5 Incredible Interview tips
As someone who has been on both sides of the interview table, I have begun noticing what makes the difference between “Selected” and “Not Selected”. Here are my top 5 tips to bag an interview.
Prepare the Basic questions: Some questions like “How are you?” or “Tell me about yourself?” or “What are your hobbies?” are so obvious yet I continue to be surprised that almost 70% of the people still try to wing it. Imagine if you have an exam tomorrow and someone hands you 3 questions that will almost certainly be in the question paper. Wouldn’t you try to prepare the answers to those questions in advance? Getting these first questions right may seem insignificant to some, however, speaking from personal experience, this is your only chance to establish a rapport with the interviewer. Also, getting these questions right may feel like a small victory, but psychologically, this small victory will go a long way in making the interview experience better for you and for the interviewer.
Brush Up: While its ok to list out the skills you learnt in college on your resume/cv, it reflects poorly on you if you are unable to answer the basic questions related to that skill. While an entire course revision may not be possible in time for the interview, it is always a good idea to go over the key concepts. Moreover, if you prepare/ brush up before an interview, the level of confidence is considerably higher and that is evident to the interviewer as well.
Read about the company: Usually we all know a bit about the company we’d like to work at. However it is also important to read the latest ventures of the company, any recent news article about future plans, acquisitions, work culture etc. should be read and analyzed.
Bonus tip: Think of a way you can work it into the conversation.
Write a Script: There are only two people (In case of one on one interviews) who can determine the direction of an interview. You and the interviewer. Left to their own devices the interviewer will follow their own line of questioning or chain of thought. If they ask questions that you are comfortable with, nothing like it, but if they don’t, you are in trouble. There is a way to avoid this discomfort. Lead the interview yourself. Prepare a script, think about the things that you would like to talk about, your strengths, achievements, competitions, projects, then think what would be a logical flow to the conversation.
I know it won’t go as per your plan, you will need to change track during the interview, but when conversation runs dry, you always have a fallback script. Also, it helps you remember the things that you might otherwise have forgotten to take into consideration.
Rehearse: Create a fake interview setup, you and the mirror first, and then you and another person, and as far as possible, try to follow your script for the questions and answers. This would help you in organizing your thoughts and identify any potential issues before the actual interview.
All the best!
P.S. : To get an idea about commonly asked interview questions, click here.
