Nailing that interview
At any stage of a person’s life he or she may definitely have to sit for a job interview. You can either be in a pathway of starting your own business, company or aiming for an entrepreneurship at one stage of your life you might have to sit for an interview. But most of us can also be people at the stepping stone in our career journey, fresh out of campus looking for jobs and having applied for many interviews. As excited as it to get called for an interview, the thought of actually opening the door and sitting in front of the hotshot managers and higher ups can be at times scary.
Especially for most Sri Lankan students the biggest problem that they face before or during an interview is the fact of having an inadequate knowledge of English. And even if the applicant has knowledge of all the grammar rules he may not be confident in the speaking process. During situations like those a bad image will be presented to the panel and obviously due to the high competition prevailing in the modern day job market the chances of you getting hired will be diminished. Even though some companies will carry out the interview in the mother tongue it is not the case with most companies.
So this article is written with the intention of giving a certain exposure to those of you who are anxious about facing a job interview. Even if the key point is to hold your head high, back straight and enter with a shield of confidence, knowing what is coming ahead and some preparation cannot hurt.
So let us look at some pointers which can be beneficial for you in terms of facing an interview.
One of the most important aspects of an interview is the questions presented by the panel. Even if your listed qualifications are needed one should focus on the questions aimed at them. Since most companies will test your face to face interaction ability depending on the type of the company and the type of the job post that you are been interviewed for.
Among the thousands of interviews carried out daily worldwide there is a certain pattern about the questions presented. Even if some companies at present day carryout a unique approach in interviewing the applicant most companies ask some of the common questions that are circling throughout this century.
So let us look at some of the common questions asked in an interview.
Just like the first day of school, in a job interview one of the most common things the panel can tell you to is to give a self-introduction.
The questions of self-introduction can go like,
- Can you tell us a little about yourself?
You might wonder why the interviewer asks such a question when he or she can most probably know everything about you from the resume you have given them or through your online job profile and social media site.
But in most cases when questions like this are directed it is not to know about a person’s job experiences and academic qualification but for the interviewer to get a sense of the candidate’s attitude and qualities. To determine his capability of facing the question boldly and confidently and to have an idea about the leadership qualities the candidate can possess.
So when you are answering this question you have to be careful to not go blabbering endlessly and filling the answer with unnecessary details about your hobbies, pets and such. Talk about your history of choosing certain jobs, leaving certain jobs in your past, the reasons for you to choose the academic path that you followed and about your thoughts on why you chose this particular job. In this way the interviewer will understand that you are not a person who wonders off in aimless paths and that you have a specific reason for doing what you did. He will know that you are a meticulous person.
The interviewer can ask,
- What are your biggest strengths that can benefit our company?
When answering such a question don’t go naming all your strengths point wise. Present them with examples of where you applied that particular strength.
You can say that “I am a quick thinker” and you can explain a situation where you applied this strength like,
“In my past job there was a crisis in the finance section regarding some misplaced bills and I was quick enough to…….”
“I believe I am a capable leader since I have successfully brought profits in sales when the division was under my lead”
Some other questions they can ask are,
- What are your weaknesses?
- Where do you see yourself in five years?
- What are your future goals?
6. How can your contributions help us reach our company goals?
You can reply by saying,
“I can contribute greatly to the publicity program here by……”
“I can increase the productivity of the company by…………”
- Why should we hire you?
- Can you explain a situation where you had to take a difficult decision behalf of your company?
- Outside of work how do you spend your life?
You can say,
“I am dedicating my time to learn…….”
“I am currently carrying out an online business”
“I am currently writing a book…..”
“I am cricket enthusiast and I enjoy my time playing cricket very much”
- How did you hear about this job opening?
You can say,
“This job opening was recommended to be my friend/colleague/relative/etc.”
“I got a recommendation in my Linked profile”
“I saw a newspaper advertisement regarding this”
By preparing beforehand for some of these questions you can confidently walk through those doors of that company and easily face the interview with a minimal amount of sweat. But keep in mind that there is a possibility that they can ask out of the norm questions too.
Good luck! And hope you nail that interview