Self Awareness
1. How would you describe yourself ?
2. Tell me about yourself ?
3. How do you think a friend or professor who knows you would describe you?
4. What motivates you to put forth your best effort ?
5. How do you determine or evaluate success ?
6. What academic subjects did you like best ? Least ?
7. What led you to choose the career for which you are preparing ?
8. What personal characteristics are necessary for succeeding in the career that you are interested in ?
9. What is your philosophy of life ?
10. Why have you switched career fields ?
Weaknesses / Negatives
1. What major problems have you encountered and how have you dealt with them ?
2. What have you learnt form your mistakes ?
3. What do you consider to be your greatest weakness ?
4. Did you ever have problems with your supervisor ?
Skills / Abilities / Qualifications
1. What do you consider to be your greatest strength ?
2. Are you creative ? Give an example.
3. What qualifications do you have that makes you think you will be successful ?
4. In what way do you think you can make a contribution to society?
5. Why should we take you ?
6. What are your own special abilities ?
7. Why should we take you over another candidate ?
8. What is your managing style ?
9. Why do you want to join this institute ?
10. What do you know about our institute ?
Values
1. What is your attitude towards working hard ?
2. What part does your family play in your life ?
3. What are the most important rewards you expect in your career ?
4. What is more important to you : money offered, or the type of job ?
5. Do you enjoy independent research ?
6. In what kind of a work environment are you most comfortable ?
7. How would you describe the ideal job for you ?
8. What two or three things are most important to you in your job ?
9. Do you prefer working with others or all by yourself ?
10. How do you like to work ?
11. Under what conditions do you work best ?
12. What is the highest form of praise ?
Experience
1. In what part-time or summer job have you been most interested ?
2. Tell me about your experience.
3. What jobs have you held ?
4. How did your previous employer treat you ?
5. What have you learnt from some of the jobs that you have held ?
6. What jobs have you enjoyed most ? Least ? Why ?
7. What have you done that shows initiative and willingness to work ?
8. Describe your current job.
9. What did you like least about your last job ?
10. What did you like most about your last job ?
Goals / Objectives
1. What are your short-term and long-term goals and objectives ?
2. What specific goals other than those related to your occupation have you chosen for yourself for the next 10 years ?
3. What do you see yourself doing 5 years from now ?
4. What do you really want to do in life ?
5. How do you plan to achieve your career goals ?
Education
1. How has your education prepared you for a career ?
2. Describe your most rewarding college experience.
3. Why did you select your college or university ?
4. If you could, would you plan your academic study differently ?
5. Do you think grades are a good indication of your academic achievement ?
6. What have you learnt from participation in extracurricular activities ?
7. Do you have plans for continuing your studies ?
8. Why did you pick your programme ?
9. What courses did you like best and why ?
10. What courses did you like least and why ?
11. How has your college experience prepared you for this job ?
12. How did you pick your dissertation ?
13. Describe your dissertation process.
Salary
1. What do you expect to earn in 5 years ?
2. What did you earn in your last job ?
Interests
1. What are your outside interests ?
2. What do you do with your free time ?
3. What are your hobbies ?
4. What types of books do you read ?
5. How interested are you in sports ?
6. How did you spend your vacations in school ?
General
1. What qualities should a successful manager possess ?
2. Describe the relationship that should exist between a supervisor and a subordinate.
3. What 3 accomplishments have given you the greatest satisfaction ?
4. If you were taking a graduate for this institute, what qualities would you look for ?
5. What can I do for you ?
6. Tell me a story.
7. Define cooperation.
Stress Questions
1. What causes you to lose your temper ?
2. How often have you been absent from school, work or training ?
3. Have you ever had trouble with other people on the job ?
4. Can you take instructions without getting upset ?
5. Don't you feel you are a little to old/young for this job ?
6. How does your family like you being away on business trips ?
7. With your background, we believe that you are overqualified to join this institute.
8. You haven't had sufficient experience in this field.
9. Our experience with women on this job has not been good.
10. What would irritate you most if I as a manager did it ?
Influencing Others
1. Tell me about the time you were most persuasive in overcoming resistance to your ideas or point of view.
2. Tell me about the last time someone made an unreasonable request of you.
3. Describe the most disappointing and frustrating experience in gaining the support of others for an idea or proposal.
Interpersonal Skills
1. Describe a situation where it was most important for you to display tact and diplomacy.
2. Tell me about the last time you had a clash or disagreement with someone at school/college/workplace.
3. Tell me about a time when you felt most frustrated and disappointed at a person with whom you had worked.
Personal Adaptability
1. Tell me about the last time you were criticized by a supervisor or a professor.
2. Tell me about the time when you felt most pressured or stressed at work/ school/internship.
3. Tell me about the time when you felt most frustrated at your school/workplace.
4. In what aspects of your work/internship do you have the most confidence in your abilities.
Communication Skills
1. Tell me about the time when you felt best about your ability to draw out or solicit information from another person.
2. Tell me about the time when you had to work your hardest in order to fully understand what another person was saying to you.
3. Describe the last time when someone at school/work misunderstood what you were trying to communicate.
Motivation
1. Tell me about the most long term, sustained extra hours of effort that you put into your work/college/internship.
2. Describe a time when you felt most frustrated or discouraged in reaching your goals or objectives.
3. What do you feel has been your most significant work/school/internship related achievement within the past year or so ?
4. Describe the last time you did something well which went beyond the expectations in your work/internship.
Administrative Skills
1. Tell me how you go about organizing your work and scheduling your own time.
2. What do you do to ensure that your goals and objectives are met in a timely way ?
3. Describe the most extensive planning that you have ever done.
Problem Solving and Decision Making
1.Tell me about the most difficult problem that you faced in your work/school/internship ?
