BCA Job Interviews Study Material Notes

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BCA Job Interviews Study Material Notes

BCA Job Interviews Study Material Notes: The interview process characteristics of the job interview planning purpose  conversation two-way interaction modality preinterview preparation techniques self-analysis analyze your skills research the organization job analysis revise your subject knowledge  develop the interview file :

BCA Job Interviews Study Material Notes
BCA Job Interviews Study Material Notes

BCom Books Notes PDF Download 1st 2nd 3rd Year

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Understanding the nature of the interviewing process

Knowing the characteristics of job interviews

Indentifying pre-interview preparation techniques

Knowing the different types of interview questions and how to answer frequently asked questions

Understanding how to project a positive image during a job intervew

Knowing alternative interview formats

THE INTERVIEW PROCESS

Many people get nervous at the very idea of a job interview. For most job applicants, job interviews are frightening simply due to the fear of being rejected. Even if a person is self-confident, with a good grasp of the subject of his/her specialization, he/she is most likely to be tense and nervous before and during the interview. However, we can overcome our fear of the interview process by understanding the process and making ourselves ready and prepared for it.

The interviewing process is a complex means of gathering relevant data about Success in a job interview depends a candidate for a particular job position, promotion, or making a selection panel. It on knowledge, selfis a structured mechanism for professional evaluation for employment as well as confidence, good promotion. Although interviewing may be practiced along with other screening speaking skills, thorough methods such as group discussions and oral presentations, recruitment experts be preparation, and use of appropriate lieve that a job interview provides the best opportunity to examine the relevance of interview strategies an applicant’s knowledge and experience and is an effective technique used for evaluating the suitability of a candidate for a particular position through a question-answer oral session. It could be either a face-to-face meeting or a formal conversation through telephone, or videoconferencing between a candidate and the members of the selection committee or representatives of the concerned employers.

Job interviews in today’s technologically advanced world are more challenging than they used to be a few years ago. As the selection committee faces the challenge of getting the right person into the job the members of the committee are interested in a correct evaluation of the candidate’s personal qualities qualifications, talents, traits, and suitability for the position to be filled in. However, it is not an easy task for any selection committee to judge a candidate’s abilities and personal qualities on the basis of a halfhour conversation with the candidate. Therefore, new and more effective interviewing techniques have been devised for the correct evaluation of a candidate. Some organisations prefer to conduct preliminary and screening interviews before the final interview. Infact, there are several factors responsible for mak. ing job interviews more challenging today. They include:

Growing competition in the job market There is more competition in the job market today due to the availability of more qualified and experienced candidates. The fast increase in population, the availability of sophisticated specialised education and training, the trend of ‘hire and fire’ by most organisations, and globalisation of the world economy have increased the number of job seekers. If there is one job, there are hundreds of applicants. Changing demands of the job market The job market is not the same. There are more opportunities but at the same time there are more challenges, more demands, and more expectations. There are more job positions but these are less stable than they used to be. Moreover, the positions are more demanding and often include

a broader range of responsibilities than did positions in the past.

Growing professionalism of the business world The business world has become more professional. With the expansion of multinational companies and worldwide business operations, the world has become a global village. As only the best can survive, most companies have to struggle to survive and grow. They need very efficient, competent, and highly dynamic personnel to run the show and achieve the desired success

Increasing focus on the candidate’s personal qualities There is an increasing focus on the candidate’s personal qualities rather than on qualification, experience, and job skills. Most recruitment experts believe that proper training can easily develop these skills but it is not easy to develop personal motivations and qualities.

Changes in the interviewing techniques The interviewing process has become more complex. Most organisations have their own recruitment departments with highly competent people who receive appropriate training so that they can make valid selection decisions. Moreover, there are specialised recruitment agencies to help companies get the right people for the right jobs. These agencies have developed new and effective interviewing techniques for evaluating a candidate’s suitability for a particular position.

