Chris

From Tuesday on, this week gave new insight to the students in deciding which organizations to chose. In class, we started off the week with three phone interviews. Unfortunately due to time constraints, the other interviews were done outside of class, recorded, then posted online for the rest of the class to hear. While listening, I thought that this seemed to be one of the most valuable processes of the selection process because it gave us insight into the organization beyond just an application. It was more personal and easier to find the answers to tough questions that really show the type of organization we are in contact with. Asking questions like “What is your biggest failure and how did you cope with it?” seemed to me almost invaluable. However, in the end, my favorite part of the interview was just getting to know the story behind what these organizations are all about, and not just numbers on a page.

With the interview process, however, came a few problems. The main concern beforehand was that students would have a bias towards the organization that they talked to. While this happened to some degree, it did not impede the ability for the class to come together and make decisions. In a medium sized class with ten applicants, I thought it would be harder for students to remain unbiased, but with a well rounded and compromising class, we managed to decide on which organizations to visit this coming week.

I look forward to the coming weeks of class. Not only has the interview process proven my pessimism wrong, but it also looks like the site visits will be just as revealing. After interviewing, and reading applications, this may be the most important deciding factor. Personally, I can’t wait.