For interviews, would interviewers prefer if I made hand movements or should I keep my hands on my lap the entire time?

Focus on making eye contact, controlling verbal crutches or tics (“like,” “and uhh”), being aware of nervousness driving faster speech, actively and purposefully listening to a question so you can fully respond and not letting your mind race off to start creating an answer, so that you miss the full question.


Find confidence in being well-groomed, in well-fitting, pressed clothes and shined shoes (if applicable), that are ready to go the night before. No heavy body sprays or scent.

As mentioned above, be yourself. The interviewers understand your age, inexperience and stress. Don’t forget to smile when appropriate. Normally I say something about handshakes, but be prepared for the offer of an elbow or nothing.

Figure out what you’re going to do with feet, legs, hands in advance, while of course (cue your Mom’s voice) while sitting up straight in whatever seat is offered.

This all applies for virtual interviews too. Dress and prepare for the role being played, job interview, whether onscreen or f2f. There are a lot of tips out there right now on how to prepare for virtual interviews.
 
Capt MJ said:
Focus on making eye contact, controlling verbal crutches or tics (“like,” “and uhh”), being aware of nervousness driving faster speech, actively and purposefully listening to a question so you can fully respond and not letting your mind race off to start creating an answer, so that you miss the full question.
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My son was discussing his interview last night.

He said he wishes he could redo it ... he has learned better eye contact since being at USNA.

I suspect that is a common weakness for most 18 year olds.
 
A1Janitor said:
My son was discussing his interview last night.

He said he wishes he could redo it ... he has learned better eye contact since being at USNA.

I suspect that is a common weakness for most 18 year olds.
Click to expand...
I was fortunate to have Mrs. Doris Ashton, the HS biology teacher and debate coach who I remember as the best of the best, pulling all of us going for college scholarship interviews into a “boot camp” in a classroom, for group and 1:1 coaching. Tough but completely devoted to us. The hand-shaking lessons were hilarious, teaching the boys not to crush hands and the girls to not do a limp fish.
 
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Forcing eye contact all the time is not natural in a personal 1-on-1 conversation. You definitely want to make eye contact.

Always start off by making eye contact in the interaction. It’s Ok to roll your eyes or steer them in another direction when you are “Talking your Deep thoughts”. Know that you are doing this, and steer them back from time to time to make eye contact in long thought out answers or ideas.
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First, don't overthink it.... do what comes natural.
Second, the only time something is an issue is if it becomes noticeable . Do a mock interview, videotape it, and then watch to see if you have any annoying traits. (Here's a hint, the BGO knows you are nervous, and likely won't comment unless excessive to the point of being distracting).
You can do what you want with your hands, feet, etc. -but above all -- maintain eye contact. Be confident in yourself !
 
I am a BGO and was on a local MOC nom panel last year. We interviewed somewhere between 25-30 candidates for the district. If I remember correctly 2 had LOAs... 1 had mind blowing stats the other were middle of the road. The one with mind blowing stats had an okay interview. The other LOA candidate interviewed very well. This is a district that is part of a mid-size city that has had good success with appointments. We have 3 other districts that encompass the city also. For USNA in recent years, we have had around 12-ish appointments per year. We have quite a few athletic recruits across the city too. This district specifically spans the suburbs of the city (with some very solid private and charter schools) and runs out to some rural counties. Also alot of JROTC programs in the area too. The overwhelming majority of candidates had USNA #1 on their list. We had 7 appointees out of this cycle for the district: 2 USAFA (also 1 to USAFA prep - recruited athlete), 1 USMMA, 3 USMA (1 was a prepster), 1 to USNA. Here are my observations from last year's cycle:
  • Eye contact. We interviewed around 25-30 candidates on the MOC panel. 25% of them never made eye contact. It is awkward.
  • Hand shake - We are in COVID times so this will probably not be an issue. If we ever return to them. A firm, but not hand breaking, hand shake while making eye contact with a simple, 'Hello, nice to meet you" works. The number of candidates who looked down, mumbled and had a weird handshake was actually astounding.
  • The BGO interview is going to be longer than your MOC panel. A MOC panel is 15-20 minutes, 30 max. Most of my BGO interviews are around the 90-120 minute mark. Depends on how many questions the candidate and parents have. The BGO interview will be more of conversations; it's your chance to tell them about you, your experiences, the gaps that might be in your application. Ask questions about USNA, the fleet, etc. Some kids start out nervous, but most relax rather quickly. I am not there to drill you, I want to get to know you, your life experience, school experience, leadership, athletics, etc.
  • Practice your interview skills - it's a lifelong skill, this is the start of it. We know most of you are 16-19 years old. I still remember my MOC interview many years ago. We don't expect perfection, but we are looking for a confident, informed candidate. If you are not used to wearing a suit and tie, practice interview in it. This will teach you what you fiddle with during it. If there is a weakness like a test score or a CFA run time, prepare to answer the... "what are you doing to help with this weak part of your application?" If I see a 10 minute mile on an application and its December already, I am expecting to hear what kind of run plan you have been doing, knowing that you have done a practice CFA and scored X and will be retaking your CFA for score on this date with your PE teacher. Our best interviewees on this cycle were a USMAPS Cadet Candidate and a young man who was a senior in high school. There both were confident, charismatic and well informed. Neither had the most mind blowing stats, but their stats were solid. Our worst interviewee was actually a young man in college and in ROTC. He could not make eye contact, had no idea about the Navy or USNA and mumbled the entire time. Also, this may seem simple, but two things... answer the question asked and two, have a 30-45 second "elevator pitch" about who you are.
  • Know your application and resume - Especially on the MOC panel I noticed many candidates submitted forms and scores in the fall and interviewed in December. Some had updated test scores or other items that were missing or they didn't recall things. Review your essay, applications, etc before you go before the interview. The number of candidates who stated they were applying to X, Y, Z Service Academy on their MOC application and then only applied X and Y was pretty high too. Update things as needed. It took me hours to prep for the interview. I volunteered for it and know how important these are to you and the SAs. I read every essay, application, LOR, etc. Every person on that panel did. It's your package, if you can't answer questions on it, who is?
Sorry for the long post, but hoping this might help. It's just one district and one point of view.
 
