Participation in the interview process for a Sea Grant Fellow position was one of the most valuable parts of my Fellowship. While initially it may seem like an extra task added onto an already busy schedule is actually exactly the kind of preparation Sea Grant seeks to provide its fellows in order to help them enter the work force. Just the initial read of applicant’s materials helped me see how to improve my own, and not just because they had better word choice. I started to see where I had not fully explained something and left an area open to interpretation that I actually had very specific answers too. I realized that if I cannot fully explain a subject in my cover letter that I should not bring it up at all, because the blank will be filled in by the reader and that distracts from other more important subjects. I also finally understood the value of letters of recommendation, especially from those who had clearly developed a personal working relationship with a student. Letters of recommendation that highlighted the same projects or attributes of a students cover letter demonstrated that the student was under no delusions about their strengths or even weaknesses they sought to improve. While grades where a factor and where important to complete the full picture of a student they carried far less weight than I thought. Really all they are need for is to demonstrate is that a person is capable of hard work and following through, or that they have acquired skills needed for a particular job.

Through discussion of the materials with other members of the selection committee I began to understand what parts of a cover letter we all responded to. Direct statements such as “This is my dream job, I would take it above all others.” where incredibly well received. While statements such as “I would like this job so that I can stay in Oregon” were less well received unless they were followed up with further explanation of a person’s commitment to the area or a particular issue. Sea Grant really responds to passion and commitment, they want students who are going to use this opportunity to develop further, not just as something to do while they figure out a better option. It was especially interesting to see how we all balanced the multiple parts of an application against each other, grades verse dedication to a certain area or letters of recommendation verse personal statement. Each person on the panel valued things differently and through our conversation we started to put together a whole picture of what this person would look like as a fellow. I really understand now how to make myself stand out to different kinds of interviewers.

The actual interviews helped me understand how my personality and interview style is viewed by different people. There was an incredible amount of understanding from the panel about nerves and how those are presented in different people. I learned that it was ok to be nervous as long as I addressed it if my composure slipped or I answered a question weirdly. Observing this part of the process and discussing it afterwards will definitely save me some sleep at 4 am in the future. I used to think that panel interviews were worse than one on one interviews but through this process I learned that they are actually better. Every person carries with them unavoidable biases based on their personal experiences, but its is also our experiences that help us balance them out, especially when combined with other peoples. As we discussed the differences in each candidates in person interview there were some things we all noticed and agreed on and others that surprised us and needed explaining from another person. I deeply value this experience and took away a lot more than I thought I would initially.