2.Tell me about the last time you made a decision that backfired.
3.Tell me about the time when you regretted most not getting advice before you went ahead ?
Conflict Management Skills
1. Tell me about the last significant crisis situation that you faced in your work.
2. Tell me about a time when you were most persuasive in overcoming resistance to your ideas.
3. Tell me about the time when you had a disagreement with someone at work.
Note 1 : The credit for this post goes to manduks an alumni of ICFAI who has read on this on some website ( !!! ) and to Nagaraj* for digging it out 7 years after it was first published.
Note 2 : This post is a little modification of the original post, the original post can be found here or here.
* Nagaraj, better known as naga25french or naga is one of the most trusted, well known and friendly guys on pg. He has been and is an inspiration for a lot of guys including but not limited to people from DT,UDT,SBT and Regional Dream teams on pg and consisting of quite a few people who have already been there and done that.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
FAQs regarding Personal Interview ...
For general tips regarding Interview Preparation by the same author click here
Is it better to have a longer selection interview or a shorter one?
The length of an interview in no way is an indicator of how well an interview went. This is especially so when there are a number of candidates to be interviewed, like in the Civil Services interview or the MBA entrance interview. In the past, a number of candidates have reported varying lengths of interviews. Nothing positive or negative should be read into this. An interview is only a device whereby the panel seeks information about the candidate. Information that will help the panel decide whether or not the candidate should be selected. If the panel feels that it has gathered enough information about the candidate in 15 minutes of the interview commencing and that it has no further questions to ask the interview will be terminated in 15 minutes. If on the other hand the panel takes an hour to gather the information required to take a decision the interview will last for an hour. In either case the decision could be positive or negative. It is a fallacy to believe that interview panels take longer interviews of candidates whom they are more interested in. No panel likes to waste its time. If an interview is lasting longer than usual then it only means that the panel is seeking more information about the candidate in order to take a decision.
What to Expect in a PI?
In general, B-school interviews are not formulaic. The focus can range from specific questions about your job responsibilities to broad discussions of life. Approach the interview as a conversation to be enjoyed, not as a question-and-answer ordeal to get through. You may talk more about your hobbies or recent cross-country trip. This doesn't mean that it won't feel like a job interview. It just means you're being sized up as a person and future professional in all your dimensions. Try to be your witty, charming, natural self. Interviews are conducted by students, faculty, admissions personnel and alumni. Don't dismiss students as the lightweights; they follow a tight script and report back to the committee. However, because they're inexperienced beyond the script, their interviews are most likely to be duds. You may have to work harder to get your points across.
How to Prepare ?
Prepare for the interview in several ways: Expect to discuss many things about yourself. Be ready to go into greater depth than you did in your essays (but don't assume the interviewer has read them). Put together two or three points about yourself that you want the interviewer to remember you by. Go in with examples, or even a portfolio of your work, to showcase your achievements. Practice speaking about your accomplishments without a lot of "I did this, I did that." Finally, be prepared to give a strong and convincing answer to the interviewer's inevitable question: "Why here?"
How do I answer questions as :
Tell us about yourself? : An often asked opening question. Perhaps the most frequently asked question across interviews. Your opening statement needs to be a summary of your goals, overall professional capabilities, achievements, background (educational and family), strengths, professional objectives and anything about your personality that is relevant and interesting. This question represents an opportunity to lead the interviewer in the direction you want him to go e.g., your speciality or whatever else you may wish to highlight.
Your intention should be to try subtly convincing the interviewers that you are a good candidate, you have proved that in the past and have a personality that fits the requirement.
Remember that the first impression you create will go a long way in the ultimate selection. Keep in mind, most candidates who are asked this question just blurt out their schooling, college, marks and qualifications. All this is already there in the CV. Why tell the interviewer something he already knows?
A final word on approaching this question. Once you have said what you have to say - shut up. Don't drone on for the sake of speaking for you just might say something foolish. Sometimes interviewers don't interrupt in order to give the candidate the impression that he has not spoken enough. This is just a stress/error-inducing tactic. Don't fall for it, especially if you feel you have spoken enough. In case the pause gets too awkward for your liking, just add something like, "Is there something specific that you wish to know about me?"
Why MBA? : When you are asked this for God's sake don't tell the panel that you are looking for a"challenging job in a good firm with lots of money, status and glamour". That is the first answer that most candidates think of. Unfortunately, it is the last answer that will get you admission. In the answer to a direct question on this subject you must convey to the interview panel that you have made a rational and informed decision about your career choice and your intended course of higher study. There are broadly four areas which your answer could touch upon:
Career Objectives : You could talk about your career objectives and how the two year MBA programme will help you achieve them. This implies that you have a clear idea of what your career objectives are and how you wish to achieve them. For example, you may want to be an entrepreneur and wish to set up your independent enterprise after doing your MBA and then working for a few years in a professionally managed company. You could explain to the panel that the MBA programme will provide you with the necessary inputs to help you run your business enterprise better. But then you must be clear about what the inputs you will receive in the MBA programme are.
Value Addition : That brings us to the second area that your answer should touch upon. What is the value you will add to yourself during your two year study of management. Value addition will essentially be in two forms knowledge and skills. Knowledge of the various areas of management e.g. marketing, finance, systems, HRD etc. and skills of analysis and communication. You will find it useful to talk to a few people who are either doing their MBA or have already done it. They will be able to give you a more detailed idea of what they gained from their MBA.
