You can avoid being tongue-tied in the interview by practicing answers to interview questions. There are some common questions you can anticipate, such as the following:  “Tell me about yourself.” This might be the most popular personal question to ask interviewees. “Why do you want this job?” “Where do you see yourself in five years?” “What are you most proud of in your life?” Interviewers don’t ask personal questions because they are fishing for personal information. Instead, they want to know how you will help the company. You need to review the job description carefully to see what skills and experience they need. For example, if the employer wants managerial experience, then be sure to mention your management experience when answering the question “Tell me about yourself.” You might be uncomfortable promoting yourself in an interview. Women, in particular, can tend to be afraid that people will think they are arrogant. However, you should realize that you are promoting your accomplishments, not yourself.  Focus on how you have added value to an employer or your team. This shows you aren’t self-centered. Instead you are promoting your value. For example, you wouldn’t say, “I’m the greatest customer service rep at my company,” which is arrogant. Instead, you can say, “My customer complaint rate was the lowest in my office and I helped lower the overall complaint rate by 30% when I was promoted to manager.” Your answers should be honest. However, your answers also need to relate to the job you are interviewing for, which is why you reviewed the job description. Identify four or five strengths you want to highlight, such as being good with communication or multi-tasking.  Write answers that convey these strengths. For example, you can answer the question “Where do you see yourself in five years?” with “I’d like to develop my management skills by supervising a larger team. Right now, I supervise two subordinates.” You might answer the question “What are you most proud of in your life” by emphasizing your dedication. You can say, “I stayed at my first job even after my direct supervisor quit in the middle of our busy season. But I still managed to increase our sales by 20%.” Some answers might make the interviewer question whether you are suitable for the job. Try to keep the following out of your answers:  Anything that suggests you might leave the job. For example, don’t tell someone you moved to the area because your spouse got a job. This suggests you’ll leave as soon as your spouse gets a different one.  A lack of interest in your career progression. Never say, “I’ll do whatever you want.” Instead, the interviewer wants to see that you are passionate and actively pursuing goals.  Any admission that you don’t have experience. Instead, find something in your school or volunteer experience to tout in the interview. A word-for-word repeat of your resume. If you’re asked, “Tell me about yourself,” you shouldn’t run through your entire life history in your answer. Instead, structure your answers in the following manner:  Present: “I’m currently an administrative assistant at the University of Colorado, where I juggle the schedules for twelve faculty members in my department.” Remember to mention a crucial skill you rely on—in this example, multi-tasking. Past: “Before that, I worked in various clerical positions in the private sector, including at a bank and two hospitals, which let me handle financial reporting.” Also remember to mention skills or experiences that are relevant to the job you are interviewing for. Future: “I’d love a job that combines the academic experience with financial management, which is why I’m excited about this office manager position.” If you are comfortable talking to people you don’t know, then you might want to give a slightly offbeat answer to questions about yourself. These answers are not for everybody. However, consider the following answers to the question “Tell me about yourself.”  “I can summarize myself in three words.” For example, you can say, “Passionate. Thoughtful. Tireless.” Expect the interviewer to follow up and ask you to provide examples for every word you pick. “Let me show you instead of answering.” If you’re creative, you can draw a picture. If you’re a people-person, you can pull out your cell phone and show your extensive contacts list. “Other people tell me I’m….” This answer shows you are aware of how others perceive you. Ask a friend to interview you. You’ll get to run through your practice answers until they sound natural. Remember that you want to sound conversational and not rehearsed.  Your friend will probably come up with questions you haven’t thought of. That’s good. You can then work on developing answers to these questions. Take advantage of any mock interviews offered by your school. Call up the Career Center and check.

Summary: Anticipate common interview questions. Review the job description. Get in the right frame of mind. Draft sample answers. Don’t give answers that will hurt you. Structure your answer properly. Practice off-beat answers. Do a mock interview.


Create a Facebook page called “Find [Person’s Name].” Social media can be extremely influential in helping spread the news and raise awareness. Share your page with everyone you know, as well as on local community pages.  Assume the person is able to see what you are posting. Post pictures of them with friends and family, happy memories, or videos of them having fun with loved ones. These show the runaway how much you love and miss them. These posts also personalize the runaway for strangers who might be following their story and help generate more interest in the case. Consider going on Twitter and tweeting the story to news media and other influential individuals. Create an email address associated with finding the runaway. Send an email from this address to all your friends and family requesting help, with a link to your Facebook page. Connect with people who might be useful in getting the information out there. Consider people who interact with the public on a daily basis, and ask them to reach out to their contacts, and/or display flyers for you. For example, you may have a pilot, a minister, or a social worker in your contact list. The pilot could hang the flyer in the crew lounges of airports. The minister could bring flyers to the hospital when visiting patients. The social worker could utilize their contacts at local government agencies to help spread the word of the runaway. Distribute several recent pictures of the runaway, and create a flyer with their information and last known whereabouts. Use high-quality photos that show the person’s face from different angles so that others get a better sense of what they look like.  Put the flyer in high-traffic locations, like gas stations, train stations, interstate rest stops, or bus depots.  Distribute flyers to local hospitals and mental health treatment centers. Ask local stores and businesses to hang a flyer in their window or other location visible to customers. Contact local papers, TV stations, and radio stations with information about the missing person and ask them to help you broadcast the information. Ask them to share the information on their websites as well..  You could say, “My son has been missing since Monday. We suspect he ran away. Could you please post his picture in your broadcast tonight, as well as put it up on your website?” Provide copies of high-quality photographs of the runaway to media representatives, as well as a missing person flyer if you have made one. Provide both digital and hard copies if necessary. Consider designating a family member or friend as your go-to media person. Let this person coordinate photos, schedule interviews if necessary, and research contacts at local publications. Working with the media can be very time-consuming and draining.
Summary: Go on social media as soon as possible. Utilize your network. Create a missing person flyer. Reach out to the media.