A condidate may have knowledge, confidence, and speaking skills to face a job interview but he/she still needs proper orientation and guidance to face a job interview effectively and confidently and improve his/her chances of success. The candidate should be familiar with the types of interviews, interview formats, and appropriate interviewing strategies. He/she should know how to plan and prepare for a job interview, how to develop the interview file, how to project success during the interview, how to reflect confidence while answering questions and how to uphold his/her personality and overcome interviewing hazards.

Progress Check 1

Which of the following statements about a job interviews is True?

1 There is less competition in the job market today due to the lack of availability of qualified and experienced candidates.

2. A job interview is an important technique used for evaluating the suitability of a candidate for a particular position through an oral question-answer session.

3. Interviewing can be practiced along with other screening methods such as group discussions and oral presentations.

4. A job interview is always a face-to-face meeting between a candidate and the members of the selection committee or representatives of the concerned employers.

5. Some organisations conduct preliminary and screening interviews before the final interview.

6. Most recruitment experts believe that proper training can easily develop personal qualities and positive traits.

7. Job interviews in today’s technologically advanced world are more challenging than they used to be a few years ago.

8. Job interviews are more challenging today because of the growing competition in the job market.

9. There is an increasing focus on the candidate’s qualification, experience, and job skills rather than on personal qualities.

10. Most organisations have their own recruitment departments with highly competent people who receive appropriate training so that they can make valid selection decisions.

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE JOB INTERVIEW

As noted earlier, a job interview is a pre-arranged and planned conversation characterised by a defined purpose and some level of informality. Let us discuss these aspects in some detail.

Planning

A job interview is prearranged and planned. Despite flexibility during an interview, the basic structure of most job interviews is planned for effective results. Several factors such as the time, the venue, the number of experts, the areas to be covered in the interview, the papers, and material

There are five aspects als needed, and so on are decided much before the interview. The interviewers may of job interviews: also consider the best ways of opening and concluding interviews. However, no planning, purpose job interview is just a mechanical process of asking and answering questions. The conversation, two-way interviewer may plan and generate specific questions for each candidate with modi- interaction, andinformality. fications in the planned interview design.

Purpose

A job interview is purposefully designed to achieve certain objectives. Organisations invest both time and money on the job interviews to ensure correct selection. Thus, there may be HR interviews to test the personality traits of candidates, technical interviews to generate information in response to specific questions for testing subject knowledge, situational interviews to test problem-solving skills and asse how candidates will behave in certain situations, and criterion based interviews to judge knowledge an abilities in a tightly focused way to evaluate how well a candidate fits a particular position. Whate may be the format of a job interview, the purpose is predefined so that the predictive capabilities of in interviews are enhanced.

Conversation

A job interview is a conversation between a job aspirant and the member/s of a selection committee or and appropriate answers. As it includes both listening and speaking, the candidate has to listen actively during a job interview and speak clearly and precisely using simple words, short sentences, correct articulation, and appropriate pronunciation. It also requires certain flexibility in the usage of tenses.

Two-Way Interaction

The job interview is a two-way interaction that may take place between the candidate and one interviewer (one-to-one interviews) or the candidate and more than one interviewer (panel interviews). In order to ensure uniformity, one-to-one interviews are generally structured and each candidate may be asked exactly the same kind of questions in the same style. Some one-to-one interviews may involve unstructured questions too. Panel interviews are more common. They may include two to twenty people but most selection committees normally consist of three to six persons. Each member of the committee may focus on a particular aspect of evaluation to ensure effective decision making.

Informality

Although a job interview is a planned conversation, it is less formal than many public speech situations. The success of any job interview depends on its informal and friendly atmosphere wherein the candidates get opportunities to reveal their potentiality and feel free to present their best. Not many people enjoy facing a job interview. So, an interview will not be able to achieve its goals if the tension is not reduced by developing a friendly relation between the candidate and the interviewer/s.