Background : Remember, there must be no inconsistency between your proposed study of management and your past subject of study or your past work experience. If you have studied commerce in college then management is a natural course of higher studies. If you are an engineer this is a tricky area. You must never say that by pursuing a career in management you will be wasting your engineering degree. Try and say that the MBA course and your engineering degree will help you do your job better in the company that you will join. But then you should be able to justify how your engineering qualification will help.
Opportunities and Rewards : You could also at this stage mention the opportunities that are opening up in organizations for management graduates. Highlight with examples. At the end you may mention that while monetary rewards are not everything they are also important and MBAs do get paid well. You must not mention these reasons as your primary motivators even if that may be the case.
Note 1 : The credit for this post goes to manduks an alumni of ICFAI who has read on this on some website ( !!! ) and to Nagaraj* for digging it out 7 years after it was first published.
Note 2 : This post is a little modification of the original post, the original post can be found here or here.
* Nagaraj, better known as naga25french or naga is one of the most trusted, well known and friendly guys on pg. He has been and is an inspiration for a lot of guys including but not limited to people from DT,UDT,SBT and Regional Dream teams on pg and consisting of quite a few people who have already been there and done that.
Is it better to have a longer selection interview or a shorter one?
The length of an interview in no way is an indicator of how well an interview went. This is especially so when there are a number of candidates to be interviewed, like in the Civil Services interview or the MBA entrance interview. In the past, a number of candidates have reported varying lengths of interviews. Nothing positive or negative should be read into this. An interview is only a device whereby the panel seeks information about the candidate. Information that will help the panel decide whether or not the candidate should be selected. If the panel feels that it has gathered enough information about the candidate in 15 minutes of the interview commencing and that it has no further questions to ask the interview will be terminated in 15 minutes. If on the other hand the panel takes an hour to gather the information required to take a decision the interview will last for an hour. In either case the decision could be positive or negative. It is a fallacy to believe that interview panels take longer interviews of candidates whom they are more interested in. No panel likes to waste its time. If an interview is lasting longer than usual then it only means that the panel is seeking more information about the candidate in order to take a decision.
What to Expect in a PI?
In general, B-school interviews are not formulaic. The focus can range from specific questions about your job responsibilities to broad discussions of life. Approach the interview as a conversation to be enjoyed, not as a question-and-answer ordeal to get through. You may talk more about your hobbies or recent cross-country trip. This doesn't mean that it won't feel like a job interview. It just means you're being sized up as a person and future professional in all your dimensions. Try to be your witty, charming, natural self. Interviews are conducted by students, faculty, admissions personnel and alumni. Don't dismiss students as the lightweights; they follow a tight script and report back to the committee. However, because they're inexperienced beyond the script, their interviews are most likely to be duds. You may have to work harder to get your points across.
How to Prepare ?
Prepare for the interview in several ways: Expect to discuss many things about yourself. Be ready to go into greater depth than you did in your essays (but don't assume the interviewer has read them). Put together two or three points about yourself that you want the interviewer to remember you by. Go in with examples, or even a portfolio of your work, to showcase your achievements. Practice speaking about your accomplishments without a lot of "I did this, I did that." Finally, be prepared to give a strong and convincing answer to the interviewer's inevitable question: "Why here?"
How do I answer questions as :
Tell us about yourself? : An often asked opening question. Perhaps the most frequently asked question across interviews. Your opening statement needs to be a summary of your goals, overall professional capabilities, achievements, background (educational and family), strengths, professional objectives and anything about your personality that is relevant and interesting. This question represents an opportunity to lead the interviewer in the direction you want him to go e.g., your speciality or whatever else you may wish to highlight.
Your intention should be to try subtly convincing the interviewers that you are a good candidate, you have proved that in the past and have a personality that fits the requirement.
Remember that the first impression you create will go a long way in the ultimate selection. Keep in mind, most candidates who are asked this question just blurt out their schooling, college, marks and qualifications. All this is already there in the CV. Why tell the interviewer something he already knows?
A final word on approaching this question. Once you have said what you have to say - shut up. Don't drone on for the sake of speaking for you just might say something foolish. Sometimes interviewers don't interrupt in order to give the candidate the impression that he has not spoken enough. This is just a stress/error-inducing tactic. Don't fall for it, especially if you feel you have spoken enough. In case the pause gets too awkward for your liking, just add something like, "Is there something specific that you wish to know about me?"
Why MBA? : When you are asked this for God's sake don't tell the panel that you are looking for a"challenging job in a good firm with lots of money, status and glamour". That is the first answer that most candidates think of. Unfortunately, it is the last answer that will get you admission. In the answer to a direct question on this subject you must convey to the interview panel that you have made a rational and informed decision about your career choice and your intended course of higher study. There are broadly four areas which your answer could touch upon:
Career Objectives : You could talk about your career objectives and how the two year MBA programme will help you achieve them. This implies that you have a clear idea of what your career objectives are and how you wish to achieve them. For example, you may want to be an entrepreneur and wish to set up your independent enterprise after doing your MBA and then working for a few years in a professionally managed company. You could explain to the panel that the MBA programme will provide you with the necessary inputs to help you run your business enterprise better. But then you must be clear about what the inputs you will receive in the MBA programme are.
Value Addition : That brings us to the second area that your answer should touch upon. What is the value you will add to yourself during your two year study of management. Value addition will essentially be in two forms knowledge and skills. Knowledge of the various areas of management e.g. marketing, finance, systems, HRD etc. and skills of analysis and communication. You will find it useful to talk to a few people who are either doing their MBA or have already done it. They will be able to give you a more detailed idea of what they gained from their MBA.
