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WHAT’S NEXT?
Acing the interview Interviews can sometimes feel like outof-body experiences, where a ghost-like version of yourself floats above you, facepalming when you say the wrong thing or whooping when you nail it. You can generally tell when you’ve had a good interview by how you feel when you leave the room. Like a good date, it makes you walk down the street a little taller, feeling rather pleased with yourself. On the other hand, a bad interview is much like a bad date that makes you cringe and feel dispirited. You can’t help replaying the bad moments in your head and groaning audibly at something you said or didn’t say. There is always an element of luck to an interview. Maybe it’s the kind of day you had or the personality of the interviewer, but these things can end up unnecessarily defining your experience. This need not be the case. If you prepare thoroughly and really know what you’re talking about, you can take luck out of the equation and ace that interview every time. THE DOs AND DONTs A lot of the advice for acing your assessment-centre experience applies to the interview scenario as well. In an interview, there is less time to recover from mistakes.
On the bright side, you only have to stay focused and attentive for one to two hours max instead of a whole day, which is often the case for assessments. Sometimes, knowing what not to do is as helpful as knowing what to do. We’ve given you some do’s and don’ts to guide you through the interview process. Research and prepare meticulously: find as much information as possible about the company and job. If possible, look for the interviewer’s name to address the person properly. You should convince the recruiter that you are well-informed about the job’s requirements. Aside from that, be ready to prove how you can become valuable and a good fit to the company. ■ Do check if the company has been in the news. If appropriate, drop that into the conversation to show that you’ve done your homework. ■ Don’t go into an interview with a halfbaked idea of the role you’ve applied for and what the company does. You may certainly have questions about the company or may like some clarity on certain aspects of the role. As long as they are intelligent questions, the recruiter will be impressed that you were interested enough to ask.
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