Getting ready to plunge into the corporate world adds to the excitement level of fresh graduates. The excitement is accompanied by anxiety as every interview call you get is important and you feel the pressure of performing good.
Here are some tips for fresh graduates aspiring to join the community of working professionals give that first best impression during their job interview:
1. Reach on time:
Being punctual demonstrates your seriousness towards the interview. Find out well in advance the information about how to reach the interview place, how much time does it take to reach there. Try to reach the interview place 15 minutes in advance so that you can relax and get yourself ready to face the interview.
2. Carry all required documents in a folder
Make sure that you carry 2-3 copies of your resume, certificates (if asked), a notepad and a pen in a well organised folder.
3. Dress neatly and demonstrate confidence
Dressing neatly adds to your self confidence – this includes, neat clothes, shoes and well done hair. Be cautious about the fragrance you use – it should not be so strong that it makes the interviewer uncomfortable.
Enter the interview room with a smile on your face and don’t slouch in your chair. While slouching in your chair demonstrates lack of interest, the bowed down back exhibits that you are nervous.
In both the situations, you will not be able to face the interview effectively.
4. Mind your actions
Biting your nails, tapping the table with your pen, sipping water again and again, touching your forehead or nose, biting your lips demonstrates nervousness. Similarly chewing the gum during an interview demonstrates lack of courtesy. Keep away from doing any of these.
While you have a right to remain silent over things you want, do not tell lies about your candidature. With a lot of investigative agencies and social media being in place, truth is not difficult to be discovered.
5. Anticipate questions
You can easily anticipate some questions while preparing for the interview. Make a list of such questions and prepare answers for them. Take a look at the job notification also to anticipate some questions you might be asked based on the key skills required for the role.
6. Listen carefully
Ensure that you let the interviewer finish the question before you jump to answer it. Answer with required facts and figures without being too verbose.
7. Be loud enough and clear
Make sure that the interviewer can hear you clearly. Avoid talking too loudly or in a very low volume.
8. Establish eye contact
If there are more than one interviewer, establish eye contact with each of them while answering the questions. At the same time avoid staring at any one of them as it exhibits over aggression.
9. Say “I don’t know”
While you must make intelligent guesses, don’t fake around by trying to offer wrong answers to the questions you don’t know at all. It is absolutely OK if you don’t know certain things.
10. Ask questions
When given a chance, make sure that you ask intelligent questions. This would require you to research the job and the company very well before you go to the interview. Not asking any questions in the interview demonstrates your lack of interest in the position or being dull.
Certain mistakes I did as a fresher –
1. Waiting to take a print out of the CV till last moment.
2. Not knowing the interview venue well which made me reach late and get nervous.
3. Not anticipating certain closely related questions.
4. Exhibiting nervousness by sipping water again and again from the glass
Look that you do not repeat the same mistakes…..they costed me the opportunity.
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