As highlighted by Mr Divekar, I also would like to start with that you must not communicate in SMS language which is not professional and ethical. And also this can lead to misunderstanding/miscommunication by many ways, so please avoid SMSing...
Now what I found by your queries is that you are not just lacking confidence, problem with "Interview dilemma" but are also distracted and misguided in your career life actually.
-You are “MBA in Marketing and Diploma in HRM with 5 years of working experience including 3.5 years with admin department”, do you really feel you are at right career path?
-What made you feel to go for PGDHRM after MBA in Marketing?
-What is your aim of professional life?
-What are your present role and responsibilities with your present employer?
-Share about your first 1 and 6 months of working experience and
-Are you happy with your present work functions?
Please answer the above questions which will enable us/ community to know more about you and your present situation, so that; we can direct you appropriately and help you in your career/professional life.
Now I would like to state that there is nothing like "interview dilemma" but “Interview fobia or fever” which you have to accept first and this is because you are not getting what is actually wrong with you and have not recognized your mistakes that you have done so far.
And about your Interview Fobia/Fever, first I would like to buy the suggestions by Mr. Puneet Sarin as quoted above.
You must stop revising and studying interview Q&A immediately (if you are doing) which are not helping you but making you more confuse with the interview situation. You and other candidates who are doing so, must not look for the possible interview questions asked by interviewer/recruiters and but to be in an interview what you/they are in actuality.
Be honest with your earned experience, knowledge and present yourself.
For example: One who is an educated and skilled person having good experience and knowledge of his/her work functions, just need to answer the questions of interviewer /recruiters his/her own by applying/applying knowledge and experience. Interview questions always be related to past and present experience, knowledge and to judge the skills one having and whatever mentioned in the profile, which basically to identify whether you are according to your profile (CV/RESUME) or not.
Questions about family, rightly expressed by Rabel (#12) -- is really appreciable.
Like you shared your recent interview experience where you asked some personal and other questions, so you are now more experienced with the interview situations but here you made a mistake. You were asked about your “Observations Skill” but there you have to be wise with the things or what you have to speak about or what not. You must not have spoken about the receptionist but other things.
To be candid and honest or to tell them the truth is not bad but not a good thing too and to be wise with the things/situations and words/statements which are actually important here.
Coming back to your “Interview Fobia” and questions asked by interviewer, I would like to say that you have to recognize your weakness and work with your qualities and mistakes that you have done so far. You answered the questions asked by interviewer recently which says that you can answer the questions to the best of your knowledge but with lacking confidence in you and of your professional experience and knowledge, you are not able to answer which is actually your problem.
Also you have to work with your profile, improve your knowledge, presentation skills and attitude which will boost your confidence and make your profile strong...
From India, Gurgaon
Now what I found by your queries is that you are not just lacking confidence, problem with "Interview dilemma" but are also distracted and misguided in your career life actually.
-You are “MBA in Marketing and Diploma in HRM with 5 years of working experience including 3.5 years with admin department”, do you really feel you are at right career path?
-What made you feel to go for PGDHRM after MBA in Marketing?
-What is your aim of professional life?
-What are your present role and responsibilities with your present employer?
-Share about your first 1 and 6 months of working experience and
-Are you happy with your present work functions?
Please answer the above questions which will enable us/ community to know more about you and your present situation, so that; we can direct you appropriately and help you in your career/professional life.
Now I would like to state that there is nothing like "interview dilemma" but “Interview fobia or fever” which you have to accept first and this is because you are not getting what is actually wrong with you and have not recognized your mistakes that you have done so far.
And about your Interview Fobia/Fever, first I would like to buy the suggestions by Mr. Puneet Sarin as quoted above.
You must stop revising and studying interview Q&A immediately (if you are doing) which are not helping you but making you more confuse with the interview situation. You and other candidates who are doing so, must not look for the possible interview questions asked by interviewer/recruiters and but to be in an interview what you/they are in actuality.
Be honest with your earned experience, knowledge and present yourself.
For example: One who is an educated and skilled person having good experience and knowledge of his/her work functions, just need to answer the questions of interviewer /recruiters his/her own by applying/applying knowledge and experience. Interview questions always be related to past and present experience, knowledge and to judge the skills one having and whatever mentioned in the profile, which basically to identify whether you are according to your profile (CV/RESUME) or not.
Questions about family, rightly expressed by Rabel (#12) -- is really appreciable.
