As students progress through high school, the need for strong interview etiquette skills becomes even more important. Interview skills should be a priority in every high school classroom.
As an educator, your role is to help your students succeed and thrive academically. But a huge part of this is preparing them for what’s to come. From scholarship and college admission interviews to their first jobs and internships, interviewing is going to be a huge barrier to success. That’s why you should focus on interview etiquette with your high school students.
And luckily, it’s easier to implement than you might expect!
Why Is It Important To Teach Interview Etiquette To High School Students?
Aside from preparing students for college and career interviews, teaching interview etiquette helps shape other life skills, too.
High school students are unique in that, when they feel fully confident, they have a contagious level of positive energy. When they learn new skills that feel relevant to real life, it’s easy to see their joy and sense of accomplishment.
That’s right—high school students will be incredibly enthusiastic about learning new skills, as long as those skills feel relevant and practical. Interview etiquette is hands-on and lets students think and learn in a new, different way.
Students love learning things that benefit themselves. Studying something like geometry is important, but many students don’t see how it’s relevant to their real lives. When you teach interview etiquette, you’re supporting your students in preparing for adulthood.
Plus, you get to build that confidence in your students. A huge part of interviewing is learning to showcase yourself in the best light and celebrate your skills. Many high school students are vulnerable and feel insecure….and you have the chance to change that while helping them make a good impression and achieve their goals.
3 Types Of Interview Etiquette You Should Teach To High School Students
If you’re worried about how to teach etiquette to your high school students, it’s way easier than you’re anticipating.
There are actually three main types of etiquette you should focus on. We’ll go over those three types and then move into some easy strategies for incorporating interview etiquette into your classroom.
1. Teach Them How To Have A Strong Interview Presence
The first main component of interview etiquette is having a presence. This means things like:
Having good posture throughout the interview
Walking into the room with confident body language
Keeping your body language confident throughout the conversation
Our body language tells interviewers what they need to know before we even start talking. Many students are completely uncomfortable with interviews, and that shows in their body language.
Prioritize walking in with confidence, maintaining eye contact, and keeping your shoulders back and down, your torso elongated, and your chin up.
2. Teach Them To Dress The Part
Dressing the part—and more specifically, dressing for what you want—matters. The way we dress helps portray our values and attitude toward a role.
You’ll want to encourage students of all backgrounds to do their best to dress in an authentic, appropriate, and professional manner. Remind students that it’s okay to ask about interview dress codes if they aren’t sure.
Typically, you can advise male students to wear slacks and a clean, pressed, collared shirt. The same outfit will work for female students, but a dress or skirt with a business-appropriate length will also suffice.
Just remember that all students do not come from the same background, home environment, or resources. Keep that in mind when discussing appropriate interview attire.
3. Work On Conversation Skills
The final fundamental piece of interview etiquette is conversation skills. There are a few important things here that you’ll want to teach your students.
First, let your students know that they should always do research on the company (or university) that they’ll be interviewing with. Even better, if they know the name of the person who will be interviewing them, they can research that person, too.
Next, prioritize conversation skills during the interview. Of course, basic manners and conversation skills matter here. But there are also specific that matter, like asking open-ended questions and using phrases like “describe,” “please explain,” and “tell me.”
You can have your students interview each other with scripts to practice these types of skills!
Now let’s get to the fun part. How do you easily teach interview etiquette in your high school classroom?
Here are four steps you can take to do this.
Make The Process Fun With Role-Playing
As a high school educator, you know how important it is to keep learning fun and engaging. When it’s time to prepare your students for interviews, you need to keep things hands-on and engaging whenever possible!
Role-playing activities are a great way to engage students with real practice. You can even pair students up in groups and have them consistently practice interview etiquette once a week.
Use An Etiquette Curriculum To Help You Plan These Lessons
If you’re looking for structured plans for etiquette in your classroom without extra stress, the Manners to Go curriculum is perfect for you!
Manners To Go offers a job skills curriculum complete with tons of engaging activities to guarantee student success during interviews. A huge part of interview etiquette is how you carry yourself (not just your answers to questions) and that’s exactly what our curriculum focuses on.
As a high school educator, you have lots on your plate. Manners To Go’s curriculum gives you a clear path for teaching interview etiquette in your classroom without tons of extra work.
Practice Key Interview Skills Consistently
There are so many skills that your students need to know in order to be successful in interviews. Breaking this down into a specific checklist helps you stay on track while creating snackable lessons for your students.
