Self Introduction

Tell me something about yourself.

It's one of the typical initial question to start a conversation.

Possible Intention:

• To know what kind of a person you are.
• As a response to open ended question, you end up giving information which you feel is most important about yourself.
• To judge your priorities in life.
• To check if you believe in yourself and have of thinking.
• To judge your power of expression.

Insights:

• Safe answer would contain a bit of education, training backgrounds, success stories elaborating your competencies and passion.
• Keep the answer relevant and interesting. Success stories are very handy here.
• Challenge is, what to speak and how much speak. Remember, in the interview you are selling yourself through your success stories.

Example Answer:

Let me start with my educational background. i am B.E/B TECH/BSc with specialization in Computer Science. I am passionate about programming and information technology. I like to keep track of new technology like cloud computing, mobile application etc. When I realized during my project/internship that i am better at finding errors in programs quickly, I started studying software quality in more detail. I competed training in software testing and am ISTQB certified. In one of my recent projects, i was responsible for creating test cases. For the project compatibility testing on multiple browsers and hand-held devices was really challenging. I enjoyed doing information research and hand-held devices along with an approach of testing them.

Anti Pattern:

• Interviewer is not expecting your autobiography or education and work history in reverse chronological order.
• Do not make it too long and vague.
• Stick to your success stories and put forth your strength.
• Do not give any information which may backfire later.
• Do not provide any unrelated information which will not contribute to your success.

Interviewer's Interpretation:

• You are passionate about the work you have chosen. Examples given by you highlight that
• From a complete open ended question, you can drive the discussion to the relevant point.
• It is interesting to converse with you further.

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Preparation for Interview

Preparation for Interview/Performance

Now that you have cleared the hurdle of initial filters like aptitude test, group discussion etc. You have received a call for interview. Lets us see how you prepare for this big day.

Research The Company:

Visit company website to know more on company's clients and business. Read and note down important points like clients, their location(countries), business domain, and technologies.

Practice Interview:

Go through the common question/answer asked in interview. Frame your own answer based on your experience and expertise. Use example answer as guidelines. It is even better if you can practice a mock interview session with your friend.

Enough Rest:

Make sure that you sleep sufficient time in the night before the interview. You would be fresh and energetic in appearance, acting in your advantage.

Dressing For Interview:

Your first appearance would make a long lasting impact and would be decisive in the final selection. Make sure you appear clean, neat and polished.

Employment Portfolio:

Do remember to carry your Employment Portfolio, your own pen.

Reaching The Interview:

Make sure that you arrive at least 15 minutes early at the interview place. Observe the place, make yourself comfortable, take deep breadth and sit. Accept the greeting with a smile and polite manner.

During The Interview:

Many candidates believe that in HR round, the interviewer judges only confidence and communication skills. This is too simple to be true. Way of presentation is as important as correctness of information.

         The interviewer is trying to find out how close you are in terms of attitude, behavior and communication for the superman(best fit job) he is looking for. Lesser the gap, higher the chances of selection.

Give attention the following points while responding the questions.

• Ensure consistency in your responses.
• Responses should be mapped to your published resume.
• Know essential details by heart. e.g. Month and Year of passing various examination.
• Maintain eye contact.
• Avoid repetitive use of words like- important, basically, typically, normally etc.

Dos and Don'ts in Resume

Following are the quick dos and Don'ts while creating a resume or CV.

Dos:

• Give relative information.
• Highlight your achievements.
• Should be easy to read and follow.
• Detailed and accurate.
• Be truthful.
• Highlight skills developed.
• Create professional email id e.g. name.surname@gmail.com

Don'ts:

• Give irrelevant information.
• Give mere list of job titles and responsibilities.
• Give vague information which also lacks required details.
• Be dishonest.

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Selection Process In Recruitments.

Selection Process

As a candidate seeking a job, the selection process may appear like a race of hurdles where you are to beat other candidates to get job. The selection typically has following stages. The exact numbers and nature of the stages would vary based on the policies of recruiting companies.