Like you shared your recent interview experience where you asked some personal and other questions, so you are now more experienced with the interview situations but here you made a mistake. You were asked about your “Observations Skill” but there you have to be wise with the things or what you have to speak about or what not. You must not have spoken about the receptionist but other things.
To be candid and honest or to tell them the truth is not bad but not a good thing too and to be wise with the things/situations and words/statements which are actually important here.
Coming back to your “Interview Fobia” and questions asked by interviewer, I would like to say that you have to recognize your weakness and work with your qualities and mistakes that you have done so far. You answered the questions asked by interviewer recently which says that you can answer the questions to the best of your knowledge but with lacking confidence in you and of your professional experience and knowledge, you are not able to answer which is actually your problem.
Also you have to work with your profile, improve your knowledge, presentation skills and attitude which will boost your confidence and make your profile strong...
From India, Gurgaon
I would suggest you to follow these steps everyday for 15 minutes, Stand in front of mirror and look in your eyes and start speaking in English. This will grow your confidence in terms of speaking plus will be able to make you create flawless speaking power.
Thanks
Deepa
Blogs - Famous Great All In One
From India, Mumbai
Thanks
Deepa
Blogs - Famous Great All In One
From India, Mumbai
Dear Rawk,
You should be thankful to Mr Anil Arora. He has not only given just guidance but it is quite lengthy one. He must have spent at least hour or may be more than that to type the whole reply.
Seniors like Mr Arora invest their precious time in guiding junior members albeit they are from terra incognita. They do it in the HR community as a whole. This is the major strength of Citehr is. Hope you will derive benefits from this as well as replies by other seniors.
Thanks,
Dinesh V Divekar
From India, Bangalore
You should be thankful to Mr Anil Arora. He has not only given just guidance but it is quite lengthy one. He must have spent at least hour or may be more than that to type the whole reply.
Seniors like Mr Arora invest their precious time in guiding junior members albeit they are from terra incognita. They do it in the HR community as a whole. This is the major strength of Citehr is. Hope you will derive benefits from this as well as replies by other seniors.
Thanks,
Dinesh V Divekar
From India, Bangalore
Just an add-up to the insightful suggestions and advices by our senior members here.
In case one is faced with some awkward question at an interview, interviewee can always turn around question to divert the discussion to professional profile.
For instance, if an interviewer had asked me to suggest an example of my observation skill then I would have said, "The building is situated in (suppose) posh area. Building rent should be around 2L a month aggregating to 24L a year. This is merely one of the items in an overhead. This rental expense should be merely 40% of total overhead. Overhead should be around 60L. As per the profiles of the team as researched by me, salary expense should be huge. With the sales forecast of the industry appropriated by your market share and deducting the expected expenses, I land up with downline figure of around 20L of which some portion should have been distributed in your staff. In all this seems to be a good company to work with."
Well, I don't know if its correct or not. That only our senior members here can guide us. But this has definitely worked for me. Not once but everytime.
From India, Gurgaon
In case one is faced with some awkward question at an interview, interviewee can always turn around question to divert the discussion to professional profile.
For instance, if an interviewer had asked me to suggest an example of my observation skill then I would have said, "The building is situated in (suppose) posh area. Building rent should be around 2L a month aggregating to 24L a year. This is merely one of the items in an overhead. This rental expense should be merely 40% of total overhead. Overhead should be around 60L. As per the profiles of the team as researched by me, salary expense should be huge. With the sales forecast of the industry appropriated by your market share and deducting the expected expenses, I land up with downline figure of around 20L of which some portion should have been distributed in your staff. In all this seems to be a good company to work with."
Well, I don't know if its correct or not. That only our senior members here can guide us. But this has definitely worked for me. Not once but everytime.
From India, Gurgaon
Hi Rawk,
Being a behaviour skill coach, I would advise that you practice mock interviews with a senior friend or colleague who can give you a good feedback.
Incase you need further handholding you may get in touch at
From India, New Delhi
Being a behaviour skill coach, I would advise that you practice mock interviews with a senior friend or colleague who can give you a good feedback.
Incase you need further handholding you may get in touch at
From India, New Delhi
Thank you everyone especially Mr Anil Arora for your detailed answer,I would reply you in detail later.
Right now I just want to say when I was doing MBA only three majors were offered in my university finance,Information technology and Marketing as I had no.interst in Finance and IT so I went for Marketing,though HR was my first choice,the jobs were offered to me were mostly sales job n field work,my family didn't allow me to do that,the first good job was offered to me was in administration with good salary package,I only accept the offer as I had an intention to go move into the HR department from administration but unfortunately my this dream could not be materialized.
