Interviews are undoubtedly one of the most awkward and nerve-wracking processes when applying for awards, scholarships or even jobs. While not all opportunities require one, many will require you to answer questions to a panel of interviewers/judges. But don't worry, here's some of the most helpful hints to ace that interview!
1. DON'T MENTION THE MONEY
The likelihood is that if you're applying for a scholarship or award, you're likely doing it for the money, but in an interview it's extremely detrimental to say this straight up. The purpose of someone giving a scholarship or award is most likely to help the receiver to reach their goal, and they often offer many other benefits such as coaching, connecting with other scholarship recipients, or things like tutoring. It's very likely that in a scholarship interview you will be asked something along the lines of "What are you hoping to get out of this scholarship?" This question is designed to weed out people who are only applying for the money, compared to those who would see benefit from all the resources they provide. In summary, while you can briefly mention the money, focus more on other benefits as well as what the scholarship as a whole will help you achieve.
2. Be Unique!!!
Depending on how large the scholarship is, hundreds of people could have applied, each with their own stories/needs. Simply by getting to an interview stage means that someone liked your story, so it's important to highlight what makes you unique as a person. Maybe that's an interesting hobby that not many people know about or do, or an uncommon aspiration in life. By being unique, you make yourself stand out, making them more likely to remember you and elevating you from all of the other interviewees who give generic and short answers to questions.
3. But How Do You Talk About What Makes You Unique?
While the purpose of an interview is for the interviewer to ask questions, it should flow more like a conversation. When given a question like "what do you plan to do when you finish school?" it's important to not just say a three-word answer like engineering at Uni. You should instead highlight your passion for whatever you want to do, like it's your calling in life. Mention what you want to do, and then segway into what it means to you, and what inspired you to choose that. You can even include what you might be doing currently that relates to it, e.g being in the air force cadets if you said you wanted to be a pilot. Make sure that you pause to let them ask follow up questions so you aren't rambling.
4. Make it fun!
Make sure to smile in the interview, make it seem like you're having fun and you will come off 10x more confident, and make you a more likeable candidate to the interviewer. By being someone they can talk and ask questions to you will connect with them a lot more and leave a lasting impression.
5. DO YOUR RESEARCH!
Before any interview you should have researched the companies' values and history, as well as literally anything to do with the scholarship you're applying for. While it seems like overkill, interviewers will sometimes ask obscure questions about these things to weed out who was dedicated enough to research the scholarship. This also helps when they inevitably ask you if there's any questions you have about the scholarship. You should have a few smart prepared questions to go before you enter the interview. Also be sure to prepare answers to generic interview questions beforehand such as, "what will this scholarship do for you", "how will this affect your ability to achieve your goals", "What are you most looking forward to from this scholarship", etc.