PRE-INTERVIEW PREPARATION TECHNIQUES

When a candidate has applied for a job and is getting ready for that important moment in his/her life, the job interview, he needs to prepare for it systematically, even if it is not the first job interview for the person. Preparing well is the key to success during an interview. Facing a job interview—whether a face to-face personal interview, a telephone interview, or an interview through Pre-interview videoconferencing is easier when one prepares for it in a systematic way. preparation techniques

A job interview is a formal, structured, and systematic interaction between include self-analysis, skills assessment, candidate and a group of persons who want to hire him/her for a particular jou company analysis, position. He/she has to establish a relationship, impress the interviewer/interva job analysis, subject panel and convince them that he/she is the best candidate for the job, for all revision, and developing which he/she will get hardly more than thirty minutes. It sounds an impossible to the interview file. but it is not if proper preparation is done in a planned and systematic way.

Self-analysis

We cannot project ourselves successfully unless we know our strengths and weaknesses properly. It may sound foolish but it is true that most of us really do not know ourselves. That is why a simple question like “Tell us something about yourself unnerves many candidates during job interviews. Self-analysis is the first step towards effective planning for a job interview.

interests, and hobbies. nation of our educational and professional background. Do we have the right background for the job? This is the first question that we should ask ourselves. Some of the questions that ask you to talk about your background include “Tell us something about yourself”, “How would you describe yourself?” “If you had to live your life again, what would you change?”, “Describe yourself in a few sentences”, “Tell us something about your education and background”, and so on. The purpose of these questions is to identify the match between the candidate’s background and the requirements of the job.

The candidate may have impressive qualifications and experiences but the interviewers would be more interested in knowing whether he/she has the right background for the job in question. If a person has Bachelor of Technology degree in Electronics and he wants to join the sales and marketing division of an electronics company, be must be prepared to answer the question “What makes you fit for a sales position?” If a candidate has the right background, he/she should highlight this during the interview. He/she should be able to talk about his/her background briefly. Infact, he/she must always be ready with a two-minute bio, presenting his/her background in a positive manner.

Identify Your Accomplishments An accomplishment can be defined as the completion of a particular task with the help of one’s skills. It may be a successfully organised college trip or cultural programme, the completion of an academic project, or solving a difficult problem or situation. Each of these can be an accomplishment that the candidate may be proud of. You should identify and make a list of such accomplishments. You may start from your school life. Anything you did during your school life that showed a positive dimension of your personality could be the first entry in the list. Next, you may explore your college life to identify instances that you did well in despite constraints and problems. If you have professional experience, you should identify problem situations that you could handle effectively.

The list need not be very long. Four to eight accomplishments are more than sufficient to make one confident while answering questions related to this aspect of one’s personality. Some questions that might ask you to reflect on your accomplishments include

What are your accomplishments?

Describe a situation in which you were successful.

Have you ever solved a problem?

What makes you stand out from the rest of the applicants?

Tell us about a problem you have faced and solved. Identify Your Achievements An achievement is different from an accomplishment. While accomplishments reflect special skills, achievements show our academic and professional success and distinguish a successful person from the non-achievers. They convince the employer that the candidate is an achiever and therefore worth hiring. You should make a list of scholarships, fellowships, awards, prizes, distinctions. commendations, certificates, or anything that shows achievement or recognition. The interviewers may ask you straight questions like “What are your achievements?”, or “Have you ever done anything that has given you a sense of achievement?”, “Do you consider yourself an achiever?”, and so on. Identify Your Special Interests and Hobbies The third aspect of self-analysis is identifying special interests and hobbies. A list of such activities should be made. As your curriculum vitae may also include your hobbies, interests, and activities, you should be ready to justify them during an interview. You should identify and list your extra-curricular, co-curricular, and professional activities as well as your hobbies and interests. As most organisations prefer dynamic and active employees, special interests and activities must show the candidate as a dynamic and energetic person who can accept all challenges. Analyse Your Career Goals You should analyse your career goals—what you want to do in life, your career objectives, your long-term goals in life, where you see yourself in five/ten years, your short-term career objectives. These are some aspects regarding which questions are frequently asked in job interviews. You should have a clarity about your objectives. If you are facing a job interview for the position of an executive in a multinational company and you mention that your career goal is to become a teacher, you will weaken your case. So, it is important that you analyse your career goals in terms of the job position you have applied for.

