Job Interview: A Few Pointers (Part B)

This is the second article in the ‘Job Interview: A Few Pointers’ series. In Part A I gave you 4 pointers on how to prepare for and approach your Job Interview. Part B will focus on a few more of such pointers.

Pointer 5: Switch that Cell Phone Off!

You might be the ultimate Technocrat, your Cell Phone might be more than your lifeline (Read: You got secretly married to your iPhone in a $20 Las Vegas ceremony at the White Chapel, and no, you weren’t drunk), and usually you can’t imagine spending even a minute apart from your phone. Great, but this is not ‘usually’, unless you ‘usually’ manage to get a lot of Job Interviews lined up for yourself (in which case there’s something wrong, because you still don’t have a job!).

So before you step into the room, make sure you Cell Phone is switched off or is on the silent mode. A perfect interview can sometimes go down the drain if your cell phone goes off during it and especially if it has one of those laconic polymorphic tunes as the ring tone!

On a lucky day, even that might not go against you, but what surely will is you actually answering the phone (Yes, even a polite ‘excuse me’ will probably not cut it.) smack in the middle of the interview! When your phone goes off in all its glory or worse still, you actually have the gal to answer it while your interview is on, it sends one of the two messages (and probably both):

a. You are too casual and not serious enough.
b. You are disrespectful, and care a hoot for basic etiquette and manners.

Well what can I say? HR Managers just don’t like to listen to ‘I Like to Move It, Move It’ blaring out from the swanky cellphone when they want to know about what you can bring to the table! Unfair, but true………

Pointer 6: Have a Great Body Language

Ok, this is easier said than done. Your body language is something that you have inculcated over a number of years and is certainly affected by factors like your personal and professional backgrounds. But a good body language can immediately give off a positive vibe to the Interviewer (and no, I am not asking you to go over the top with moves from the ‘Paris Fashion Show’ or ‘America’s Next Top Model’). A good body language is all about displaying a quite and subtle sense of confidence first up and gradually displaying a sense of dynamism and purpose as you go along.
Your Body Language (atleast from the Job Interview point-of-view) is essentially made up of the following components:

a.Your Posture (Before and After Sitting)
b.Your Eye Contact
c.Your Hand Movements

d.The Movement of Your Head
e.Your Facial Expressions

I will put out an article explaining each one of these components in detail soon.

Pointer 7: Learn How to React When You Don’t Know the Answer.

Ok, now that was one sizzler of a question. You have no idea how to answer it. The Interviewer is glaring at you, almost trying to read into your thoughts (or so you think!)……Blank….No wait!...Yeah, still Blank.

Not knowing an answer is not a crime and it’s not the end of the world either.

When you feel unsure about how to answer a question, or simply don’t have an answer to one, here’s what you can do:

a.Politely ask the Interviewer to repeat or rephrase the question is possible. This is ok maybe once, at the very most twice during an interview, but anymore such requests and the interviewer is bound to get the impression that either you are not a good listener or have low levels of concentration or are simply not competent enough for the job.

b.Communicate to the Interviewer confidently that you cannot answer the question at this moment or don’t have an answer to that particular question. Simply ‘dilly-dallying’ or wearing a stupefied grin on your face when you can’t answer the question will only help in irritating the Interviewer, especially if he/she has already interviewed a sizeable number of candidates before you, and is probably tired.

Ex: “I am sorry, but I do not have an answer to that question right now”

Or

“I am sorry, but I unfortunately don’t have an answer to that question”

Quite often, the fact that you can confidently communicate even your inability to answer a question gives off a positive impression to the Interviewer with respective to your confidence level and maturity. This might work in your favour and get you the job even if your interview, with respect to answering the questions, didn’t go that great.

That’s because confident people are also invariably seen as fast learners and potentially great employees.

That’s all for now folks. Watch out for ‘Part C’ soon……….

Job Interview - A Few Pointers (Part A)

The Job Interview - For some a gateway to wondrous opportunities.....for others a baptism by fire.....

I say that because as an HR Manager/Consultant, I have been involved in conducting numerous job interviews for both service companies and manufacturing firms and an overwhelming number of candidates come with perceived notions, which needless to say, are almost always negative in nature. Simple discussion starters like 'Tell me something about yourself' rapidly dissolve into a 'The Simpsons' parody with the candidate making a complete fool or him/herself and pretty much dashing his/her chances of progressing to the next round within the first 3-4 minutes itself.

