Facing an interview

Overview of seminar held at the Rotary

House of Friendship on February 20,
2009.

Presented by
Gulzar
Himaja
Supriya
Note on the Speakers
 Ms. Archana Bhaskar
 Director HR, Shell Technology, India.

 Mr. Sudheesh Venkatesh

 Head HR, Tesco Hindustan Service.

 Mr. J M Prasad.
 VP, ING Vysya Bank.
Across the interview table
 Best fit criteria

 Focus in interviews
 Is it knowledge?
 Is it intelligence?
 Is it personality?
 Is it project training or experience?
So what do they look for?
 ‘Learn’ability Vs. knowledge

 Potential Vs. Performance

 Thoughts Vs. Demonstrated actions

 Conviction Vs. Correctness

 Approach Vs. Outcome

Cont…
 Decision making Vs. quality of decision

 Self-awareness Vs. self-confidence

 How well I know Vs. What all I know

 Application Vs. Rote learning

Corporate expectations
 Basic managerial skills

 Analytical and problem solving skills

 The 3 Cs while voicing an opinion

 Conviction
 Courage
 Confidence
Cont…
 Out of the box thinking

 Influencing and persuasive skills

 Taking the Initiative and walking the extra mile

 Maturity

 Proactive listening and thinking

Myths about interviews
I don’t know

I’m afraid that does not interest me

I can be indecisive

I can be choosy
Cont…

Aggressive

Sell hard
Note.
 Don’t oversell

 Know Your USP

 Know the organization

 Project work – Learning Vs. actual work

 PREPARE!!!

 Don’t chase money… Build a brand for yourself.

 Our enemy RECESSION…?
 Recession seen in 2000-01, narrow and deep, hit only the technology sector.
 The current recession is wide and deep and has affected almost all sectors.
 As a counter effect of recession, the Indian B-Schools are much in demand in
comparison to most other global B-Schools.
 Reasons being availability of unlimited talent at cheaper cost.
 In order to explore the best talent from Indian B-Schools either the entry or the exit
from the B-School must be made tougher.
 Realistic decisions have to be made.
 Milestones to SUCCESS…
 Success means “ preparation meeting opportunities.”

 Follow the T- model. i. e breadth of knowledge in any particular area

and develop a deep insight into it and be able to relate it at various
situations.

 Perform to the best of your ability.

 Be yourself and never be rationally or emotionally overcharged.

 Have keen sense of opportunities and the ability to flow along and
flexibility to seize opportunities and reach destination.

 Have sense of integrity i. e sense of integrity of thoughts, words and

action.
 Tips to face an interview
 CVs are very important , must be structured well.

 CVs are not for selection but used for elimination of applicants who don't meet
the job requirements.

 In GDs don’t ever try to dominate, quality of the content spoken is important
and not the extent of participation.

 Introduction about oneself directs the interviewer to ask question on your

areas of specialization.

 Rehearse the answering technique.

 Be specific, and have good eye-contact while answering.

 Cont…..
 Maintain a balance between anxiety and the level of participation.

 Don’t ever expect the interviewer to be kind and gentle.

 Take some time to answer, when question is not clear, seek for
clarifications, ask relevant questions and get as much information
as possible.

 At certain times answer must be quick.. Don’t take time to think.

For e.g., Tell me something about yourself?
Thank You…