Short Listing of Profiles:

It is done to filter out the most suitable candidates since application received by any organization. Often, selection criterion is the candidates with a first class academic record (Graduation, 12th, 10th class). Many candidates are filtered out here. If you have an excellent academic record, you need not to worry about this round.

Written Test (Aptitude, English, Technical):

There are various type of aptitude tests - Verbal, Logical, Numerical and so on. These aptitude tests are designed on the basis of skill requirement of a particular job. For example, quantitative and verbal (English) aptitude are predominant tests for IT jobs. Some times the test papers also contains very basic technical questions about information technology and programming.

Group Discussion:

This round judges your ability to think logically and with the clarity and express your opinion and ideas in front of group. This round may be prove to be difficult for candidates who are a little reserved and shy and can not express their ideas. Excellent communication skill, presentation skill and clarity of thoughts will get you across this hurdle in the race. This is a stage that may not be conducted by every recruiting company.

Technical Interview:

Technology or subject matter knowledge is tested here. The questions asked are related to core discipline you have studied and on your work experience. When you are a fresher, questions are asked to judge your technical understanding and the work you have done so far related to it.

HR Interview:

This is final round. Here, your personality traits, and your behavior is observed. The purpose is to find how well you will adapt to the work environment and company's culture. Interviewer tries to seek answer to questions like Are you fit for the profile you will be assigned to? Will you be able to support the team members and work happily in the environment? Will you cause trouble due to your behavior and attitude? Will you stay for a long time?

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What recruiters look for?

 "How to crack an interview?" (this blog) gives the best way to understand the insights of questions, Interviewer's interpretation and anti patterns. To crack an interview this is important to know that..

What Recruiters look for ?

Before attending an Interview, it is important to know, what Recruiters look for. For you, as a candidate, Recruiters perspective is more important to impress him/her the point of time you meet.  Following are the some qualities, which more attract Recruiters towards you.

Employability Skills :

Employability skills are usually classified into the so called Hard i.e technology/task related and Soft i.e.people and relationship related.

Thus to be employable, for the first-time and on-going basis, we as humans, unlike robots, must become multiskilled along these two dimensions.

Soft Skills: Communication, Attitude, Leadership, Aptitude and personality.

Hard skills: Technology Expertise, Domain Expertise, International Certification, Industry Knowledge Process and Hands-on Experience.

Ability to make difference:

Our ability to make difference depends a lot on how we "present" ourselves - to others and more importantly to out own self. Each individual has distinct persona. Confidence, fine etiquette and manners, working with style and grace play very important role in ones growth.

Leadership:

Leadership is an often used buzz word. It has many definitions. In context to work, leadership is the ability to see clearly what needs to happen, to take a stand to make it happen and to inspire the team to do what it takes to make it happen.

Expertise in Domain:

We need to built expertise in Domain as well as Technology. We are developing applicants or solutions which have to make a different in the real world. Hence an understanding of the domain has to hand in hand with the knowledge of the chosen technology.

Certification:

A Certification from various technology vendors (Microsoft,IBM etc.) and professional bodies (ISTQB, PMI etc.) is a way in which one can showcase expertise on both, the conceptual and application aspects required at workplace.

Attitude:

No matter how high-tech we get in job searches.. nothing matters now more than a great attitude and greater smile. Some of this gets back to the culture issue, yes. To the recruiter, however attitude is more than that.

Do you approach your work with enthusiasm? Are you passionate about what you'll be doing 40, 50 or 60 hours per weak? Do you solve problems with an approach that combines tenacity with poise? Are you too cool hustle, learn and grow? Are you willing to share what you know, and mentor others?

Confidence:

From the moment they meet you, the recruiter is going to be assessing how you project confidence. Several factors go into assessment.

Do you communicate well (the anxious and unprepared typically exhibit very poor communication skills)? Are you able to engage in conversation? Do you listen - really listen - before attempting to answer the recruiter's questions? Does you "Confidence" ever cross over into arrogance?

Most important: the recruiter want to know if you will earn the respect of your potential colleagues, company managers and executives. And the best way to do that..... is to exude humble confidence.

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