Utah University Case Study | StandOut

The University of Utah Career & Professional Development Center (CPDC) had been using career management software that lacked a useful interview practice tool. Recognizing that strong video interviewing skills are becoming essential for students preparing to enter the job market, Director of the CPDC Stan Inman began searching for a video-based system that would help the school meet that challenge.

According to Mr. Inman, “We felt we needed a ‘practice interview’ platform in general, as we saw that many employers were beginning to use either live video interviews or platforms where interviews are asynchronous and recorded for viewing later.” CPDC career coaches envisioned a self-service tool that would enable students to practice and review on their own time. But they also hoped to find a practice platform that would allow students to share their videos with them – as well as mentors, parents, and peers – to review and give feedback.

Since career coaching is provided in multiple settings outside of the CPDC, the University of Utah stood to benefit from implementing a scalable tool that could be used broadly across campus. StandOut was a perfect fit for our students needs in today's job market.

Employer Trends: Employers were increasingly using live video interviews or asynchronous recorded interviews.
Lack of Effective Tools: The CPDC was using career management software that lacked a useful interview practice tool.
Need for Video Interview Skills: Recognizing the growing importance of strong video interviewing skills for students entering the job market, we needed to meet this need effectively.

Independent Practice and Review: The platform enables students to practice and review interviews on their own time, enhancing self-service learning.
Enhanced Feedback Mechanism: Students can share their interview videos with mentors, parents, and peers, allowing for comprehensive feedback and improvement.
Campus-Wide Scalability: The tool is scalable and adaptable, making it usable across multiple settings and departments within the university.

StandOut was initially implemented at the CPDC and quickly became popular among students who could practice, record and review interviews on their own time; and among career coaches, who appreciated having a robust platform to enhance their coaching services. “The ability to create a database of questions organized according to specific disciplines and careers is extremely beneficial,” says Mr.Inman, “as well as the ability to score a student’s level of pronunciation and speech clarity. That feature is particularly valuable for students who are not native English speakers.”Then, the system was incorporated into the classroom. “Students immediately liked that they could use StandOut anytime they wanted to practice,” says Megan Randall, Career Coach and co-teacher of course HUM 3960: Career Compass, in the College of Humanities. “They can create their own interviews by mixing and matching questions they’d like to practice, as well as complete pre-designed interviews created by StandOut and members of our team,” Ms. Randall explains.

“I think it is extremely valuable for students to be able to watch themselves and pick up on their tone of voice, overall energy, body language/gestures, pace/speed at which they speak, etc. By being able to record their practice interviews and share them with our team of career coaches and anyone else they choose, students also get detailed and valuable feedback.”

Typical student comments after using StandOut for their mock interview practices include : “Thanks for this fun practice [using StandOut]! It was super helpful;” and “[Using StandOut] was great practice. It definitely helped me identify which questions I need to work on!”Next, the School of Nursing incorporated StandOut video interview practice into its capstone course for nursing students, which includes mock interviews and coaching from alumni as part of its career preparation curriculum.

Students are now able to easily share their StandOut practice interviews with community organizations, advisors, peers and parents. According to Mary Arola, Career Coach in the College of Nursing, a recent survey of students who had practiced interviewing with StandOut found that “students felt the platform was easy to use and that it was very helpful to practice in a video interview format, since some hospitals are using similar interview formats.” This survey found 96 percent of students in the class agreed with the statement, “My ability to successfully interview for a job improved as a result of this video interview experience.”