Interview Preparation Tips & Questions: Preparing For An Interview

Interview Preparation Tips & Questions

Preparing for an Interview Know yourself - Take the time to evaluate your goals, interests, strengths and weaknesses. Know the job and the company - Do you understand the responsibilities of the role. What kind of work would you be doing? Research the company either on the Internet or through any printed materials. Know the interview details - Be clear beforehand about the location of your interview, duration and name of the interviewer. Anticipate questions - Try to anticipate some of the questions that may be asked during an interview. Review the job posting and highlight any specific skills or personal qualities that the employer mentions. Consider points to stress - Outline a few of the skills or qualifications that you think the employer should know about you. What skills do you have that the company really needs? Cite specific instances when you have demonstrated personal initiative or achieved distinctive results. Prepare questions to ask - Do not end an interview without asking some intelligent questions. Be careful that you do not ask for information that has already been provided. Avoid asking about salary, holidays and working hours unless this information is critical for you to make a decision. Practice - Interviewing is a learned skill. Take the time to practice responding to a variety of typical interview questions.

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Interview Questions – Frequently asked (Please write answers for each of these questions. Assume that you are attending an interview at Accenture) 1. Please introduce yourself. / Tell us about yourself. 2. What do you see yourself doing five years from now? 3. What do you consider to be your major strengths and weaknesses? Explain with examples. 4. What do you know about our company? 5. Why should we select you? 6. Why do you want to join our company? 7. If you get an offer from another (bigger / better) company, what will you do? 8. What were you doing after you completed your B.E. / MCA? 9. Tell us about the projects that you have done. 10. Who is your role model? What do you find special in that person? 11. Do you have any questions that you would like to ask us?

More Interview Questions 1. How would you describe yourself? 2. Tell us something about yourself, which is not in your resume / profile sheet. 3. How do you think a friend or a teacher who knows you well would describe you? 4. How did you reach here? Did you have any difficulty in locating the place? 5. What are your long-range career objectives? 6. How do you plan to achieve your career goals? 7. What are the most important rewards you expect in your career? 8. What specific goals, other than those related to your occupation, have you established for yourself for the next ten years? 9. Why did you choose the career for which you are preparing? 10. Which is more important to you, the money or the type of job? 11. How would you describe the ideal job for you? What two or three things are most important to you in your job? 12. What motivates you to put forth your greatest effort? 13. Do you like to work in a group or to work alone? Why? 14. Do you want to be a project leader or a project team member? Give the reasons for your answer. 15. Consider yourself as a team leader. Your team is winning, but one member of the team is performing badly. What will you do?

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16. What qualifications do you have that you think will make you a successful software engineer? 17. What qualities should a successful software engineer possess? Which of these do you lack in yourself? 18. What do you think it takes to be successful in a company like ours? 19. In what ways do you think you can make a contribution to our company? 20. If you were hiring a graduate for this position, what qualities would you look for? 21. What do you know about Bangalore / Chennai / Hyderabad …? Have you been to any places outside Kerala? 22. How did you gather information about our company? 23. What criteria are you using to evaluate the company for which you hope to work? 24. What two or three accomplishments have given you the most satisfaction? Why? 25. Describe your most rewarding experience while you were in college? 26. Can you describe a situation when you worked under pressure to meet deadlines? 27. Why did you select the college / institution where you studied? 28. What led you to choose your field / branch? 29. Why did you choose your area of specialization (for example, Java or .Net)? Are you willing to work in any other stream? 30. What university subjects did you like most? Why? 31. What university subjects did you like least? Why? 32. Why are you unemployed till now? 33. If you could do so, how would you plan your academic study differently? Why? 34. Do you have plans for continued study? 35. What was your position in college? Were you in the top 5 % or 10% in your class? 36. Are you willing to work anywhere in the world? Are you willing to travel? 37. Are you willing to spend at least six months as a trainee? 38. Are you willing to sign our employment bond for a period of three years? 39. What have you learned from your mistakes? 40. How do you spend your spare time? Tell us more about your hobbies. 41. Which newspapers do you read? 42. Which websites do you visit frequently? 43. What have you learned from your extracurricular activities at university? 44. Which companies came for campus interview in your college? 45. Have you attended any other job interviews earlier? Why you were not selected? 46. What type of working environment are you expecting? Faith InfoTech India Pvt - Centre of Excellence in IT, Thiruvananthapuram Page 3 of 6

47. 48. 49.

What is your salary expectation? What did you do to prepare yourself for this interview? What will you do if you are selected / rejected in this interview?

Write down and prepare your answers for the above sample questions. practise it aloud by yourself or with a friend.