Analyse Your Skills

Skills assessment is Every job has a set of functions and requires certain skills to perform it. The main the process of analysing purpose of a job interview is to find out whether the candidate possesses the skills your skills in terms of and knowledge required to carry out the functions associated with the job. Thus the skills required for the position you analysing skills is an integral part of preparation for an interview. You should as are seeking the skills that you possess and try to find out techniques for adapting skills to fit the job desired. Most employers would like to see the match bet the candidate’s skills and the requirements for the job and may ask you the following questions:

How will you rate yourself for this position on a scale of one to ten?

Why should we hire you?

What makes you suitable for this position?

What are your strengths?

What is your greatest strength?

A candidate may have impressive skills and abilities but the employers would be more interested in knowing whether he/she has the right skills and abilities. Relating skills to the needs of the organization and requirements of the job is essential.

There are two types of skills that might be assessed during an interview, that is, learned skills and intuitive skills. Learned skills are the ones that might have been taught or have been learned while intuitive skills are a part of one’s personality. For example, we learn oral communication skills while we do not need to learn to be honest because honesty is innate.

There are two types of Study the following list of learned and intuitive skills is given in Table

In order to analyze your skills, a systematic approach should be adopted. First, a list of all skills should be made. Then, list the skills required for the job. Finally examine how many of your skills match with the job requirements. During the interview, you may use appropriate adjectives to describe your special skills, abilities, and aptitudes that are of significance and of direct relevance to the job applied for.

In order to sell yourself at a right price tag, you should use precise words to make the best imara Possible. These are examples of a few such adjectives:

active, competent, conscientious, creative, dependable, determined, diplomatic, discreet, effici energetic, enterprising. enthusiastic, experienced, fair, firm, innovative, logical, mature methodical, motivated, objective, pleasant, positive, practical, reliable, resourceful, self disciplined sensitive, sincere, successful, tactful, trustworthy.

Research the Organisation

You must thoroughly research the organisation you want to join before the inter Researching an view. Interviewers may ask a few questions to test your knowledge about the organisation involves gathering basic organisation and your interest in them. Some of these questions may include “Why information about the do you want to join us?”, “What do you know about our company?”, “What made nature, operations, you interested in our organisation?”, “How do you rate our company?”, “Tell us status, structure, growth rate, and activitieswhy you are interested in our company?”, “Our company was recently in the news. of the organization Can you tell why?,” and so on. Unless you research the company you will not be able to answer any of these questions. The candidate should have some basic information about the organisation, which may include:

factors making the organisation successful There are many ways to research the organisation. The first and the most obvious is visiting the website of the organization. Nowadays every organisation has its website with key information about it. You should note down important points that might help you during the interview. In addition, you can visit the library to look for relevant information about the organization. You may refer to company directories, quarterly publications, magazines, company reports, and relevant business and professional publications. You may also read the company’s brochures and recent annual report. Finally, you may talk to concerned people to get first hand information about the organisation. Job Analysis

You should know what the job is all about. You cannot adapt your skills to fit the job desired unless you know about the job. Moreover, without sufficient knowledge about the job position, you may not be able to answer questions like “Why are you interested in this job?”. “What makes your Job analysis will provide fit for this position?”, “What do you know about this position?”. “What makes you you broad information think you are fit for this job?”, “How will you rate yourself for this position about the position. With a little preparation, you can answer these questions confidently.

