How to ace the placements/interviews

Hey, this is a small conversation I was having with my college mate Jaikishan (JK) a few days back. I was out there chilling and enjoying my mid-break snacks and he was busy discussing which company will be coming in this month for the placements process with our Placement In charge. He seemed to be a little tensed and after a few seconds, I approached him. Hi, mate you seem to be a little worried any issues? He mumbled and said “I heard XYZ Company is coming this month and this just seems to freak my mind thinking about all this process, will I be selected? Will they accept me with zero extra-curricular activities, what if I won’t be able to speak in the interview? I always get tensed whenever the words interview and placements appear in a sentence”. Seeing him I felt the need to write on this topic just to help n number of aspirants who are capable but are drawn taut hearing these words. Honestly, I am also in the final year of my graduation and have zero experience of an interview process or how to ace an interview. All these thoughts that I will be pouring in is through hearing and precisely writing of those who have aced it. What was their preparation strategy? How do they behave/dress in front of the interviewers, how is their attitude towards their social life or general knowledge.

We all must have heard this, that on an average the resumes are skimmed through in a fraction of just 6-8 seconds. That’s not even worth the effort you must be spending to make one, isn’t it? To know more about resume evaluation you may read my blog on it. Here’s the link for it:

https://hariharrcpunjabi09.wordpress.com/2016/05/01/resume-an-important-aspect-in-a-persons-life/

Once you prepare your resume, you should always ask your seniors or friends or senior faculties for review. They have more experience and can guide you well.

Now, to start with first of all you need to clear the aptitude on which the company tests you. That is the basic criteria after you meet the company’s requirement of CGPI or there rules on KT. Aptitude test might range from questions on Quantitative ability, Logical Ability( those questions which we prepared say for various scholarships tests, etc.) and Verbal ability. Some companies depending on their requirements may test on technical questions on Java, C, C++, etc. This is the sad part because after slogging for 4 years on electronics or mechanical subjects you end up taking job in an ever-growing IT field, but you need to prepare well for this subjects. You may refer to various online sources to prepare for aptitude or you may take RS Agarwal or any books on mental or quantitative ability. For improving yourself on various subject matters/general knowledge it is very essential for you to read newspapers, books, magazines, etc. the company may test you on your decision making abilities too. The general procedure is: Aptitude, GD (Group discussion)/Writing ability, Interview (technical/HR) in this order respectively.

The interviews can be any of the following or a mixture of two to three types:

• General (knowing more about you, your ideals, believes, passion, person who motivates you? strengths, weaknesses, how do you handle pressure? etc.)
• Past experiences (any leadership role, technical internships or projects/technical citations/papers, etc.)
• Stress interview (may be a hard nut to crack)-will mostly deal with something which you might never expect in an interview. Offbeat questions are nearly impossible to prepare for, and they don’t achieve the interviewer’s objective—to test out-of-the-box thinking and the ability to perform under pressure. The more pressure they apply the calmer you need to be.
• Hobbies (It is must to have a hobby/hobbies, as at times, you never know this may just turn out to be the turning point during your interview)
• Case based interview (wherein you will be given some puzzle or question which you need to solve under time constraints, what are your views on some topic/company evaluation? why do we hire you? What are the challenges you are looking for a particular position?)

You can go through lot many interview experiences on http://www.indiabix.com/interview/ . Time shouldn’t be wasted on reading just their interviews because you don’t know the kind of interviewees you may be dealing with. Don’t just make a hobby out of the blue. Suppose you are good at playing some sport or let’s just say the new online game ‘Pokemon Go’, you can tell them about the height of your passion or enthusiasm in catching those pokemons, what have you done? How far can you go for your dream? How important was it for you to win in daily life and so on. You need to show how different you can be. It is also very essential to have your sense of humour and presence of mind. Many-a times, they may ask you the same question twice during the interview or they may ask you about the number of windows in the room you are currently in just to check on your alertness. To trap you sometimes they will ask you questions in Hindi or Marathi but beware please give your answer in English only. Don’t get carried away.

Your dress code should be formal. Your hand movements contribute to the impression you convey in a job interview. Showing your palms generally indicates sincerity, while pressing the fingertips of your hands together to form a church steeple indicates confidence. On the other hand, you don’t want to hold your palms downward, which is a sign of dominance. You’ll also want to avoid concealing your hands, which looks like you have something to hide; tapping your fingers, which shows impatience; folding your arms, which indicates disappointment; and overusing hand gestures, which can be distracting.

At the end, when the company asks you for any questions. Just reply by saying a gentle ‘no’ or ask your queries there itself. Like, what will be your role? Will you be able to accomplish your dreams within your specified period? The firm/company would love to take a guy for his inquisitiveness too.

Few handy MANTRAS:

1) Be YOU, don’t try to imitate somebody. Stay positive. Be calm and composed.

2) Show what you have, be it good or bad. Diplomacy works but remember it’s more than just a saying “Honesty is the best policy”.

3) Be confident. It is quite natural for even an orator to have butterflies in the stomach but as it is essential for him to emerge as a winner, it is you who has to beat this fear out and bring your cent percent on the day.

4) Practise few basic questions like introduce yourself? Life goals? Where do you see yourself after 5 years? Hobbies? Etc. beforehand so that you don’t fumble around in front of your panel.

5) Always approach each question with a smile on your face and be polite, even if you don’t know answer to a particular question just say a simple no. Don’t try and fool them.

6) Look into the eyes of the interviewer while answering to a particular question. Don’t just look here and there. Suppose, the query is posted by some person X. Start by making eye contact with X who has posed the query. Then gradually shift your focus to each of the other panel members while continuing to answer the question.

7) Last but not the least, sleep and rest a day before your interview is very essential. Nobody likes to see a dozy person in front of them, let alone on an interview.

Try and understand this simple logic. Each and every individual is a player in his own self. You all must be feeling what is that differentiates me from him/her? Remember, every person is unique. You just need to hit the right chord and bring the best from within you.

It is very important to keep yourself motivated throughout. Failing is just another milestone achieved. If you don’t qualify for some company, don’t feel disheartened. You never know at the end of the day, you may be the next Sachin hitting the sixer straight out of the stadium. Most importantly, it’s not the end of the world. You have many more battles/challenges to face in Life and consider the interviews to be just like one of them.

PS- Watch motivational movies like ”Rocky”,” Pursuit of happyness”, ” Shawshank Redemption”,”Bhaag Milkha Bhaag”,etc. Listen to songs that will help you relax and ease your mood. All the best for your future and hope you end up getting your dream job. Don’t assume your interview to be the same as the ones discussed above.