Applying for a scholarship at a school is a very competitive process. Students will often study and prepare for a scholarship exam for up to a year before the exam date. This preparation gives a student the best chance of being successful in the exam stage of the scholarship selection process.
If a student is successful at the exam stage, they will usually be notified to take part in an interview. The interview is usually with a panel of teachers from the school and is used to gain more information and background about the student. It is very important a student makes a good impression at the interview stage, and we will talk more on how to do this.
First Impressions
Regardless of what anyone says, first impressions matter. When you walk into the room, make sure you smile and make eye contact! The interview panel will then introduce themselves to you and you should greet each panellist by name and shake their hand if appropriate. You should sit down when invited to do so.
Managing Anxiety
An adult usually feels nervous when they attend a job interview and the same applies to a student attending their scholarship interview. Due to being nervous, students will usually want to get the interview finished as quickly as possible. This often results in students responding with brief answers or may not follow through with a conversation.
It is important for students to understand that even though they might by nervous and shy, they need to open up during the interview and give full responses to questions. Sometimes the interview can take the form of a casual conversation, so students should be able to have a meaningful conversation and not resort to just “yes” and “no” answers.
At the end of the Interview
When the interview concludes, the panellists will usually ask if you have any other questions. At this point, most students will say they don’t as they want to leave the stress of the interview as soon as possible. Try and resist this temptation. Ideally, you should have a question prepared to ask the panellists. This will help set you apart from the other candidates and be remembered by the panellists.