Background : Remember, there must be no inconsistency between your proposed study of management and your past subject of study or your past work experience. If you have studied commerce in college then management is a natural course of higher studies. If you are an engineer this is a tricky area. You must never say that by pursuing a career in management you will be wasting your engineering degree. Try and say that the MBA course and your engineering degree will help you do your job better in the company that you will join. But then you should be able to justify how your engineering qualification will help.
Opportunities and Rewards : You could also at this stage mention the opportunities that are opening up in organizations for management graduates. Highlight with examples. At the end you may mention that while monetary rewards are not everything they are also important and MBAs do get paid well. You must not mention these reasons as your primary motivators even if that may be the case.
Note 1 : The credit for this post goes to manduks an alumni of ICFAI who has read on this on some website ( !!! ) and to Nagaraj* for digging it out 7 years after it was first published.
Note 2 : This post is a little modification of the original post, the original post can be found here or here.
* Nagaraj, better known as naga25french or naga is one of the most trusted, well known and friendly guys on pg. He has been and is an inspiration for a lot of guys including but not limited to people from DT,UDT,SBT and Regional Dream teams on pg and consisting of quite a few people who have already been there and done that.
Interview Preparation ....
Personal Interview is one of the most widely used methodology for selection across all fields and positions. Here the interviewer(s) tries to find out whether you will be able to do justice to the position he is trying to offer you, though less emphasized and mentioned you also get a chance to find out more about the institute or organization you are applying, and about the responsibilities that come with the position being offered. This is true both for admission in coveted Institutes or recruitment in organizations.
To help you prepare for the same, here are some tips and suggestions, but these should be taken with caution; there is no one size fits all policy and you are not supposed to follow every advice given here blindly but to think on it and modify it according to your personal needs etc.
1.) General tips :
# Be open and honest.
# Ask questions, since the interview is as much an opportunity for you to learn about the school as for the school to learn about you.
# Follow proper business decorum.
# Watch your nonverbal clues, such as eye contact, posture, and fidgeting.
# Be courteous to the administrative staff, since how you treat them can have an impact (positive or negative).
2.) Application / Resume / CV :
# Review and re-review your application; the interviewer is likely to ask specific questions about it.
# Be ready to provide examples and specifics and to elaborate on info on your resume and application.
# Write all and only relevant info.
# Don't exaggerate; people have tendency to exaggerate skills and achievements, but try not to write something that can not be proved or justified.
3.)Gearing Up for the Interview :
# That nobody is perfect is the maxim that sounds even more pertinent in the context of an interview. Interview is without a doubt a trepidation for everyone, and the novices and the old hands alike find themselves on pins and needles at the prospect of being interviewed. What makes people lose sleep over the interviews is essentially an apprehension of the unforeseen, a dread of being confronted with something they don't know; and no matter how many interviews has one faced and sailed through, every new interview brings a new pain in the neck. Jitteriness hangs over everyone; only the intensity may differ. And though there are no alternatives to awareness and conviction, there are certain guidelines which when followed will put off some seemingly trifling slip-ups, which could turn your interview into a dismal affair at the end of the day. These are the gimmicks that must be exercised if the interview is to be saved from some apparently petty blunders.
4.) Before Taking the Bull by the Horns :
# The homework starts right from the word go- immediately after you receive the interview call. Apart from brushing up your technical know-how, which is undoubtedly pivotal to your success, you need to pay heed to some aspects that will pump up your confidence level and help keep off nerves at the interview table.
# Reaching for the interview late may put the interviewer off, as it can also dampen your spirit. So to have an idea as to when you should leave for the interview, just go by the venue at least one day prior to the interview as a rehearsal.
# Envisage the likely questions and picture yourself answering them with confidence. Keep telling yourself that you are good enough to sail through. This will infuse just enough confidence in you, and that'll make all he difference in the interview.
# Consider the dress you'll be wearing. 'Formal dress' is often a deceptive phrase as it may mean different clothing for different companies. Sometimes, it's indispensable to put on a three-piece, while the other day it may seem too much of affectation; only a tie with formal shirt and trousers may do. Make out what dress could be apposite for a particular company.
# If the company is too far-off and your dress is likely to get rumpled in the bus, better travel in a taxi. Carry a comb in your pocket. There is no excuse for a clumsy appearance in the interview.
# Reach the venue at least half an hour in advance so that you have enough time for having a breather and bracing up for the interview. Arriving at the last minute and entering the interview room panting will reveal you in a poor light and you won't be in the right kind of frame to take on the interview.
# In case the interview does not commence on the scheduled time, don't lose you focus. Don't be distracted and maintain your composure. Read some magazine or talk to the people about the company. Go out for a breath of air but don't go too far away. And don't ever let it show that you disliked being made to wait. You have got some time on hand, so use it discreetly
5.) Inside the Interview Chamber :
# Pull yourself up the moment you are summoned inside the interview chamber, and enter the room with an air of confidence. And while you are taking on the real deal, practice the following:
# Maintain a body language suggesting confidence and cheerfulness. Don't look uneasy or dispirited. Smile at appropriate moments.
# Maintain eye contact while answering the questions. This will suggest that you are confident enough.
# If there is more than one interviewer, address to all of them. Remember names if you can and address by the names. Sound confident but avoid being brash.
# Saying 'sorry' or 'pardon' when you couldn't quite get the interviewer is civility, but making the interviewer repeat something for you too often could really make you sorry at the end of the day. You say 'sorry; once, and the interviewer willingly repeats, you say again, and he takes notice, you say thrice, and his exasperation shows, you go on to say yet again, and you just lose it all. What puts the interviewer off is the revelation that you are not all ears during the interview. So better listen attentively and minimize 'being sorry' or 'begging pardon'.
