--By Abhinay Jayaswal
Have you ever been in a situation where based on a job interview you don’t get selected and someone who is less qualified than you gets selected? During a job interview you are in front of a panel of interviewers who are going to decide whether you get the deal or not, be it a job or any other business deal. And people have absolutely no idea about what will fall from the sky next!
Well! I am not sure about you but it has happened to me many times! And I will be discussing some of the tips here.
Generally an interview lasts about 10-15 minutes. It is very difficult for interviewers to judge you in that time and you have to sell yourself within the time to strike the nail on the head, just like a marketer tries to sell a product by making a 30 second advertisement. In that 30 seconds the marketers wants to convince you why you have to buy that product, why the product is the best for you.
That is what you need to do in 10-15 minutes. Tell the interviewers why you are the perfect person for the job and for their company!
There are 6 basic types of interview. They are:
1) Traditional one on one job interview: Based on one Interviewer you are being judged.
2) Panel interview: Panels of interviewers will be there to judge you.
3) Behavioural interview: Here they will check your personal behaviour against a person, object or situation. You will be presented in a situation to study how you handle and react to the situation.
4) Group interview: Generally conducted to check the group behaviour, personality and nature. Candidates will be quickly prescreened for the next round.
5) Phone or online interview: Normally used for distant selection or initial selection using technology like phone or Skype. It was amazing for me when I was selected in one of the top cement companies of Nepal by phone conversation, because my director was in Bhairawa and I was in Kathmandu and because of bad weather I could not fly.
6) Lunch interview: Has any one gone for a lunch interview? Sounds delicious. But you may have to chew through rice along with spicy questions. But anyway, it lets you feel more comfortable than in the other types. At least you will not have to die for lack of water.
But whatever the type of interview, these all are interviews and they will set your nerves on edge and create a momentary asthma attack. The question here is how we can really save ourselves in getting an asthma attack in an interview. Today I am going to put down a few points that will help you to sell yourself for any job position.
a) First: The Analysis
Just like a marketer does countless hours of research to market their product, you also need to do some background research before you go to the interview. You need to research the company, what its ideology is, what their products are! This will give you an idea of what they are looking for.
A SWOT analysis should be done:
Strength, Weakness, Opportunity and threats to the company should be known before you step in.
b) Second: Preplan
Once you have researched the company and the job, you need to plan your selling points. Write down before hand what you are going to talk about; preparing a plan will give a frame work for what you are going to say. You don’t need to write a script, but you need to write down the points of your qualifications.
List your selling points. This will give a framework and make you more confident.
c) Lastly: Practice and Practice
Just like you would practice for big speech, you need to practice for the interview as well practice the points you are going to talk about. Take it as a date with dream person (girl/boy) for the first time. Imagine every situation he or she can ask you. And save yourself from being perplexed. But don’t frighten yourself more by imagining the demon faces of the interviewers. After all everyone is a human being and everyone carries certain weaknesses inside a steel bag.
The writer is the Project Sales Head, Arghakhanchi Cement Pvt Ltd.
