In a job market full of volatility, it’s important to take advantage of every resource you can to get ahead. That’s where the WVU Career Services team comes in! They recently announced that WVU Students have access to Big Interview, an online platform that allows you to learn the best practices for job interviews and create an optimized resume that employers can’t ignore.
We sat down with the Director of Career Services, Erica LaRue, to learn more about this platform and find out how students can get the most out of Big Interview. She also breaks down other resources offered by WVU to help all students succeed in their academic experiences and land their dream job.
Big Interview is a very robust AI interview and resume platform. It has a wide array of lesson modules and features for students to explore that can be tailored to their needs. Say someone is looking for a job right out of college. They can select 'entry level' and upload the specific job description. The AI system will then tailor the experience to that specific role. Additionally, Big Interview records the mock interview and provides a score and actionable feedback.
The system will be able to detect specific problem areas for you to fix. Say for example that you’re a fast talker; the system will pick up on that and give a specific note to slow down! It will also help you cut down on filler words (such as ‘um’s’ and ‘uh’s’) and reminds you to keep an appropriate tone of voice, as well as to maintain proper eye contact. Even things that feel like small details, Big Interview will help you identify and develop an action plan to fix them.
In my experience, students often struggle with their elevator pitch, which is part of an interview. It’s typically the very first question asked in a job interview. Interviewers will say “Tell me about yourself!” and that's essentially an elevator pitch. Big Interview helps students develop that elevator pitch and answer questions skillfully and effectively.
Students can also upload their current resume and you’ll get detailed feedback on readability, credibility, and the format. Big Interview will even help with cover letters! This kind of thing is very helpful as it’s possible to spend hours formatting a single bullet point, let alone an entire resume. This takes out a lot of the guess work and will optimize your resume to be the most appealing to recruiters.
The software also helps with job searching and salary negotiations, plus it offers support and advice for the first 90 days of a role to help new hires succeed. Even WVU faculty and staff can (and should) use this program!
Video: Big Interview "Getting Started" on YouTube.
With the tumultuous state of the job market, how can students take advantage of Big Interview to stand out?
At this point, the job market is incredibly competitive. In order to stand out, students need experiential learning more than ever. That could be an internship, volunteer work, research or a leadership role. This platform helps them identify the gaps in their resume or in their communication skills while they're doing the interview.
Employers want to see career-ready students. While the platform can scan and provide feedback on a resume, it also prompts students to reflect on the experiences they have gained both on and off campus.
That may result in someone thinking “Oh my goodness! I don't have anything. I need to be getting experience.” This hopefully will encourage them to go out and get some experience so they can translate those skills to a job interview and a new role.
Employers want to see career-ready students. While the platform can scan and provide feedback on a resume, it also prompts students to reflect on the experiences they have gained both on and off campus. Erica LaRue, Director of Career Services
Do you have any tips on the best way to leverage Big Interview to be successful on the job market?
Take the lessons! Aside from the fact that you can get a certificate of completion to put on your LinkedIn, the lesson plans are informative and helpful. I am a very hands-on learner. My natural thought would be to just and dive in and get familiar with the platform myself, right? But through my own experience, I would encourage users to take the time to do the lessons, that way you fully understand what the platform has to offer and get the most out of Big Interview.
If I'm not mistaken, the AI interview lessons take about an hour and a half. You also don't have to watch it all at once, so you can dive in at your own pace. I encourage all students to use it, obviously, but if you’re on the fence about checking it out, I suggest taking the lessons first. That will help you get familiar with Big Interview and find out how this platform will work for you.
As a system administrator, I have access to the analytics of the users and see the overall student engagement, like the interview scores. I found that those who did not watch the lessons and just did the practice, received an average of a 71-point score. However, when they took the time to review the lessons and make improvements on the suggestions, it went up to an average of 95 points, which to me is a mark of success.
What advice would you give someone about to graduate or enter the job market?
Take advantage of all of our resources, not just Big Interview. Current WVU students can schedule an appointment with a Career Development Specialist who specialize to every student's designated college or major. Appointments are available in person or virtually, so you can schedule a one-on-one career coaching session with personalized guidance. We can assist with all things career professional development. If students are searching for jobs, we can help with that as well. Not only do students have access to Handshake, but there’s also a job search and networking platform called CareerShift. If you want to create an account, use the code "wvsenior" when signing up.
We have a lot of great resources on our website. So again, utilize our resources and take advantage of them. We're here for you!
What are some other resources available to online students?
There’s a lot of value in students connecting with the WVU Purpose Center. They offer one-on-one personalized guidance at appointments both virtually and in-person. The center also attends a lot of events, as well as the several different kinds of workshops and trainings they offer. I do think it's valuable, particularly with a student that maybe starting in their freshman year, to get them on the right track both academically and professionally, and what jobs to consider that align with their interests and top strengths.
The Career Services Center also helps with self-assessment. We have a platform called Focus2 that helps new and prospective students explore career paths and majors. That link is available on our website and so is the access code so students can go in and start exploring. What's nice about Focus2 is that we customize the experience. We add the university's available majors into the platform, so the results are going to be very detailed and direct them to the specific majors we have at WVU.
Another resource we have is the Labor Markets Insights tab. It pulls from the O*NET labor statistics that are powered by Lightcast and includes government and bureau statistics. Students can search by their career interests and where they want to work and get additional information about the occupation description, required education level, the core tasks of the role, and then employment trends in any given industry.
Do you have any last-minute pieces of advice that students or job seekers should take to heart?
Students need to really understand the career readiness part. Students commonly think that all they need to instantly get the job they apply for is a good GPA. A high GPA is great, but that is only part of the puzzle. Say there are two students competing for a job. One student has a decent GPA and extensive practical experience versus the other student that has a 4.0 GPA but no experience. Who's the employer going to go with? The student that has the experience and a little bit lower GPA.
Gaining hands-on experience is so important because students develop through those experiences and gain necessary soft skills and career competencies that employers are looking for. Hiring managers are looking for attributes like communication, teamwork and self-development, and a lot of that comes from actual experience. In a competitive job market, students need to be career ready before graduation.
Learn More
Thank you again to Erica for talking with us and sharing such great information. If you’re interested in using Big Interview, you can learn more on the Career Services website. Be sure to explore the other resources available and schedule an appointment with the Career Services team if you have any other questions.