Interview tips

Question 2 : What are your greatest strengths?

TRAPS: This question seems like a softball lob, but be prepared. You don't want to come across as egotistical or arrogant. Neither is this a time to be humble. 
BEST ANSWER: You know that your key strategy is to first uncover your interviewer's greatest wants and needs before you answer questions. And from Question 1, you know how to do this. 
Prior to any interview, you should have a list mentally prepared of your greatest strengths. You should also have, a specific example or two, which illustrates each strength, an example chosen from your most recent and most impressive achievements.
You should, have this list of your greatest strengths and corresponding examples from your achievements so well committed to memory that you can recite them cold after being shaken awake at 2:30AM. 
Then, once you uncover your interviewer's greatest wants and needs, you can choose those achievements from your list that best match up. 
As a general guideline, the 10 most desirable traits that all employers love to see in their employees are:
1. A proven track record as an achiever...especially if your achievements match up with the employer's greatest wants and needs.
2. Intelligence...management "savvy". 
3. Honesty...integrity...a decent human being. 
4. Good fit with corporate culture...someone to feel comfortable with...a team player who meshes well with interviewer's team.
5. Likeability...positive attitude...sense of humor.
6. Good communication skills.
7. Dedication...willingness to walk the extra mile to achieve excellence.
8. Definiteness of purpose...clear goals.
9. Enthusiasm...high level of motivation.
10. Confident...healthy...a leader.

Telephone and Interview

Nowadays most of the companies are conducting telephone interviews. As an initial stage in a selection process now they are used often by many companies.

There is no permanent system for while a telephone interview is held, unlike an interview where the date, time, and location are planned beforehand. Some interviewers will tell you in advance while they are likely to call. Other recruiters may decide to lift up the phone and make a call to you while they guess that you will be back from your daily work. Moreover you also can not ensure who is calling whether the HR or any other person from consultancy.

So be well prepared to attend a telephonic interview, if you have sent any application for a job. Sometimes they will mention the date and time for the telephone interview then it will be easy for to get prepared.

Be confident and cool during the telephone interview .If so you can enhance your performance.

The chief concern of the recruiter, throughout a telephone interview, is to assess you by means of your communication skill. Some features that are evaluated during a telephone interview are:

a. How better do you speak on the telephone, where you are unable to see your recruiter?

b. Do you feel uneasiness if you can not view the recruiter’s responds?

c. Do you feel confident, skilled, fascinated and excited in spite of the absence of non verbal signs from the other end?

d. Or are you left stuttering and groping for words, distressed by irregular uncomfortable silences throughout the telephone call?

These are main things that you need to remember while attend the telephone interview. Enhancing the manner you speak on telephone is not just how you talk and your pronunciation.

What is important is what you speak. You can certainly make some changes in the way you answer through a smart preparation.

Your practice must involve thinking through certain query that you could be inquired with reference to your resume, and how you can attend those answers. But this does not imply that you must remember the answers but just that you prepare a list of expected queries and understand how you will answer them. You can write down points for every answer or just note down some words to explain your ideas.

This will ultimately facilitate you in the real telephone interview by

a. Deducting the time utilized for answering the question

b. will make sure that the answers are concise and short.

c. Will decrease needless break and silence at your conclusion

d. Will also point out to the recruiter that you are a thinking individual with proper career strategy and are gravely attracted in the job opening at the company

If you get caught off guard as you had not thought through a list of predictable queries your answers would be likely to be lengthy, missing attention and you would encounter as a puzzled person, which is absolutely not what you crave the recruiter to make out.

Therefore, remember the entire points we have discussed here and practice well for your interview. Practice makes you perfect. The more you practice the more successful you become so practice, practice and practice.

Curriculum Vitae Template

CV or Curriculum Vitae as it is commonly referred to is a complete summary covering all information pertaining to your academic backgrounds plus you also include information with regards to personal details, your professional career like which all companies you have worked with, list your skills and abilities and also any affiliations plus hobbies or personal interests.