@NavyHoops - I do a lot of recruiting from the college ranks for companies that I have worked for. Your post is spot on for this but also for future employment interviews. Eye contact doesn't mean crazy eyes, just that it shows that your engaged and interested in what the other person has to say! That one in particular will serve them well when dealing with a future spouse - HA!
 
NavyHoops said:
I am a BGO and was on a local MOC nom panel last year. We interviewed somewhere between 25-30 candidates for the district. If I remember correctly 2 had LOAs... 1 had mind blowing stats the other were middle of the road. The one with mind blowing stats had an okay interview. The other LOA candidate interviewed very well. This is a district that is part of a mid-size city that has had good success with appointments. We have 3 other districts that encompass the city also. For USNA in recent years, we have had around 12-ish appointments per year. We have quite a few athletic recruits across the city too. This district specifically spans the suburbs of the city (with some very solid private and charter schools) and runs out to some rural counties. Also alot of JROTC programs in the area too. The overwhelming majority of candidates had USNA #1 on their list. We had 7 appointees out of this cycle for the district: 2 USAFA (also 1 to USAFA prep - recruited athlete), 1 USMMA, 3 USMA (1 was a prepster), 1 to USNA. Here are my observations from last year's cycle:
  • Eye contact. We interviewed around 25-30 candidates on the MOC panel. 25% of them never made eye contact. It is awkward.
  • Hand shake - We are in COVID times so this will probably not be an issue. If we ever return to them. A firm, but not hand breaking, hand shake while making eye contact with a simple, 'Hello, nice to meet you" works. The number of candidates who looked down, mumbled and had a weird handshake was actually astounding.
  • The BGO interview is going to be longer than your MOC panel. A MOC panel is 15-20 minutes, 30 max. Most of my BGO interviews are around the 90-120 minute mark. Depends on how many questions the candidate and parents have. The BGO interview will be more of conversations; it's your chance to tell them about you, your experiences, the gaps that might be in your application. Ask questions about USNA, the fleet, etc. Some kids start out nervous, but most relax rather quickly. I am not there to drill you, I want to get to know you, your life experience, school experience, leadership, athletics, etc.
  • Practice your interview skills - it's a lifelong skill, this is the start of it. We know most of you are 16-19 years old. I still remember my MOC interview many years ago. We don't expect perfection, but we are looking for a confident, informed candidate. If you are not used to wearing a suit and tie, practice interview in it. This will teach you what you fiddle with during it. If there is a weakness like a test score or a CFA run time, prepare to answer the... "what are you doing to help with this weak part of your application?" If I see a 10 minute mile on an application and its December already, I am expecting to hear what kind of run plan you have been doing, knowing that you have done a practice CFA and scored X and will be retaking your CFA for score on this date with your PE teacher. Our best interviewees on this cycle were a USMAPS Cadet Candidate and a young man who was a senior in high school. There both were confident, charismatic and well informed. Neither had the most mind blowing stats, but their stats were solid. Our worst interviewee was actually a young man in college and in ROTC. He could not make eye contact, had no idea about the Navy or USNA and mumbled the entire time. Also, this may seem simple, but two things... answer the question asked and two, have a 30-45 second "elevator pitch" about who you are.
  • Know your application and resume - Especially on the MOC panel I noticed many candidates submitted forms and scores in the fall and interviewed in December. Some had updated test scores or other items that were missing or they didn't recall things. Review your essay, applications, etc before you go before the interview. The number of candidates who stated they were applying to X, Y, Z Service Academy on their MOC application and then only applied X and Y was pretty high too. Update things as needed. It took me hours to prep for the interview. I volunteered for it and know how important these are to you and the SAs. I read every essay, application, LOR, etc. Every person on that panel did. It's your package, if you can't answer questions on it, who is?
Sorry for the long post, but hoping this might help. It's just one district and one point of view.
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This is super helpful. Thank you. Was there only one MOC panel for that district? If so, does that mean most of those 25-30 got nominated (10 each for USNA, USMA and USAFA, and a few for USMMA?).
 
