Interview Skills

“A job interview is a pre-arranged and planned conversation used for evaluating the suitability of a candidate for a particular position.”

Success in a job interview depends on knowledge, self-confidence, good speaking skills, thorough preparation, and use of appropriate interview strategies.

Characteristics of the Job Interview

• Planning: time, venue, the number of experts, covering areas
• Purpose: objectives – HR interview to test personality traits
• Conversation: Listening and speaking
• Two-way interaction: one-to-one interview structured
• Informality: achieve goals – if tension exists

Pre-Interview Preparation Techniques

• Self-analysis – strengths and weaknesses
• Analyze your background – critical examination
• Identify your accomplishments/achievements
• Identify your special interests and hobbies
• Analyze your career goals
• Analyze your skills
• Job analysis (what)
• Revise your subject knowledge
• Develop the interview file

Answering Strategies

• Attentiveness
• Accuracy
• Brevity
• Focus
• Clarity
• Positive Attitude
• Logical Thinking

Types of Interview Questions

There are seven different types of questions that are asked to elicit certain responses from candidates. They include open, closed, probing, reflective, loaded, hypothetical and leading questions.

• Open questions: Its main purpose is to encourage candidates to talk broadly about a topic and to engage in deeper thinking. Following are some of the examples:

  1. Tell us something about yourself.
  2. Describe the most difficult situation that you recently faced.
  3. What do you think about the impact of multinational companies on Indian economy?

• Closed questions: Closed questions limit the freedom of candidates. Here they should provide specific responses/information/facts.

  1. When did you complete your graduation?
  2. What was your major subject in the college?
  3. Did you know data processing?

• Probing questions: They probe more deeply or ask for an explanation/clarification of a statement just made. They encourage candidates to talk in greater depth about the subject/topic. For example, after the response, ‘I believe students should be allowed in academic decision making’, the interviewer might ask a probing question, ‘Do you think this should include all academic decisions?’.

• Reflective questions: Here the purpose is to confirm the statements made by the candidate. It is also to check the interviewer understands what the candidate has said.

  1. That means you want the public sector companies to be totally privatized?
  2. Am I right in thinking that you are against economic liberalization in India?
  3. Does that mean you favor total ban on any type of violence in movies?

• Loaded questions: They assess candidate’s ability to handle difficult and sensitive situations. There may not be a right or wrong answer to a loaded question; rather it would be a reasonable or unreasonable response. The following are some examples:

  1. You are too short. Don’t you think this is going to be a handicap for you?
  2. Your GPA in the first semester of B.Tech is too low. How do you justify that?

• Hypothetical questions: They involve you in a hypothetical situation. It tests the possible reaction of a candidate to a certain situation. They begin with ‘what would you do if…?

  1. What would you do if you face a group of angry employees who want to harm company vehicles because one of the workers has been hurt by a company lorry?
  2. One of your staff has been involved in activities detrimental to your organization. He has been doing this for money that he needs for the treatment of his ailing mother. What would you do?

• Leading questions: Such questions generally suggest a point of view on the part of the interviewer and call for agreement with a ‘yes’ answer. Given below are some of the examples.

  1. Don’t you agree that our company is a market leader in electronic products?
  2. Don’t you think that MNCs have boosted the Indian economy?
  3. Don’t you agree our economy needs more privatization?

Frequently Asked Interview Questions

Several popular questions repeatedly appear in job interviews. Practicing replies to these questions and rehearsing mock interviews to develop confidence will help in improving job interviewing skills.

1. Tell us something about yourself.
   
   • This may be the first question of an interview. Without focusing on any specific area, a brief description highlighting the relevance of one’s background, education, skills, and experience may be given.
2. What are your career objectives? / What type of position are you looking for? / What do you want to do? / What are your short term and long term goals?
   
   • This question intends to know whether working in their company falls within the candidate’s objectives. A positive answer expressing candidate’s career goals in relation to the targeted position and conveying his motivation and interest in the job.
3. Tell us something about your interests and activities:
   
   • This is a direct question. The interviewers want to know if the candidate’s interests and activities match the key components of the job. The candidate should mention his/her activities projecting as a dynamic and energetic person who accepts challenges.
4. Why should we hire you? / What makes you fit for this position?
   
