Employment Interviews

You want to go into the International

Arena or into the National Arena
A Question to yourself
 You should ask a Question to yourself,
rather than others asking it-

What do I have to offer?

The search begins with :-

 1. Build towards career 

 2. Prepare Resume & other employment
messages 
 3. Understand interview process 
 4. Prepare for interview
 5. Participate in Interview
 6. Follow up & accept offer.
Understanding the Process

 The employer will hire someone who has the abilities

and talents, which fulfill their needs. It is up to you to
demonstrate at the interview that you are the person
they want.
 Do not get tired of taking interviews. A typical job
search leads to many interviews (Average of 10 for 1
job)
 Remember, Internet, colleagues, relatives & Friends
can be a terrific source for salary information
Selection for a post:
Beginning of the selection
process
In the Middle stages
Completing NOT Finishing the
process
 *Sequence of Interviews:

1. Screening stage — Preliminary stage,

 Their Approach: most companies go for structured
interviews, almost the same questions asked to every
candidate. Some use standard evaluation sheets. Some
screen candidates on phone or through video interview
or on-line.
 Your Approach: try to follow the interviewer’s lead. Be
short and concise but be ‘heard’. Make maximum use of
the theme of your resume´. Do not speak too much. Talk
in an impressive manner – so that you are easily
distinguished from the other candidates.
 2.Selection stage:

 Their Approach: the organization utilizes this stage to

narrow the field further, some companies have a series of
interviews while some conduct an interview with several
persons at a time, some may call you at the office and ask
to meet the various employees.
 Your Approach: you may have a series of interviews, facing
one person or may be two, or you may be facing many
persons at a time. The catch is ‘You are being observed
‘from ALL the angles, on how you listen, think and express
yourself. Show interest in the company, in the job offered,
relate your skills and experience to the organization’s
needs, listen attentively, ask insightful questions and
display enthusiasm DO NOT OVERDO or UNDER DO
anything.
 3. Final stage:
 This stage may come on the spot or soon after the first
stage or may be soon after the second stage or it may
take a little time: you receive the job offer.
 Their Approach: the organization may try to sell you on
joining and working for the firm. They may decide to
have a final evaluation by the hiring authority and might
ask to have a word with the authority. This is the time for
deciding the entire compensation package BUT let the
interviewer raise the question. If you are asked your
salary requirements, it is always better to reply that you
would expect to receive the standard salary for the job in
question. Once you have a good feeling for the type of
salary and benefits you are willing to accept, it is time to
negotiate with the company.
Types of Interviews:

 Structured Interviews: controlled by the interviewer

to gather facts
 Open-ended Interviews: recruiter encourages the
candidate to speak freely; it is less formal and
unstructured. It is to be more cautious as the recruiter
keeps a close watch, is able to judge the personality
of the candidate, and is able to test the professional
judgment. You have to strike a balance between a
friendly and a business environment.
Types of Interviews:

 Group Interviews: Usually conducted to judge

interpersonal skills, to observe how a candidate
behaves with the other.
 Stress Interviews: Usually conducted to judge how
well you can handle the stress and pressure. You
may be asked questions that may irritate you; you
may be subject to long periods of silence, deliberate
interventions, criticism of your appearance, abrupt or
hostile reactions of the interviewer
Types of Interviews:

 Video Interview: It is very popular in the present

scenario. Prepare a bit differently as compared for an
in-person meeting:
 Reach early & know the equipments
 Establish a rapport earlier to the interview
 Try to be animated but within limits
 Relax & speak clearly
 6. Situational Interview: You are asked to explain
how you would you handle a specific set of
circumstances.
Qualifications for the Job

 For a Specific job, you are judged on:

 Academic Preparation
 Work Experience
 Job Oriented Personality Traits
Be honest. Do not write or
say the skills you do not
know. Most organizations are
going in for background
checks.
 ILLEGAL QUESTIONS
 During an interview, you may be asked some questions
that are considered illegal. It is illegal for an interviewer to
ask you questions related to gender, age, race, religion,
national origin, or marital status, or to probe into your
personal life for information that is not job-related.
 What can you do if you are asked an illegal
question?
 Take a moment to evaluate the situation. Ask yourself
questions like:
o How uncomfortable has this question made me feel?
o Does the interviewer seem unaware that the question is
illegal?
o Is this interviewer going to be my boss?
 Then respond in a way that is comfortable for you.
If you decide to answer the question, be succinct
(to the point) and try to move the conversation back
to an examination of your skills and abilities as
quickly as possible.
 For example, if asked about your age, you might
reply, "I'm in my twenties, and I have a wealth of
experience that would be an asset to your
company." If you are not sure whether you want to
answer the question, first ask for a clarification of
how this question relates to your qualifications for
the job. You may decide to answer if there is a
reasonable explanation.
 If you feel there is no justification for the
question, you might say that you do not see
the relationship between the question and
your qualifications for the job and you prefer
not to answer it.
Follow-up:
 After the Interview
You are not finished yet. It is
important to assess the interview
shortly after it is concluded.
Following your interview you
should:
Facing the Interview:
 Three stages of a usual Interview:
 Gearing up – Start / Begin [Handshakes/ eye
contact/ words initiated/ smile/ taking a seat/
answering the first question …..]
 Middle – Settled by now, but still to go
 Ending the meeting – certain questions/
getting up from the chair/ saying a bye …..]
Let us have a look at few questions
 These are few questions that are most commonly
asked by the interviewers:
 1. So, tell me a little about yourself / Introduce
yourself / Describe yourself
 This type of question is probably the most asked
question because it sets the stage for the interview
and it gets you talking. Be careful – EACH Question
asked has a definite WAY/ STYLE of answering
 Do not to give the interviewer your life story here.
You don’t need to explain everything from birth to
present day. Relevant facts about education, your
career and your current life situation are fine
 2. Why & what are you looking for in this
job?

