Student Interview Coach
Welcome to the Student Interview Coach! Our online service provides timely feedback to students on their interviewing skills based on a mock interview that they upload to our website.
Read the Venture Plan here.
Deborah
Posted in: Venture Forum
Jody McKinnon 4:57 pm on July 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
HI there. As a guidance counselor, I see this venture as being extremely valuable. What a wonderful opportunity for students to practice a very important skill! I like the quick turnaround for feedback. My only concern is this: you’ll need a huge staff potentially to deal with the onslaught of interviews! Good job with the video!
Jody
Deborah S 5:06 am on July 31, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Jody,
Thanks for the feedback! I think interviewing skills are really important and something that we don’t pay enough attention to. In my experience, an interview can be the deciding factor as to whether or not someone is offered a job. The sooner students can improve their skills, the more successful they will be later on.
Deborah
Yves Mainville 11:32 am on July 31, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Deborah,
I think this is a solid venture concept and I really liked the quote “Practice is the best teacher”. Having done this very kind of practice a few times, I can clearly state that practice is key. I was wondering however about the ‘niche’ you are targeting and wondering if it is too broad and competitive? I did this sort of thing when I took a leadership course awhile back – should this be a consideration as a strategic partnership or expansion phase? As for market, students are a fickle bunch that seem to want to spend their money on other things than these kinds of services…
I would want to hear more about these items before investing.
I really like the concept and think it has great potential.
great job on the presentation.
cheers.
Deborah S 11:35 am on July 31, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Yves,
Thanks for the feedback. This service is actually being marketed to school boards and university administrators. I don’t envision that students would pay for it themselves (as you’ve noted, they find other ways to spend their money) but rather it would be a line item in the school or university budget.
Deborah
dmcinnes 2:54 pm on July 31, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Deborah,
Great job on your presentation. As always done by you, it is very thorough, well-researched and totally believable! I think interview skills are a critical asset, that for the most part completely over-looked. They were as I was growing up anyways.
In your venture pitch, I really appreciated your breakdown of market potential, etc. Putting hard numbers to an idea really helps with your credibility.
Count me in as an investor.
David McInnes
Deborah S 4:10 pm on July 31, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi David,
Thank you for your generous comments! I think it’s important to try and quantify things and I like numbers. Good to know I can count you in should I decide to pursue the opportunity : )
Deborah
kimnoel 2:03 pm on August 1, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Deborah,
Really nice job on your presentation! You have touched on an area that really does need to be addressed and most times overlooked. My biggest concern would be the satffing – I think yu would inundated with requests for interviews!
Well done!
Kim
Deborah S 11:26 am on August 2, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Thanks for the feedback, Kim. You raise a valid point about the potential staffing issue and one solution may be to try and schedule schools ahead of time to ensure appropriate staffing is in place.
Deborah
Dennis Pratt 8:25 pm on August 1, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Deborah;
I think you have a creative use of technology targeted at a niche market. If you have a small team (depending on use and growth) it might actually work. I know interviewing is a skill and can get or lose you a job. I can see the benefits of this type of assistance. I might be interested to know if your team would consider going live and do mock interviews over Skype or something similar. Your team could ask the questions while the interviewee is working on their responses. This would give your team a better feel for the client as they could expand on questions or follow a tangent just as you might in an interview. I don’t see the lack of technology as barrier as most students have access to a video capable smartphone, iPod or webcam, if not at home, at school.
Dennis
Deborah S 11:27 am on August 2, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Thanks, Dennis. I did consider real-time feedback, but thought it could be challenging due to time zone differences and that would also mean I’d need lots of interview experts all at the same time. It’s definitely something to consider though.
Deborah
Danielle 5:22 am on August 2, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Deborah,
This is an excellent venture that has been very well pitched! Your professionalism and confidence will win over investors, not to mention your thoroughly researched plan. The logo on the wall was a nice touch! Though I think your cameraman was a little nervous :-D. You have thought of all of the challenges that you might face and as an investor, I might want to know a little more about how those challenges will be dealt with. But I am impressed by the overall presentation and I am definitely in.