As the organization where I was appointed acquired by another organization and hiring and internal transfers everything stopped as the merger completed after one and half year we moved to another department where I was still in the administration department.
Just after two months the head of administration transfered me into another department as according to him he couldn't find administration work suitable for females and there was no female staff.
In New department I worked around 8 months and resigned as I got married.
After marriage I waited couple of months and didn't do any job,just after 7-8 months I again started searching jobs in Administration/HR,whenever I was called for interview the male candidate or major/colonel was preferred for administration work,I also applied in HR but there the mandatory degree was MBA HR which I didn't have ,so just to complete my dream I m doing DHRM after that will do CHRP,and since last 1 year I have been searching job,now please tell me what is my fault?
Hope I have answered few of your questions.
Thankyou
From Pakistan, Karachi
Right now I just want to say when I was doing MBA only three majors were offered in my university finance,Information technology and Marketing as I had no.interst in Finance and IT so I went for Marketing,though HR was my first choice,the jobs were offered to me were mostly sales job n field work,my family didn't allow me to do that,the first good job was offered to me was in administration with good salary package,I only accept the offer as I had an intention to go move into the HR department from administration but unfortunately my this dream could not be materialized.
As the organization where I was appointed acquired by another organization and hiring and internal transfers everything stopped as the merger completed after one and half year we moved to another department where I was still in the administration department.
Just after two months the head of administration transfered me into another department as according to him he couldn't find administration work suitable for females and there was no female staff.
In New department I worked around 8 months and resigned as I got married.
After marriage I waited couple of months and didn't do any job,just after 7-8 months I again started searching jobs in Administration/HR,whenever I was called for interview the male candidate or major/colonel was preferred for administration work,I also applied in HR but there the mandatory degree was MBA HR which I didn't have ,so just to complete my dream I m doing DHRM after that will do CHRP,and since last 1 year I have been searching job,now please tell me what is my fault?
Hope I have answered few of your questions.
Thankyou
From Pakistan, Karachi
I was not guided properly by my elders as they were simple people and mostly in.business,so whatever I thought best for myself I did,my parents supported me financialy but couldn't guide me in my career,I had no elder sibling who could do the same.
I am.very clear about my career that I want to start my career in HR and I am trying and keep on.trying.
From Pakistan, Karachi
I am.very clear about my career that I want to start my career in HR and I am trying and keep on.trying.
From Pakistan, Karachi
Hi,
Firstly interview is a process whereby you are marketing yourself and demonstrating your skills. When you go for an interview, the employer or the interviewer don't know you personally, so they would definitely ask questions which they want to know about yourself and also check if you are recruited for a position would you be fit for the same and the kind of condition you can survive. This is because every company has a different kind of work atmosphere and work pressures.
Questions ask by interviewer could be anything. That could be from a personal to professional or even a general question which might not be related to work. This is to see your ability, your patience and your knowledge about the subject.
Practically it is good to refer tips and tricks for interview, but once should concentrate on the self skills only. Because tips and tricks where you find the details mostly are based on the self experience and they forget that every individual as a different way of communication and skills.
So every if you fail in interview it is no a problem, it will make you more powerful and perfect to attend a next interview.
From India, Mumbai
Firstly interview is a process whereby you are marketing yourself and demonstrating your skills. When you go for an interview, the employer or the interviewer don't know you personally, so they would definitely ask questions which they want to know about yourself and also check if you are recruited for a position would you be fit for the same and the kind of condition you can survive. This is because every company has a different kind of work atmosphere and work pressures.
Questions ask by interviewer could be anything. That could be from a personal to professional or even a general question which might not be related to work. This is to see your ability, your patience and your knowledge about the subject.
Practically it is good to refer tips and tricks for interview, but once should concentrate on the self skills only. Because tips and tricks where you find the details mostly are based on the self experience and they forget that every individual as a different way of communication and skills.
So every if you fail in interview it is no a problem, it will make you more powerful and perfect to attend a next interview.
From India, Mumbai
Rawk,
Setting aside the example you have given which is totally unprofessional as Dinesh has pointed out, there is no reason why you cannot go into an interview fully prepared.
Study the position description carefully and assess the type of questions you are most likely to be asked. Do not prepare rote answers to these possible questions. Instead, make some notes in dot point form about your experience and jot down examples from your previous work that will demonstrate your skills and ability. Take those notes into the interview so that you have an aide memoir to assist you. That way you ensure that you will not forget things in the stressful environment of an interview.
