CDOT to promote people within the organization. “This initiative is a huge boost to morale at CDOT and opens up a lot of internal opportunities for CDOT employees,” said Dee Barajas, a project team member. “The program not only provides a refresher on the interview process, but also gives employees the confidence to explore other career options at CDOT and grow with the organization.”
Nine participants completed the pilot initiative at the CDOT Denver Headquarters in early April 2018. Participants signed up for the program with a specific job in mind and brought an updated resume and cover letter tailored to the position for review by the panel. Each participant had one hour and ten minutes to complete the mock interview process. The schedule allotted 15 minutes to review the interview questions alone, 35-40 minutes to conduct the interview and 15 minutes for feedback from the panel.
“Not everyone recognizes how difficult it is to interview,” said Esquibel, “if you are out of practice, it can be a real challenge.” With that in mind, the mock interview initiative was designed to provide an opportunity for employees “to sit down and practice their interviewing skills in front of a panel that could provide constructive feedback,” Lacey explained.
According to Lacey, the pilot mock interview was structured to “prioritize the comfort level of participants and mimic the atmosphere of a real interview environment.” Panel members were asked to offer constructive feedback and convey criticism in a way that could be improved upon in future interviews. The panel’s feedback touched on everything from body language and appearance, to communication skills and the completeness of answers. Interviewees were also told if the skills highlighted on their resume were linked to specific details of the job.
Barajas noted that one of the most valuable takeaways for participants was a reminder that just because they already work for CDOT, doesn’t mean they can skimp out on fully selling themselves in a CDOT interview. “A lot of people are under the assumption that CDOT already knows what they bring to the table as an employee, so they forget to sell their full potential as a candidate,” she said. “CDOT wants to build on the talent we already have here,” she explained, “so we really tried to emphasize the small details that are sometimes overlooked to make our CDOT employees stand out.”
Michael Shull interviews Jocelyn Higashide
Initial feedback from participants and panel members who participated in the pilot initiative has been positive. Participants appreciated the opportunity to interview in front of an experienced panel of hiring managers, the chance to review a list of possible interview questions, and the critical yet optimistic tone in which feedback was delivered. Panel members also responded well to the experience, valuing the chance to create a supportive interview environment and to invest in the future of CDOT employees.
The initiative was modeled after templates used for similar mock interview programs conducted by colleges and universities around the country. While participation for this program is limited to employees in the Division of Project Support, the project team is confident that similar programs would be easy to implement in other CDOT divisions.
“Once we incorporate the feedback collected from the pilot program to tweak our process, the hope is to have a template and a process document ready to pass out to other interested divisions,” said Esquibel. The project team plans to conduct a second mock interview imitative in October 2018. “This is only our starting point,” said Lacey, “We are excited to improve and watch the course grow!”