Job interview: DO’s and Don’t’s

Do you shake, sweat or ever have you felt your head goes blank? If it is you are not alone, it happens to everyone when entering or facing interview board. Just some suffer more than the others.

Once I asked a Para-Commando are you afraid when you jump from the plane? He said “Yes” without any hesitation. It was a surprise for me because I thought Commandos are some sort of superman. I asked the reason since he jumped many times! He said, “Every time I feel, this time my para-suit would not open”.

Therefore, the first tips for all of you “some tension is normal, accept it”

1. BODY LANGUAGE: When we meet people we shake the hand, but do we know just by shaking hand we send a signal to the subconscious mind of other people? Some handshakes are called dead-fish; because it feels like so lifeless, cold and lousy. Some are known as knuckle cracker, twister, puller, pusher etc.

Only a perfect handshake shows warmth and friendly welcoming attitude.  Please note HR people are trained on these; they know what you are doing. Other interviewers may or may not know the signals, but not knowing is more dangerous, because it works in his/her subconscious mind!

Some candidates sit crossing their hands or legs. It represents a closed mind, a person is not open to the board or not liking the board and he/she is not receiving or participating in what is going on this room.

Caution for the interviewers just by reading this article please do not attempt to interpret the body language, there are many things to correlate.

2. Smile & be enthusiastic:

You are entering a room full of unknown faces; some may be unfriendly at first look. Some may be welcoming, but be sure they are there to judge you. Sometimes their questioning pattern may seem like an interrogation. Some may turn into aggressive at one point.

Do not lose heart, smile confidently and be enthusiastic. Because those people will like you only you are calm and enthusiastic, you want to make an impression!

I remember I interviewed a novice, in the first call he was so nervous that he fell into a crystal center-table kept in the reception. My Managing Director personally ordered that crystal table from abroad and it was a rare collection. When he came to know I gave the job to that candidate he just gave me a shabby wink!

The meaning of this story is, if you have done a mistake, let it be there, do rest of the thing correctly.

1. Do eye contact:

People take away their eyes for various reasons, sometime in BD they lower gaze out of respect, but, in general, hiding gaze is very awkward and uncomfortable. Interview board may find this negative and may tag as a personality problem. Therefore, do eye contact all the time when you speak.

1. Simple questions are more dangerous:

The first question may be “Tell us something about yourself” a very innocent like open ended question. Answer it carefully, and prepare yourself in advance what you are going to say. If you are allowed to say 2 mins, be sure the listener will not remember 90% of what you have said.

So you should decide what you want them to remember, and make them easy and available to remember by dramatizing, emphasizing by pitch, pace and rhythm of speech.

Remember they will ask questions on what you say like one said in an interview board “her hobby is to read the autobiography of great people. Impressive, but after she was asked what you have read she replied “Bill Clinton’s autobiography”. Later found that is the only one she read so far in her 23 years of life. Then board asked if this is your hobby how many times did u read this book? Answer “once”.

5. Innocent questions are not innocent:

Take all questions seriously, Answer professionally.  You may not know

6. Prepare for Acid test:

If they like you be sure they will ask more questions and will try to be sure about their selection. Therefore, you may have to face challenging questions or situation. Once in an interview a

7. Smooth Exit

After you are done in the interview whatever it was good or bad, thank the group for spending time with you. Make eye contact, shake hands with everyone in the room and try to use the name of each individual as you shake hands.

If possible, stop in the outer office to thank the individual who greeted you when you arrived or who escorted you into the interview room.  This is not a strategy, just good manners.

1. Keep a smile on your face and your cell phone turned off until you leave the building.