You should have broad information about the position so that you can respond to the questions testing your suitability for the job. You should try to answer the following questions before you actually face the interview:

In order to research the job, you may use several available resources such as the internet, the library, the organization’s public relations office, people working in the organization, particularly alumni of your institution.

Revise Your Subject Knowledge

A job interview is to assess the candidates’ level of knowledge and technical expertise as it relates to the job at hand. Although a good grade is an indicator of one’s command over the subject, many organizations focus on evaluating the subject competence of candidates. They may conduct special technical interviews where a group of subject experts might ask probing questions to judge the depth and scope of the candidates’ subject knowledge. It is, therefore, advisable to revise one’s subject knowledge before the interview. Subject basics must be clear because the experts might test your grasp of the subject. They may ask you a few exploring questions to find out your level of understanding. It is important to be thoroughly prepared and if there is time, revise the last course and Revise your subject for reading up on the latest developments in the subject. Discuss relevant topics with clarity and confidence. friends, classmates, or colleagues would also be helpful.

You should also brush up your general awareness. The interviewers may test your knowledge on a wide range of topics related to burning social, political, economic, scientific, and environmental issues, national and international affairs, controversial topics, key newsmakers, and much more. As an educated person, you are expected to be aware of such matters. Therefore, reading newspapers, watching news on television, and visiting informative websites to brush up your knowledge about recent developments in different areas is essential

Develop the Interview File

Preparing for an interview demands a professional approach. Therefore, you should develop an interview file that may contain the following papers and documents:

1 Interview letter

2. Original degrees, certificates, and transcripts

3. Experience certificates

4. References and testimonials

5. Certificates of merit

6. Copies of your resume

7. Your visiting cards

8. Other relevant papers that might be needed during the interview

An index of all the papers and documents in the file makes for easy reference and location. You should also keep photocopies of essential papers like degrees and experience certificates, as you mich. be asked to submit these. Keeping everything ready in order will help in projecting yourself as an organica and systematic person. Study the following table and match different pre-interview preparation steps (left column) with appropriate stages of interview preparation (right column):

Stages of interview preparation

1 Self-analysis

2. Skills analysis

3. Company analysis

4. Job analysis

5. Revision

6. Developing the interview file

Pre-interview preparation steps

1 Identify your achievements.

2. Assess the skills you possess.

3. Keep your basics clear.

4. Keep photocopies of essential papers.

5. Relate your skills to the needs of the job.

6. Visit the website of the organisation you want to join.

7. File the reference letter.

8. Identify your accomplishments.

9. List the skills necessary for the job.

10. Keep your credentials ready.

11. dentify your special interests and hobbies.

12. Find out responsibilities associated with the job.

13. Analyse your career goals.

14. Brush up your general awareness.

15. Find out the financial standing and turnover of the company

16. Revise your subject knowledge.

17. Keep your original degrees, certificates, and transcripts ready

18. Make an index of all the papers and documents for easy reference and location.

19. Analyse your background.

20. Find out about the products/services of the organisation.

INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

As mentioned before, the suitability of a candidate for a particular position is evaluated during a jou interview through an oral question answer session. Thus, the interview contains specific questions and appropriate answers. The candidate should understand the nature of different types of interview questions, analyse expected questions in order to devise answering strategies, and practise these answers. Some tips on job interview questions and answers are discussed below.

Types of Interview Questions

You should be familiar with the nature and type of questions being asked during job interviews so that you are ready to answer them confidently. There are seven different types of questions that are asked to elicit certain responses from candidates. They include open, closed, probing, reflective, loaded, hypothetical, and leading questions. Open Questions An open question asks the candidates to “talk about” some types of interview thing. Its main purpose is to encourage the candidates to talk broadly about topic questions: open, closed, or subject. It broadens the scope of the response by forcing the candidates to probe, reflective engage in deeper thinking. Following are some of the examples of open questions:

ANSWERING STRATEGIES

Keys to Answering Questions

How a question is answered is sometimes more important than the answer itself The way a anection is anewered reflects a person’s communicative ability. The following suggestions will help in improving the quality of answers:

