How Mock Interviews are Combating the Effects of ‘National Senioritis Month’

Nothing beats hands-on experiences. Students learned how to build parts of a battle bot with soldering materials at AOMC. Photo by Holly Hamrick, BB2C Makerspace Assistant

Written By: Kaitlin Streator, Bb2C Communications & Engagement Coordinator

We haven’t checked with the ‘powers that be’ who decide when holidays are, but we’re pretty sure that March is National Senioritis Month. It’s the month right after the armpit of the year, that is, January and February (someone should also make that an official holiday as well), it’s the month where schools let out for Spring Break, giving students a taste of Summer, and it’s also the month where many seniors have a post-graduation game plan solidified. So, you may ask, how do educators combat National Senioritis Month and continue to engage with seniors to prepare them for life after high school? One effective antidote is mock interviews- a service Marietta High School teacher, Adam Eichhorn, orchestrated with several Marietta City School Board Members. Aimed to help students become more prepared to enter the workforce after graduation, the mock interviews are right up Building Bridges to Careers’ (BB2C) alley, and so naturally, several of our youth career development staff participated as interviewers. 

“Now that I’ve done it, I think it’s definitely going to prepare me,” Riley Harmen, a senior at Marietta High School, said after finishing her first mock interview. “Before, I was kinda like ‘ugh, I don't want to do this,’ but looking back, it’s definitely better than I thought it was going to be.” 

Harmen was just one of many Marietta High students who mustered up the courage to sit through several rounds of practice interviews so they would be better prepared for applying to real jobs (to be fair, all Marietta students are required to have mock interviews, but it still takes courage nonetheless). 

“More than anything, it was nice to feel the nerves and understand how to deal with them. In the first minute, I was a little shaky, but once we got going, it was nice, and I think the second one will be smoother,” Harmen said.

Avery Herb, another Marietta senior, echoed Harmen’s acknowledgement that practice does in fact make perfect, and said she appreciated the immediate feedback she received from Jenna Stewart, BB2C’s Career Pathway Specialist. 

“I think it was really helpful. I have a job, and I’ve had a real job interview, but you don’t get feedback really from a job interview,” Herb said. “It’s nice to see from an outside perspective what people think about you. It’s nice that I didn’t know [Stewart]  because it’s really simulating what a real job interview would be like. She was very honest. She told me what I can work on and what I can fix about my resume, which I’ve never heard from anybody else.”

Herb, who is planning on attending Miami University of Ohio in the fall to major in Business, is the Tigers’ 2026 Class Valedictorian, an accolade that could make anyone’s ego too big for its own good- but not for Herb. 

“Even though it’s nice to hear good things about yourself, it’s really helpful to hear what you can fix. There’s always something you can do better,” Herb said. It boosted my confidence in a way that when I do interviews in the future, I know I won’t come across as someone who doesn’t know what I’m talking about or [someone who is] quiet or shy. It really helped me look at myself from a different perspective, which is really helpful.”
Wise beyond her years, Herb represents many Marietta and Washington County students who are proving that they are ready for what life has in store for them after graduation. Thanks to programs like mock interviews and other services BB2C provides, such as job shadowing, Students Solving Problems, and internship placements, fewer seniors are falling victim to the thralls of National Senioritis Month.