Practical tips I learned to crack an interview | Mauli Kundlia - IIM Indore

“I was sitting there and waiting for my chance to come. While I could feel the chills every time a candidate came out of the interview room, with me resisting the urge to ask every detail about it. My legs were shaking and I didn’t know about my turn. Suddenly, the moment came. I stood up and fumbled around with my documents, smoothing my trousers. As I entered I saw a panel of 3 interviewers on the other side of the table...”

I guess most of us have faced such similar situations. Well, we barely learnt to present ourselves during our school time. Now, all of a sudden, we are expected to show the best version of ourselves in a matter of 15-30 minutes. And then, we may have the best of profiles, excellent academic records, but we still get rejected. We keep wondering about what went wrong, and how should we nail the next interview. Unfortunately, you don’t get feedback. 

I haven’t appeared for many interviews. Since I am certainly not a certified recruiter, it is hard to explain about cracking an interview. However, I have nailed a few interviews. I felt like sharing this information with people like me. An HR interview is not a technical round. They know your skills and expertise, based on your performance in the preliminary rounds. They might ask a question or two to test it. In the end, they judge you as a person, whether you are a good fit for the organization or not. Alright! Here I am going to limit my discussion regarding an HR interview.

Well, I would like to help those souls who are qualified and are eligible for good job profiles. However, they fail to pass the interview. That is the worst part of anyone’s life, wouldn’t you agree? People work so hard to build their profile. They get shortlisted and face rejections. When they don’t know about your work, it is not the right way to judge someone. What could be done besides improving our communication skills? 

Also, let me tell you something. An interview is not like preliminary rounds. Those rounds do not involve a face to face interaction. These rounds judge your technical expertise and skills. They are the initial filters. If you get through all those rounds, you have a great chance at an organization. 

In addition, cracking an interview is often believed to be strongly correlated to your speaking skills, language skills, grammar, vocabulary, fluency and body gestures. I do not disagree with this statement, especially when it comes to hardcore client-facing organizations. Speaking skills are definitely an advantage but they are like garnishing a dish. If you don’t prepare well, no matter how your food looks, it will taste bad. Here, the ingredients are your technical skills and presentation.

Control your Ego to crack an interview

You might have been a top performer in your class, but a recruiter can ask you anything which you have not done before. Also, they are highly experienced. Ultimately, you should be very logical and practical in terms of your approach to analyze any situation. 

Do not exaggerate about your area of expertise

During the interviews, we often brag about our qualifications without knowing the consequences. The fact that recruiters are aware of our mistakes and good points, one should be really careful while replying to the questions. 

Always have a structure in mind 

One should always be prepared for some basic questions related to your strengths, weaknesses and overall personality. Moreover, you should know how to analyze and explain your problems with a strong solution. 

How to explain your weaknesses and strengths

It may be something as small as getting full marks in a mathematics exam. So take a piece of paper and write the qualities that you think you are good at. On the other side, write about your bad side. Further, mention the qualities that you want to learn and the weaknesses you want to chuck out. That's how you have a great chance to crack an interview.

Feel good about yourself to crack an interview

Everyone loves to be admired by the people they are familiar with, while interviews are a great opportunity for one to leave a positive impression. Don’t treat an interview like a quiz show. Don’t be nervous. You might be working with them in the future. You have the same need as them to know more about them. Ask questions about their experiences, compliment them on their work and seek guidance.

Imagine yourself as the recruiter

You should think from a recruiter’s perspective. It gives a clear view and helps you understand your position better. That’s how you will get a clear idea of bad recruitment and good recruitment. 

Build a story to crack an interview

“I am a fast learner or I got so motivated that I sat all night on my laptop to explore the software (I did that with windows movie maker). By the next day, I knew most of the basic applications..”

Displaying your skills in the form of a story actually shows how you have used a particular skill in real life. Also, you wouldn’t want the recruiter sleeping halfway through your interview. You need to make them look forward to your next statement.

Honesty

When it comes to showcasing your skills and expectations, never cook a false story. Be honest about yourself. First thing, if you fail to build up a strong story, you won’t be able to crack an interview.

Lying about your story won’t take you anywhere. Recruiters are very smart and they can identify the lie which could lead to your rejection. When you are honest, you don’t need to remember every detail that will bring more confidence.

Third thing, even if you get through, check the review of the company or ask any familiar person about it. 

Turn your weakness into a strength to crack an interview

This advice was quite popular back in my school days but it is plain stupid to be doing that. “My weakness is that I am such a hard worker that sometimes I even forget about eating while completing my tasks.” Internally, recruiters will feel bad for you and won’t be happy. Be honest about your weaknesses. Be careful while mentioning your weaknesses and build a good story around it. 

Always ask questions at the end

“Do you have any questions for us?” Most of our interviews end at a neutral note. In one of my interviews, I asked them to give the right solution to the question they asked me during the interview. That discussion went on longer than my interview. Ask about the company, the people, and your job responsibilities. Further, you can ask for quick feedback on how you performed and the areas you need to work on.

Smile 

Your job responsibility will definitely require you to interact with a client or a customer at some point in your life. The more you smile, the more you are approachable. This will help you feel confident about yourself to crack an interview. I read somewhere that when you think about the person you love the most, you get an amazing smile. So try that. 

You have nothing to lose 

Don’t be desperate about this job as there are many other better options in the industry. If you think you are capable enough, you can crack an interview anywhere. Learn from your experience and do better next time. Keeping this attitude will lower the stress and automatically improves your self-confidence.

These were some of the things I learned from my experience. I hope this piece of information will be valuable to you. Please let me know if I can add more points to this. I wish you all the best!