Attentiveness When a person attends a job interview, he/she cannot answer the Seven factors that can interview’s questions correctly unless he/she is listening properly. Many candi- improve quality of dates start answering before they have heard the complete question. This is wrong. answers during a job interview are The candidate should listen to the interviewer attentively in order to understand the attentiveness, accuracy. question and then respond to it. Moreover, the interviewer should not be inter- brevity, focus, clarity, rupted while he or she is speaking. This constitutes rude behaviour and is against positive attitude, and the norms of any formal interaction.

logical thinking. Accuracy The candidate should give particular attention to dates, timelines, person, places, and other details. If he/she cannot remember a date or time, it should not be mentioned. Giving an incorrect or incomplete answer will reduce the chances of success. The candidate should not try to bluff the interviewer: it is better to accept that he/she does not know an answer rather than give an incorrect answer. No one is expected to know everything and there is nothing wrong in accepting one’s lack of knowledge. Brevity The candidate should be brief and to the point particularly in open questions, where he/she has the scope to speak as much as he/she can. He/she should listen to the question carefully and answer only what is asked, not taking more than one minute to answer any question, irrespective of its nature and complexity. A long answer does not necessarily mean a better answer; it is usually otherwise. Focus The candidate should be focused and specific. Very often, candidates deviate from the question asked and do not answer specifically. Trying to impress interviewers by giving information that is not asked for should be avoided. The more specific the answer, the more convinced the interviewers are likely to be of a candidate’s suitability for the position. Concrete and specific words and phrases should be used, and obscure, abstract, and vague words that may confuse the interviewers should be avoided. Clarity Candidates should answer directly and clearly. The candidate should not give the interviewers a chance to ask for an answer to be repeated or classified. Clarity of expression generally reflects clarity of thought and professionalism. Positive Attitude The candidates’ answers should reflect a positive attitude. Interviewers may ask negative or sensitive questions to explore the negatives in the candidate’s personality. Therefore, it is important to remain positive and answer even negative questions positively. Logical Thinking The ability to think logically is always an asset during an interview. Answers should always be rational and logical because illogical answers reflect a disorganised personality. Logical arguments and illustrations should be used when answering questions that demand careful thinking that is probing and hypothetical questions).

Frequently Asked Interview Questions

Several popular questions repeatedly appear in job interviews. Twenty basic interview questions with their possible answers are given here. Practising replies to these questions and rehearsing mock interviews to develop confidence will help in improving job interviewing skills.

PROJECTING A POSITIVE IMAGE

When a person has prepared for the job interview well, analysed expected questions, and devised and swering strategies, he/she may feel confident to face the interview. However, it is not sufficient to merelv answer questions correctly during an interview. The success of a job interview Three factors that play largely depends on a person’s ability to project a positive professional image be an important role in fore the interviewers. Although one cannot develop such an image overnight as it positive projection takes time to groom one’s personality, one can project success during the interview during job interviews by following some basic tips. are the way the candidate looks

A job interview provides the meeting place where the interviewers personally speaks, and behaves interact with the candidate to explore the relevance of his/her knowledge and expe

rience by posing questions directly to him/her. Apart from assessing the candidate’s knowledge and experience, the interviewers also examine his/her appearance, mannerisms, non-verbal communication skills, and personal traits. In order to ensure an impressive performance in a job interview, one has to take care of each of these factors. These are discussed below in detail.