# Don't speak too loudly or too faintly. Maintain a pitch that is audible as well within the perimeter of courtesy.
# Don't delve too much on a topic. Neither keep the answers too short. Just speak enough on every topic(now defining enough is a mundane task in itself :P).
# Use wit and make the interviewer smile. But again, discern the faint edge between humour and discourtesy. Also, whatever you speak to bring smiles on the interviewers' face should sound germane to the topic. However, use this trick sparingly- making the interviewer chuckle twice in an interview is just sufficient.
# Some questions may be devised to judge your self-restraint and tolerance as a professional. So if a question sounds provoking, don't fall for the trick. Avoid acting feverishly and maintain your cool. Handle such questions discreetly and with shrewdness.
# Try to make out what is going through the interviewer's mind while you are answering to the questions. His body language may well give you a clue if he's listening to you attentively or you are just pushing on an off-putting gab. Put on the brakes the moment you discern that you have deviated off the point.
# The interviewer might ask you towards the close of the interview if you have any questions. Don't think it impolite to ask a question or two. Rather, not asking a question could revel that you just want the interview to be over, so go ahead. However, exercise caution regarding the question you pose. Never inquire about the salary. Preferably, show inquisitiveness about your role or the organisation. In the end when all is said and done and you make an exit from the interview cell, you might well be knowing in your heart that you've just made it. After all, it's all about being confident and acting astutely.
Note 1: The credit for this post goes to manduks an alumni of ICFAI who has read on this on some website ( !!! ) and to Nagaraj* for digging it out 7 years after it was first published
Note 2: This post is a little modification of the original post, the original post can be found here or here.
* Nagaraj, better known as naga25french or naga is one of the most trusted, well known and friendly guys on pg. He has been and is an inspiration for a lot of guys including but not limited to people from DT,UDT,SBT and Regional Dream teams on pg and consisting of quite a few people who have already been there and done that.
To help you prepare for the same, here are some tips and suggestions, but these should be taken with caution; there is no one size fits all policy and you are not supposed to follow every advice given here blindly but to think on it and modify it according to your personal needs etc.
1.) General tips :
# Be open and honest.
# Ask questions, since the interview is as much an opportunity for you to learn about the school as for the school to learn about you.
# Follow proper business decorum.
# Watch your nonverbal clues, such as eye contact, posture, and fidgeting.
# Be courteous to the administrative staff, since how you treat them can have an impact (positive or negative).
2.) Application / Resume / CV :
# Review and re-review your application; the interviewer is likely to ask specific questions about it.
# Be ready to provide examples and specifics and to elaborate on info on your resume and application.
# Write all and only relevant info.
# Don't exaggerate; people have tendency to exaggerate skills and achievements, but try not to write something that can not be proved or justified.
3.)Gearing Up for the Interview :
# That nobody is perfect is the maxim that sounds even more pertinent in the context of an interview. Interview is without a doubt a trepidation for everyone, and the novices and the old hands alike find themselves on pins and needles at the prospect of being interviewed. What makes people lose sleep over the interviews is essentially an apprehension of the unforeseen, a dread of being confronted with something they don't know; and no matter how many interviews has one faced and sailed through, every new interview brings a new pain in the neck. Jitteriness hangs over everyone; only the intensity may differ. And though there are no alternatives to awareness and conviction, there are certain guidelines which when followed will put off some seemingly trifling slip-ups, which could turn your interview into a dismal affair at the end of the day. These are the gimmicks that must be exercised if the interview is to be saved from some apparently petty blunders.
4.) Before Taking the Bull by the Horns :
# The homework starts right from the word go- immediately after you receive the interview call. Apart from brushing up your technical know-how, which is undoubtedly pivotal to your success, you need to pay heed to some aspects that will pump up your confidence level and help keep off nerves at the interview table.
# Reaching for the interview late may put the interviewer off, as it can also dampen your spirit. So to have an idea as to when you should leave for the interview, just go by the venue at least one day prior to the interview as a rehearsal.
# Envisage the likely questions and picture yourself answering them with confidence. Keep telling yourself that you are good enough to sail through. This will infuse just enough confidence in you, and that'll make all he difference in the interview.
# Consider the dress you'll be wearing. 'Formal dress' is often a deceptive phrase as it may mean different clothing for different companies. Sometimes, it's indispensable to put on a three-piece, while the other day it may seem too much of affectation; only a tie with formal shirt and trousers may do. Make out what dress could be apposite for a particular company.
# If the company is too far-off and your dress is likely to get rumpled in the bus, better travel in a taxi. Carry a comb in your pocket. There is no excuse for a clumsy appearance in the interview.
# Reach the venue at least half an hour in advance so that you have enough time for having a breather and bracing up for the interview. Arriving at the last minute and entering the interview room panting will reveal you in a poor light and you won't be in the right kind of frame to take on the interview.
# In case the interview does not commence on the scheduled time, don't lose you focus. Don't be distracted and maintain your composure. Read some magazine or talk to the people about the company. Go out for a breath of air but don't go too far away. And don't ever let it show that you disliked being made to wait. You have got some time on hand, so use it discreetly
5.) Inside the Interview Chamber :
# Pull yourself up the moment you are summoned inside the interview chamber, and enter the room with an air of confidence. And while you are taking on the real deal, practice the following:
# Maintain a body language suggesting confidence and cheerfulness. Don't look uneasy or dispirited. Smile at appropriate moments.
# Maintain eye contact while answering the questions. This will suggest that you are confident enough.
# If there is more than one interviewer, address to all of them. Remember names if you can and address by the names. Sound confident but avoid being brash.
