Effective interview tips to ace the selection process

Interviews are the most grueling part of the selection process as in this part it is decided whether a candidate is suitable for the role or not. In this article, we will discuss the

1. Types of interviews
2. Tips for interview
3. "Tell me about yourself"- Favorite question of employers

One thing that you should be kept in mind is that always do research about the company before going for an interview because the employer can ask "What do you know about the company?" and if you didn't reply or said something wrong then it can make a wrong impression in front of the employer which can lead to your rejection. So, first and foremost thing always be prepared.

Ahead in this article, there are a lot of interview tips for you, but before that let's see how many types of interviews are there, and then we will dive into tips to ace in any interview.

Types of interviews

1. Face-to-face interview- It is the most common type of interview in which the employer calls the candidate for a conversation in the office or at some other place suitable for the meeting.
2. Telephonic interview- This is a type of interview where the conversation happens over a phone call without physically going to an office or some other place for the meeting. 
3. Video conferencing interview- This is similar to a face-to-face interview but the only difference is that interview is taken through a video call using apps like Skype, Google meets etc.instead of physically meeting in an office.

Some companies take different rounds of interviews in which first they prefer to have a conversation on a phone call and if they liked the answers and confidence of the candidate they call the candidate for a face-to-face interview to take the process further. So, one needs to prepare his/her best to ace in all the kinds of interviews. 

Let's have a look at some amazing tips to ace in an interview.

How to ace an interview?

•  Be confident- The main purpose of conducting an interview is to check whether the candidate is confident or not. The employer put a lot of questions in front of the candidate to check his/her confidence. You don't need to know the answer to every question that is asked to you but how confidently you answer the questions that you have knowledge about is what matters and when you don't know the answer to a certain question, simply say "I don't have an idea" or "I don't know" because employers have their own way to figure out your knowledge in a particular topic and if you say something wrong, it may lead to rejection.
• Dress well- Now, how you present yourself in front of the employer plays an important role, as your dress makes the first impression in front of the employer and based on that the employer conducts the rest of the interview if you dress well, you will have a good impression on the employer and interview could positively take place. One should wear a formal dress code while going for an interview as it shows that you have a professional attitude and are serious about the job/internship. Wearing a white shirt and black trousers are mostly preferred when going for an interview.
• Have great communication skills- Now, this is the key aspect of an interview if your communication skills are poor, there are chances that you might be rejected. See, in business communication plays a key role in its growth be it communication between business and client, customers, or people within the organization communication is required everywhere. It is also said that if one has good communication skill he/she eventually become confident when talking to different people so working on your communication skill is really important. One can do it by conversing in a particular language (today most of the companies prefer English) to his friends and peers or watching shows in that language, it helps increasing vocabulary and to learn the word's correct pronunciation.
• Reach 10-15 minutes before time- Nobody likes to wait for anyone so one should try to reach 10-15 minutes before the scheduled time as being an early bird shows that you are serious for the role and value your and other person's time which is a good point in a candidate.
•  Keep all your documents intact- You must have mentioned your skills and achievements in your resume but to make the employer believe that you really possess these skills you have to keep written proofs with you which includes certificates, report cards, or samples of your work. Never ever forget any important document as it will make the interviewer believe that you are careless and don't take your responsibilities seriously which may lead to rejection.
• Honesty is the best policy- One should never lie about his/her skills and achievements in an interview as interviews are smart enough to catch your lie and it will put an impression that you cannot be trusted and nobody wants to work with a person who cannot be trusted so always be honest about your skills and have faith on yourself.

These were the basic tips to ace an interview and in brief, it only means be confident and trust yourself, you can achieve anything in your life if you have faith in yourself.

The employer is not going to harm you, he/she will only put you in a tough situation to check whether you will be able to work in pressure or not, you just have to keep calm and do your best and you will see how results will be in your favor.

"Tell me about yourself"

This is the favorite question of every interviewer. In every interview, this question is asked by the majority of the employers to the candidates, but the main question is why do interviewers ask this question? What is the main purpose behind asking this question?

Well, if you thought the same thing then here is your answer,

The main purpose behind asking this question is to know about your communication skills, confidence and to check whether you have relevant skills to do the particular job/internship or not. 

Now, you know the reason so, it's time to see some tips about how can you answer this question smartly,

Before answering this question there are some things that you need to keep in mind-:

• Never speak up your entire resume- You must have mentioned about your skills and work experience in your resume but when the interviewer asks you to tell him/her about yourself, don't start to speak up your entire resume as he/she has already seen your work experience on your resume rather tell him/her what did you learn from it and how did that experience helped in your growth. This is what an interviewer wants to listen to.
• Don't speak about your personal life- This question is never asked to know where do you live or how many siblings do you have but to see whether you are the right fit for the job. So maintain a professional attitude and speak only about the experiences and skills that will present you as a deserving candidate in front of the employer.
• Tell something unique about yourself- The interviewers want employees who have an all-rounder personality, so it's really important to speak about your extra-curricular achievements or about something that you feel proud of, for example; if you like clicking photos then you can mention that you have a photography blog or participated in a photography competition and won, etc. This will show that you have an all-rounder personality which is a good point in an interview.

Suppose you are an MBA graduate in marketing and you are looking for a job in this particular domain, so how will you answer "tell me about yourself" question, let's see a sample answer.

"I am ABC, I have pursued an MBA in marketing from XYZ University. I have done 6 months of internship in QPR company and my role in this internship was to create strategies and plans to increase the sales of the organization. During the internship, I learned about the market, the principals of marketing, and how to create effective plans to attract the customers to buy the product. Apart from marketing, I also have an interest in writing so I write a weekly post on my blog about marketing and its strategies."

If you are applying for an internship, you can use the same answer with a little bit of modification.

"I am ABC and I am pursuing an MBA in marketing from XYZ University. I am a part of the marketing society in my college and I have learned basic marketing strategies and principals to promote the events of the college. I have knowledge of social media or online marketing and offline marketing. Being a marketing enthusiast, I always had a keen interest in poster making so, I create posters for the college events and also won the poster making competition held in my college."

P.S.-: If you don't have achievements or specific skills to talk about in an interview, it's better to learn them before sending an application to the employer. Know about your interest and learn the relevant skills, if you have a hobby, try to achieve something in it as it will make you a stronger candidate than others.

ALL THE BEST CHAMP!