1 – Arrive early!
You never know what hiccups will happen along the way, so arrive early. Last year I wasn’t expecting to encounter a long line while parking my car. Luckily, I arrived at the registration table with minutes to spare. Set aside plenty of time to arrive and settle in so you can feel calm and ready to put your best foot forward when your start a day of exciting interviews.
Plan more than enough time and remember – if you are early you are on time and if you are on time you are late.
2 – Make fast friends
The days are jammed packed and full of fun activities and engaging conversations. Cut through some of the competitive thoughts and get to know each other. Remember the other finalists are talented, innovative, like-minded individuals just like you. This combination of people offers great potential for friendships to form in just two days! Plus, it will be to your advantage to have a familiar face during downtime to share your thoughts.
3 – Trust the process
Challenge Detroit spends a lot of time crafting the interview matches. You may interview with your top choice and you might have other interviews that you aren’t sure of, but trust the process. Some of the best matches have been the most unexpected pairings! Keep an open mind.
4 – Mingle
The second you walk through the doors you will be mingling with potential fellows, alumni fellows and host company representatives. You never know who is around the corner from you or who will end up sitting at your table that might be the key to your next big move! Put yourself out there and be mindful that they might have important insights to share with you!
5 – Remember, this is more than a job
This is a fellowship program. There will be multiple opportunities to make a lasting impression on leadership. Be prepared – take the necessary steps to understand design thinking, read up on Detroit and come ready to participate. You have come such a long way already; this final step is really up to you!
6 – Do your homework in advance
This isn’t a normal interview, you will have more than one interview over the course of several hours. Free time is easily filled with talking to host company representatives, alumni fellows and community leaders. The day moves quickly. Taking a break to double-check your interview notes for the next session feels a bit more like completing your Algebra 1 assignment on your ride to school freshman year of high school.
7 – Be prepared to hand over your resume
This may be a given, but each host company is different. Some will have your resume printed, others will not; some will have two representatives while others will only have one. More than likely you are going to want to have a resume tailored to each company so be ready with multiple copies of each version to hand to them as soon as you take a seat and make sure it reflects you at your best.
8 – Have questions ready
This is just as much about you loving the host company as it is about them loving you. If you have reservations or even if you don’t, have intentional questions for the interviewers- and make sure to get them answered to help you make an informed decision! Do your research on the host companies you are interviewing with, and also be open-minded.
9 – Relax and enjoy the ride
Chances are you are reading this because you are nervous. Relax, you already did the work you have written on your resume! Now, you just have to let your true personality shine. This opportunity is once in a lifetime! You will meet amazing people, explore a great city, and potentially land your next job. There will be fun activities, and I recommend taking advantage of those too. So give it all you got and let this experience in Detroit inspire you!
10 – Bonus tip!
It is a best practice to send the host companies a follow up email thanking them for their time. I highly recommend doing so to leave a lasting impression. With that in mind, be sure to catch their name, email address and be thinking ahead about anecdotal connections to help you scribe that note after the trip wraps up!