First draft practice interviewing (#231)

* First draft practice interviewing

* Update interviewing/readme.md

Co-authored-by: Sally McGrath <[email protected]>

* Update interviewing/readme.md

Co-authored-by: Sally McGrath <[email protected]>

* Update interviewing/readme.md

Co-authored-by: Sally McGrath <[email protected]>

* Update interviewing/readme.md

Co-authored-by: Sally McGrath <[email protected]>

* Update interviewing/readme.md

Co-authored-by: Sally McGrath <[email protected]>

* Update interviewing/readme.md

Co-authored-by: Sally McGrath <[email protected]>

* Update readme.md

Adds Reflection, Summary & Homework

---------

Co-authored-by: Sally McGrath <[email protected]>

interviewing/readme.md

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+# Interviewing [Professional Development] [60 minutes] 🧑‍💻
+
+Acing job interviews is a skill that can be learned like any other. Today we will pair up to practice interviewing.
+
+## Objective 💬
+
+At the end of this workshop, participants can:
+
+- [] Introduce themselves in 2 minutes
+- [] Answer soft skill interview questions using the STAR method
+- [] Prepare a strategy to get ready for  technical interviews
+
+## Setup 🌼
+
+- Pair up into groups of 2-3
+
+## Stage 1: Introduce Yourself, 15 minutes 🙆
+
+In almost every interview, the interviewer will ask you to introduce yourself. The goal is to give the interviewer a snapshot of who you are, your professional background, and why you're a good fit for the role. Take 5 mins to craft a compelling narrative. 
+
+Some tips:
+- Your response should be 1-2 minutes
+- Try to structure your response, as an example the Present-Past-Future model:
+    - Present: Start by briefly mentioning your current role or what you are doing at the moment (education, job, etc.), and give an overview of your responsibilities.
+    - Past: Mention your relevant experience, skills, or education. Focus on achievements and how they shaped your current professional identity.
+    - Future: Highlight what you want to do next and why you’re excited about this opportunity.
+- Try to be enthusiastic, let your personality and confidence shine
+- Do not overwhelm your interviewer with too much information
+- Allow 1-2 minutes for follow-up questions
+
+After the 5 minutes are up take turns practicing your introductions. While the other person is introducing themselves, put yourself in an interviewer's shoes. Share what the other person did well and what they could improve.
+
+## Stage 2: The Soft Skills Interview 🥎 
+
+Soft-skill interview questions are typically asked at some point during the interview process. 
+
+Answer these questions with the [STAR method](https://ca.indeed.com/career-advice/interviewing/star-interview-method) which stands for Situation, Task, Action and Result. Here is an example of using the STAR method to answer a question:
+
+“Can you tell me about a time when you had to work in a team and faced a challenge?”
+
+- <strong> Situation </strong>: "During my final group project, we had to develop a mobile app for managing student assignments. Midway through the project, we hit a roadblock because two teammates disagreed on which framework to use: one preferred React Native, while the other wanted to stick with Flutter. This was causing delays in our progress.”
+- <strong> Task </strong>: “As the team lead, my task was to resolve the conflict and ensure we stayed on schedule.”
+- <strong> Action </strong>: “I organized a meeting to discuss the pros and cons of both frameworks, focusing on performance and our project requirements. After evaluating, I suggested using React Native because it allowed us to quickly integrate with the backend we’d already built. The teammate supporting Flutter agreed once we reviewed the long-term benefits.”
+- <strong> Result </strong>: “We moved forward with React Native, completed the app on time, and received positive feedback from our teachers for both functionality and performance. It also helped the team work more smoothly on future features.”
+
+Remember, when asked about failures or mistakes to say what you learned from them. 
+
+### Discussion, 15 minutes 
+
+Discuss how you might answer the following questions in a real interview. Take turns asking each other questions from the following list. Spend no more than 2 minutes on each.
+
+- Tell us about a time you missed a deadline.
+- What was your favorite project you have worked on so far.
+- When was a time you failed?
+- Tell us about a time you had to help your team members through a tough time. 
+- Tell me about a time you prioritized your time well, despite having multiple deadlines.
+- Tell me about a time you solved a problem at work.
+- How do you teach your colleagues about new practices within the company?
+- Tell me about a time when things didn't go according to plan. How did you deal with it?
+- What is your response when a colleague disagrees with you?
+- Share a time you set a goal and achieved it.
+
+## Stage 3: The Technical Interview, 15 minutes 📞
+
+Pick any technical topic such as Javascript, Python, SQL, databases, etc., and search for the Top 50 beginner interview questions for that topic. Read through the list together. Discuss if there are any surprises in there. Which questions did you find easy and which ones did you find difficult? Try asking each other a couple of questions and see if you can answer them. Practice what you will say if you do not know an answer.
+
+### Some tips for technical interviews:
+
+- Think out loud: walk the interviewer through your thought process.
+- Interviewers do not expect you to know everything. Be honest when you do not know something.
+- If you do not understand something, ask questions!
+- Practice, practice, practice
+
+## Reflection 🧘‍♂️
+
+With the remaining time, come together as a group and discuss:
+- How did you feel introducing yourself? How could you tailor your introduction according to a job interview.
+- Did you find it difficult or easy to use the STAR method to answer the soft skill questions? Why?
+- Did you find the technical interview questions challenging? What are some strategies to stay calm when you do not know the answer to a question?
+
+## Summary & Homework
+
+Interviewing is a skill that takes lots of practice. Your introduction should be thought out and well-polished by the time you are at your first interview. You cannot prepare answers for every soft skill question, but having 3-4 prepared in advance makes thinking on your feet easier. Prepare for technical interviews by reading through the most commonly asked questions for that topic. For questions you do not know, ask clarifying questions, say what you do know about the topic, and admit when you do not know. Your interviewer does not expect you to know everything!
+
+### Homework
+- set up a practice interview by the end of this week with either a volunteer or another CYF participant.