“Tell me something about yourself”.

Most of the interviewers start with this question and most of the interviewees take it the wrong way and respond to it. A poor first impression!!

Why is this question the favorite of these interviewers? What is the response that they expect from an interviewee? When everything is clearly and legibly written in the CV that is in front of an interviewer, why does he ask this question?

These could be many more such questions in your mind but the answer to all this is simple. Because he wants to know the reason he should hire you.

This one sentence has quite a bit of it in it. Let me elaborate on the question and the motive behind asking such a question. A CV is a good enough picture of a candidate but is an incomplete picture. It is not uncommon for us to summarize everything that we did in a paragraph or, two to fit into our Curriculum Vitae and squeeze the rest of the things into the next couple of paragraphs. While we do this ( and this is required because a CV cannot be a novel) we tend to ignore small and important things that we did in our previous roles, just because we feel that it is too unimportant for our CV.

So when I as an interviewer intends to interview a candidate, my objective is to find the 1-2-3 points that can justify the reason for hiring the candidate for the particular role. But these things will obviously not be there in the CV which is almost similar for all the candidates who have applied for the position. This is where my favoritism for the question “tell me something about yourself” comes into the picture.

When I ask this question, me expectation from the candidate is a response that explains a few special skill sets that he possesses or, some unique experience of his, that he has not mentioned in the CV, and which makes him feel that he is the right fit for the position.

So how will you go about responding to this question?

• Before every interview, ensure that you note down about 5-7 points on things that you did in your previous roles, which were of value and which are not there in your CV.
• These points should be relevant to the position that you are applying for.
• Practice speaking these out aloud and in a synchronous way.
• Form a good meaningful paragraph with these points.

So, the next time when you are asked this question, “tell me something about yourself”, understand that what the interviewer wants to hear from you is, why you think you are the right fit for this position and what are the skills that you possess because of which you think, you would be the best candidate for the position.

Many a times we ignore this part and focus so much on the other aspects of an interview that we feel so confident that we are going to make it, that we actually become over-confident. This over-confidence influences this aspect to an extent that the interviewer gets to know that we are over-confident and then the result is a rejection.

The first contact that a candidate has with the interviewer is when he enters the room and shakes hands with the interviewer. This is the beginning of the non-verbal communication that the interviewee will have with the interviewer. If your handshake is not appropriate then you have lost the first battle and the interviewer gets a chance to make an impression about you. Throughout the remaining part of the interview, the questions that are being put to you and the way your responses are being judged is decided primarily by this first impression.

What are the few things that you should keep in mind when you shake hands?

• Ensure that you lock your palms with that of the other person and then shake your hands. This shows that you are confident and positive.
• Do not just catch the other persons hands by your fingers and then leave it quickly as if in a hurry. This is the sign of an under-confident and pessimistic person.
• Always lock your palms with the other person in a straight position., i.e. the inside of your palm should be facing your left side and should be in a 90° position to the ground. This posture is a sign of your attitude.

Follow these basic rules when you shake hands with the interviewer and you have set the tone for a smooth interview.

Photograph courtesy g-hat used under Creatives Common license.

• Be confident of what you are saying. But at the same time be cautious to not be overconfident. Maintain a normal pace and tone of speech.
• Use examples and instances wherever required, to add value to your responses.
• Don’t interrupt the interviewer because this shows you are either under-confident or, over-confident.
• Don’t just start off immediately as the interviewer finishes his question. Take a few seconds to think and decide on your response. About 3 seconds is an ideal pause before you answer.
• Never start your responses with “Okay”.
• Be enthusiastic and maintain appropriate posture. If you are sitting in a chair with arms (which you would be) rest your hands on the arms of the chair.
• Do not play with your fingers.
• Do not tie your arms in front of you if you are sitting in a chair without arms.

Succeeding in an interview does not entirely depend upon the responses that you give. Though there would be questions where the response is of prime importance, I should say that your success has much more to do with the way you have responded to your questions.

Now what is a Psychometric test?
The term ‘psychometric’ comes from two Greek words and, literally translated, means ‘measurement of the mind’. The term ‘measurement’, as used here, does not mean that mental abilities or, qualities can be measured in the same way as physical quantities. Instead it infers that psychometrics involves a ‘scientific’ approach to the assessment of these abilities and qualities.

Psychometric tests cover areas ranging from intelligence, aptitude, values, emotions, motivation, personality, etc.
They have been created for three main reasons:

• It is easier to get information from candidates through tests rather than through interviews/ counselling.
• The information from these tests is more scientifically consistent than the information from an interview/ counselling session.
• It is harder to get away with lying on a test than in an interview/ counselling session.

There are a lot of people who refute the claims made by these psychometric tests, but the fact still remains that these tests have helped and are still helping recruiters in understanding the above discussed basic qualities of the candidates.

Things to keep in mind -

• Psychometric tests generally have no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ answers.
• Your answer to any question should be the first response that comes to your mind.
• Be honest with your answers and give answers that you feel describes you the best.

Tips to do well in Psychometric tests:

Though the tips mentioned below seem to be understood, they can prove worthy while appearing for a Psychometric test.

