It has been a while since I published an episode on "Invest in you" series.
So we are going to see how to prepare for a job interview in this episode.
Hello everyone. My name is Vijay Mohan and you are watching - Investment Insights.
Many attend an interview assuming that it is one sided. But it is not that.
Just like how an employer is looking for a suitable employee for their organization,
we are also looking for a suitable employer for us through this interview.
We should not just focus on clearing the interview.
We should also focus on finding out whether it is a suitable place for us to work.
We should be preparing for the interview with that mindset.
The first impression is very important in an interview.
We should create an impression that they can trust with us on any task.
We should not give the impression of - "this person has not even put any effort to prepare for the interview. How is he going to do the job properly?"
So dress appropriately for the interview you are attending.
Do not wear unfit clothes. Wear clothes that fits perfectly for you.
Most importantly, if you are choosing to wear a suit, make sure that it fits you perfectly.
Do not try to save money on that.
Same for shoes as well. You should not try to save money on that as well.
Everyone should have at least one high quality formal shoes.
Do not buy dress or shoes in fancy colors.
It is better to be on the conservative side.
Just plain navy suit and black shoes are good enough.
When you introduce yourself in the interview, make good eye contact and shake hands firmly with confidence.
When you create a strong first impression by doing all these,
they will not change that first impression that easily.
It will be stuck deep in their mind.
Even if you mess up some questions in the interview, they will be able to overlook those mistakes.
But if your first impression itself is bad, then it will become very hard to convince them later.
Even if you mess up a little bit in any question, they will immediately think that they know this from your appearance.
So it is very important to create a strong first impression. Make it count.
Before going to an interview, research the company well.
What is their main business, how is their growth, which department is looking for new hires,
Who are all going to be in the interview panel, what is their qualification, experience,
know all these before you walk into the interview.
Check if any of your contacts in LinkedIn are working there.
Reach out to them and get to know about the company as much as possible.
Make sure that you have read all the requirements in the job description.
Identify all your knowledge, skills and experience that matches with the job description.
Only if you know the job description pretty well, you will be able to understand the context of any questions in the interview.
You will be able to answer appropriately.
So it is very important to know their job description to have a good understanding of their needs.
You should know everything in your resume.
When there is a question related to anything in your resume, you should be able to explain in detail.
You don't want to get caught off guard.
So be prepared to talk about each project experience in your resume for at least 5 minutes.
When there is a question related to any project in your resume, you should be able to talk in detail.
If you do not have any talking points for a project, then it is better to not include that in your resume.
Whenever possible, include your own job experience in the answers.
If they ask, how will you handle a client who is mad,
you can share your own experience on how you handled it in the past instead of standard answer. That will be more effective.
Be prepared for all the standard interview questions.
If they ask, "Tell me about yourself", that will be your opportunity to explain how good of a fit you are for the job.
Present yourself with lot of enthusiasm and energy.
They should get the positive vibe from you.
All the work you have done, all the tools you have used, all new stuffs you have learned - you can go on in detail to make them understand that you are fit for the job.
You should be prepared and well rehearsed to talk about yourself for at least 5 mins for the "Tell me about yourself" question.
Have a notepad and pen handy.
Don't just let them ask questions. You can ask questions as well.
How big is the team, who is the reporting manager, how does a typical day look like for an employee like you,
How does the career growth look like - ask all those job related questions.
Only from the questions you are asking, they will get to know how much you are interested in the job.
So be prepared with good questions.
Instead of generic questions, be prepared with specific questions.
Make sure that you note down their answers.
You should also know who to ask what question.
You should not ask salary expectation questions to the interviewer.
Reserve those questions for HR.
Even to HR, do not ask those questions yourself.
They will start the conversation of what you are expecting, then you can get into questions related to salary.
Know the market rate for that position before going into the interview.
If they ask for your current salary, just share the market salary,
there is no need to share your actual salary to them.
If you are asked to solve a problem, instead of giving them the solution, explain your thought process to get to that solution.
They will be more interested in knowing your thought process than the solution itself.
Also make sure that you answer positively for all questions.
Do not say anything negative.
Let's say that they ask why you have applied for this job,
Do not say anything negative like, my company is not good, may manager is waste, I do not have a good team etc.
You can say like, "I want to grow in my career. I am not having enough opportunities in my current job. So I am looking for a new job"
You should include a positive spin like that in all your answers.
Specifically, do not talk anything bad about your old manager.
If they ask for your weakness, do not say that you are strong in everything and do not have any weakness.
All humans have weakness.
Even superman has weakness.
Share you weakness honestly. They will appreciate your honesty.
For example, you can say like, "My memory is not a reliable one.
"I search for my phone all over my home forgetting where I left it.
"I know that weakness very well. So I do not leave my phone in random places.
"I leave my phone only in 3 specific places.
"I always come up with a system like that to handle my memory weakness.
"At work, I always make sure that I have an up to date 'To Do' list so that I don't forget any follow up tasks.
"I follow up appropriately". This is how you handle the weakness question.
If you do not know the answer for a question, just acknowledge that you do not know the answer.
Not everyone knows everything. Nothing wrong in saying that you do not know.
Do not make up your answers knowing that it is wrong.
It can only make us look worse.
In a situation like that, just say that you don't know the answer. But if you come across something like that at work, you would get the answer from google or chatGPT.
There is nothing wrong with giving a practical answer like that.
Make sure that you note down any questions that you cannot answer.
After you get home, research the question and find the answer. Respond to the interviewer in an email with answer.
"Happy to see you. You asked an interesting question. I did not know the answer then. Just now I learned about it."
You can send an email with something like that. They will be impressed.
Also, send a thank you note after the interview.
Instead of a generic thank you note, if you send a specific note to each person highlighting a specific conversation you had with them, it will be even better.
Even after doing an interview well, it might not turn out good. But do not lose your heart over it.
They might have just one open position. When they get more qualified candidates, it becomes a challenge for the hiring manager.
We should just move on to other job opportunities saying that this company is not lucky enough to have us.
Treat each of your interview failure as a practice session for you.
As you attend more interviews, you will notice that you are improving in each interview.
That is all I know about job interview.
I am sure you know more useful tips.
Share them in the comments below. It will be helpful for other.
We will soon meet again in another episode. Thank You.