Tips to Boost Your Interview Skills

Tips to Boost Your Interview Skills

Interviewing is a learned skill, and there are no second chances to make a great first impression. So study these 10 strategies to enhance your interview .

Practice Good Nonverbal Communication
It’s about demonstrating confidence: standing straight, making eye contact and connecting with a good, firm handshake. That first impression can be a great beginning — or quick ending — to your interview.

Dress for the Job or Company
Today’s casual dress codes do not give you permission to dress as “they” do when you interview. It is important to look professional and well-groomed. Whether you wear a suit or something less formal depends on the company culture and the position you are seeking. If possible, call to find out about the company dress code before the interview.
Listen
From the very beginning of the interview, your interviewer is giving you information, either directly or indirectly. If you are not hearing it, you are missing a major opportunity. Good communication skills include listening and letting the person know you heard what was said. Observe your interviewer, and match that style and pace.

Don’t Talk Too Much
Telling the interviewer more than he needs to know could be a fatal mistake. When you have not prepared ahead of time, you may tend to ramble, sometimes talking yourself right out of the job. Prepare for the interview by reading through the job posting, matching your skills with the position’s requirements and relating only that information.

Don’t Be Too Familiar
The interview is a professional meeting to talk business. This is not about making a new friend. Your level of familiarity should mimic the interviewer’s demeanor. It is important to bring energy and enthusiasm to the interview and to ask questions, but do not overstep your place as a candidate looking for a job.

Use Appropriate Language
It’s a given that you should use professional language during the interview. Be aware of any inappropriate slang words or references to age, race, religion, politics or sexual orientation — these topics could send you out the door very quickly.

Don’t Be Cocky
Attitude plays a key role in your interview success. There is a fine balance between confidence, professionalism and modesty. Even if you’re putting on a performance to demonstrate your ability, overconfidence is as bad, if not worse, as being too reserved.

Take Care to Answer the Questions
When an interviewer asks for an example of a time when you did something, he is seeking a sample of your past behavior. If you fail to relate a specific example, you not only don’t answer the question, but you also miss an opportunity to prove your ability and talk about your skills.

Ask Questions
When asked if they have any questions, most candidates answer, “No.” Wrong answer. It is extremely important to ask questions to demonstrate an interest in what goes on in the company. Asking questions also gives you the opportunity to find out if this is the right place for you. The best questions come from listening to what is asked during the interview and asking for additional information.

Don’t Appear Desperate
When you interview with the “please, please hire me” approach, you appear desperate and less confident. Maintain the three C’s during the interview: cool, calm and confident. You know you can do the job; make sure the interviewer believes you can, too.

Interviews – Do’s and Don’ts

What to do:

• Dress smartly, look bright and attentive, and speak clearly and confidently. Don’t forget that in the first few minutes only 7% of the interviewer’s opinion of you is formed by what you say – the rest is judged on how you look, act and sound
• Find out where the venue is beforehand, how to get there and how long it takes
• Get your outfit ready the night before
• Find out what kind of interview it will be so you can prepare
• Examine the person specification and your CV/application form, and think about what type of questions they will ask you
• Prepare answers for the main questions – for example, why do you want the job, what are your strengths and weaknesses, what are the main tasks in this job?
• Make about three or four points in each answer
• Quote real examples of when you’ve used certain skills – just saying you’ve got a skill isn’t enough
• Take your time when answering the questions: make sure you understand the question and take your time if you need to think
• Sell yourself: no one else is going to! Be positive about yourself and your experiences
• Prepare some questions to ask at the end of the interview – use it as an opportunity to find out more about the role and the company in case of government jobs like CGL you can ask which department is better , its only a way to interact. (Don’t ask about money or perks just yet!)
• Get feedback on your performance, whether you were successful or not
• Turn off your mobile phone: treat the interviewers with respect and give them your undivided attention
• Keep your answers focused on what you can do for the government, not what they can do for you.

What not to do:

·  Don’t be late

·  Don’t swear or use slang words

·   Don’t slouch in your seat or do anything that makes you look uninterested

· Don’t smoke

· Don’t lie: the interviewer may see through you. Even if you get the job, your employer can dismiss you if they find out that you have not been honest

· Don’t let your nerves show too much; a few nerves are normal but extreme nerves will affect your performance. Use breathing techniques and try to remember that it’s not a life and death situation – there are plenty of jobs out there!

· Don’t be arrogant and assume you’ve got the job. Nothing turns off employers more than someone who is disrespectful and over-confident

· Don’t discuss controversial topics such as religion, politics and gender relations

· Don’t read from notes or your CV — you should be familiar enough with your own history to be able to talk about it unprompted

· Don’t criticise former employers or colleagues. Interviewers may mark you down as a troublemaker and a gossip

· Don’t argue with the interviewer, no matter what. Remember to keep things positive!

Above all, preparation is the key to performing well in interviews. Research the role and organisation, and prepare evidence and examples of your skills and competencies.How you can help any government organisation in their work.

