Grade by Grade
C. Planning and Financial Management to Help Meet Postsecondary Goals · Planning and Financial Management for Life After High School

Interviews, Online Profiles and Application Essays

C1.3About 70 minutes
Learning goals
  • I can prepare for an interview and answer behavioural questions with the STAR method.
  • I can use confident body language and ask good questions in an interview.
  • I can create or plan a career-oriented online profile while protecting my privacy.
  • I can plan an application essay or video for a scholarship, award or co-op, and use feedback to improve it.

Words to know

behavioural question
An interview question that asks how you acted in a real past situation, often starting "Tell me about a time when...".
STAR method
A way to answer behavioural questions: Situation, Task, Action, Result.
mock interview
A practice interview, often with a peer or adult playing the interviewer, followed by feedback.
body language
Messages you send without words: posture, eye contact, facial expression, gestures.
personal brand
The consistent picture of your skills, values and interests that people see across your résumé, profiles and conversations.
privacy settings
Controls that decide who can see what you post or share online.
portfolio
A collection of your best work, such as projects, photos of things you built, writing or art.
application essay
A written (or sometimes video) answer to questions from a scholarship, award, program or co-op placement.

"So, tell me about yourself."

It is the most common first question in interviews, and many people freeze. Not because they have nothing to say, but because they never practised saying it.

Last lesson you put your skills on paper. Today you will practise saying them (interviews), showing them online (career profiles and personal websites) and telling their story (application essays and videos). These are all forms named in expectation C1.3.

Before the interview

  • Research the employer or program: what they do, who their customers are, their values.
  • Re-read the posting and your résumé. Expect questions about every line.
  • Prepare three or four short stories about times you used key skills: teamwork, solving a problem, handling a mistake, leading.
  • Practise out loud, ideally in a mock interview.
  • Plan the details: route and travel time; clothes that are clean and a little more formal than the job (for a video interview, a tidy background and good light); copies of your résumé and references.

Common question types

  • About you: Tell me about yourself. Why do you want this job?
  • Behavioural: Tell me about a time when you worked in a team / made a mistake / dealt with a difficult person.
  • Situational: What would you do if a customer was upset about a wait?
  • Availability and practical: Can you work weekends? When can you start?

For "Tell me about yourself", use a 30-to-60-second answer: present (who you are now), past (one or two experiences that prepared you), future (why this job fits where you are going).

The STAR method

For behavioural questions, tell a short story with four parts. Spend most of your time on the Action: what you did, using "I", not "we".

The STAR method for "Tell me about a time when..." questionsSituationWhere and when?"At the food banklast December..."TaskWhat needed doing?"...we had 400 kgto sort in a day."ActionWhat did YOU do?"I set up stationsand trained 3 newvolunteers..."ResultWhat happened?"...we finished by3 p.m., two hoursearly."
STAR keeps your answer short and specific. The Action is the longest part, and the Result shows it worked.
Worked example

Let's turn a weak answer into a STAR answer

Question: Tell me about a time you made a mistake. Weak answer: "I don't really make mistakes. I'm a perfectionist."

  1. Why it is weak: it avoids the question and sounds untrue. Interviewers ask this to see honesty and how you learn.
  2. Situation: "Last spring I was the timekeeper for our school's track meet."
  3. Task: "I had to record every runner's time in the 400 m heats."
  4. Action: "In the second heat I mixed up two lanes. When I checked my sheet against the finish photos, I noticed it, told the head official right away and helped correct the results. After that I used a lane-by-lane checklist."
  5. Result: "The results were fixed before medals were given, and I used the checklist for the rest of the season with no more errors."
  6. Timing: about 45 to 60 seconds when spoken.

A strong answer admits a real mistake, shows responsibility (told the official), action (fixed it) and learning (a checklist that worked).

During the interview

  • Arrive about 10 minutes early (log in early for a video interview).
  • Greet people politely, make eye contact and smile. If you are comfortable with it, a handshake is common in Canada; follow the interviewer's lead.
  • Sit up, keep hands relaxed, and avoid fidgeting with your phone (turn it off).
  • Listen to the whole question. It is fine to pause and think, or to ask them to repeat it.
  • Answer with examples, not just claims.
  • At the end, ask one or two questions, such as "What does a typical shift look like?" or "What do your best employees do well?"

Body-language tips are general habits, not rules everyone can or must follow. If eye contact or stillness is hard for you because of anxiety, a disability or culture, focus on clear, honest answers; you can also ask for an accommodation for the interview.

After the interview

Send a short thank-you email within a day. Then reflect: What went well? What would I change? Use that feedback for next time.

An interview has three stages: before, during and afterBeforeresearch the employerpractise STAR storiesplan outfit + routebring résumé + referencesDuringarrive 10 min earlyeye contact, smileanswer with examplesask 1-2 questionsAfterthank-you emailwithin 24 hoursreflect: what went well?note what to improve
Preparation before and reflection after matter as much as the conversation itself.

Career-oriented online profiles and personal websites

Employers and scholarship committees sometimes look people up online. A career-oriented social media profile or a simple personal website or portfolio can show your skills: projects, art, videos of your robotics team, volunteer work, certificates.

