Copyright: Economic Times
By Piya Mukherjee
It’s placement season on the campuses of management institutes; time for matching earnest, young managers to impressive job profiles and dollar-denominated salaries.
Srikanth is anxious — will he succeed in “selling” his skills to an interviewer within the 10 minutes he is likely to get? Sharon, meanwhile, mulls over a commonly asked question — describe your weaknesses. How, she wonders, does one handle that tricky question with aplomb?
The Work Plan: Presenting the best facets of one’s personality, knowledge and skills during a campus-placement interview is seldom a spontaneously achieved task.
The preparation starts with the student demarcating areas of work into two categories: technical or subject-based knowledge and personal attributes.
While the former gets more than its fair share of attention, the personal domain is often inadequately explored, leading to ineffective image management.
Given that each panel of interviewers interacts with numerous potential employees, it becomes critical for the student to showcase his USP or unique selling proposition, as best as he can.
Technical knowledge: Three questions, when correctly answered, allow the student to have a fair grasp on a subject-based theme, theory or fact: What is the issue? How does it work / apply to a situation? And why is it important?
Relevant examples and exceptions to the rule help to complete the picture. Further extrapolation can be done by way of analysing current national and international benchmarks and building scenarios for the future, based on logical assumptions.
For example, a theory on supply creating its own demand, in economics, could be clearly understood and recalled with the help of the above framework.
Tackling issues in marketing, production and quality control, finance and HRD thus becomes more efficient and effective. Focus must be maintained on core concepts from the chosen stream of specialisation, but a fair knowledge of allied areas is also required.
General Reading can be made more interview-friendly by keeping the following basket of useful categories in mind:
· Corporate websites, the chairman’s speech at the annual general meeting of shareholders, the annual report, for company-specific information
· Business magazines for industry-wise study of the national economy and international markets
· Published interviews of management gurus and corporate leaders, for learning about new trends in management processes
· Biographies and autobiographies of world leaders, for gaining a long-term perspective on the society-industry marriage
The Personal Domain: The objective of the exercise is to answer the question: What is it that makes me refreshingly different from the other approximately six billion people on this planet? So one could begin with a thorough and objective SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis for oneself.
Writing down one’s strengths, along with specific past events that exemplify these, is a sure-fire way to healthy self-esteem.
Weaknesses present an interesting area of work: while every apparent weakness has a minor positive aspect to it, the approach must be oriented towards improvement, with specific examples of progress made.
For example, a student who is aware that he often responds to mistakes at the workplace with anger, can explore the direction of that emotion (aimed at others or at himself) and realise that its presence indicates his unwillingness to compromise on certain issues.
Channelising this stance in a healthy manner can happen by way of breathing-management in the short term and introspection, coupled with body-mind practices for well being, in the long term. At the same time, he could use clear communication to let others know his views, without letting the “heat” of the emotion adversely influence the interaction.
Once the required work is identified, the student can confidently begin reducing the impact of that trait in his life and present his progress with candid conviction at the interview.
A detailed exploration of similar attributes could lead the student to mapping out his personal USP. Most institutes circulate a fairly comprehensive list of common questions, which the student can answer in writing and work on from time to time. It helps when the student is as specific and distinctive as possible.
For example, an open-ended statement like “Tell me something about yourself” can be used to make a high-impact impression by answering in terms of examples that back up resume-based facts (eg “I won the Best Summer project award in spite of a challenging situation on the home front; it made me realise how much can be achieved through time management and zeal.”). It helps to mix tangible, quantifiable facts with intangible skills and traits.
Watch Out For These: The situations described in the table have the potential to undermine the student’s performance at the interview.
Enjoying The Journey Towards Success: It helps to remember these things.
· Ask, “What is the worst thing that can happen?” Defining and accepting this makes it easier to change nervousness to ease.
· Focus exclusively on giving the interview your best shot, free of distractions or negative thinking — you can only control your own efforts, not the final outcome of a process.
· Take a long-term view and recognise the job placement for what it is — a milestone in the early stages of your career, not a life-or-death event.
Preparation and attitude then come together in a winning alchemy, making the journey towards success enjoyable.
