5 Interview Tips valid equally for Job Seekers and Entrepreneurs!

Interviews are like first dates, good impressions count! Awkwardness can occur. Outcomes are unpredictable.

Life is something that needs to be going wherein some people look for jobs or some of them look to start up. However, at one stage or the other, you need to prepare for the interview. Employers or investors already know how capable you are in that field. However, interviews are the ways that let them know how confident you are to take up the challenge. This step in the selection process tells them how smart you are and how effectively you are able to make good of a situation in distress. They judge you based on your attire, communication skills, leadership qualities, making the best out of waste, interpersonal skills, how well you prepare for things, your confidence, and many more.

One more interesting fact about interviews is that the average time spent by recruiters looking at a resume is 5 to 7 seconds and now you can imagine how important it is for you to prepare for the interview. Thus, below are some tips and tricks which can be helpful to crack your interview.

1. First impressions never have a second chance!

It is pretty obvious that you never get a second chance to address yourself again. On the important note, the average interview is 40 minutes and 33% of 2000 surveyed bosses indicated they know within the first 90 seconds if they will hire that candidate. Thus, it is very important for you to make this interview the best one. Your attire should be formal, try to make eye contact, research well about the thing for which you are interviewing, be punctual, maintain good body language, and try to give your best!

Almost everyone will make a good first impression, but only a few will make a good lasting impression.
— Sonya Parker

2. Go with a strategy

You must be thinking that how can they make such a decision in less than 2 minutes? In the same survey, they said that little mistakes matter a lot. Some of them are:

• 70% indicated applicants were too fashionable or trendy.
• 67% indicated a failure to make eye contact.
• 55% the way the candidate dressed, acted, or walked through the door.
• 47% of clients who had little or no knowledge of the company.
• 38% was a tie — quality of voice and overall confidence; and lack of a smile.
• 33% for bad posture.
• 26% because the handshake was too weak.
• 21% for crossing their arms over their chest during the interview.

(Source: jobvite.com)

Moreover, these little things also affect your personality. Make sure you prepare and present accordingly.

There is beauty and perfection in a strong personality.
— Swami Vivekananda.

3. Be clear

Answer the question to the point and don’t exaggerate. Listen carefully. To answer correctly, you must first listen to what is being asked. If you are not clear about the question, ask the interviewer to repeat the question. Say, ‘I don’t know’, if you don’t know the answer. The interviewers are fine if you don’t know the answer, but would not like to listen to any faulty or wrong answers.

Speak clearly, if you speak at all; carve every word before you let it fall.
-Oliver Wendell Holmes.

4. It’s a game of Chess.

The interview seems to be easy just like chess but it requires a lot of concentration. There will be a match of questions served and you will be playing the answers back with a correct move. Make sure that every answer exhibits a skill or a quality that is tailored perfectly for the requirements. Add your accomplishments or previous work experiences, projects, and what you learned from those. Amidst all this, make sure to keep your answers concise and focused. The goal is that every answer must reflect one unique quality of yours.

Be careful about how you play your game, when you have hard players around
— John Wooden.

5. Know your Know-how

The final one is about your knowledge and wisdom. Suppose you want to start a startup and you go to the potential investors, then be prepared about your plan. If you are going for a job interview, say finance. Then you must have complete knowledge about that field. According to naukri.com, most jobs are rejected because the interviewee lacks basic knowledge about the subject. Be prepared and all the best.

The complete knowledge is that which involves both analysis and synthesis.
— Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shanker.

These were some tips and tricks to ace your interview. If you want to know more about yourself, MyWays with a scientific method will make it very easy for you to know important things about your Career Values and Personality Analysis to avoid the wrong/wasteful opportunities through a psychometric test. Moreover, MyWays is also making an effort to help students in getting connected to the best-fit opportunities like internships, training, or courses at various places across India to personalize their career exploration journeys.

Keep exploring and growing!