Internationally employers not intent on know what you achieved in school they are more interested in knowing what you have achieved in your professional career, what skills you possess and how you skills and abilities can be optimally utilized by the company. If your Curriculum Vitae show such things and they feel your skills and abilities are required then you are in with a shot at getting the job. With the correct Curriculum Vitae format it makes the job of the employer or the interviewer to scan through your CV much easier and they can read important job relevant details just at a glance. Once they find what they are looking for in your CV they would be able to analyze the information to evaluate whether or not you are suitable for the job.

The below given Curriculum Vitae template will give you an idea on how you can format your CV, this template of CV is considered to be the most basic and widely accepted format for a curriculum vitae, have a look at this curriculum vitae template to get an overview on tips for writing Curriculum Vitae.

Personal Information

Name:
Address:
Phone:
Mobile:
Email:
Website:
Date of Birth:

Career Objective/ Summary:

Create a well summarized & detailed career objective in this section. Enlist your HR (human resource) expertise, your skills plus any special qualification pertaining to the job. Include a small note on how you think you can contribute to the company’s goal, how your leadership abilities can inspire others at the work place to give their and how you can motivate others. The objective here is to brand yourself in a way that the interviewers or employers find you as a package beneficial for the organization.

List Major Achievements:

In this section of the Curriculum Vitae highlight your major achievements that you were able to do during any of previous jobs. The achievements should be backed by time scales, facts & figures. If you are giving a presentation then too first show the circumstances in which you achieved success, what plan you implemented, the results and most importantly how you intend to replicate the same if at all it is applicable to the current job you are applying for.

Career History:

You should give information about where you have previously worked, your job title, number of years you worked for a particular company and the duties attached to your job. Repeat the same format for all the companies you have worked for.

Company Name – Company Location
Job Title
Job Responsibilities – Describe in brief the responsibilities, duties and your achievements during the time you were working with that organization. This is where you can impress the employers, because if you can tell them that you aggressively pursue goals, you are a motivated person and you are willing to use all of your abilities and experience for the benefit of the organization then you are in with a real chance at getting the job provided your qualification and experience in the related field are fit for the job.

Education and Training:

School Name – Primary school & Junior College Name
Course – Whatever subject you choose in junior college
Details – Here you can speak that what influenced you the most during your formative years and how school & junior college helped you create the foundation for the person you are today. College Name – Name of the college or University from where you complete graduation or post graduation.
Course – If you have completed graduation then name the subject or course. If you have complete a post graduate’s degree course then name of that course or degree
Details – Here you can briefly explain the reason for your chosen field of education and how if helped to enter the profession you are currently pursuing.

Highlight Your Skill & Abilities:

In this section of the Curriculum Vitae you can impress the recruiter. You can highly all your skills and abilities that you hold proficiency in. For example if you are an architect and have the ability to use various building design software then you can carry a sample of your work and show the design you during the interview. Such things can really leave a lasting impression on the interviewer. Also in your CV mentioned a couple of the best project you have done and how they shaped up.

Hobbies:

In this section of the curriculum vitae mention things or activities that interest you when you are not at work. Maybe playing golf, or reading books or even traveling. It all shows that you take time to remain fit and healthy so a refreshed mind will usually be able to give their best when they are back at work

What do you know about our org

Do you know why this question is asked so often in most job interviews? Because, this question is actually an ice-breaker. Asking this question starts the conversion. So one better be prepared for an answer. This question gives the interviewer a chance to know about the interviewee. Once you start talking about yourself, interviewer starts preparing his/her next question. So there are high chances that the next question that would be fired on you will be based on the answer of this question. As the answer for this will be based on you, you think and prepare it before the interview.

Every recruiters have an interest to know about your interest in the their company that up to what extent do you know about this company. You are being able to answer the question. If you have to conduct some researches regarding this company. But always remember this fact that you have to represent yourself as you have done some research work about this company and gained some information and you are keen to know more. Don’t overwhelm the interviewer. This may hurt the interviewer’s ego. You can discuss about its products or services, revenues, reputation, image, goals, problems, management style, people, history and philosophy. This is the safe way to answer this question, “In my job search, I’ve investigated a number of companies. Yours is one of the few that interests me, for these reasons I am here” Don’t say like this: “Well, everyone tells me that you’re in all sorts of trouble, and that’s why I’m here”.

