Personal interview preparation

Interview are one of the most popularly use device for employee selection. Interviews vary in the extent to which the question are structured, from a totally unstructured and free-wheeling conversation, to a structured interview in which an applicant is asked a predetermined list of question in a specified order.

TIPS FOR INTERVIEW

DO’S in interview

• Do the research about the company and the profile in question
• Dress professionally
• Show enthusiasm with body language
• Listening attentively and responding carefully will ease you at PI
• Don’t sound self-centered/overconfident
• Your tone must balanced
• Ask yourself “what is the question really asking”
• Keep informative and short answers
• Give positive answers
• Negative conversations don’t give a good impression to the interviewer.

Don’t in interview

• Being late for the interview
• Eat, drink, smoke or chew gum even if the interviewer does so
• Fiddle with your keys, hair, tie, watch, pen or any other item
• Keep your hands in your pockets or fold your arms across your chest
• Bringing up the issue of salary and benefit
• Not looking at interviewer
• Criticizing your campus or previous employer

Preparation for most commonly asked question:

Kindly introduce yourself or tell us something about yourself or can you run as through your profile

What is your greatest strength?

With this question, the interviewer seeks to find out if;

• Your strength align with the company’s needs (Functional qualities)
• You can do the job and perform like a rock star (Functional qualities)
• You have qualities skills, and/or experience that set you apart from the competition
• You are someone who will make an excellent addition to the team(attitudinal qualities/Team work)

To find your strength

• Brainstorm: Sit down and make a list of your top strengths – aim for at least 10 and be creative. Banish your modest internal editor to another room. Jot down everything that comes to mind.  You can delete later if you like. This can include talents,  Experience, Soft skills, Education/Training etc. Probable strength can be being analytic, team player, good at Java programming etc. Avoid clinched strength like hardworking and sincere.
• Focus: Narrow your list down to least five strength that you are comfortable discussing (or could get comfortable discussing with a little bit of practice). The more, the better. You may not talk about all of these strengths in every interview, but it’s good to have options.
• Prepare Examples: Develop at least one example to illustrate each of your strengths

What is your greatest weakness?

What your interviewer is really trying to do with this question-beyond identifying any major red flags- is to gauge your self-awareness and honesty.

Commonly made mistakes while answering this question are

1.  Trying to turn a negative into a positive.

You will find many people who advise you to “turn a negative into a positive”  by sharing a supposed weakness that is actually quality in an employee. A few examples: I am too much of a perfectionist, I work too hard sometimes, I care too much about my work.

Clear idea. At this point, though, it’s an old trick and the interviewer sees right through it. In fact, this approach will likely made her think you are hiding something.

2.  Not answering the question

Many candidate say that they can’t think of any weakness of theirs, this reflects lack of introspection or raises a suspicion that you are hiding something.

3.  Reveal a weakness that makes you a wrong candidate for the profile

Weakness like “I am not a team player”, I have issues with authority”,”I struggle to make it on time” are a clear NO.

To answer this question,

1.  Be honest:  Don’s say anything just because your friend said this once and got away with that. That should genuinely be an aspect of your quality which you are (or want to) to work upon.

2.  Pick an acceptable weakness:- Not being a perfectionist can work for a sales job, but for an advertisement profile.  Hating math can work for an HR profile but not an accountant. Hence it is important to understand profile before answering this question

3.  Show that you are working on it and share results if any.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

If asked this question, be honest and specific about your future goals, but consider this: A hiring manager wants to know

• If you’ve set realistic expectation for your career. Many candidates have mentioned their goal to be CEO in five years. This will certainly kill all your chances to qualify the interview
• If you have an ambition (i.e. this interview isn’t the first time you are considering the question)
• If the profile aligns with your goals and growth. Your best is to think realistically about where this position could take you and answer along those lines.
• If you will stick with your company for at least 2 years. So if you have ambitions which have nothing to with this company or this sector, this will likely go against you. Also if you have any entrepreneurial ambition, interview might not be the right time to express it.

What are your hobbies/interest/passion?

Question like these could from a number of concern the employer might have such as your overall health and energy level, your mentality, or how you might engage and entertain clients and coworkers.

Avoid

Avoid hobbies which do not portray good picture of you like surfing internet, partying, sleeping, while computer gaming can make you suitable for certain kind of profile, it is not suitable for most of jobs. Any kind of illegal activity is to be avoided at all costs

The best way to respond

Do make sure that your answers are genuine e.g. don’t drag about fitness regime if you are not in great shape. But focus on answers that demonstrate a positive quality of yours

• Exercise and health related activities: it’s true that exercise and fitness related hobbies can demonstrate health, energy, vitality, and the ability to manage stress. Older candidate should make some points of this sort if possible. Sports like golf, tennis can be useful ways to interact with clients and build relationships.
• Volunteering and community participation: you might mention your volunteer work or community activity like coaching child etc. volunteer work shows high character and a concern for someone other than yourself.
• Professional development and continuing education: Professional development activities are another potentially rich area of sharing how you use your spare time. Maybe you take classed or seminars, read journals, or complete online tutorial that enhance skills related to your job.
• Reading: Be sure you know your genre well and aware of the latest publications in the same even if you have not read them all.

Why  should we hire you?

This interview question seems forward , but if you are asked it, you are in luck: there is no better setup for you to sell yourself and your skill to the hiring manager. Your job here  is to craft an answer that covers there things: that you can not only do the work, you can deliver great result; that you will really fit in with the team and culture; and that you had be better hire than any of the other candidates.

Why do you want this job?

Again companies want to hire people who are passionate about the job, so you should have a great answer why you want the position. First identify a couple of key factors that make the role great fit for you(e.g., “I love customer support because I love the constant human interaction and the satisfaction that comes from the helping someone solve a problem”), then share why you love the company.

It’s important to know well about the company and the profile so that you answer this question with concrete facts.

Tell me about a challenge or conflict you have faced at work and how you deal with it.

In asking this interview question, your interviewer wants to get the sense of how you will respond to conflict, anyone can seem nice and pleasant in a job interview, but what will happen if you are hired and soon develop profession conflicts with other departments/team members.

Again, you will want to use the S-T-A-R method , being sure to focus on how you handle the situation professionally and productively, and ideally closing with a happy ending, like how you come to a resolution or compromise.