   • The interviewers want to hear the candidate’s interpretation of the job and self-assessment of his suitability for the position. The candidate should be able to establish how well his/her qualification, knowledge, and skills match the needs of their organization and job requirements.
5. Why do you want to join our company? / What makes you interested in our organization? / Why are you interested in our company?
   
   • This question should be answered in the light of the company analysis that the candidate has done, projecting the strengths of the company.
6. Tell something about your academic achievements.
   
   • The candidate should give a direct answer mentioning his/her achievement enlisting his/her skills and personal qualities.
7. What are your strengths and weaknesses?
   
   • Strengths should be answered in the light of candidate’s self-analysis highlighting strong points as well as the suitability for the job. Weakness should be answered with a mild weakness or an indirect strength which one attempts to improve.
8. Where do you see yourself in five years? / How long do you want to be with us?
   
   • Interviewers like to know if the candidate’s goals and ambitions are realistic. The candidate should answer the question in the light of his self-analysis explicitly expressing his intention to work with it for a long time.
9. Tell us about a problem you have faced and the strategy you used to handle it?
   
   • Interviewers want to know how the candidate handles a problem. In order to illustrate one’s problem-solving skills, a brief description of a problem situation and strategy to solve it should be outlined.
10. Will you accept a lower position for time being?
    
    • Unless one is desperate to join somewhere, the question should be answered with a polite refusal.

Questions You Can Ask Your Recruiter

Tick the appropriate questions that you can ask your recruiter at the end of your interview.

1. How long have you been with the organization?
2. What is the company’s management style?
3. How would you describe the responsibilities of the position?
4. If I get the job, when can I take time off for vacation?
5. Are there any other questions I can answer for you?
6. What are the prospects for growth and advancement?
7. Can I change my schedule if I get the job?
8. What do you like about working here?
9. Have I got the job?
10. How much travel is expected?

The Interview

• Being on time: relaxation – visit before
• Dress: right dress gives you the right impression

Waiting for the Interview

• Compose yourself
• Spontaneous smile befriends the interviewers
• Don’t lean or change postures often
• While answering – be lucid, straightforward
• Accept your ignorance/ ask for repetition
• Don’t speak bad about your previous organization

What the Interviewers are Looking For:

• Personality projection
• Communication Skills
• Knowledge Subject
• Strengths/Weakness
• Loyalty & Commitment
• Whether you are capable to develop the organization

Important Points:

• Success in a job interview depends on knowledge, self-confidence, good speaking skills, thorough preparation, and use of appropriate interview strategies.
• There are five aspects of job interviews: planning, purpose, conversation, two-way interaction, and informality.
• Pre-interview preparation techniques include self-analysis, skills assessment, company analysis, job analysis, subject revision, and developing the interview file.
• Self-analysis involves identifying your background, career goals, accomplishments, achievements, special interests, and hobbies.
• Skills assessment is the process of analyzing your skills in terms of the skills required for the position you are seeking.
• There are two types of skills: learned skills and intuitive skills.
• Researching an organization involves gathering basic information about the nature, operations status, structure, growth rate, and activities of the organization.
• Job analysis will provide you broad information about the position.
• Revise your subject for clarity and confidence.
• There are seven types of interview questions: open, closed, probing, reflective, loaded, hypothetical, and leading.
• Seven factors that can improve the quality of answers during a job interview are attentiveness, accuracy, brevity, focus, clarity, positive attitude, and logical thinking.
• Candidates should analyze commonly asked interview questions so that an answering strategy may be devised in advance.

What Do Employers Want?

Watson Wyatt, a global consulting firm, offers the following list of in-demand skills for job seekers in the 2000 workplace:

1. Willingness to share information and ideas.
2. Commitment to teamwork.
3. Responsiveness to change.
4. Ability to work under pressure.
5. Sense of ownership of work and ideas.
6. Willingness to take calculated risks, without fear of consequences.
7. Multi-cultural experience and/or ability to speak multiple languages.
8. Ability to communicate clearly and honestly with peers, managers, customers.
9. Understanding of business strategy and how you create shareholder value.
10. Commitment to continuous learning, skill development.