For answering this question you have to prepare yourself in advance. Go through internet and read blogs and check Discussion Boards and social networking sites. If you are a college going student go to the career office or placement department you can get a list of alumni who work for the company. Mark up some relevant information easy to remember. This will put up a dogmatic impact over the interviewer panel.

Why you find this job attractive

Or as a surprise the job interviewer may also ask What seems least attractive about it?
Beware of answering to this question, the answer of this question reflects your personality, whether you see more positive aspects or see negative aspects. If you mention more negative aspects of the company, you will be realizing as a negative thinker, otherwise positive thinker. So list three or four attractive factors of the job, and mention a single, minor, unattractive item and explain it softly with having a perfect logic.

(From some blog)

Q. If your wife & mother both are in danger & you can save only one of them, whom will you save? What’s the logic behind this type of questions?

A. it is a sad truth that not every company has a good interviewing staff recruited. I have taken more than thousand interviews till date and also attended lot of them. A common thing I have found that sometimes the interviewer himself doesn’t know what he wants. And then we end up facing weird interview questions.
The interview questions may vary by a large degree. What best you can do is try to scan your interviewer’s mind. Try to find what he is expecting out of it.

For your question there can’t be a straight forward answer. It will completely defer person to person. So for such weird questions, if you support your answer by a reason then that should work.

For e.g.
I’ll save my mother because she gave me birth, she has taken my care in sun and rain.
I’ll save my mother because mother is only one, I can find another girl to marry.
I’ll save my wife because she has not lived her life yet and if she dies then may the our kids who will be part of this world in future will never be born. So it will be like loosing more than one life.
I’ll save my wife because in marriage, I have taken a oath that I’ll protect her (saath-fere).
I’ll save the one whom I can save without loosing my life.

The answer will be completely personal and it is a personal choice so it cannot be wrong! The interviewer himself doesn’t know what he will do in such situation. (unless his marriage is not working out  )
In such questions, reasoning is very important. And then the interviewer will ask questions based on your answer.

Key is

1. Find 2-3 reasons supporting your answer
2. Tell the interviewer only one.
3. When the interviewer asks questions based on your answer, and try to change your mind
4. tell him the remaining reasons.

This could be the best strategy to answer such questions.

If you feel then you may ask the interviewer in return what would he do in such case. Ask in a friendly manner so that he shouldn’t mind that.

Personally I do not prefer to ask questions based on the near and dear ones. I feel that is unprofessional. I try to respect personal boundaries. But I do ask tricky questions.

My favorite is following scenario (a very common though)

You are traveling by your car. You come near a bus stop, you see
1. A girl whom you love so much standing alone waiting for the bus
2. A sick old woman who needs to be taken to hospital
3. An good friend who want to go to the interview
Whom will you help.

My best answer is: I’ll give my car to my friend and request him to drop the old lady to hospital before he goes for an interview. And I’ll wait for the bus with the girl I love.

Conclusion – whatever is asked, give it a deep thought and do not look lost. Do not let interviewer feel that you have been grounded by his tricky question. Whatever you say, say confidently, and support it with reasons. And I’ll even recommend that you ask him the same question in return, that shows your courage and if you are talented then your employer should also be of that caliber. You may take this risk only if you have another job in hand. If your goal is to get your first job, then avoid asking too many questions.

@ Preeti Agarwal..

wonderful job done by u, its really worth reading and helpful to all ...

Thanks for sharing such an article with us..

Best Regards,

Karthikeya...

hey preeti thanx a ton.......superb post.....

thanx preeti ji...

plz share also a sample of resume/c.v.

regards

anu

THANKS FOR SHARING THIS TYPE OF ARTCIEL...

Latest Interview Tips Articles

Dear Preeti,

It was pleasure reading your article. expecting some more good one from you.

Regards,

Aditya

thanks a lot for this imp article......

can u help me out suppose m having me interview in such a field where m having no idea or no experience about....how should i face....tak it lik m from CA firm got an interview call from real estate co....den how shouls i face d situation..