Facing Interviews

“A successful interview is meeting of minds”

I am sure most of you face or might have faced anxiety before giving an interview. Various questions like what to prepare, how to conduct yourself, what are the things that will make you stand out among the candidates might come into your mind. While, there is no guaranteed method to crack an interview, however there are still some aspects you can focus on to increase your chances of getting selected. This article provides some tips to help you with your interview.

What Aspects are Tested?

• Past relationship with boss and co-workers
  Employers want to know if you’re a team player when you’re applying for positions that require you to collaborate with others. They may ask you a series of questions to learn about your prior coworkers’ relationships with you. You should demonstrate in your responses that you can get along with everyone and work well with others to form an effective team.
  
• Respect for the value of others
  In a diverse workplace, there are people from different backgrounds and have different values. Employees might not love or enjoy everyone’s personalities and not believe in their values but they must respect their work in order to fulfil their objectives and remain professional.
  
• Ability to meet deadlines
  Demonstrating your ability to manage your time can help you stand out as a job prospect. It would be hard to meet deadlines and complete each project to the best of abilities if you do not have good time management skills.
  
• Ability to multi task
  A hiring manager will almost always ask if you can juggle multiple tasks at once. It’s a reasonable issue, given the volume of phone calls, emails, and meetings that can occur in a single day.
  
• Value oriented approach to problem solving
  Value-based interviewing (VBI) is a type of interview that focuses on the ‘how’ and ‘why’ an applicant makes decisions in the workplace and aims to uncover the reasons for their actions. It gives managers a thorough grasp of and insight into candidates’ beliefs and behaviors, as well as how they align with the company’s.
  
• Other aspects that employers check are how efficiently you use time, thorough knowledge of the industry, commitment to continual learning, ability to address small problems but always focused on the bigger picture.
  
• Your personal values play a key role in your selection in an interview. Personal values include your integrity, your enthusiasm, accountability, team orientation, work ethics, respect for people, etc. Also, your technical expertise matters the most.
  

Dealing with Pre-Interview Nervousness

• Make sure you sleep properly the night before the interview so that you are rested well and you give the interview with a fresh mind.
• Go easy on caffeine before the meeting.
• Give positive affirmations to yourself to give yourself motivation and to get rid of the negative thoughts.
• Listen to the calming music on your way to the interview.
• Look at the job opportunity as an interview to shine.
• Welcome the challenge
• Breathe
• Exhibit interest in job instead of trying to be interesting.
• Stay focused and positive.

Ten Variables for the First Impression

• Arrive on time for the interview
• Dress in a professional manner
• Take good rest and be alert
• Be respectful to everyone you meet during the interview process
• Be honest
• Clearly express your clarifications for the job
• Show your interest in job and company
• Responses to the questions should be specific and informed
• Ask relevant questions
• Your personality should fit well with the organization