r/FRC • u/brodigy011 • 14d ago

help Preparing for a team interview

I’m applying to a FIRST robotics team and I have an interview scheduled with them soon that will help determine whether I get accepted into the team or not. I’m relatively new to FIRST as a whole so I don’t have many technical skills to offer, but they say that they welcome beginners regardless.

How should I prepare for interviews such as these? I have an extremely strong willingness to learn and would love to be on this team.

Thanks in advance!

edit: I got in! Thanks Reddit

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u/JoeyGee567 14d ago

Every team is different and has different expectations, so this just comes from my days of mentoring a team.

I would study the FIRST core values and be able to cite examples of how you follow them. To me, CV is not lip service and should literally be the core of the team.

Demonstrate where you have made commitments and have followed through.

Demonstrate how you fit into a team environment. Show that you can lead AND follow and most importantly, be able to follow directions independently when needed.

Show that you're good with structure, but also change. Build season should start with a plan, but needs to be flexible for constant change. Constant change.

Be sure to acknowledge a commitment to the team and the HOURS upon HOURS that this program demands.

Have a good attitude. Be likeable. It's a lot of stress, but should always be fun.

Good luck on your interview.

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u/brodigy011 13d ago

Thank you for this comment! Just had the interview and I thought it went well, hopefully I’m accepted

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u/tasty_pigs 12d ago

Out of curiosity, are you in California or something? Why do u have to apply to join a team?

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u/The_GM_ 9d ago

If there are more students who want to join the team than the team can reasonably handle, then there needs to be an application process.

On my team, in Mid-Atlantic, based in a public high school, we had to deny about half the applicants every year. Over 20 students would typically apply, and we typically could only accept around 10 depending on the year. Our team had almost 50 students, and we couldn't go higher than that or else everyone wouldn't fit on a bus.

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u/tasty_pigs 9d ago

Damn that sucks, I'm in the mid Atlantic too, but it's not nearly as crowded.

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u/brodigy011 7d ago

I’m in NY so it’s pretty competitive here I guess

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u/tjmnavynuke 7d ago

I wish our team had that problem. We are community team for over 25yrs and still have hard time getting our name in the area schools to let kids know we exist for them. We have about 20-25 kids each year but could use more for all the subteams and keeping a good number of kids every day as they all can't make it every day we meet.

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u/brodigy011 7d ago

Ironically this interview was for a community team. I honestly thought the application process wouldn’t be this rigorous as I heard that community teams are typically desperate for new members. Wish you the best for your team regardless!