Here are some of the key interview etiquette skills you should focus on:
Preparing a list of questions for the interviewers
Answering typical interview questions students might be asked
Eye contact
Confident posture
Body language and delivery
Inclusivity and conversation skills
Make sure to point out successes at each of these skills as students start to use them. Manners To Go’s curriculum features lessons for each of these essential skills.
Prioritize Following Up After Every Interview
If you want to help your students stand out, going above and beyond with interview etiquette is a must.
And the best way to do that is to implement manners through following up!
Teach your students that following up with an interviewer isn’t just acceptable—it’s encouraged. Then, focus on practicing those skills by writing a handwritten thank you note or email.
These follow-ups are quick to put together, but take practice to master. They’re worth doing, particularly because they show good character and strong leadership skills.
Working on interview etiquette with your high school students is an incredible way to prepare them for the real world. Whether your students are heading to jobs, college admissions, or scholarship interviews, they need those essential skills to succeed.
Here is a FREE Guide to Help YOU Start a Business Teaching Manners to Children
If you are looking to start immediately and save money on travel and time, then this is your best option.You choose the dates of our trainings. Most choose to have their sessions once a week, others twice. This is a “live” and private training. It is NOTself-guided.
PRIVATE Training. That’s right, we meet in person, the two of us and our focus is completely on your business. Click the image above or follow the button below to learn more and to see a list of cities available for your training.
When adding a manners, social skills or SEL program to your list of activities, consider teaching the subtle differences between being kind and nice.
Teaching children the difference between being kind and being nice can help them develop empathy, authenticity, and a deeper understanding of their actions and their impact on others. Here are some strategies to help teach this distinction:
Steps to Teach the Difference Between Being Kind and Nice
Lead by example: Children learn a lot from observing the behavior of adults around them. Model kind and authentic behavior in your interactions with others. Show genuine care and empathy, and explain your actions when you are being kind.
Discuss emotions and perspectives: Engage children in conversations about emotions and different perspectives. Help them understand how kindness involves considering others’ feelings and needs, while niceness can sometimes be more superficial.
Highlight real-life examples: Point out examples from everyday life or stories where acts of kindness have made a difference. Discuss the impact these actions have had on others and how they reflect genuine care and empathy.
Encourage perspective-taking: Help children understand how their actions can affect others by encouraging them to take the perspective of someone else. Ask questions like, “How do you think that person felt when you did/said that?” This helps children develop empathy and consider the deeper impact of their actions.
Explore authentic emotions: Teach children to express their genuine emotions in appropriate ways. Explain that it’s okay to feel upset, disappointed, or angry at times, and that being kind doesn’t mean hiding or suppressing those emotions. Emphasize the importance of expressing emotions respectfully and constructively.
Teach assertiveness and boundaries: Help children understand that kindness also involves setting healthy boundaries and speaking up for themselves and others when necessary. Explain that being kind doesn’t mean always saying “yes” or avoiding conflict, but rather finding ways to address situations respectfully and compassionately.
Practice kindness in everyday situations: Encourage children to engage in acts of kindness regularly, such as helping a friend, sharing, or showing empathy when someone is sad. Reinforce the positive impact of these actions and discuss how they differ from simply being nice.
Reflect and discuss: After certain situations, reflect with children on how kindness and niceness played a role. Discuss the differences in outcomes and how being kind can create deeper connections and positive change.
Remember, teaching children about kindness and authenticity is an ongoing process. Be patient, reinforce positive behavior, and continue having open discussions to help them understand the nuances between being kind and being nice.
What Are Good Manners in the Elementary School Classroom and Why They Are Needed
Do elementary school students need to learn good manners?Is it still useful for students to learn good social skills?Are you the one that needs to teach this?Do you even have the time?
These might be the questions you are asking yourself about now.
Trust me, your students need you to show them how to not be socially awkward or uncomfortable.
Pride in showing their parents that they know how to use their good manners
Better manners in everyday life outside the classroom
Happier and healthy
Friendlier
Activities to Teach Manners in Elementary School
Today, I am sharing an activity/lesson plan that you can easily easily teach in your classroom. In fact, if you click on the image below, you can download the specific manners lesson plan.
I believe when we set a goals or intention we need to understand our “why” behind it. This lesson plan will help your students understand the “why” we use our good manners everyday – in public, at at home, with others and especially in your classroom.
This is a fun activity and one that can take only five minutes – or more. You choose.
Your students can engage in a conversation, answer as a group or write down their answers independently.
Manners can be fun. Students love learning about them. In fact, these activities make is so fun, they will not even realize they are learning basic social skills.