• Ensure that you don’t go for the test on an empty stomach. Research shows that skipping meals reduces intellectual performance.
• Stay calm; anxiety can affect your performance adversely.
• Psychometric tests normally need no prior preparation. In case you have an idea of the type of test to expect, for example, numerical ability, then you might practice a few sums before you appear for the actual test.
• Try to maintain both speed and accuracy, especially for timed tests.
• You will almost certainly be taken through a practice or instruction stage before the test begins. This will give you the chance to try one or two practice items, before the actual test.
• Listen carefully to the instructions given by the test administrator.
• Get the most out of the examples or practice session. Do not hesitate to ask questions.
• If you need a little more time for practice, ask for it.

Be as natural as possible and answer truly. Psychometric tests (especially the personality tests) have an in-built mechanism of detecting false responses. This is done by means of differently worded statements, which measure candidates on the same feature. So a false response from you would mean the end of the interview for you.
Psychometric tests are a useful aide in interviews. So do not look at it as an obstacle, rather treat it as a positive towards understanding your personality.

Most of you would define a Group discussion as a round in which there are a few candidates in a group debating on a certain topic. One would wonder then, as to why this round is called the group discussion and not the debate round. This is where the essence of the round lies. This round is a discussion on a topic rather than a debate. There would be a topic given to you by the organizer and you would be asked to discuss on it. Now it is your choice to speak for or, against it.

So what is it that the organizer or, interviewer as you may call him, looking for in this round. Is it the content, or something else? Normally people participate in a group discussion assuming that his content has to extremely good and that he has to stamp his supremacy in the discussion. In doing this he keeps arguing with the team, interrupting them and orating his content.

This is not what you should ideally be doing. The objective of a group discussion is to assess your thought process, your ideas, your participation and functioning within a group and your presentation. Remember that during the course of the discussion you should take notes on the ideas that the other group members have expressed. Your content has to be built on these ideas. Don’t just talk irrelavent things that you feel are important. Talk sense and talk relevant.

Never interrupt the other speaker. Wait for an appropriate pause and then speak. Agree or, disagree to what others have said and explain why you feel so. Be calm and patient. Maintain a medium tone of voice and don’t shout. Give other also a chance to speak. Most importantly ensure that you are neither the dominant speaker nor, the recessive one.

Keep in mind that it is not the content that the interviewer is looking for in a group discussion. It is how you are presenting it.

When there are so many changes in the way interviews are conducted, it is normal for the interviewee also changing a bit in order to adapt to the interview. This is true. The way you would appear for an interview has also changed.

Your dress gives the first impression to the interviewer. This still holds good. But it does not mean that you have to be dressed in a formal suit with a tie. A normal and simple attire even if it is a jeans and T-shirt will do, till the time it is clean and ironed and does not give a shabby and disorganized look. Whatever you wear you should ensure that you give a clean, organized and civilized look.

Your shoes is another aspect that is to be taken care off. Here again you need not be wearing a pair of formal shoes, polished and shining. A good pair of shoes will do, but you need to ensure that it gels well with your dress.

A simple appearance is the key. The interviewer tries to assess your basic competency of discipline, from your appearance. He is looking to hire a person who knows what he is doing, who is organized, who is serious about what he is doing and who he knows is going to be around for some time.

In the first of my multi part series on the interview process, I would be discussing on the first round interview that is more often than not the same in almost all companies. We call it the PI round or, the Personal Introduction round.
What is this round and what is the purpose of this round?

As the name itself suggests this round is about introducing yourself to the interviewer. One may wonder as to why is this round so important and necessary when everything about myself is mentioned in my CV. You might have mentioned everything about yourself in the CV, but there are much more to it that it appears in the CV. When the interviewer asks you about you and your family and your work experience and educational qualifications, he is looking for things beyond what is written in your CV. This round is basically, an analysis of your temperament, attitude and approach towards things. When you talk about your family or, your colleagues in your organization, I am looking for cues to check how good a team player are you and how well do you gel with others. I am also looking for answers to questions like, are you understanding enough and how comfortable are you in a team?

In addition to this, the interviewer is also looking for information from you. Information that you have not mentioned in your CV. What is this information? At times you miss out on lot of things that you might well have been handling in your previous organization, in terms of responsibilities. You might also want to elaborate on the kind of role that you were into in your organization, the kind of process that you were working for, how simple or, how difficult it was and so on. These are information that helps the interviewer in deciding if you fit the bill.

Last but the most important, the interviewer is looking for answers. Answers to questions that he would have framed after scrutinizing and analyzing your CV. These questions are based on “misses” in your CV that go unnoticed. A break in employment, a contradicting depiction of your responsibilities, all these are some of these misses. The interviewer would be looking for genuine and appropriate responses to his questions so that he can consider you for the employment.

The PI round is more or, less the same for any levels of recruitments, entry level or, middle management. Preparing for this round can be a later discussion.

Photograph courtesy Faakhir Rizvi

Does all this horrify you? It will, anyone for that matter. But it is easier than it sounds. Is a BPO job worth all this sacrifice.The answer is; ‘yes’. It is worth it.

Slowly things would get normal for you. You would feel that this is normal and the others are abnormal. That is the truth. Working during nights is a change of body cycle for us because we are not used to it. But there are thousands of people around the world who work shifts and that is a part of their life.

Once you have developed the positive attitude in you, then starts the real preparation – understanding what are the pre-requisites for this job.