(The author is a corporate trainer and visiting faculty B-schools like at JBIMS, SIMSR, VESIMSR)
By Piya Mukherjee
It’s placement season on the campuses of management institutes; time for matching earnest, young managers to impressive job profiles and dollar-denominated salaries.
Srikanth is anxious — will he succeed in “selling” his skills to an interviewer within the 10 minutes he is likely to get? Sharon, meanwhile, mulls over a commonly asked question — describe your weaknesses. How, she wonders, does one handle that tricky question with aplomb?
The Work Plan: Presenting the best facets of one’s personality, knowledge and skills during a campus-placement interview is seldom a spontaneously achieved task.
The preparation starts with the student demarcating areas of work into two categories: technical or subject-based knowledge and personal attributes.
While the former gets more than its fair share of attention, the personal domain is often inadequately explored, leading to ineffective image management.
Given that each panel of interviewers interacts with numerous potential employees, it becomes critical for the student to showcase his USP or unique selling proposition, as best as he can.
Technical knowledge: Three questions, when correctly answered, allow the student to have a fair grasp on a subject-based theme, theory or fact: What is the issue? How does it work / apply to a situation? And why is it important?
Relevant examples and exceptions to the rule help to complete the picture. Further extrapolation can be done by way of analysing current national and international benchmarks and building scenarios for the future, based on logical assumptions.
For example, a theory on supply creating its own demand, in economics, could be clearly understood and recalled with the help of the above framework.
Tackling issues in marketing, production and quality control, finance and HRD thus becomes more efficient and effective. Focus must be maintained on core concepts from the chosen stream of specialisation, but a fair knowledge of allied areas is also required.
General Reading can be made more interview-friendly by keeping the following basket of useful categories in mind:
· Corporate websites, the chairman’s speech at the annual general meeting of shareholders, the annual report, for company-specific information
· Business magazines for industry-wise study of the national economy and international markets
· Published interviews of management gurus and corporate leaders, for learning about new trends in management processes
· Biographies and autobiographies of world leaders, for gaining a long-term perspective on the society-industry marriage
The Personal Domain: The objective of the exercise is to answer the question: What is it that makes me refreshingly different from the other approximately six billion people on this planet? So one could begin with a thorough and objective SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis for oneself.
Writing down one’s strengths, along with specific past events that exemplify these, is a sure-fire way to healthy self-esteem.
Weaknesses present an interesting area of work: while every apparent weakness has a minor positive aspect to it, the approach must be oriented towards improvement, with specific examples of progress made.
For example, a student who is aware that he often responds to mistakes at the workplace with anger, can explore the direction of that emotion (aimed at others or at himself) and realise that its presence indicates his unwillingness to compromise on certain issues.
Channelising this stance in a healthy manner can happen by way of breathing-management in the short term and introspection, coupled with body-mind practices for well being, in the long term. At the same time, he could use clear communication to let others know his views, without letting the “heat” of the emotion adversely influence the interaction.
Once the required work is identified, the student can confidently begin reducing the impact of that trait in his life and present his progress with candid conviction at the interview.
A detailed exploration of similar attributes could lead the student to mapping out his personal USP. Most institutes circulate a fairly comprehensive list of common questions, which the student can answer in writing and work on from time to time. It helps when the student is as specific and distinctive as possible.
For example, an open-ended statement like “Tell me something about yourself” can be used to make a high-impact impression by answering in terms of examples that back up resume-based facts (eg “I won the Best Summer project award in spite of a challenging situation on the home front; it made me realise how much can be achieved through time management and zeal.”). It helps to mix tangible, quantifiable facts with intangible skills and traits.
Watch Out For These: The situations described in the table have the potential to undermine the student’s performance at the interview.
Enjoying The Journey Towards Success: It helps to remember these things.
· Ask, “What is the worst thing that can happen?” Defining and accepting this makes it easier to change nervousness to ease.
· Focus exclusively on giving the interview your best shot, free of distractions or negative thinking — you can only control your own efforts, not the final outcome of a process.
· Take a long-term view and recognise the job placement for what it is — a milestone in the early stages of your career, not a life-or-death event.
Preparation and attitude then come together in a winning alchemy, making the journey towards success enjoyable.
(The author is a corporate trainer and visiting faculty B-schools like at JBIMS, SIMSR, VESIMSR)