Then

Behavioural Interview Questions Behavioral interviewing is a relatively new mode of job interviewing. The premise behind behavioural interviewing is that the most accurate predictor of future performance is past performance in similar situations. In a behavioral interview, it’s difficult to give responses that are untrue to your character. When you start to tell a behavioral story, the behavioral interviewer typically will pick it apart to try to get at the specific behavior(s). The interviewer will probe further for more depth or detail such as “What were you thinking at that point?” or “Tell me more about your meeting with that person,” or “Lead me through your decision process.” If you’ve told a story that’s anything but totally honest, your response will not hold up through the barrage of probing questions. Given below are sample questions asked in behavioural interviews: 1. Describe a situation in which you were able to use your communication skills to influence a person or team. 2. Describe a time when you were faced with a stressful situation that demonstrated your coping skills. 3. Give me a specific example of a time when you used good judgment and logic in solving a problem. 4. Give me an example of a time when you set a goal and were able to achieve it. 5. Tell me about a time when you had to use your presentation skills to influence someone's opinion. 6. Give me a specific example of a time when you had to conform to a policy with which you did not agree. 7. Tell me about a time when you had to go above and beyond the call of duty in order to get a job done. 8. Tell me about a time when you had too many things to do and you were required to prioritize your tasks. 9. What is your typical way of dealing with conflict? Give me an example. Faith InfoTech India Pvt - Centre of Excellence in IT, Thiruvananthapuram Page 4 of 6

10. Tell me about a time you were able to successfully deal with another person even when that individual may not have personally liked you (or vice versa). 11. Tell me about a difficult decision you've made in the last year. 12. Give me an example of a time when you tried to accomplish something and failed. 13. Give me an example of when you showed initiative and took the lead. 14. Give me an example of a time when you motivated others. 15. Give me an example of a time when you used your fact-finding skills to solve a problem. 16. Describe a time when you anticipated potential problems and developed preventive measures.

One strategy for preparing for behavioral interviews is to use the STAR Technique, as outlined below. (This technique is often referred to as the SAR and PAR techniques as well.)

Situation / Task / Problem

Describe the situation that you were in or the task that you needed to accomplish. You must describe a specific event or situation, not a generalized description of what you have done in the past. Be sure to give enough detail for the interviewer to understand. This situation can be from a previous job, from a volunteer experience, or any relevant event.

Action

Describe the action you took and be sure to keep the focus on you. Even if you are discussing a group project or effort, describe what you did -- not the efforts of the team. Don't tell what you might do, tell what you did.

Results

What happened? How did the event end? What did you accomplish? What did you learn?

For recruitment of freshers, companies such as Accenture ask behavioural interview questions based on the candidate’s resume. So pay special attention to everything that you have mentioned in your resume, and be prepared with examples to substantiate your claims.

Off-the-wall Questions You may be asked these questions to assess your ability to handle the unexpected, solve problems, or think under pressure. Faith InfoTech India Pvt - Centre of Excellence in IT, Thiruvananthapuram Page 5 of 6

1. If you could be any character in fiction, who would you be? 2. If you could be a superhero, what would you want your superpowers to be? 3. If someone wrote a biography about you, what do you think the title should be? 4. If you had to be shipwrecked on a deserted island, but all your human needs - such as food and water - were taken care of, what two items would you want to have with you? 5. If you had six months with no obligations or financial constraints, what would you do with the time? 6. If you could have dinner with anyone from history, who would it be, and why? 7. If you could compare yourself with any animal, which would it be and why? 8. What is your opinion about the xyz controversy / scandal? 9. How do you rate me as an interviewer? 10. In the news story about your life, what would the headline say? The purpose of these questions is to get past your pre-programmed answers and find out whether you are capable of an original thought. The key to responding to an off-the-wall question is not to let it rattle you. Simply smile, take a deep breath, and take a moment to compose your response. A little bit of silence is better than blurting out something even sillier than the question. You don't have to be brilliant or witty. Just be yourself and give an honest response. If worse comes to worst, and you absolutely cannot think of an answer, ask if you can come back to that question later. You may lose a few thinking-on-your-feet points, but you'll gain points for handling a difficult situation with poise. Some companies ask off-the-wall questions to assess the creativity of the candidates. Some of these questions are: 1. Tell me six uses of this pen other than for writing. 2. What all can you do with this paperweight / clip / pin? When faced with these questions, think creatively and come out with as many answers as you can. There is no problem even if you take some time to think before you give the answers. Focus on positive scenarios for your answers rather than destructive / negative scenarios. Be calm and pleasant even if you are finding it difficult to give proper answers.

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