Knock, Knock...Its an Interview. Review on Being Successful at Interviews

I browsed thru some articles on this product, and found that most of them have covered the essential, desirable & vital aspects of giving an interview. I for one thot, it would benefit you a great deal, if I shift focus to first person, and tell you things what an interviewer really does, when he gets your resume. This will not only just provide you with tips (which typically lists the DOs and DONTs), but you also realize what Qs would come your way & the objective for the same. For points not covered, you are welcome to ask Qs thru the comments section.

Application through Resumes

I normally don’t scrutinize the resume on receiving them. I just skim through it as though flipping through TOI which screams of murders & kidnaps & Ads. The problem being that resume reading consumes helluva time since each one factors his/her latent creativity, formatting, structuring etc in the resume. All this makes information location a bit tedious especially if you have a 3 digit number of resumes to consider. So, I wait for the candidate to structure the information in a Standard Format which I give them (most companies have a standard sheet(s) for this). Now, this filled sheet is the BIBLE for me to “see thru” the candidate.

Position applied for: The obvious thing I read first and very instantly, my eyes start searching for the Dt of Birth (for age). Why?? A company has a typical age group (note: it is NOT Standard, its typical) for a given set of roles. For eg. The Managers in a company may typically be in the age group 25 – 28. If a 32 year old is applying for this post, I would NOT CONSIDER. Reason being that, the growth prospects of this individual in the long run is bound to take a hit. He may be a good recruit today, but as a HR Mgr, if I need to promise a career for this individual in the Org, that would be bit difficult. Moreover, the individual would find himself/herself being “isolated” since the rest of the guys in his/her age group would be in higher positions and pay scales. This would also create a negative impact morally on the individual. However if the applicant’s age is a shade lower than the typical age group, he/she can be “considered” provided it is complemented by an excellent professional history. DON’T APPLY for posts which requires lesser experience. This also makes you look like some desperate soul who seems to be hanging a placard announcing “Any job, any where, any time, any salary”.

Dt of birth: While one aspect of the Dt of birth is already explained above, the other reason for putting it under the microscope is to track the career flow. For eg. If someone has written the DOB as “10th July, 1971”, I would see if he has graduated in the year 1992 or 1993, depending upon whether the graduation is for 3 or 4 years. Any other year mentioned as Dt of graduation, is a case for Question at the interview table. Similarly, gap if any between the Dt of graduation and the first experience, will also be put forward to the candidate to explain.

These “Gaps” are sure questions (if you are applying in a good company). Be prepared with “logical & rational” answers for the same. Don’t Bluff. Its better to say “I lost a year” with a good reason (or excuse?) rather than fudging a story. There are no negative marks for losing an Academic year.

Family Details: This information I look (because it normally happens to be in the first page itself) to figure out the dependency of your family on you / your income. Also, the kind of family background you are coming from, “tells” a little about you, the community, social thinking etc. Again this may be used to decide whether you will be a “Culture fit” in the company or not. Though I DON’T use this information fully in that sense. This anyway, is just a possible inference.

There is an interesting deviation. If a female writes her “in-laws” in the Family Details column, I find out the Dt of Marriage. Depending on the nature of the job, you may be asked some Qs here. For eg. If it’s a call centre job and requires you to work in shifts, an obvious question would be “would your in-laws mind if you work in shifts”. Please note that while answering these kind of Qs, your body language rather than the verbal language is looked into for judging the credibility of the answer. The more recent the Dt of marriage is, more the chance of the above Q being asked. This Q is also a definite bet, for females who have shifted base from X city to Y city after marriage. In this case, you will also be encouraged to speak about the city, so as to get a feel on your adaptation & familiarity to an extent with the city. Getting the hang right!!

Academic Background: I have already explained the significance of Year of Graduation. Other than that, the Academic background, and the number of degrees you have accumulated, gives some insight into your Family background, upbringing, and therefore again socio-economic standing, and later on your own analysis of your career (eg MBA after 5 years of working experience). If you feel that your Academic degree(s) are not fully stretching to the desired level for a particular job, pls state that currently you are pursuing / planning to pursue the relevant degree.

Professional Summary: Ofcourse, this comes after so much time. That again shows how much importance the interviewers give to “other” issues. What attracts me in the Professional Summary section is:

The kind of growth you have had in the past : If you have been holding on to the same role for donkey years (even tho you may have add fancy prefixes like jr, sr, associate, joint etc), you are in trouble. The summary should ideally depict you growing up in the value chain (esp for those having more than 2 years experience). If you are stuck here, see if you can explain the “growth” by indicating a greater span of control either in terms of number of people reporting to you or in terms of geography (for eg. From controlling 1 branch to 5 branches).

The number of job changes: Hey I know your answer – “for better prospects”. Cut that crap. Give a decent answer to explain job changes. But yes! Don’t try to cross swords with your previous employees. Prepare yourself for these Questions, which should explain rather politely the “reasons for change”. I have noticed that in today’s scenario, most people have “closed/shut down” in their resumes. Females typically have “Transfer” as a reason. Either the company shifted its base of operation or the candidate was asked to take transfer or the female herself “transferred” from X to Y after marriage. (Psst… I then check this Dt with the Dt of marriage. I SHOULD ideally find some gap, if it’s a change of company. Its not that someone would land in a new city and get a job, the next hour. If there is NO gap, there is nothing negative, but will be investigated). Explain this by saying that you had already applied for the job while in X city, and then landed up here.

.... Please refer the comments section