Doing Well in a Job Interview

Jun 132011
 

Doing Well in a Job Interview

Investigate before you go. Express only compliments about the job. Do not negotiate
before the job is offered. Do not accept or decline immediately, Analyze.
Merely being invited for an interview in academia or in business in todays
economic climate should be considered as a success, as desirable and attractive
positions are scarce. During an economic slump, the general mode of employment
policy is to freeze all hiring.
Your conduct in the interview must, however, remain well-defined, in both good
as well as in bad economic times:
1. Your CV/resume and personal statement must have been attractive, as you have
been invited for an interview.
2. Realize that an interview is equivalent to shopping, with you being on display.
The employer is the one that chooses and may be finicky in taste, and, in the end,
after interviewing you and several other candidates, he or she may decide that
there is no need to fill the position with an outsider.

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What It Takes to Achieve a Successful Career

Jun 132011
 

To succeed you must have talent but hard work and some good luck can help.
There are no fixed rules for success; rather, there is a complicated combination
of multiple factors that work together and can result in ultimate career success.
Personal characteristics are essential for success, and the more of them you possess
the more likely you are to succeed. Some of these characteristics are listed below:
1. Ambition
2. Courage
3. Desire for continuous learning
4. Ability to communicate

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A Gem Of An Article

Aug 012010
 

It was probably the April of 1974. Bangalore was getting warm and Gilmores were blooming at the IISc campus. I was the only girl in my postgraduate department and was staying at the ladies’ hostel. Other girls were pursuing research in different departments of Science.

I was looking forward to going abroad to complete a doctorate in computer science. I had been offered scholarships from Universities inthe US . I had not thought of taking up a job in India.

One day, while on the way to my hostel from our lecture-hall complex, I saw an advertisement on the notice board. It was a standard job-requirement notice from the famous automobile company Telco (now Tata Motors). It stated that the company required young, bright engineers, hardworking and with an excellent academic background, etc.

At the bottom was a small line: “Lady Candidates need not apply.” I read it and was very upset. For the first time in my life I was up against gender discrimination.

Though I was not keen on taking up the job, I saw it as a challenge. I had done extremely well in academics, better than most of my male peers.

Little did I know then that in real life academic excellence is not enough to be successful?

After reading the notice I went fuming to my room. I decided to inform the topmost person in Telco’s management about the injustice the company was perpetrating.

I got a postcard and started to write, but there was a problem: I did not know who headed Telco I thought it must be one of the Tatas. I knew JRD Tata was the head of the Tata Group;

I had seen his pictures in newspapers (actually, Sumant Moolgaokar was the company’s chairman then) I took the card, addressed it to JRD and started writing. To this day I remember clearly what I wrote.

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The Seven Signals for Success

Mar 072010
 

The Seven Signals for Success

what body language should be and what messages should be sent, and how during an interview for success? Here are seven general suggestions on good body language for the interview.

1. Walk slowly, deliberately, and tall upon entering the room.

2. On greeting the interviewer, give (and, hopefully, receive) a friendly “eyebrow flash”: that brief, slight raising of the brows that calls attention to the face, encourages eye contact, and (when accompanied by a natural smile) sends the strong positive signal that the interview has gotten off to a good start.

3. Use mirroring techniques. In other words, make an effort — subtly! — to reproduce the positive signals your interviewer sends. (Of course, you should never mirror negative body signals.) Say the interviewer leans forward to make a point; a few moments later, you lean forward slightly in order to hear better. Say the interviewer leans back and laughs; you “laugh beneath” the interviewer’s laughter, taking care not to overwhelm your partner by using an inappropriate volume level. This technique may seem contrived at first, but you will learn that it is far from that, if only you experiment a little.

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How To Send Signals Without Words

Mar 072010
 

Body LanguageSending Signals Without Words

Body language is extremely important in an interviewing situation. Some would argue that it is just as important as what you say and what is on your resume. Why?
Because we can learn quite a bit about people by their non-verbal actions. This is one of the ways that an interviewer is trying to size you up as a candidate.
When we are in stressful or uncomfortable situations, many of us have habits that can be distracting to other people. Certainly biting ones nails or constantly fidgeting with ones hands could be distracting from what you are trying to say. These are examples of body language that can be harmful in an interviewing situation. Used correctly, however, body language can reinforce what you are saying and give greater impact to your statements. The following are tips to help you give the right non-verbal clues.

The Greeting
Facial / Head Signals
The Eyes
The Head
The Mouth
The Hands
Feet


The Greeting
Giving a “dead fish” handshake will not advance one’s candidacy: neither will opposite extreme, the iron-man bone crusher grip.The ideal handshake starts before the meeting actually occurs. Creating the right impression with the handshake is a three-step process.

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