A Job Interview is just that, a Job Interview, nothing less and certainly nothing more.

Here are a few pointers for first time job seekers as well as those who have been in the job market for sometime and haven't yet secured a job:

Pointer 1: Treat your Job Interview Like a Dialogue

A Job Interview is not hearing for a possible Death Sentence. You either get the job, or you don't. Whatever happens you will survive, so don't look and talk like someone's pointing a gun to your head.

Always treat your interview like a professional dialogue, because that's exactly what it is, a professional discussion or a dialogue. A dialogue means that you, the Interviewee also has the right to ask questions and not just the other way round. This does not mean that you attend the interview in a condescending, rude or over-confident manner. Remember, the Interviewer is probably someone who's been there and done that and so probably has an experience and knowledge level superior to yours. So giving due respect is important, but so is showing a healthy level of confidence.

Hence, go to your interview with a view of having a mature professional discussion at a professional organization, with a professional person. Professional, Confident and Mature all the way......

Pointer 2: Dress Smart

Ok so you're really a bum at home, bermuda shorts, a loose T-shirt , and unruly hair is your mantra for relaxation.

Great, but unless it's a telephonic interview (and that's a different ball game altogether), you have to look good and smart. The first step to feeling smart is dressing smart. Dressing as smartly as possible does two things:

a. It makes you feel good, and feeling good makes up for upto 30% -40% of your confidence level.

b. It gives the interviewer a positive impression first up as soon as he/she looks at you.

But before you fire up the engine and go shopping for those expensive 'professional' looking shirts and trousers at the local mall, let me tell you that dressing smart does not necessarily mean dressing expensive.

It's all about how well (Read: Smartly) you dress up with the clothes you already possess (and I mean the FORMAL clothes you possess).

For Males: Your shirt ( plain or stripes, no glaring colors) tucked in, a sensible pair of trousers, a smart and non-glaring belt buckle, a polished pair of shoes (or if you are wearing non-leather shoes, preferably a dark colored pair instead of white or other light colors) and if possible, a tie.

For Females: A smart shirt and a pair of trousers and possibly a jacket to go with it. For shoes, ditto as for males.

That takes care of your attire, well almost. How you wear your hair is also obviously an integral part of the 'look' you give off. People ( Males or Females) who have long hair, especially long hair that's also a bit unruly, would be best served if they tied a neat knot or a pony tail etc. This advice especially goes for males who have long hair. Having long hair is not the problem, that's your personal liking, but not wearing it in a tidy manner could give off a not-so-organized first impression.

But according to me, the best option is to have a short cut, tidy hairdo!

Pointer 3: Research the Organization

One of the major reasons candidates (even potentially deserving ones) don't do well at a job interview is that they just don't try to do even a minimal amount of research about the organization from which they have received an interview call. Knowing some basic details about the organization you are going to interview at can help you allay a lot of fears and preset notions as well as give you a sense of confidence, because now you are not going to shoot totally in the dark and have some basic information about the organization, it's culture etc under your belt.

Try to gather basic information about the company - this information is more often than not available on the company website. Information like It's year of incorporation, who it was founded by, what lines of businesses it is into, how many branches it has, how many countries it is present in, what kind of products/services it offers to it's customers in your line of specialization or area of expertise and most importantly, any Job Description that may be available in the 'Careers' section pertaining to the position you are going to interview for.

Knowing all this might help you to more than adequately answer the ' What do you know about us?' question as well as provide you with some more to talk about when answering the 'Why do you want to work for us?' question.

Pointer 4: Update your Resume and Read It!

Make sure that you update your resume and take with you atleast 2 copies of your latest update version when you attend the job interview. You might have been notified about the interview date 2-3 months in advance and the company may have a older version of your resume with it. An updated version would probably provide you with a better chance of selection.

Having a snazzy looking, 'full loaded' resume is fine, but have you actually taken the trouble to read it thoroughly? This is especially important in two scenarios:

a. When someone else has helped you create your resume either in part of in whole; he/she might know what's exactly in there but you might not, and that can be disastrous in the job interview.

b.If your resume is several months old; you might over a period of time forget what's exactly in there, especially things like books you have read, interest areas, activities participated in etc - this happens is you have embelished yor resume 'a bit' and haven't actually been involved in the activities you have mentioned.

I'll leave you to digest these four pointers for now, look out for Part B very soon.

Feel free to clarify any doubts you might have either through e-mail or on here via the comments section.....