Job Interviews

A job interview is an important part of a job search process. It is not only an opportunity for an
employer to assess your qualification, experience and skills but for an applicant too to get first
impression and a closed-look of the organization.
Interviewer (the one who conducts interviews) and interviewee (the one who is being interviewed/
applicant) are the two components of interview process. Both have some responsibilities on their parts.
Interviewee’s responsibilities
Things to remember before interview:
1. Knowing the day, date, time, venue, routs (trial run may be taken in advance) and interviewing
team
2. Preparing formal dress + haircut, trimming etc
3. Arriving 10-15 minutes earlier for a prior check.
4. Keeping required documents (1 set for each if its panel interview)
5. Knowing yourself (a self-assessment about you, your strengths and weaknesses)
6. Knowing the position (what the vacancy is, what will be job description and how your skills
relate to the announced vacancy)
7. Knowing the organization (what does organization deal with, how long has it been working, what
is its rating, what is very unique about it)
8. Knowing possible questions
9. Knowing the question (s) you will ask, if you get chance
10. Learning from insiders

Things to remember during interview:

1. Putting cellphone on silent mode
2. Making first impression (warm handshake with and a pleasant smile)
3. Waiting to be asked to sit down
4. Understanding interview statement
5. Listening the questions (very gently and calmly)
6. Giving organized answers
7. Not arguing over any point
8. Not interrupting
9. Requesting to repeat if you didn’t hear any question properly
10. Asking thoughtful question (about your weakness, something about vacancy or organization,
sharing or asking for business card)
11. Avoiding fidgeting
12. Having warm handshake with pleasant smile in the end
13. Confirming about follow-up
14. Thanking the interviewer for the interview and time
Things to remember after interview:
1. Fulfilling requirements, if any (documentation, any action)
2. Sending thank-you note, if required.
3. Re-assessing our answers

Interviewer’s responsibilities
Goals of the interviewer:
1. Finding out and evaluating additional information that is not given in resume
2. Determining the oral communication ability of the interviewee
3. Giving essential information about company and position
4. Establishing goodwill on behalf of the company

Things to remember:
1. Setting warm-up period by warm handshake and pleasant smile
2. Encouraging the interviewee to be frank in discussion
3. Asking planned questions
4. Keeping the control of interview
5. Focusing the open-ended questions (and avoiding dead-end/ closed questions)
6. Asking question from the interviewee in the end of interview.
7. Pleasant ending

Common Interview Questions (traditional questions)

1. Tell me about yourself.

2. Why did you leave your last position?
3. What do you know about this company?
4. What are your goals?
5. What are your strengths and weaknesses?
6. Why do you want to work for this company?
7. What has been your most significant achievement?
8. How would your last boss and colleagues describe you?
9. Why should we hire you?
10. Where do you see yourself in five year from today?
11. What are your salary expectations?

Behavioral Interview Questions: An interviewer should include behavioral interview questions too
which focus on ‘how you handled specific situations in the past’. Such questions are constructed on the
basis of soft skills mentioned by the applicant. From this we come to know that will the applicant be
able to meet the needs of the organization. An applicant must follow four steps to answer such
questions.
 1. P: Problem: Explain the relevant problem (with context)
2. A: Action: What action did you take to address the problem
3. R: Result: What was the result(s) of your action?
4. K: Knowledge: What knowledge did you gain by dealing with the problem?

Behavioural questions are based on soft skills.

Soft Skills:
Communication (listener, presenter, can read body language, story teller, negotiator etc)
Critical thinking (creative, adaptable, observer, flexible, innovative, problem solver, researcher etc)
Leadership (conflict management, decision making, inspiring, deal maker, mentor, motivating etc)
Positive attitude (courteous, honest, friendly, confident, cooperative, respectful, patient, enthusiastic)
Work ethic (attentive, dedicated, competitive, reliable, self-directed, etc)

Here are some examples of other behavioral interview questions:

a. Give me an example of a time when you showed initiative.
b. Describe a time when you were faced with a problem that you did not anticipate.
c. Describe a difficult decision you made in the last year.
d. Tell me about a time when you voiced a concern or disagreement to a co-worker or supervisor.
e. Tell me about a situation in which you had to coordinate the work of several people to achieve a
goal.
f. Tell me about a time when you worked on a team and things were not going well.
g. Describe a situation where others you were working with on a project disagreed with your ideas.
h. Tell me about a time when you had to determine priorities in scheduling your time.
i. Tell me about a time when your manager or supervisor was unavailable and a problem arose.
j. Tell me about a time when you had to deal with a difficult customer.
k. Walk me through a time when you had to deal with a conflict at work.
l. Describe a time when you were the least satisfied at work.
m. Describe a time when you were most satisfied at work.
n. Describe something creative that you have done.
o. Describe one of your most disappointing experiences.
p. Describe one of your most satisfying experiences.

Questions to be avoided:
Questions based on religion, colour, race, place of birth, marital status, political beliefs, addictions etc
For any such question, one should respond with counter question. Like, “Could you please tell me how
my (age, marital status, place of birth, etc.) might have any bearing on the job I am applying for?”
“That’s a very interesting question. I’d be happy to answer it if you could tell me the reason for asking
it?”

Non-verbal Communication:
Non-verbal communication also plays role in a job interview. Non-verbal communication includes:
Appearance/ attire/ dressing
Handshake
 Smile
Permission for sitting
Pulling chair
Sitting properly (squarely placed feet or crossing legs on ankle)
Hands in the lap
Eye contact
Hands movement
Nodding head (listening gesture)

Be Yourself:
“Be yourself. People tend to do a poor imitation of anything else” - Peter Fiske, Put Your Science to
Work

Others:
Be confident
Be courteous
Be positive
There is no right or wrong answer. Just provide required details.

Avoid:
Asking question relevant to financial or any other benefit
Being late
Keeping anything on the table