At Manners To Go, we believe you need to start with the “why”. Whether you are an adult or a child, when you think about your why, it motivates and inspires us.
This especially works when you have a goal to meet – more about that later.
Let’s get to the manners activities that you can teach teach starting today.
These are basic and for every grade level. You can adjust them accordingly.
Opening Dialogue:
Remember to start with the “why”. I suggest asking your students why they think learning good manners is important.
Engage with them and let them call out their answers.
This is one of the most requested lesson plans within Manners To Go. Conversation skills are so very important for us all – especially for children. This how they get to know others and build friendships.
You can have questions prepared ahead of time or you can create them in the moment. You want to make sure they are open-ended questions. You do not want your students to answer with a “yes” or “no”.
Place two chairs in the front of your classroom. Ask for volunteers.
You may need to get the two students started by prompting them.
Remind them a conversation is like playing tennis. One hits the ball and the other returns it. Having a conversation is a back and forth situation.
Examples of questions:
Student # 1
What is your favorite movie?
Why?
Student # 2
This student can ask the same question or create another one.
Other examples
What is your favorite sport?
What are you reading right now for fun?
What is your favorite breakfast?
If you were an animal, what would you be? Why?
Manners Activity # 2
Practice Ordering in a Restaurant
This activity offers many teachable moments.
You can set a table up in your classroom. Ask for 3-4 children to volunteer.
Take them through the steps. One student can play the role of the server. The other two can play the role of the diners.
Have them practice:
Patience
Eye Contact
Being kind
Listening first
Kindly asking questions
Placing their order
Encourage them to have a conversation with the others sitting at the table
You can make this exercise simple or go all in – prep menus, place salt and pepper shakers, condiments, napkins etc. on the table.
Manners Activity # 3
Writing Thank You Notes
Pass around paper or you can actually have thank you note cards.
The important step here is to have them write or draw (depending on age) the thank you note.
This is an activity that you can do weekly.
Feeling and experiencing gratitude is so uplifting for both the writer and receiver.
Choose other teachers, librarians, school counselors, custodians and principals to receive the notes.
Your students can send notes of thanks for certain actions.
For example, maybe the librarian assisted a student by finding a book for them. They can send a thank you to the custodian staff for keeping your school tidy and clean.
Thank you note writing is a very important step in learning good manners.
How do you teach your students to have a conversation? Isn’t it special to have someone be fully present with you? To have a conversation with anyone, an adult or a child is something to behold these days…a conversation without distraction.
My most popular topic when teaching business etiquette in the workplace is The Art of the Human Connection. The art of having a conversation, is a lost “art”. We are so consumed with social media that often we are so buried in it we miss out on so many opportunities. Often, it is the first request I have from a human resource director to discuss the basic skills of conversation to their team.
Take the time to teach your students how to converse! Life is fuller when you have this life skill. You actually become interesting. A children and teens learn so much about life when they hear others conversing.
Eye contact: This is a social skill that is so very important. By making eye contact, it shows someone that you are interested. It sends a message that you are confident. Point this out to your students. Explain why this is important. Take the opportunity to talk about confidence and how it feels. If your students are six or younger, get on their level. Literally! Get down on your knees if necessary and make eye contact with them.
Teach them to listen to others: Another important social skill is to listen. Tell them it is alright for there to be silence when having a conversation. This is the time to practice sharing-sharing the space to tell ideas and experiences.
Ask questions: By asking questions, you show others that you are interested in their experiences. Ask a student questions. Explain to them that you are having a conversation.
Phone skills: The Wall Street Journal had an article about answering the phone. Remember when we were growing up and we took messages for our parents? With smart phones, this most likely is not happening. This was a great way to teach conversation skills. It is still important for children to know how to answer a phone and converse.
Read a story. After reading a story, talk about it with your students. Did they like the story? What was their favorite part?
Our work is featured in the New York Times, Parents Magazine, The Huffington Post, Fox News Channel, and the Today Show website. We develop curricula for all grade levels.
We are here to help you make a meaningful mark on today’s youth.
If you are looking to start immediately and save money on travel and time, then this is your best option.You choose the dates of our trainings. Most choose to have their sessions once a week, others twice. This is a “live” and private training. It is NOTself-guided.
PRIVATE Training. That’s right, we meet in person, the two of us and our focus is completely on your business. Click the image above or follow the button below to learn more and to see a list of cities available for your training.
Lisa Richey provides etiquette programs to businesses, schools, and individuals.
