How to crack Personal Interviews and Group Discussions

How to prepare for a job interview

So, your Resume gets shortlisted by a recruiter during your Campus Placement process, and you have already cleared the written test and group discussion. Now the final round – the Personal Interview is about to happen. In order to be sure of landing with a job offer, you need to prepare yourself before the Interview. Here are some tips on how to prepare sufficiently well, so that there is no chance of NOT making it to the final list.

1. Review your Facebook and other Social Media postings

In today’s world, recruiters may look at your Social Media profiles, particularly LinkedIn. Some may even look at your Facebook page. So, what you need to do, before the actual recruitment process begins, is to review your social media posts, your profile write up, to make sure it is consistent with what you are going to talk about in the interview in terms of your qualifications, skills and career aspirations.
Also, take care to remove any content on your social media like posts or pictures which may be embarrassing or could put you in a negative light.

2. Research the Company

You must do a reasonable thorough research on the Company who is going to interview you. Go to the Company’s website and read and understand as much as you can about the Company’s business, products, factory and office locations. Make sure you click on sections or pages titled “About Us” or “Our Team”. Going through the section called “Press releases” is also a good idea. Finally, Google search for the Company’s name, and go through whatever information is available about the Company on the Internet.

3. Think of all the questions that might be asked

Whereas it is difficult to make a guess about what the interviewers might ask you, there are some standard questions that most interview panel members ask. Some of these are

• Tell me something about yourself
• What are your career aspirations OR Where do you see yourself 5 years down the road?
• What are your strengths and weaknesses?
• Are there any questions you have for us?

In a separate article I will cover the typical answers to the above questions that you may want to rehearse, that are acceptable to the interviewer.

4. Participate in Mock Interviews

It is important and helpful if you participate in mock interviews to prepare for the actual one. These could be conducted with friends or relatives, but it is a good idea to seek help from professional coaches or trainers who are experienced people from Industry. Make sure some of the questions listed above, as well as some ‘offbeat’ questions are included in the mock interview so that you get an idea of where you stand in a situation which is unknown. Lastly do ask for feedback about your communication, clarity of thought and body language
(We at ‘PRINCIPIUM ADVISORY’ offer professional coaching for Personal Interviews. Please visit www.principiumadvisory.in for more details.

5. Dress Appropriately for the Interview

This point cannot be emphasized enough. From all my years of experience, I can confidently tell you that the first impression is created by the way you dress.The right way to dress is to dress formally. For men a formal wear means lounge suit with a matching tie, socks and nicely polished shoes. For women formal western wear or a saree is good enough. Jewelry or excessive use of cosmetics is avoidable for both men and women.
Take care of as much detail to your dress as possible, to ensure that formal dress is not worn or carried through in a shabby manner. For instance, shirts should be tucked in tightly, the tie tightened right up to the collar button of your shirt (and not too long or short – the bottom end of the tie should just about reach your trousers’ waistline).

6. Arrive on time
It’s good to be early and wait as close to the premises of the interview as possible. It is likely that the final round of the selection process is a Personal Interview with the senior management of the Company, at the Company’s Corporate office, and NOT at your Campus. Therefore, make sure you leave sufficiently early to reach the destination in time. IF you arrive late, your mind will also be tense and that is not good just before the interview.

7. Keep all important documents with you
Carry your important documents like your qualification degrees or any other certifications that you have mentioned in your Resume. Documents should ideally be carried in a folder that in turn is inside a good clean office bag. Organize your documents inside the folder so that you don’t fumble or take time searching the folder, when asked to show a document.