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Preparing for an interview - A structured approachSep 20 '01 (Updated Oct 18 '03) Write an essay on this topic.The Bottom Line The bottom line is to have a structured approach and keeping your eyes and ears open. Research and company info would be added bonus. Introduction I am a software engineer and anyone familiar with this industry would know that it has been the single largest recruiting industry in the last decade. Given this backdrop, I have been involved in lot of recruiting for my company at various levels. These interviews involve both telephonic as well as personal interviews. Based on my experiences with interviews, I write this review. There are two considerations while preparing for any interview. They are: 1) Either you are targeting some company. 2) Or you are targeting some job profile. Preparations if you are targetting some company 1) Find out the background of the company. It's products, specializations, work culture, stock ratings etc. 2) Keep a watch on the press releases of the company. 3) Also try to keep track of the mergers and news that the company is making. 4) Find out the profiles in the company and try to identify the suitable profile to which you might be a candidate. 5) Once you have isolated the profile, try to get the requirements for that profile and the general duties of the profile. 6) If you have an insider in the company, find out the hierarchy in the company and try to get information as to where in the hierarchy the prospective interviewer fits in. Usually the position in the hierarchy is a good indication for candidates to understand what interviewer expects. Usually at the stage of a job interview, the knowledge level is usually more or less same in really interested candidates, it is the above mentioned points that enable you to stand out in the crowd and get selected. Preparations if you are targetting a profile 1) Try to find out more about the profile from the people in the industry. 2) The profile might mean different things in different company, so try to get the general know how of what is required for that profile. 3) Concentrate your studies on the topics emphasized by most companies for that profile. 4) Also keep reading magazines related to that profession to get an overview of the ever changing scenario of the profile. Apart from this a knowledge about the company in which you are going to apply will no doubt be an added feature. Common points to take into account 1) Work hard on communication skills. If necessary undergo a course to get your communication skills right. In today's world most companies give a lot of weightage to communication skills. 2) Update your aptitude skills. Usually in an interview, the interviewer likes to test out the general aptitude of the candidate. In such cases it helps if you have done some aptitude questions in your tuneup to the interviews. 3) Approach your preparations in an orderly phased manner. This would result in most benefit, rather than an haphazard preparational effort. 4) Prepare for some usually asked H.R. questions like tell us about yourself, your strengths and weaknesses and so on and so forth. Remember, more the effort you put in the preparation of the interviews, the more easier the interview becomes for you. As the famous saying goes "If you fail to prepare, prepare to fail." So don't hesitate to take that extra effort to success. Best Of Luck.  |
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