We had one MOC panel for that district. Every district is different, so it doesn't mean that is how yours will go. For this specific district nearly all candidates had USNA on their list as either #1 or #2. I think we had about 10-15 who had USAFA as #1 or #2 and we had about 6-8 who had USMA as #1 or #2. Pretty much anyone who had USMA down got a nom. If I remember correctly most who had USAFA on their list got a nom, but maybe 1-2 missed the cut. We did have to really debate the USNA list. We had about 5-6 in the end who had USNA as #1 and really impressed us. We had another 5-6 who had USNA as a #2 and really impressed us. If they applied to USMMA and completed the interview they got a nom. The young man who got the appointment to USMMA was actually my favorite candidate and be curious to see how his path plays out. We submitted full slates for all but USMMA. Every district is different and every year is different. I am just giving this point of view as someone who has been through it, sat on a MOC panel in another state, am a BGO and now sat on 2 different MOC panels in this state.
 
ArmySon-NavyFan said:
@NavyHoops - I do a lot of recruiting from the college ranks for companies that I have worked for. Your post is spot on for this but also for future employment interviews. Eye contact doesn't mean crazy eyes, just that it shows that your engaged and interested in what the other person has to say! That one in particular will serve them well when dealing with a future spouse - HA!
Click to expand...

Thanks! I am not a recruiter, but do alot of interviewing. In our company we have an entry level program that is mostly new college grads or those making career changes. Soft skills is what I focus on in these interviews. I do spend a great deal of time giving them feedback after. I think it is helpful at that point of their career (or any point to be honest, how do you get better if no one tells you!). They also generally move up the first 1-2 levels of the company quickly. I spend alot of time helping prep them for those rounds of interviews also as they are rather competitive. Word on the street is I am the hardest interviewer! But, I also take it as a badge of honor when they come and ask me to help them with interview prep months or years down the road.
 
NavyHoops said:
We had one MOC panel for that district. Every district is different, so it doesn't mean that is how yours will go. For this specific district nearly all candidates had USNA on their list as either #1 or #2. I think we had about 10-15 who had USAFA as #1 or #2 and we had about 6-8 who had USMA as #1 or #2. Pretty much anyone who had USMA down got a nom. If I remember correctly most who had USAFA on their list got a nom, but maybe 1-2 missed the cut. We did have to really debate the USNA list. We had about 5-6 in the end who had USNA as #1 and really impressed us. We had another 5-6 who had USNA as a #2 and really impressed us. If they applied to USMMA and completed the interview they got a nom. The young man who got the appointment to USMMA was actually my favorite candidate and be curious to see how his path plays out. We submitted full slates for all but USMMA. Every district is different and every year is different. I am just giving this point of view as someone who has been through it, sat on a MOC panel in another state, am a BGO and now sat on 2 different MOC panels in this state.
Click to expand...

Understood. Still this provides a good insider's perspective. Thanks, again, for sharing.
 
Capt MJ said:
Search “bad job interviews” or “worst job interviews” on YouTube, to give yourself a bit of comic relief.
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I can't watch videos like this, I have a bad case of second-hand embarrassment. I can't even watch scenes in movies or television shows (the Office being a prime example, The Diary of Bridget Jones being another). 😅

Again, not affiliated with USNA, but I conduct interviews for USCGA. My only other addition to @NavyHoops ' excellent post would be to watch your tone. You are expected to "toot you own horn" to a certain extent, as you are your own best advocate in interview situations. Just be careful that a confident tone doesn't cross the line into an arrogant one, no one likes a know-it-all or a candidate who thinks they can do no wrong or doesn't have any weaknesses
 
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