# Saying 'sorry' or 'pardon' when you couldn't quite get the interviewer is civility, but making the interviewer repeat something for you too often could really make you sorry at the end of the day. You say 'sorry; once, and the interviewer willingly repeats, you say again, and he takes notice, you say thrice, and his exasperation shows, you go on to say yet again, and you just lose it all. What puts the interviewer off is the revelation that you are not all ears during the interview. So better listen attentively and minimize 'being sorry' or 'begging pardon'.
# Don't speak too loudly or too faintly. Maintain a pitch that is audible as well within the perimeter of courtesy.
# Don't delve too much on a topic. Neither keep the answers too short. Just speak enough on every topic(now defining enough is a mundane task in itself :P).
# Use wit and make the interviewer smile. But again, discern the faint edge between humour and discourtesy. Also, whatever you speak to bring smiles on the interviewers' face should sound germane to the topic. However, use this trick sparingly- making the interviewer chuckle twice in an interview is just sufficient.
# Some questions may be devised to judge your self-restraint and tolerance as a professional. So if a question sounds provoking, don't fall for the trick. Avoid acting feverishly and maintain your cool. Handle such questions discreetly and with shrewdness.
# Try to make out what is going through the interviewer's mind while you are answering to the questions. His body language may well give you a clue if he's listening to you attentively or you are just pushing on an off-putting gab. Put on the brakes the moment you discern that you have deviated off the point.
# The interviewer might ask you towards the close of the interview if you have any questions. Don't think it impolite to ask a question or two. Rather, not asking a question could revel that you just want the interview to be over, so go ahead. However, exercise caution regarding the question you pose. Never inquire about the salary. Preferably, show inquisitiveness about your role or the organisation. In the end when all is said and done and you make an exit from the interview cell, you might well be knowing in your heart that you've just made it. After all, it's all about being confident and acting astutely.
Note 1: The credit for this post goes to manduks an alumni of ICFAI who has read on this on some website ( !!! ) and to Nagaraj* for digging it out 7 years after it was first published
Note 2: This post is a little modification of the original post, the original post can be found here or here.
* Nagaraj, better known as naga25french or naga is one of the most trusted, well known and friendly guys on pg. He has been and is an inspiration for a lot of guys including but not limited to people from DT,UDT,SBT and Regional Dream teams on pg and consisting of quite a few people who have already been there and done that.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Introduction Post : GD, PI and beyond ....
After the CAT fiasco, we all have been feeling low, but let me quote one of my posts from PG.
" Suna hai janta bahut pareshan hai ......
Koi CAT acchha nahi hua isliye pareshan to koi Re-test nahi ho rhaa isliye pareshan.
Koi IIFT se call nahi aayi isliye pareshan, to koi convert ke liye preps kaise kare isliye pareshan.
Koi JMET ki key se agree nahi karta isliye pareshan to koi CAT ka result normalize hoga yaa nahi isliye pareshan.
but guys let me tell you one thing (no preaching here, just a friendly suggestion). What is it exactly that makes u worried ??? kahin suna tha maine : jab chot lagti hai to dard sabko hota hai, khoon sabka nikalta haii, thokar lagti hai to girta har koi hai, baat sirf itni si hai ki girne ke baad kaun kitni jaldi uthta hai, chot lagne ke baad bhi kitni der tak khada rahta hai...... Remember this :staying alive is as important in a war as is winning [if not more ]
Its all about 2 things 1.)perseverance 2.) Prioritize.
If some-thing goes wrong we feel bad and there is nothing wrong about it, but then the best we can do about it is to move ahead and make sure that some-day when we sit in solace we can look back and say, there was a time when nothing seemed to be right, all the odds were against me but I fought and here I am winning against the wind and irrespective of what happened or what destiny tried to do to me, I got what I wanted .....
Our priority is achieving what we dream, getting what we desire and IIMs or for that matter MBA is not ThE dream, its just a means to achieve them, very important indeed but still its just a means, so if loosing the means implies getting closer to the dream so be it....
And for the IIMs and the other Authorities : We people trust in you, its we who have made your campuses "god's own campus" or "wimwi", its we who make your institutes the Coveted dreams, the worshiped colleges.
Now the least you need is to copy what others are doing or to show cowardice from accepting some glitches or failures or to give some lame reasons and explanations.
Its never too late for a good cause, please realize that IIMs are not the IIMs because of some ranking system (national or international) or for the high-end technology that you use for something or the other or some foreign client that is doing something for you or even tie-ups with international B-Schools an the likes, it is because of us, the faculty and the students.
And even if you take it from the business perspective the most important aspect of a business is clients, not the product and not the services and not any-thing else, as long as your clients are happy and satisfied its okay, everything else is just a means to that end, and with that I sincerely hope and believe that you will try everything you can to maintain the trust that we have always shown in you, and I assure you that no matter what, as long as you are transparent, honest and helpful to us we will be there to back you up, no matter what technical glitch or wrong decision comes your way. "
SO, lets keep the talks and thoughts about things over which we have no control aside, and do what we can.
From today onwards, I will be posting a few GD topics, Interview questions et al and I hope and request you all to post your views on them in the comment section, lets make it an interactive platform so that we can learn in the process, and hopefully we shall be able to successfully use the knowledge we will gain here in the 2'nd round of the Institutes we want to get into .......
Few suggestions .
1.) Be regular.
2.) Don't get personal, and remember its not a debate rather a discussion.
3.) Avoid redundancy, try to find out new dimensions to the topic, if it means getting unconventional then be it.
4.) Don't be adamant, if some-one posts a good point, appreciate it; and if some-one gives good logic for some point accept it.
5.) Have fun.
