Today, MND welcomed four professionals from the Baltimore community to practice job interviews with our clients: Frank and Sherri who work at different insurance companies, Christine from a local printing business, Karen from an assets management corporation, and David from banking.

For Frank and Sherri, this was not their first time helping clients reach higher in their job searches. This was Frank's third time participating in MND's mock interviews, and he remarked that the clients from this group conducted themselves very professionally, more so than any other group he has interviewed here so far.

Sherri had participated in Connections Friday in the past but was happy to help clients develop their interview skills today. She told job seekers, don't be afraid to end the interview by saying you believe you are the best person for the job, and ask when can you follow up with the interviewer. Also, while there are times when you may actually feel comfortable and friendly during an interview, never forget you are there to demonstrate that you know how to act in a business environment.

Our clients enjoyed meeting new volunteer Christine. Clients thought she had a great way of approaching interviews and liked the way she asked questions and listened. Christine said that the professionalism and confidence of the clients she interviewed were great strengths, and that counts for a lot!

As a recruiter for a large business, Karen had a lot of interviewing experience and enjoyed meeting our clients. She emphasized the idea of being prepared and making sure you know how to communicate the top three key points that would make you qualified for a job.

David also has a lot of experience with hiring and team building and also had a lot of great tips to share. When asked by a client how to know when to stop talking, David said to read the body language of the interviewer. If the interviewer has stopped writing notes, that may mean they got the answer they wanted. He also said, don't always feel the need to talk during silences. Sometimes an interviewer needs time to finish writing their notes, and it usually does not help to start talking again while they're doing that. That rarely adds to your previous response and may distract them from writing down their positive thoughts about you.

Thanks once again to our guests and clients for doing a great job today!