 This should be a straightforward question to

answer, but careful. Presumably you are looking
for a new job (or any job) because you want to
advance your career and get a position that allows
you to grow as a person and an employee.
 Try not to mention money here, it can make you
sound mercenary.
 3. Tell me what you know about this
company.
 Do your homework before you go to any
interview. Whether it’s being the VP of marketing
or the mailroom clerk, you should know about
the company or business you’re going to work
for.
 Questions like: Has this company been in the
news lately? Who are the people in the company
you should know about? Do the background
work, it will make you stand out as someone
who comes prepared, and is genuinely
interested in the company and the job.
4. Why do you want to work at X
Company?
 This should be directly related to the last
question. Any research you’ve done on the
company should have led you to the
conclusion that you’d want to work there.
 After all, you’re at the interview, right? Put
some thought into this answer before you
have your interview, mention your career
goals and highlight forward-thinking goals
and career plans.
5. What relevant experience do you
have?
 If you’re applying for a position you may have related
experience, and if that’s the case you should mention
it all.
 But if you do not have any work experience or you are
switching careers or trying something a little different,
your experience may initially not look like it’s matching
up.
 That’s when you need a little honest creativity to
match the experiences required with the ones you
have. Mention relevant skills. People skills are
people skills after all, you just need to show how
customer service skills can apply to internal
management positions, and so on.
6. What motivates you to do a good
job?
 The answer to this one is not money, even if
it is, or you believe it to be so .
 Show that: You should be motivated by life’s
noble pursuits. You want recognition for a job
that you have done. You want to become
better at your job. You want to help others or
be a leader in your field.
7. How are you when you’re working under
pressure?
 Once again, there are a few ways to answer
this but they should all be positive.
 You may work well under pressure, you may
thrive under pressure, and you may actually
PREFER working under pressure.
 If you say you are uncomfortable, this is not
going to help you get your foot in the door.
8. What’s your greatest strength?

 This is your chance to shine. You’re being

asked to explain why you are a great employee,
so don’t hold back and stay do stay positive.
 You could be someone who thrives under
pressure, a great motivator, an amazing
problem solver or someone with extraordinary
attention to detail. If your greatest strength,
however, is to get a top score on ‘Need for
Speed’, keep it to yourself. The interviewer is
looking for work-related strengths.
9. What’s your biggest weakness?

 If you’re completely honest, you may be

having many.
 If you say you don’t have one, you’re
obviously lying.
 This is a horrible question and one that
politicians have become masters at
answering. They say things like “I’m perhaps
too committed to my work and don’t spend
enough time with my family.”
 Avoid saying, “I think I’m too good at my job,
it can often make people jealous.”
 Please, let’s keep our feet on the ground. If
you’re asked this question, give a small,
work-related flaw that you’re working hard to
improve.
 Example: “I’ve been told I occasionally focus
on details and miss the bigger picture, so I’ve
been spending time looking at the complete
project every day to see my overall progress.”
10. Let’s talk about salary. What are
you looking for?
 one tricky game-play in an interview
11. Has anything ever irritated you about people
you've worked with?

 Of course, you have a list as long as your

arm. But you can’t say that, it shows you as
being negative and difficult to work with.
 The best way to answer this one is to think for
a while and then say something like “I’ve
always got on just fine with my co-workers
actually.”
13. Would you rather work for money or
job satisfaction?

 It’s not a very fair question is it? We’d all love

to get paid a massive salary doing a job we
love but that’s rare indeed. It’s fine to say
money is important, but remember that
NOTHING is more important to you than the
job.
 Otherwise, you’re just someone looking for a
bigger pay pack.
14. So, explain why I should hire you.


As I’m sure you know, “because I’m great” or
“I really need a job” are not good answers
here.
 This is a time to give the employer a laundry
list of your greatest talents that just so
happen to match the job description.
 It’s also good to avoid thinking about other
potential candidates here. Focus on yourself
and your talents.
 Finally, do you have any questions to ask
me?
I’ll finish the way I started, with one of the
most common questions asked in interviews.
This directly relates to the research you’ve
done on the company and also gives you a
chance to show how eager and prepared you
are.
 You’ll probably want to ask about benefits if
they haven’t been covered already.
 A good generic one is “how soon could I start,
if I were offered the job of course.”
 You may also ask what you’d be working on.
Specifically, in the role you’re applying for and
how that affects the rest of the company.
 Always have questions ready, greeting this
one with a blank stare is a rotten way to finish
your interview.