" Suna hai janta bahut pareshan hai ......
Koi CAT acchha nahi hua isliye pareshan to koi Re-test nahi ho rhaa isliye pareshan.
Koi IIFT se call nahi aayi isliye pareshan, to koi convert ke liye preps kaise kare isliye pareshan.
Koi JMET ki key se agree nahi karta isliye pareshan to koi CAT ka result normalize hoga yaa nahi isliye pareshan.
but guys let me tell you one thing (no preaching here, just a friendly suggestion). What is it exactly that makes u worried ??? kahin suna tha maine : jab chot lagti hai to dard sabko hota hai, khoon sabka nikalta haii, thokar lagti hai to girta har koi hai, baat sirf itni si hai ki girne ke baad kaun kitni jaldi uthta hai, chot lagne ke baad bhi kitni der tak khada rahta hai...... Remember this :staying alive is as important in a war as is winning [if not more ]
Its all about 2 things 1.)perseverance 2.) Prioritize.
If some-thing goes wrong we feel bad and there is nothing wrong about it, but then the best we can do about it is to move ahead and make sure that some-day when we sit in solace we can look back and say, there was a time when nothing seemed to be right, all the odds were against me but I fought and here I am winning against the wind and irrespective of what happened or what destiny tried to do to me, I got what I wanted .....
Our priority is achieving what we dream, getting what we desire and IIMs or for that matter MBA is not ThE dream, its just a means to achieve them, very important indeed but still its just a means, so if loosing the means implies getting closer to the dream so be it....
And for the IIMs and the other Authorities : We people trust in you, its we who have made your campuses "god's own campus" or "wimwi", its we who make your institutes the Coveted dreams, the worshiped colleges.
Now the least you need is to copy what others are doing or to show cowardice from accepting some glitches or failures or to give some lame reasons and explanations.
Its never too late for a good cause, please realize that IIMs are not the IIMs because of some ranking system (national or international) or for the high-end technology that you use for something or the other or some foreign client that is doing something for you or even tie-ups with international B-Schools an the likes, it is because of us, the faculty and the students.
And even if you take it from the business perspective the most important aspect of a business is clients, not the product and not the services and not any-thing else, as long as your clients are happy and satisfied its okay, everything else is just a means to that end, and with that I sincerely hope and believe that you will try everything you can to maintain the trust that we have always shown in you, and I assure you that no matter what, as long as you are transparent, honest and helpful to us we will be there to back you up, no matter what technical glitch or wrong decision comes your way. "
SO, lets keep the talks and thoughts about things over which we have no control aside, and do what we can.
From today onwards, I will be posting a few GD topics, Interview questions et al and I hope and request you all to post your views on them in the comment section, lets make it an interactive platform so that we can learn in the process, and hopefully we shall be able to successfully use the knowledge we will gain here in the 2'nd round of the Institutes we want to get into .......
Few suggestions .
1.) Be regular.
2.) Don't get personal, and remember its not a debate rather a discussion.
3.) Avoid redundancy, try to find out new dimensions to the topic, if it means getting unconventional then be it.
4.) Don't be adamant, if some-one posts a good point, appreciate it; and if some-one gives good logic for some point accept it.
5.) Have fun.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
IIM is where I belong to . (really ???)
Never in my life I've felt more cheated, except for may be when the BCCI announced that its a private body and not actually INDIAN and from that very day, I never had same interest in watching Cricket.
IIM, 3 characters which when pronounced together make a lot of eyes glitter. Cracking "CAT" has been considered as a proof of intelligence, perseverance and common-sense. So much so that the people who couldn't get a call from an IIM, were able to secure admission into the world's best Management Institutes like Insead, wharton, LBS etc. They attracted the best minds of the country (and arguably some of best of the world).
Lesser mortals like us, who had not been to these coveted Institutes always thought the people who would be teaching these extra-ordinarily intelligent people must be oozing with talent, common-sense, innovation and confidence. These institutes named as "Indian Institute(s) of Management" were thought of as proud possessions of a emotional country much like IITs , Sachin Tendulkar and Lata mangeshkar.
But then, very unlike the later three, IIMs probably didn't think the same way, with the passage of time they realized that " They are getting the best in India anyways" so its time to do some-thing else. They further realized that they don't feature in the top global B-Schools ranking, and the only reason for this is they don't have a campus outside India(how intelligent of them), and they thought about opening a new campus out-side India and that with-out Government help and these are the same IIMs which lack faculties and funds and have to increase their fees beyond reasonable limits to compensate for it, and I am not sure where else one can find an example where a government (or so we believe) institute takes more fees than its private counter-parts.
And this isn't enough, since the IIMs wanted to be 'like' their international counterparts, they decided to go for profile based selection, and that in such a way that even if one scores a 100 percentile in CAT, one may not have a call from the IIM(s) of one's choice, it doesn't even matter if he/she is a district topper from a state board(like bihar or UP). Some-one who is rank 10 in his/her school in a ICSE board school in a metro(say Mumbai) will have added advantage over some-one who is from a village (in say U.P), who was the district topper and that while he helped his old father in fields and earning bread, justice !!! Right.....
And as if this was not all, they decided to take another step towards getting global, they decided to conduct CAT online, citing rising number of students as the major reason. Whereas IIT-JEE which has higher number of applicants and AIEEE which has much more higher number of applicants continue to be paper based examinations, and this in a country where more than 60 % population lives in villages.
The infamy that has been in store for the IIMs regarding tender distribution for Computer Based Test and then the organization of the entrance exam itself is some-thing about which saying something will be like showing a knife to the devil.