Look Your Best As visual impact plays an important role during a face-to-face interview, the candidate should strive hard to look his/her best by giving his/her outward appearance the needed polish and grooming. An impressive personality is always a positive factor. Some candidates ignore this aspect during interviews and they are rejected just because they give a poor visual impact. In order to convey the image of a dynamic. energetic and well-groomed professional, the following points should be borne in mind. Dress Formally The interviewee should wear a formal dress and try to look presentable. Some organisations follow strict dress norms. Therefore, it may be a good idea to find out the dress norm of the organisation and appear at the interview dressed to conform to that norm. Alternatively, the candidate should choose a dress that fits his/her body and personality and gives him/her a polished look. It should be simple, sober, dignified, and conventional, and shoes should be well-polished. Prepare Your Person Although a job interview is not a fashion show or a date with the boy or girl one wants to marry, one should thoroughly prepare oneself because it is an important meeting. On the day of the interview, the interviewee should appear well groomed and smartly turned out. Using mouthwash, breath freshener, a good perfume, and appropriate jewellery in the case of ladies helps in creating a positive impression on the interview panel. Relax The candidate should not overstress himself/herself on the interview day. He/she should be relaxed, eat a good but light breakfast or lunch, watch television, and participate in light conversations with family members. He/she should not read serious books or exercise rigorously. It is important that he/she keeps himself/herself mentally free so that he/she is able to appear fresh. Speak Carefully

The candidate’s style of speaking is very important because the way he/she speaks forms his/her image during a personal interview. Expert interviewers can read a person’s personality by analysing his/nce style of speaking

Speak Clearly The interviewee should speak clearly and effectively. He/she should use effective speaking techniques, be articulate and speak distinctly, focusing attention on his/her message. Care should be taken to regulate voice quality, accent, and intonation. Speak Confidently The interviewee should not be shaky and confused while he/she speaks and should instead speak confidently and with a smile. Speak Slowly with Appropriate Pauses Interviewees should not speak in a hurry. Inexperienced speakers may often try to control their nervousness by speaking too fast. This should be avoided as speaking too quickly exposes one’s nervousness and the interviewers will not be able to follow what is being said properly. Effort should be made to speak slowly and take appropriate pauses.

GOOD MANNERS AND POSITIVE BEHAVIOUR

A major part of projecting oneself as a well-behaved dynamic professional is one’s conduct during the interview. It is important that one takes care of one’s mannerisms and behaviour patterns during the interview. The conduct of most candidates is not positive during an interview. Some interviewers might use a friendly tone and try to create an informal atmosphere to make the interviewee comfortable but the candidate should always remember that a job interview is a formal situation and he/she cannot behave the way he/she behaves when he/she is with friends. The interviewee must behave formally and try to impress the interviewers with good manners and a positive behaviour pattern. Be Polite Being polite, pleasant, and courteous is the key to a successful job interview. The candidate should never be rude and impolite, but should instead be courteous and use polite expressions and phrases. If he/she is dogmatic and unfriendly during interview, interviewers might find it difficult to continue the interview. By being cheerful he/she should put interviewers at ease. The candidate should also avoid making remarks that might show that he/she is a snob and should try honestly to understand the point of view of the interviewers. Be Flexible The candidate should express flexibility during the interview and not be rigid on anything. An ideal employee is always flexible. One is likely to work in a team environment and should be a team player who can go along with people. Obstinate people are not successful team players because rigidity goes against team spirit. So, it is important to be flexible in approach, attitude, and style.

Be Tactful It is important to be very tactful during a job interview. It is better to think before speaking than to suffer afterward. Words and phrases should be chosen carefully, and controversial issues that may lead to unnecessary arguments should be avoided. Do not Argue The interviewee should never argue with the interviewers. He/she may disagree with the interviewers but should not press the point too hard. Expressing disagreements and reservations in a negative way that might offend the interviewers should be avoided, instead, he/she should express respect for the views expressed by them. Be Interested The candidate should express interest in the process of interviewing because interviewers will prefer a more interested but less qualified candidate to a less interested and more qualified one. The interviewee should be interested in what the interviewer is asking and his/her behaviour and attitude should reflect this interest. The interviewee should maintain eye contact with each interviewer and respond to their questions in a lively manner. Some candidates remain lifeless during an interview. This shows a lack of interest and may lead to rejection.

