For rising high school seniors in Southwest Virginia, mock interviews proved to be just as stressful as the real ones.

That’s why, in preparation for the mock interviews, Elizabeth Honaker relied on Rubin Education instructional videos, ebook material and activities to ready her 27 students.

Honaker, a career counselor with Southwest Virginia Community College’s Upward Bound Program, led the students through a summertime class called Aspire, an initiative of Upward Bound’s Summer Discover Program.

Upward Bound is a national program implemented and monitored by the United States Department of Education. In the program, students from disadvantaged or low-income backgrounds receive specialized college and career training.

Honaker set aside a day in the school’s computer lab to coincide with mock interviews down the hall conducted by community college staff.

As each student went in for the interview, the others stayed in the computer lab and worked out of the Emerge with Rubin online program. The students, who come from nine different high schools across four counties, watched instructional videos on how to shake hands, answer job interview questions and even ask questions of their own.

As well, the students followed the step-by-step Rubin Education activities to construct a resume appropriate for a high school student. The activities cover how to write a resume “skills” section, the bullet points under the “work experience” area and also how to describe non-traditional “work” like babysitting and mowing lawns.

In total, Honaker believes Rubin Education material made her students “less anxious” about the application and interview process.

“Rubin Education was a great complement to our ongoing curriculum,” Honaker said. “The students appreciated the simple yet relevant instruction as they learn important career skills.”

Honaker hopes to incorporate even more Rubin Education activities during the 2019-2020 school year with additional Upward Bound programs.