The questions which haunt me now are
* What is more important ? Global recognition and a position in Top B-schools rankings, or imparting management education to the most deserving candidates in a fair and un-biased way.
* Does IIMs even consider themselves as "Indian Institutes of Management", or do they consider themselves as just another B-School for which name, fame and money are more important than anything else ?
* Are the following points justified.
==> "even a 100 percentiler not getting a call from an IIM". (and please don't give the reason that its same in GMAT)
==> The same IIMs which justify increasing fees, because of lack of funds and not mentoring new IIMs because of lack of faculty have enough money and faculty to open new IIM campuses abroad and that with-out government funds.
==> CAT going online, even though it anyways favored the tech-savvy English speaking population over others, and justifying it for increasing number of aspirants when more than 3 times students sit for AIEEE which is a paper based test.
==> Denying details of how and why the tender was given to one particular company, and if it was really because that company has vast experience than how come this fiasco.
==> How can the director of an IIM say something like " this is part of the game" when some students who have toiled hard for these 135 minutes don't get a level-field to play the game ?
==> 14 % students have been directly affected by this fiasco and director of another IIM declares that first administration of CAT has been successful.5
and this is when we are not even talking about all the funny details about Hardware incompatibility / virus attack / extra load etc as if they were not even expected and came out of blue, when they had prepared themselves with the best possible security....
To sum it all in a few words I would like to quote Munira Lokhandwala an IIM alumni.
"If I would have known this in 1996 when I applied to the IIMs I would have thought twice before learning any management from them."
P.S -> If even an ardent IIM-fan like me is thinking in this direction, I am not sure that IIMs will continue to attract the best in the country any-more as a friends tag on my g-talk list says "XAT authorities are happy, they will have a better batch than IIMs this time".
IIM, 3 characters which when pronounced together make a lot of eyes glitter. Cracking "CAT" has been considered as a proof of intelligence, perseverance and common-sense. So much so that the people who couldn't get a call from an IIM, were able to secure admission into the world's best Management Institutes like Insead, wharton, LBS etc. They attracted the best minds of the country (and arguably some of best of the world).
Lesser mortals like us, who had not been to these coveted Institutes always thought the people who would be teaching these extra-ordinarily intelligent people must be oozing with talent, common-sense, innovation and confidence. These institutes named as "Indian Institute(s) of Management" were thought of as proud possessions of a emotional country much like IITs , Sachin Tendulkar and Lata mangeshkar.
But then, very unlike the later three, IIMs probably didn't think the same way, with the passage of time they realized that " They are getting the best in India anyways" so its time to do some-thing else. They further realized that they don't feature in the top global B-Schools ranking, and the only reason for this is they don't have a campus outside India(how intelligent of them), and they thought about opening a new campus out-side India and that with-out Government help and these are the same IIMs which lack faculties and funds and have to increase their fees beyond reasonable limits to compensate for it, and I am not sure where else one can find an example where a government (or so we believe) institute takes more fees than its private counter-parts.
And this isn't enough, since the IIMs wanted to be 'like' their international counterparts, they decided to go for profile based selection, and that in such a way that even if one scores a 100 percentile in CAT, one may not have a call from the IIM(s) of one's choice, it doesn't even matter if he/she is a district topper from a state board(like bihar or UP). Some-one who is rank 10 in his/her school in a ICSE board school in a metro(say Mumbai) will have added advantage over some-one who is from a village (in say U.P), who was the district topper and that while he helped his old father in fields and earning bread, justice !!! Right.....
And as if this was not all, they decided to take another step towards getting global, they decided to conduct CAT online, citing rising number of students as the major reason. Whereas IIT-JEE which has higher number of applicants and AIEEE which has much more higher number of applicants continue to be paper based examinations, and this in a country where more than 60 % population lives in villages.
The infamy that has been in store for the IIMs regarding tender distribution for Computer Based Test and then the organization of the entrance exam itself is some-thing about which saying something will be like showing a knife to the devil.
The questions which haunt me now are
* What is more important ? Global recognition and a position in Top B-schools rankings, or imparting management education to the most deserving candidates in a fair and un-biased way.
* Does IIMs even consider themselves as "Indian Institutes of Management", or do they consider themselves as just another B-School for which name, fame and money are more important than anything else ?
* Are the following points justified.
==> "even a 100 percentiler not getting a call from an IIM". (and please don't give the reason that its same in GMAT)
==> The same IIMs which justify increasing fees, because of lack of funds and not mentoring new IIMs because of lack of faculty have enough money and faculty to open new IIM campuses abroad and that with-out government funds.
==> CAT going online, even though it anyways favored the tech-savvy English speaking population over others, and justifying it for increasing number of aspirants when more than 3 times students sit for AIEEE which is a paper based test.
==> Denying details of how and why the tender was given to one particular company, and if it was really because that company has vast experience than how come this fiasco.
==> How can the director of an IIM say something like " this is part of the game" when some students who have toiled hard for these 135 minutes don't get a level-field to play the game ?
==> 14 % students have been directly affected by this fiasco and director of another IIM declares that first administration of CAT has been successful.5
and this is when we are not even talking about all the funny details about Hardware incompatibility / virus attack / extra load etc as if they were not even expected and came out of blue, when they had prepared themselves with the best possible security....
To sum it all in a few words I would like to quote Munira Lokhandwala an IIM alumni.
"If I would have known this in 1996 when I applied to the IIMs I would have thought twice before learning any management from them."
P.S -> If even an ardent IIM-fan like me is thinking in this direction, I am not sure that IIMs will continue to attract the best in the country any-more as a friends tag on my g-talk list says "XAT authorities are happy, they will have a better batch than IIMs this time".
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