Look people in the eye.Smile.Shake hands.Sit up tall.Speak confidently.That's the last-minute advice Professor Paul Calhoun gives college students before they head off for job interviews.The Skidmore College seniors he's talking to are dressed in suits,dresses and heels.They stand out in a college library with other finals-takers,most in sweatpants or T-shirts.
There isn't an actual job interview,just a satisfactory or unsatisfactory grade from a popular,semester-long class called Presenting the Brand Called Me at this college in New York.
Calhoun created the popular,semester-long course 10 years ago.He'd spent more than three decades working in the banking industry,where he saw the importance of presentation skills: "A lot of it is acting."
When Calhoun came to Skidmore as a business professor,he noticed a lot of students struggling with self-confidence and public speaking.He shaped what eventually became this class with the help of theater professors,in order to give business majors "the same training that the theater department gives to actors".Over the 13 weeks,there are dance classes,role-playing,and a group of guest speakers who talk about cover letters and resumes (簡歷).By the end of the course,students leave with a "STAR" story — the short story about yourself and your abilities that's designed to help land you a job. "People don't remember when you tell them you're good at something," Calhoun explains, "they remember when you tell them a story that proves you're good at something."
Dante Delemos is a junior business major,soft-spoken but confident.He says this class has helped him realize that telling a story — his story — has value,so he uses it whenever he can:in cover letters,to shape his resume and during interviews.And it did the trick.Delemos is spending the summer working in finance,with an internship (實習) in Manhattan.
(1)What does Calhoun learn from his past experience in the banking industry?(No more than -10 words)
How to present oneself is of great importance./The importance of presentation skills.
How to present oneself is of great importance./The importance of presentation skills.
(2)How could job hunters impress people to get a job according to Calhoun?(No more than -15 words) By telling a story that proves they are good at something.
By telling a story that proves they are good at something.
(3)What does the underlined phrase mean?(No more than 3 words) Worked.
Worked.
(4)What's the main idea of the last paragraph?((No more than 10 words) How the class helps the student/Dante find/get a job/internship.
How the class helps the student/Dante find/get a job/internship.
(5)Besides practicing presenting skills,what else can people do to become more confident?Please give your reasons. ((No more than 25 words) Accepting yourself.Because being confident means believing yourself.
Accepting yourself.Because being confident means believing yourself.