Mock Interviews, Real Results

• At the University of Dayton, mock interviews are embedded in the sophomore curriculum as part of the school’s Career Flight Plan that prepares students for the workforce.
• The school ensures that students have practice participating in virtual interactions—including one-way video interviews in which candidates respond to an AI’s prerecorded questions.
• Alumni volunteers steer students through practice interviews and provide feedback on how students can improve their responses and their digital presence.

 
Mock interviews aren’t just classroom exercises. They’re critical steps in preparing students for real-world job opportunities, which means that students should take these steps early in their academic careers. That’s why, at the University of Dayton (UD) School of Business Administration in Ohio, we include mock interviews in a mandatory course for sophomores.

“The interview is the art of selling yourself, and for many people, that’s uncomfortable,” explains Jason Eckert, UD’s executive director of Career Services. Developing that skill takes practice, he adds. “There’s power in sitting with another person and answering realistic interview questions.”

At UD, we have students practice mock interviews at just the right time—before the high-stakes search for internships begins, but after they’ve acquired enough meaningful experience to have something to share with recruiters. Students tell us that, after these practice sessions, they feel more confident and better prepared to face real-world situations. Many say that the experience helps them rethink the way that they approach interviews, turning an interaction that once felt intimidating into a conversation they can navigate with ease.

Some even do so well at the practice event that they secure real opportunities. For instance, marketing student Andy Hoffman was offered an internship during his mock interview with Kaitlyn Redmond, a PNC vice president. According to Redmond, a UD alumna, “I not only got to coach him in the interview, but I also got to help, hopefully, kick-start his career.”

At UD, we know our mock interview program will be most successful if we follow the three strategies outlined below.

1. Embed It in the Curriculum

At UD, the mock interview is incorporated into the third of four courses that make up our Career Flight Plan. These one-hour for-credit courses are spread out over the first three years of the student experience and focus on an intentional progression of skills so that each year’s activities build toward the next year’s. This scaffolded approach ensures that students develop both soft and technical skills in a logical sequence, gaining confidence long before the high-pressure interview process intensifies.

First-year students take BIZ 101, a foundational course that introduces them to the resources and tools they’ll need to thrive in the program. They also complete BIZ 103, in which they explore potential career and vocational pathways by researching jobs and taking career and strength assessments. We require them to attend the School of Business Administration student organization fair and teach them how to pursue on-campus employment opportunities.

Students practice mock interviews before the high-stakes search for internships begins, but after they’ve acquired enough experience to have something to share with recruiters.

In BIZ 202, sophomores develop their skills in writing résumés, interviewing, and networking. Because we want them to have valuable talking points when they’re meeting with recruiters, we encourage them to engage in school activities by joining student organizations, participating in athletics, or seeking on-campus employment.

We also ask them to begin thinking about how they would like to contribute to their communities, as all University of Dayton students are expected to “Learn, Lead, and Serve.” Therefore, sophomores in the class complete five or more hours of community service at a not-for-profit organization of their choice. They can choose whether to do the work on their own or with their classmates. In the fall 2024 semester, our students contributed more than 2,000 hours to the Dayton community. At the end of the course, students update their résumés to reflect how they have interacted with the campus and the community.

During BIZ 202, students also prepare for the upcoming internship season. By this time, they know how to prepare a résumé and present themselves in an interview; they also have stories to tell that showcase their strengths and skills. In BIZ 202, they get professional and AI reviews of their résumés before participating in mock interviews with alumni. The course is offered in the fall semester, and interviews are held in September, to align with the timing of the recruitment season for many internships.

Finally, in BIZ 301, juniors and seniors pursue career knowledge in areas such as evaluating job offers, negotiating salaries, developing financial literacy, managing workplace expectations, and handling tough workplace conversations.

While the Career Flight Plan courses were developed by the School of Business Administration faculty, we consulted with Career Services as we designed the classes. Career Services staff also participated in several course meetings with our students.

2. Use Technology to Create Access

Gone are the days when successful job interviews opened with a firm handshake and a printed résumé. Today’s students need to master the art of the virtual interview, which comes with its own set of challenges.

It’s imperative for students to practice participating in interviews over Zoom or some other videoconferencing technology, says Redmond of PNC. “This helps students figure out how to create a good space, stay still in their chairs, and maintain eye contact. Those skills are essential in today’s interviews. Many of the students I worked with hadn’t thought about how they present themselves virtually. The mock interview experience helped them refine those details.”