Control Nervousness Most people are scared of job interviews and feel nervous before and during the interview. It is quite natural because whenever faced with a difficult situation, the body responds by releasing extra energy to deal with the situation. As a result, the heartbeat quickens, breathing becomes more rapid, and the mouth becomes dry. It is important to control nervousness, be practical, and identify one’s shortcomings. Candidates should never entertain negative thoughts such as “I can’t face this interview”. “I come from poor background”. “I am going to be rejected”, “I am not ready”, and so on. Instead positive self-talk such as, “I am going to make it”. “I am well-prepared and confident”, “I am going to succeed”, and so forth are more useful in creating a feeling of confidence about oneself.

You cannot project a positive professional image during a job interview by being (a) simple (b) pleasant and courteous (c) alert and responsive (d) tense and nervous (e) well-dressed and presentable (1) confident (g) polite and friendly (h) cheerful (i) argumentative () rigid (k) tactless (1) interested

ALTERNATIVE INTERVIEW FORMATS

As mentioned above, job interviews have become more complex and sophisticated today. Gone are the days when a job interview was a simple exchange of information during a face-to-face conversation in a conventional office setting. Although face to face interviews are still the most common interview format, interviews also take place in non-conventional settings and there are several alterAlternative interview native interview formats, which include interviews through telephone, and formats include telephone interviews videoconferencing and interviews through video conferencing Telephone Interviews Telephone interviews have become very common today due to compelling reasons of time and distance. Unlike a face-to-face interview, which generally takes place in an office with the focus on a traditional structure of questions and answers in a conventional setting, a telephone interview takes place in a nonconventional setting. Although the telephone interview has certain inherent weaknesses as an interview format, its popularity is increasing, especially for recruitment to senior positions. Moreover, it is less cumbersome for both the interviewers as well as the candidates.

The telephone interview generally has a fixed structure. The number of interviewers may vary from one to eight. The chairperson of the selection committee introduces the members of the committee to the candidate. Then, each expert introduces himself/herself and asks questions. This goes on till each member has talked to the candidate. Each of them may form an opinion about the candidate and then a final decision is made on the basis of consensus.

The following suggestions will help improve telephone interview skills: • Candidates should plan and prepare for the interview in a manner similar to that for a face-to

face interview. All the relevant interview techniques and strategies discussed earlier can be applied here too. The interviewers may ask the candidate to give a date and time for the interview or may fix it themselves. The candidate should ensure that there are no distractions during the telephone interview. The names of all the members of the interview panel should be written down at the beginning of the call and they should be referred to by name throughout the interview. It is important for the candidate to know who is speaking in order to establish rapport with them. Each member of the panel should be greeted when he/she asks the first question. The interviewee must organise his/her papers and documents and keep them close so that he/she may easily refer to them.

Interviews may also be held through videoconferencing. This is very similar to a face-to-face job interview because the interviewers can watch the candidate answering questions and can assess his/her bevaviour and non-verbal gestures. Some organisations might prefer to have a screening interview through videoconferencing. Situational interviews may also be conducted through videoconferencing.

The videoconferencing interview also has a fixed structure. The number of interviewers may vary from one to eight, as in a face-to-face or telephone interview. The chairperson of the selection committee may introduce the members of the committee to the candidate. Then, each expert may talk to the candidate asking him/her a few questions. This may go on till each member has talked to the candidate. As the form and structure of a videoconferencing interview is similar to a traditional face-to-face personal interview, candidates may apply the same techniques and strategies of interviewing here.

EXERCISES.

1 Describe the significance of job interviews today. Discuss the kinds of questions that may be asked during an interview. Describe in brief the strategies to deal with loaded and open questions.

2. Most employers and interviewers look for the following personal qualities and skills. Assuming you have to convince interviewers that you have these skills and traits, provide examples from your experience to prove that you have.

(a) Communication skills

(b) Confidence

 

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