There is no shame in having notes. I would regard that as being professional and being able to answer questions comprehensively to assist the interviewers in deciding your claims to the position.
Having notes to assist you also allows you to "take charge" of the interview when it is running off track, particularly with an inexperienced interviewer. You can use your skills to talk yourself into the job by keeping the focus solely on what you can do to help the company achieve its goals and mission.
This also allows you to competently answer the stupid "tell me about yourself" question, so beloved of poor and incompetent interviewers. Stick solely to championing your skills and ability to do the job, nothing else is important.
Another bit of friendly advice - when you arrive at a business for an interview, be polite to everyone you meet, including the receptionist. No matter what they are doing, it is none of your business. Smile sweetly, take a seat, read your notes, and wait patiently. NEVER EVER make any disparaging remarks about staff. If you are asked a question about staff, merely reply that you were treated courteously, and you didn't really notice anything as you were preparing for the interview so as to present yourself as a suitable candidate for the position. Should you have been successful in this job, how would you have felt having to face that receptionist every day after what happened??
As for personal questions, you have to find a way to deal with those. I am not sure what the laws are India, but in many countries they are now illegal. But, illegal or not, it does not stop interviewers asking them. In a country like India where people are desperate to find jobs, interviewers think they have the upper hand and can do what they like because the candidate is powerless to argue if they want a job. This is one area where being fully prepared and confident in yourself, can pay dividends, because you can politely steer the interview back to your skills and abilities, and negate those improper questions.
One final thing, please do not use sms language in your postings. We are professional people here at CiteHR, and correct use of language helps many of our members who are keen to improve their English language skills.
From Australia, Melbourne
Setting aside the example you have given which is totally unprofessional as Dinesh has pointed out, there is no reason why you cannot go into an interview fully prepared.
Study the position description carefully and assess the type of questions you are most likely to be asked. Do not prepare rote answers to these possible questions. Instead, make some notes in dot point form about your experience and jot down examples from your previous work that will demonstrate your skills and ability. Take those notes into the interview so that you have an aide memoir to assist you. That way you ensure that you will not forget things in the stressful environment of an interview.
There is no shame in having notes. I would regard that as being professional and being able to answer questions comprehensively to assist the interviewers in deciding your claims to the position.
Having notes to assist you also allows you to "take charge" of the interview when it is running off track, particularly with an inexperienced interviewer. You can use your skills to talk yourself into the job by keeping the focus solely on what you can do to help the company achieve its goals and mission.
This also allows you to competently answer the stupid "tell me about yourself" question, so beloved of poor and incompetent interviewers. Stick solely to championing your skills and ability to do the job, nothing else is important.
Another bit of friendly advice - when you arrive at a business for an interview, be polite to everyone you meet, including the receptionist. No matter what they are doing, it is none of your business. Smile sweetly, take a seat, read your notes, and wait patiently. NEVER EVER make any disparaging remarks about staff. If you are asked a question about staff, merely reply that you were treated courteously, and you didn't really notice anything as you were preparing for the interview so as to present yourself as a suitable candidate for the position. Should you have been successful in this job, how would you have felt having to face that receptionist every day after what happened??
As for personal questions, you have to find a way to deal with those. I am not sure what the laws are India, but in many countries they are now illegal. But, illegal or not, it does not stop interviewers asking them. In a country like India where people are desperate to find jobs, interviewers think they have the upper hand and can do what they like because the candidate is powerless to argue if they want a job. This is one area where being fully prepared and confident in yourself, can pay dividends, because you can politely steer the interview back to your skills and abilities, and negate those improper questions.
One final thing, please do not use sms language in your postings. We are professional people here at CiteHR, and correct use of language helps many of our members who are keen to improve their English language skills.
From Australia, Melbourne
cracking interviews is not difficult if you have the 3 Cs- cool calm & collected. You need to prepare for the interview thoroughly and give your best shot.
its even about your body language- if you are nervous or donot answer with consistency, you are rejected.
Asking about your family background may be personal but its necessary for the interviewer. So there is no need to feel offended.
All the best!
Rekha
From India, Chennai
its even about your body language- if you are nervous or donot answer with consistency, you are rejected.
Asking about your family background may be personal but its necessary for the interviewer. So there is no need to feel offended.
All the best!
Rekha
From India, Chennai
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