Preparing for an Interview - Short n Straight-forward!

Dear Friends,

Preparing for an interview has become a natural part of how our education system and the subsequent employment system has evolved. We have interviews for taking admission to schools and colleges, to get a good job.. and believe it or not, there's a lesser known fact to this story - the same technique is used to fire people from jobs as well!

Some of us attend preparation classes with coaching institutes, while some of us rely on the experienced folks to give us the gyan on how to crack this one little hurdle to whatever you are looking forward to next. Our team also went through some interesting experiences and now bring to you some thoughts from the HR Store Room on how to prepare for interviews.

A due note of caution: This article is not a magic potion for the inept to crack interviews. This article is for those with potential who need help with preparing for interviews.

What do we want?
Before going for an interview, we need to reassess on what we want out of the interview. There has to an aspired position, role or opportunity. Something like - "I want to be a student at IIM-A" or "I want to be a Software Engineer at Infosys" or "I want to be a Junior Research Fellow at DRDO" or "I want an opportunity to learn the business of Book Publication at Forbes".

We often ignore this step, rather we do not explicitly say it out. It is somewhere there in the back of our minds, but we just allow it to remain there. What does this question do? This question spins-off answers to all other questions that one may have on how to prepare of this interview.

This questions just makes our preparation more focused.

Preparing the mind - Understand the Perspectives
Many would love to guide us on this topic from their own perspectives. Some of our guides would have never been part of the interview processes itself. And it is natural to think only from where we stand, when we are in our own shoes! But, we need to understand that an interview is not just about how well you prepare - it also about what the person on the other side of the table, what do they want?

Many of us take this as an implicit part of the interview preparation stage, we assume on what the other side would want. And this assumption does not arise from any well-thought research, these set of assumptions are formed from what we hear from others who experienced the same. So the questions that arise in our minds should not really be - "What should I wear?", "How firm should by hand-shake be?", "What should be my poise, my body-language?"; our question to ourselves should be "If I was at the other side of the table, what would I want to assess/see in my candidate?".

This one question would form the basis of our entire understanding and preparation of the interview.

For example, if you are going for an interview to a B-school - you would want to model your preparation to ensure that when the interview panel sees, talks and listens to you - they see their future student. It is not as easy as reading this, but the intention is to prep your mind to see the other side.


Basic Essential Preparation
We know that we live in the world of short-cuts and the so-called 'smart work' proponents. But guys, there's absolutely no replacement for hard work. You would have gone through these at different forums, but I would like to reiterate here a few essentials to crack an interview -

1. Knowledge
Irrespective of which interview that you are going to attend, 'knowledge' is a quintessential ingredient to the cocktail that can mesmerize your interviewers. Again, there is no short-cut to this. Please ensure that you read, discuss and understand the core knowledge elements that your interviewers would want to see. This is the single biggest contributing factor influencing the result of the interview.

2. The Look
We hate to admit it. We get to hear a lot about "Don't go by the looks, look at the content!". But whether we like it or not, physical appearance does have an impact during an interview. But be aware, this aspect can only be a helping factor and cannot carry you all along just by itself. Please groom well for the interview, but never over-do it. 

3. The Known Answers
Invariably all interviews start with some basic questions like - "Tell me something about yourself?", "Why do you want this?". Spend some time thinking, and you would be able to find some more. Prepare well for these. And not just prepare for one answer, prepare for variations - short and lengthy variations. And prepare this in the best possible way to reflect as the best candidate for clearing the interview.

4. Gather Feedback, Act
Most of us have a 'blind spot' - a little something that we just don't know about ourselves, but this little something can perhaps be quite clearly observable to another person. This can range from pinching your ear when you are thinking to making weird noises when you laughing. These are irritants and 'turn-offs' in an interview. Please ask a friend or family member to get honest feedback and ensure that you take due care of to avoid these.

5. Poise and Tone
Guys, this is important but an over-emphasised item. You just need to ensure that you have a pleasant and attentive poise. And when you talk, you need to be clear and confident.

Yep, that's it! You just want to model your preparation around these basic principles.



At the Interview: Listen
We take this one for granted. Our brains are modeled to predict what another person is going to say. And we are impatient creatures. At an interview, we need to drop these instincts. We need to listen to every question and statement that comes from across the table. And as these questions and statements are made, our minds need to analyze these before jumping into a conclusion.

Be calm and composed. Listen and observe. Finally, you are allowed to make small pauses, so pause.. think.. maintain eye contact.. and then give a response.

And the other things...
Here are some of the other things that you would want to take care of. Language, Choice of Words, Eye Contact, Slight Smile of Confidence, Minimum Distracting Movements, Never Lose Cool, Pay Attention, Be Pleasant, Accept if you don't know, .

Finally, your turn to ask!
Most of the interviews come down to a point where the interviewers would let you ask them a question. This is one of the best opportunities to impress the panel. Have this one thought out, something that shows your witty, intelligent, smart side. Forward looking questions are good. This would be a wrong time to ask about salary or other benefits. Your question here would show your priorities, and at least for this time, the ball would be in your court.

Just for fun - Interview Killers
Come late, don't take a bath before the interview, don't carry your documents, be casual when you enter the interview room, wink at the interviewer, use the f-word as adjectives, ask the panel to repeat the question at least three times, sing 'ae kya bolti tu' when you don't know the answer, threaten them with a knife and fart twice. Tadaa.. you have officially killed your interview!

Summary
One needs to do some sort of introspection before jumping in front of an interview panel. You need to model yourself as the candidate that the interviewers would want to select. You may never be 100% sure about this, but some intelligent work can help you. At the interview, be attentive and listen carefully. Never take an interview for granted, do give genuine effort on preparation. Good Luck!

PS: Please drop in comments/questions and we would love to get back to you!