At UD, we help students practice for virtual interviews by providing them access to the AI-powered tool Quinncia. This service is particularly helpful for preparing students to participate in the growing (and intimidating) trend of one-way video interviews, where candidates respond to prerecorded questions with specified time limits.

With any virtual platform, the key is to reduce technical barriers. When technology is simple and intuitive, students can focus on what really matters—their performance in the interview.

Quinncia offers AI feedback on résumés as well as on asynchronous interviews—but we know that students appreciate a human review as well. Therefore, Career Services personnel provide feedback on résumés, while alumni and employers offer feedback on synchronous interviews. We believe this approach provides the best of both worlds for our students.

We also rely on technology to enable students to research any company they might consider working for. We used donor funds to purchase a subscription to Eventus, which allows students to review interviewers and their backgrounds, companies, and titles. Once students have found their best fits, they can schedule and conduct interviews within the Eventus platform.

We have learned that, with any virtual platform, the key is to reduce technical barriers. When technology is simple and intuitive, students can focus on what really matters—their performance in the interview.

3. Engage Alumni as Interviewers

We send out emails asking alumni and employers to volunteer to conduct mock interviews. We know that when we can keep alumni involved with the university, we expand the students’ networks and demonstrate the power of the university’s community. We also know that these critical stakeholders are eager to connect with current students—if we can find ways that fit their busy schedules.

Therefore, we ask alumni to participate in virtual interviews that they can conduct without even leaving their desks. We describe this as an opportunity to “make a lifelong impact in less than an hour.” The first time we sent the email, we had an overwhelmingly positive response—and 89 percent of those who responded were first-time volunteers at the university. Many of them work at major companies such as Wells Fargo, EY, and PwC.

We take several steps to prepare alumni for the interviews. First, we run an orientation session on how to use the platform. Then, we provide training on how to conduct constructive interviews and supply a list of sample questions to ask. We also provide an evaluation rubric that enables alumni to assess each student’s verbal and nonverbal responses as well as technical elements such as the location, lighting, and sound of the virtual interview.

The Student Response

The program’s success lies in its ability to transform students’ apprehension into confidence while creating unexpected opportunities for connection. As comments from our students have shown us, offering dedicated mock interviewing practice is doing just that.

“Before the interview, I was slightly nervous, as I was not sure if I was fully prepared enough,” says entrepreneurship major Olivia Harwood. But she felt more confident after meeting with Elizabeth Breitenstein, the market president at Fischer Homes. “Elizabeth made me feel empowered and excited to tackle new goals and network with many other alumni and business professionals.”

The program’s success lies in its ability to transform students’ apprehension into confidence while creating unexpected opportunities for connection.

Breitenstein also provided actionable advice, encouraging Harwood to follow up every mention of a weakness with a specific story of a positive outcome or an example of how she grew from that weakness. Adds Harwood, “She has been very kind and helpful with professional advice and career assistance. I have not needed to reach out to her in the past few months, but I know if I needed to, she would be more than willing to help.”

Accounting and finance major Jack Klebba had a series of mock interviews with Catherine Hegg, a senior accountant at Blue & Co. LLC, and these meetings changed his perspective. She helped him realize that “an interview is really just a conversation to help the interviewer get to know you,” he says.

Although he was nervous going into the first one, he soon realized that everything he had learned in his courses had prepared him to do quite well in the interview. Afterward, he felt both greatly relieved and significantly more confident.

“But what stood out to me the most about the mock interview was not just the interview itself or the insights I gained from it,” he adds. “Rather, it was the generosity and dedication of Catherine, who was not only willing, but eager, to invest her time in helping shape my future professional career.” Afterward, Klebba secured an internship for the summer of 2026.

Adds marketing student Hoffman, juniors and seniors feel an incredible “weight of uncertainty” as they near graduation and they’re not sure where their first jobs will take them. “When you finally get that weight lifted off when you get an internship or career opportunity, it is truthfully the best feeling.”

At UD, we believe that when business schools integrate mock interviews into the coursework, invest in technology, and engage alumni as interviewers, they provide students with an unparalleled opportunity to refine their skills. As Eckert from Career Services points out, “It’s really hard to beat the experience of a mock interview. That’s my recommendation to any school looking to better prepare its students for the job market.”