How to prepare for interview

People often do make mistakes in Interview. In this competitive age, each and every mistake causes havoc. Opportunity doesn’t come always. Try to utilize each and every opportunity knocking on your door. I have taken more than 200 interviews. From my experience, I am enlisting few points that one can concentrate on to prepare for interview.

1.When you get a date for an interview, try to stick to that date. Do all possible things to prepare for interview and appear for the proposed interview date. In case, it is really not possible for you to appear for the interview on the scheduled date, inform in advance with proper reason and simultaneously try to get an alternate interview date.

2.Carry your professional resume and all other required documents as mentioned in the call letter (or over phone). Keep all the documents in plastic folder. It is always recommended NOT to carry a big file with all unrequired documents. The candidates become tensed during the time of interview and can’t find out the document asked for. Don’t forget to carry your pen.

3.Reach the venue at least 15 min in advance and mentally prepare for interview. The pre-processing may take some time. Submit your resume to the Interview-anchor if required. Don’t start gossiping with the other candidates.

4.You must be very careful about your interview dress. Dress in formal. Half sleeve shirt, Jeans, Sports shoe and Sandals should be strictly avoided. You may see the employees are in casual dress but it still makes sense for you to go in formal. This gives the Interviewers a good impression about you and it also reflects the importance of the job to you. Deodorant can be used to ward off body smell but remember that it shouldn’t be too strong. It is not mandatory to knot a Tie, however I always recommend it. Avoid jazzy and colorful dresses. Women should also wear business wear for women. Too much jazzy dress should be avoided.

5.Keep your mobile Switched off. I always recommend this rather than turning it into silent mode. Candidates keep their cell phone in silent mode often get distracted when they get a phone call during interview.

6.If this is a telephonic interview, take the call from a silent place. You must go to this place before scheduled time of interview and take couple of minutes to mentally prepare for interview. One of my colleagues heard toilet flush during a telephonic interview. This should be strictly avoided as you can understand that it irritates the interviewers.

7.Before appearing for the interview, study about the company to prepare for interview. The main point of importance is its business, revenue, geographical presence, operational model and finally how you can provide a value addition to the company. In the senior position, it does always matter how your goal and company’s goal can be synchronized. You have to give a deep thought on this as this sort of question carries a good weightage. Similarly, you also need to be fully aware about the position you have applied for. I had candidates who didn’t even know what would be their roles and responsibilities if hired.

8.In all the interviews, there are always some general interview questions. Your previous role and responsibilities need to be recapitulated properly. I saw that people often stumble on questions asked on their work 2/3 years back. This often gives the panelist a room to doubt their actual experience. So you have to make a list of such questions and prepare for interview adequately.

9.When asked about the reason of quitting your job, don’t trash talk about your employer. With the world shrinking, it is NOT very difficult to check the true facts. Moreover it gives an impression that you are a cribbing guy and very difficult to be satisfied.

10.Prepare yourself with general interview questions like “Where do you want to see yourself 5 years from now?”, “what are your strengths and weakness?”, “How company will be benefited from you?” etc. I saw that many unprepared people often fumbled on all these questions. Remember that these questions may be common but very tricky. For example, you shouldn’t tell any weakness to the Interviewers, which will go against you in the selection process. You need to give real thought to prepare for these questions. Also remember that all these answers are time dependent and you to have to chalk out properly based on the position that you are applying for. I have heard people telling that they want to become CEO in next 6/7 years. The people taking the interview often get confused with such answers.

11.It is detrimental to look at your watch during the interview. You may have done this without any proper reason but it gives the panelists a bad impression. If required, remove your watch before entering in the interview room.

12.There may be number of panelists in the interview board. They often ask questions one after another without giving you a chance to answer. Don’t upset anyone. Take each question one after another. If you don’t remember, ask them to repeat once again. If you want, you can have mock interview before to properly prepare for interview. It gets rid of fear from you. 

13.Don’t try to give fake answer in an assumption that the panelists are not aware about the same. If you don’t know, say “I don’t know”. Also don’t try to outplay the panelists by showing them that you have more knowledge than them.

14.Different panelists may be there from different stream. Try to understand their area of expertise and answer accordingly. This strategy is bit difficult but if you adequately prepare for interview, it does satisfy the panelists.

15.Show interest about the company by asking some relevant questions about the company. This will show your seriousness about the job. To prepare for interview, you should prepare some questions beforehand. This way you may not have to grope for questions during the time of interview.

16.Don’t raise the point of compensation unless it is raised by the interviewers. The initial interview is too early to raise the question about Salary. Apart from that, in most of the time, HR has separate discussion on compensation and other formalities. So you can reserve all your queries for the interview with HR.This is a part of mandatory interview techniques.

17.Last but not the least, don’t discuss about any reference in the interview. Where it is important for you to provide reference in the resume, it’s not wise to discuss this in the interview unless asked. You should give a proper impression that you are capable of getting the job without any reference.

 

Hope the above points will be helpful for you to prepare for interview. If you have any comments, please let me know.