The Mock Interview project initiated in 2025 as a pilot program by the Rotary Club of Ojai at Nordoff High School in Ojai has become a mandatory requirement for all ninth-grade students in 2026 and may be expanded in 2027 to all schools in the Ojai Unified School District. The two-day event involves 20 Rotarian interviewers each day. Students provide resumes from which the interviewers pose questions. Additionally, there are three Rotarian timekeepers each day that also function as hosts escorting students to their interview booth.
This year our club interviewed more than 160 students from six classes and provided written assessments to the teachers, parents, and students. Next year we are planning to match student career interests with Rotarian interviewers in the respective careers so that the written assessments will be more detailed and relevant.
These interviews are an academic exercise and have been integrated with the school’s career education curriculum. More importantly, the interviews have become a “psychological rite of passage” as they represent the first time the teenager discusses their accomplishments and career aspirations with a non-relative adult.