SSC CGL INTERVIEW­­

1. Interview Introduction

We have 3 stages in a CGL namely

• TIER ­I
• TIER ­II
• TIER ­III – The Interview).

We think the last stage is the toughest among all; Tier ­II being the easiest. Certain reasons are there behind this particular view:

1.  Endless scope of questions asked in the interview. In tier ­I it’s only GK section which has no limit for its syllabus; but in an interview it’s even wider.

2. In the other two tiers there is one whole hour of time for 100 marks but in the interview one is with only 15­- 20 minutes.

So its importance can’t be ignored and thus should be treated with most sincerity. In CGLE­2010 only 28% of the candidates who were called for the interview scored 60 or above; which shows how tough the interview stage is.

Generally the interview runs from 15 minutes to 20 minutes and is conducted by a team of 3­4­5 members. Remember the board members not only try to judge your general knowledge or any other subject matter specifically but also watch how (in what manner) you respond to a particular query. So it becomes of paramount importance that in addition to have a very good command on the subject matter you should also learn to give responses desirably. Remember. HONESTY IS THE KEY! Therefore if you are unable to give an answer correctly it’s better to admit your ignorance. But it doesn’t mean you take things casually; it will always be in your favor if you answer the query correctly and in time. So prepare your knowledge well. Though, in the interview the main focus is to judge one’s personality and behavioral skills, you can’t simply ignore the academic knowledge. So better prepare yourself accordingly. If most of answering is not appropriate and you are thoroughly show your other skills/attributes well, too is not that good. Roughly 60­- 70% of your responses should at least be fine.

2. Interview Importance

The SSC has discretion to fix minimum qualifying marks in interview for each category of candidates. In CGLE­12 there were qualifying marks (cut­offs); 25 for UR and 20 for others (reserved categories) in the interview. By going through the above you can’t conclude that these will be the cut­offs in the following years also, but it’s very much clear that they will be the same more or less. Therefore the importance of the interview increases more. It is quite possible that candidates performing exceedingly well in the written find their names in the select list despite their poor show in the interview; vice versa is also true; a candidate can surpass candidates scoring good in the written by scoring high marks in the interview. So, Interview is very important. 

1. SAMPLE COPY OF BIO­ DATA FORM

2. HOW TO FILL THE BIO­ DATA FORM

Bio­ Data form is the first impression of you before the interview board. We all know THE FIRST IMPRESSION IS THE LAST IMPRESSION. Therefore you should fill it quite and clean. Keep the following things in mind while filling it:

1. There must not be any spelling errors, cuttings, overwriting etc.

2. Do not leave any column blank, if you don’t have anything to fill their write NIL. Remember don’t write NOT APPLICABLE (N/A) in any column of the bio­ data form. Both these expressions have different meanings. No column is there in the bio ­data form where NOT APPLICABLE applies.

3.  Every word there should be in full, so don’t write ever B.A (Eco) or like that anywhere. It should be B.A. (Economics) rather.

4. ADVT NO.: CGLE­13, CAT NO.: CGLE­13; NAME OF EXAMINATION: CGLE­13

5. 5. EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATION

If you want to fetch good marks in the interview write your every educational qualification, academic or professional. If you are post graduate write it, If you are MBA, CA write it. But unless you are comfortable in responses on them better not to mention as it will certainly give bad effect and will lesson your marks. Yes, nothing is better if you mention them and prepare yourself in possible questions

.EXTRA CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES ETC

In the columns asking information about your participation in Games, Sports, Fine Arts, Dramatics, Essay Writing, etc and NCC, NSS, Social Work, Mountaineering, Other Group Activities, etc, do show them as there are always extra marks for them in the interview. But again you are advised to prepare yourself in possible questions on them, otherwise it can go against you.

Also try your best to gather supporting documents for each of the activities you participated in, but if failed to do so, show them if you have fair amount of knowledge regarding them.

7. WORK EXPERIENCE:-

In this column show each of your experience, irrespective of the certificate you have or not. If you can’t arrange the work certificate, arrange joining letter, salary slip etc. If you can’t arrange anything still you should show it. Remember extra marks for work experience are always there in the interview. But again you should also prepare for any possible questions on it otherwise it will show your negative personality.

8. HOBBIES/INTERESTS:-

Generally candidates tend to show as much hobbies here. They are advised to show in it only ONE hobby/interest, and prepare themselves in all possible questions on it. They should show more than one only when they are comfortable in the responses, otherwise choose any ONE only. But you must not write here NIL, show one at least.

9. WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING SINCE YOU COMPLETED YOUR STUDIES:-

This is one of the hottest questions in aspirants’ mind. You have you been in any employment since completion of your studies, this is the best response you have, in addition you should say you were preparing for various competitive exams to be fit for govt jobs. If you haven’t been in any such employment for which you can’t support it by a certificate still your answer could be like that provided you are able to justify it by the answers to the questions asked. If there has been more than two years since your completion of your studies, your engagement in any employment is best. It maybe any, don’t care if you are not able to collect a certificate, just focus on possible questions.

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