Getting Job! This is the only aim most of us have during or after our graduation! Though the real reason for Education is learning life, the current scenario does not look like to fulfill that. It forces us to get a job immediately. Do you think mere Graduation enough to get a job? Certainly not. We need something grow. What are those? The below 3 Essential tips for Interview Preparation will definitely help you to get placed soon!
Every organization conducts various levels of tests to recruit employees. We should be ready to face those at any time. Here, we will discuss the preparatory steps to get cleared those steps.
1. Resume Preparation
There are some important points that should be present in a resume. It should contain answers for the below:
- Who are you
- What it is your goal
- What are your qualifications
- Your achievements, extracurricular activities
- What are your hobbies and
- Contact Address
Please remember one thing – This resume should resemble you in the absence of your appearance in person. Don’t mention anything that does not suit you, though it attracts others or boosts your resume to get a position. Many of us will miserably fail here. There is very high probability for not selecting us in the interviews if we provide incorrect information here.
Don’t worry about the delay in a getting job. No job is good if you are not suitable for that. Say “Yes to Yes” and “No to no”. Though it seems to be tough, this will reap you excellent results at the right time. It will get you a right and good job for you. Sometimes, we will copy a few lines from others resumes to ours. Though copying the entire content of other’s resumes is condemnable, it is okay to have a few lines from them. The only condition is those lines should suit us. Before taking any lines, ask yourself “Am I such a person to match these lines”. If your answer is “Yes”, go ahead.
2. Aptitude Test
This is the easiest way to filter the candidates when more number of candidates turned up for the interview than the required count. There is nothing new in Aptitude tests. The same old school level mathematical questions will be asked here. You may thank the almighty as No Integral calculus, Differential calculation questions will be asked here. There are very simple questions which you might have learnt during your high school days.
Few examples are:
- If it takes 4 persons to complete a task in 4 days, how many days needed to complete the same task by 3 persons?
- If a train crosses a 1 KM lengthy bridge in 50 seconds, what is the speed of the train?
- What is the probability to get only Head if we toss two coins simultaneously?
There are many books available in the market to get prepared for Aptitude. Purchasing the old books is also enough as there are not much differences between the old and new editions. The notable book on this topic is “Quantitative Aptitude” by R.S. Agarwal.
You could get simple puzzles along with or without the aptitude questions in some organizations. As told, those are pretty simple, just your presence of mind is enough to clear them.
Examples:
- A basket contains 3 White balls, 3 Green balls and 3 Red. What is the probability to take only red balls when you take 2 balls?
- There are 10 persons participating in a running race competition. What is the position when one is overtaking the second person in the race?
Some companies will include ‘verbal’ questions as well in the aptitude tests. Verbal questions usually contain Synonyms, Antonyms, prepositions and conjunctions.
Aptitude tests will not contain tough questions most of the times. The time allocated is the main concern most of the times. You need to complete 40 simple questions in 60 minutes. For some organizations, it is 60 questions for 90 minutes. It all depends on the organizations which conduct the interview.
Don’t be lazy to prepare for the aptitude tests. There is NO Pass / Fail in aptitude tests. You need to be shortlisted in the selected candidates list. This is the only aim of us. Sometimes, though we get 90 out of 100, we may not be selected if the other candidates have scored more than that. So, be focused to get full marks always to avoid surprise negative results.
Getting prepared for the aptitude tests with the books available in market is important. But, blindly following only a few books will not give fruitful results always. General preparation with the books should be practiced regularly at least one or two hours per day. Along with this, try to get sample papers of the companies you applied. There are number of websites which have sample question papers based on the companies.
3. Interviews
This is the important phase in recruitment. The employer and ‘to be employee’ are going to meet here for the first time in person. First impression is the best impression.
Reach the interview location on or before the scheduled time. It avoids unnecessary tensions and makes you perfect during the interview. Keep your mobile phones in silent mode. A simple unknown missed call to you could annoy you during the interview. Don’t forget to take your curriculum vitae with you. It should be the latest one. “Tell us about yourself” this would be the very first question most of the times. Be prepared for that.
Interview is a kind of interaction with the employer. The employer will be eagerly waiting to spend some of his / her time with you. If you are shortlisted for an interview, it means the company is ready to spend some of it’s useful work hours with you. Please make use of their time. Don’t waste the time for “projecting” yourself. Self-Projection will not give the expected results in Interview conversations. Be genuine. There is no replacement for genuineness.
Leave your technical skills aside. Unless you are genuine, nobody can make use of your technical skills. During the initial conversation, the companies will throw questions on the below.
- Is the candidate fit for our organization and its culture?
- Is the candidate suitable for the job?
- Will the candidate be with us for long term?
Don’t provide false promises. One lie is enough to make the whole thing turning against you during the test where your genuineness is being examined. Be honest, you are not going to lose anything here. In fact, the employer could lose some of their productive time if you are not good.
Interview is not a pre-planned conversation. The questions and answers are spontaneous here. Most of the times, the next question will be based on your previous answers. You are the boss of your words. Be very careful on that. Don’t try to attract, be yourself. Thinking about how the interviewer will have opinion on you is waste of time. Face is the mirror of your mind. Everything you tell is not taken as it is in the interviews. Those words will be taken along with your body language. Though your lips are in your control to utter attractive answers, your body will not lie.
During the initial phase, you will be asked with basic questions.
Some DON’Ts
- Don’t try to judge the interviewer by these questions. Though questions are one of the right ways to judge a person’s capacity, it is not for the interviewer. Basic questions will be asked to bring the interview to comfort zone.
- Don’t tell only the abbreviations as your answers. If they ask about ‘OOPs’, it is well understood that they know OOP stands for Object Oriented Programming. Saying this again will languor the conversation.
- Don’t conclude with only one word or sentence. Try to be more elaborative as much as possible. If you don’t know the answer, say it politely.
One of the very basic things before attending an interview is, you should know about the Job Description and the organization. You could definitely some questions on this side.
- What do you know about organization?
- Why did you choose our company?
If you attend small companies or not familiar companies, they will test, how long you are willing to be part of their organization. Some straight questions will be thrown to you at the end of the interview, if they feel you are good in technical side. Be careful to face these kinds of questions. They will try to judge the interviewee through these questions. Some examples are below.
- How many years will you be with us?
- What do you do if you get any other good offer?
- Work pressure will be more here. Are you ready to face this?
- What is your short term goal?
- Where do you want to be after five years?
- We have Bond system here for two years. Are you ready to accept that?
Get prepared for these kinds of questions. For straight questions, don’t be in a hurry to answer. Take your own time. Think about these questions a while and try to give polite answers. If needed, discuss with your friends to get the best appropriate answer for these questions before attending interviews.
Do you have any question?
This is the final question asked towards any interviewee. “No, I don’t have anything” will not spoil anything in the interview, but it is not advisable to go with. Try to ask any question specific to company or the project you are going to work with. Avoid all kinds of negative questions.
Examples:
- Do you need to learn anything more if I got selected?
- I have seen that your company has branches in many countries. It is difficult to manage people from different locations and culture. How do you manage those people?
Apart from the tips we have seen till now, prepare yourself daily for the interviews. Focus on your communication and technical skills. Practice brings victory always.