  • Keep a consistent personal brand: the same name, a professional photo (or none), and a short headline such as "Grade 10 student | volunteer coach | interested in sports therapy".
  • Check the platform's minimum age and your family's rules before signing up.
  • Use privacy settings. A career profile can be public, but personal accounts should usually be private.
  • Never post your home address, birthdate, SIN, phone number, school schedule or passwords.
  • Search your own name. If you find something you would not want an employer to see, delete it or ask a trusted adult for help getting it removed.

(You thought about your digital footprint in the unit Exploring and Preparing for the World of Work; this is how to make it work for you.)

What belongs in a career-oriented public profile?PUBLIC: first and last name,skills, projects, volunteer roles,interests, a professional photoPRIVATE (keep off public profiles):home addressbirthdateSINphoneschedulepasswords
A career profile shares what helps people see your skills; personal details that could identify where you are, or let someone pretend to be you, stay private.

Application essays and videos

Scholarships, awards, special programs and some co-op placements ask for an essay or a short video. A strong one:

  1. Answers the actual question, within the word or time limit.
  2. Opens with a specific moment, not a dictionary definition.
  3. Shows your values and skills through one or two stories (STAR works here too).
  4. Reflects: what you learned and how it connects to your goal.
  5. Fits the funder: if a community foundation values service, show your service.

Then get feedback from a teacher, counsellor or family member, revise and proofread. Using feedback to refine your materials is part of the expectation.

Just for fun

Interviewer: "Can you describe yourself in three words?"

Candidate: "Concise."

(Funny, but in a real interview, give the three words and a quick example for one of them.)

Hands-on activity

Mock interview at the kitchen table

You need: a family member or friend to be the interviewer, a phone to time answers (and to video-record yourself if you agree to it), the posting and résumé from Lesson 3, and paper for notes.

  1. Write three STAR stories from your own life: teamwork, a mistake, a challenge.
  2. Give your interviewer these questions: Tell me about yourself. Why do you want this position? Tell me about a time you worked in a team. Tell me about a time you made a mistake. What would you do if a customer was rude? Do you have any questions for us?
  3. Do the interview, start to finish, including greeting and goodbye.
  4. Your interviewer gives feedback: one thing that was strong, one thing to improve (content, clarity, body language).
  5. Do it again with two of the questions, using the feedback.
  6. Write a three-sentence thank-you email you would send afterward.

What to look for: answers of about 30 to 90 seconds; STAR stories with a clear Action using "I"; at least one question asked of the interviewer; a visible improvement in round two.

Your turn

1

What does STAR stand for?

2

Which part of a STAR answer should be the longest, and why?

3

Give a 3-part structure for answering "Tell me about yourself."

4

Name three things to do before an interview.

5

Write one good question to ask at the end of an interview.

6

List three things that should never be on a public profile.

7

Why is using feedback important when preparing application materials?

More practice: warm-up

1

How early should you arrive for an in-person interview?

2

What kind of question starts "Tell me about a time when..."?

3

When should you send a thank-you email?

4

What is a mock interview?

5

Should you say "I" or "we" in the Action part of STAR?

More practice: on your own

1

Classify: (a) What would you do if two co-workers were arguing? (b) Tell me about a time you had to learn something quickly. (c) Can you work Sunday mornings?

2

A student answers "Tell me about a time you worked in a team" with: "I'm a great team player. Everyone likes working with me." What is missing, and how should they fix it?

3

Write a professional headline for a career profile for a student who builds websites for local clubs and wants to study computer programming.

4

Why might someone choose a personal website or online portfolio instead of (or as well as) a résumé?

5

Explain one way a student with interview anxiety could prepare.

Challenge

1

Write a full STAR answer (about 100 to 150 words) to "Tell me about a time you showed leadership." It can be from your own life or invented for practice.

2

A scholarship from a local community foundation asks: "Describe how you have contributed to your community (300 words)." Plan the essay: opening, two story ideas, reflection, and how you will use feedback.

3

Your friend's public social media shows party photos and rude comments about a former employer. They are about to apply for jobs. Give them advice that respects them and protects their opportunities.

Check your understanding

Quiz

1.

In the STAR method, what does the A stand for?

2.

Which is a behavioural interview question?

3.

What is the best way to answer "What is your greatest weakness?"

4.

Which should never go on a public profile?

5.

What should you do within about a day after an interview?

6.

What makes a strong scholarship essay opening?

For parents and teachers

Big idea: Expectation C1.3 includes interviews (such as mock interviews with peers), career-oriented social media profiles, personal websites and application essays or videos for awards and co-op, and asks students to use feedback to refine them.

How to help: Be the mock interviewer. Ask the questions in the activity, give one strength and one improvement, then let them try again. If you are comfortable, share a real interview story from your own life. Talk about your family's rules for social media before your teen creates any public profile.

Common difficulties:

  • Answers that are claims with no examples. Ask, "Can you give me a time when that happened?"
  • Saying "we" all the time. Ask, "What did you do?"
  • Very short or very long answers. Time them: aim for 30 to 90 seconds.
  • Anxiety. Repeated low-stakes practice helps most; eye contact and handshakes are customs, not tests of worth, and accommodations can be requested.