Danielle
Deborah S 11:29 am on August 2, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Thanks for the feedback, Danielle. This was my camera-person’s (my 17 year-old daughter) first assignment : ) She also composed the music that I used in the elevator pitch.
Deborah
troos 4:33 pm on August 3, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Deborah:
Your elevator pitch presents a clear outline of the need and solutions of your venture. Your presentation is professional, enthusiastic and engaged; you seem confident your product has demand and value. A little more information in the elevator pitch regarding market predictions would have made it more convincing to me, the investor. The initial part of the pitch seemed like you were selling a product to your clients rather than convincing investors. This clearly shifted at the end. Overall I have decided to invest in your venture because you have convinced me of its relevancy to today’s students.
I am even more convinced of this after reading your venture pitch. Your needs assessment is fully supported by your significant research. You have differentiated yourself clearly from your competition, exploiting a unique market. Your revenue predictions are well researched by comparing to similar products and projecting market value onto the number of clients. Your background in accounting and education is evident, making you a competent team leader. You have provided good detail in supporting the “ask”. The only question I have regards your management team. You speak well of yourself as the CEO but there is nothing on the supporting cast. Your projected client base indicates that you will need some people to help you. What qualifications will these people be required to have? Will the investment I make rise if your number of clients changes from your projections?
As a whole, you have made an excellent venture proposition and I look forward to seeing its fulfillment.
Tim
Deborah S 7:41 am on August 4, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Tim,
Thanks for the feedback! I appreciated your comments about the elevator pitch. This exercise certainly gave me an appreciation of how difficult it is to cram everything you want to say into only 60 seconds! If I were going to pursue this venture, I would definitely provide more information on the management team as you suggested.
Thanks again,
Deborah
Bridget 4:04 am on August 4, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Deborah,
I very much enjoyed your venture pitch in which you made great use of visuals and offered a very clear explanation of Student Interview Coach. I appreciate the way in which you stated the problem for students and teachers and offered one solution for both groups. I think that this is a great idea and I like the importance that you put on immediate feedback which is always more effective than when too much time has elapsed. There is a lot of focus placed on creating resumes but the interview is often the most stressful part of the process and where job seekers could do with the most practice.
In regards to the students making their interviews, I assume that they enlist another person to do the mock interview. Do you provide a bank of typical questions, which might be asked in order to guide the interview? These are details, which can easily be worked out as long as the technology can be created to support this venture; and I am sure it can.
You did a solid review of the competition and it is interesting to note that no one up to this point has marketed to the students.
I would be interested in investing in your venture.
Bridget
Deborah S 7:43 am on August 4, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Thanks for the feedback, Bridget! I think you’ve honed in on a future enhancement to the service in providing a bank of questions. I can certainly see the need for it and could easily work it in as a link on the website.
Thanks again,
Deborah
sheza 8:18 pm on August 4, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Deborah,
You are onto a great idea here! I especially liked the professional nature of your elevator pitch – I found it to be concise and it gave me as an investor a reason to read onto your venture pitch. You described your market well, and gave me an understanding of the product you hoped to offer and the reasons why. Well done!
Your venture pitch was just as well put together. It looked like a professional report ready to be sent off to an investor. You include a thorough analysis of your competitors and your market share is well-researched. The revenue you hope to generate is based on believable data and I can see the potential that the project holds. I like that you give us a picture of your background as the CEO of this venture, but it would have ben good to see who some of the other players would be on your team.
Overall, your venture looks like it has a lot of worth and I would be interested in seeing a complete business plan!
All the best,
Sheza Naqi
toddpowell 11:03 pm on August 5, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Deborah,
As a teacher who teaches Planning (and deals with many students who are readying themselves for the employment market), I see strong validity in this venture. Students need all of the practice that they can get, and with the quick turnaround, the learning potential is invaluable. I am concerned with the amount of the interviews needing to be done 🙂
Cheers,
Todd