Tag: interview tips

In this series, we at Imarticus Learning give you tips and tricks to land your dream job in Investment Banking.
There are many situations in which people make the mistake of using informal, irresponsible and fairly inappropriate phrases during an interview. These small mistakes may cost you your career. Let’s have a look at most unhelpful phrases to avoid in front of a recruiter.
–“To be honest with you”
When job candidates use this phrase, it sends a mixed message. It can sound like you are are being honest now, but weren’t being honest before. It’s a good idea to leave this phrase out.
–“I can’t think of any real weaknesses”
It may be exhausting when an interviewer asks, “What are your weaknesses?” But that’s all the more reason for you to have an answer. If you’re caught off guard by one of the most well-known interview questions around, you’ll look unprepared, come across like you lack self-awareness and give the impression of one unwilling to have an honest discussion about whether or not you’re fit for the job. No matter how highly you think of yourself, there should still be plenty of things that you’d like to do better.
–“I don’t have any questions”
You might be spending eight hours a day (or more) in this job, at this company, with this manager and there’s nothing you’re wondering about? Interviewers want to know that you’re interested in the details of the job, the department in which you’ll be working, your prospective supervisor’s management style, and the culture of the organization. Otherwise, you’re signaling that you’re either not that interested or that you just haven’t thought much about it. So come prepared with thoughtful, intelligent questions about the work you’d be doing.
–“I think I can do this job”
Saying “I think” instead of “I know” or “I believe” subtly communicates a lack of confidence. So many job candidates are uncomfortable talking about themselves. Most people are afraid of being seen as bragging and that can keep them from sounding confident when they may be a perfect fit for the job.
–“I will try”
The word “try” really doesn’t convey meaning, especially when a potential employer inquires about your ability to do something, such as “Can you implement a new cost sheet format for the department?” If your answer is, “I will try,” you don’t sound confident. More importantly, the word ‘try’ sounds like you are setting yourself up to fail. Answer yes or no.
-Team Imarticus Learning

In this series, we at Imarticus Learning give you tips and tricks to land your dream job in Investment Banking.
There are many situations in which people make the mistake of using informal, irresponsible and fairly inappropriate phrases during an interview. These small mistakes may cost you your career. Let’s have a look at most unhelpful phrases to avoid  in front of a recruiter.

-“To be honest with you”

When job candidates use this phrase, it sends a mixed message. It can sound like you are are being honest now, but weren’t being honest before. It’s a good idea to leave this phrase out.

-“I can’t think of any real weaknesses”

It may be exhausting when an interviewer asks, “What are your weaknesses?” But that’s all the more reason for you to have an answer. If you’re caught off guard by one of the most well-known interview questions around, you’ll look unprepared, come across like you lack self-awareness and give the impression of one unwilling to have an honest discussion about whether or not you’re fit for the job. No matter how highly you think of yourself, there should still be plenty of things that you’d like to do better.

-“I don’t have any questions”

You might be spending eight hours a day (or more) in this job, at this company, with this manager and there’s nothing you’re wondering about? Interviewers want to know that you’re interested in the details of the job, the department in which you’ll be working, your prospective supervisor’s management style, and the culture of the organization. Otherwise, you’re signaling that you’re either not that interested or that you just haven’t thought much about it. So come prepared with thoughtful, intelligent questions about the work you’d be doing.

-“I think I can do this job”

Saying “I think” instead of “I know” or “I believe” subtly communicates a lack of confidence. So many job candidates are uncomfortable talking about themselves. Most people are afraid of being seen as bragging and that can keep them from sounding confident when they may be a perfect fit for the job.

-“I will try”

The word “try” really doesn’t convey meaning, especially when a potential employer inquires about your ability to do something, such as “Can you implement a new cost sheet format for the department?”  If your answer is, “I will try,” you don’t sound confident. More importantly, the word ‘try’ sounds like you are setting yourself up to fail. Answer yes or no.
-Team Imarticus Learning

During the last Imarticus Interview Prep sessions, a student asked me a question- ‘What hobbies should I put in my CV?’ He was distraught because he had put tennis as his hobby and had been unable to answer who won the last French Open. He didn’t get the job and wonders if this could have been the problem because everything else had gone so well.

Hobbies are tricky- not putting in any makes you look like a bore yet putting down something you know little about can ruin your chances of a getting a job, primarily because everything else in your resume will be questioned as well. So what’s to be done?

First let’s look at why we put the troublesome section in there at all. The ‘vitae’ curriculum vitae stands for life and this section, to some extent, gives you an opportunity to show that you have a life outside work. It helps an employer see that you can fit into various social situations, that you understand winning and losing or creating something from scratch.

A sports enthusiast comes across as both competitive and a team player especially if he/she is part of a local club. Hobbies are even more critical in client service businesses where relationships need to be fostered. It’s not for nothing they say that golfing is the networking game. But you can’t put ‘Golfing’ in just because you spent an afternoon at the driving range with your uncle.

The reality of the matter is few of us have real hobbies. We spend far too much time working or surfing the Internet and spending time on social media. Time that would have otherwise been spent with a book, a musical instrument or even sport is spent navigating traffic or checking Facebook. So what do we do? We make things up, things that most people say; reading, watching movies and sometimes even jogging.

So many interviews go like this? Students make the mistake of putting in cricket and get stuck when they’re asked whom they play for, where they play and when they last hit the ball. They usually follow up with – ‘I prefer watching Sir.’ The next question is- Tell me something about your favorite bowler and why? The end. Everyone watches cricket, not everyone knows everything about the game.

Here are some pointers on how to handle the hobbies section:

• Stay away from general hobbies like ‘Reading’, ‘Watching movies’ unless you really know your stuff. Do not say ‘Reading’ unless you are a voracious reader, who can hold his or her own in a conversation. This means reading at least one book a week and talking about favorite authors or genres. The same goes with movies.
• Be specific- If you do play football regularly, provide detail. Instead of just saying ‘Football’, say ‘Play football on the weekends with local club or goalie with local club.’ ‘Play the Guitar’ can be ‘ part of a small band’ because it’s quite likely that if you are a real enthusiast, you’ll have a lot more to say. If you are a history buff, try ‘Enjoy reading about Indian Independence or the partition’. This sets your resume apart
• Don’t list your hobbies- the more you list, the more you belittle what you do. It also makes the interviewer wonder how hard you can really work.
• Tailor the section to the job you are looking for- many JD’s prescribe specific traits they like, so choose the hobby that works best for that. Analytical could mean ‘Crosswords’ or ‘Chess’. Again, only choose one you actually practice.

Here at Imarticus, we place a lot of emphasis on soft skills including presentation, communication and finally the dreaded interview prep through a lot of mock interviews. Here are some of the questions that are prevalent in one of the toughest interviews of all, The Harvard MBA interview.

What are the ten most unpredictable questions?

The following queries, along with advice on how to approach the answers, are from current HBS students who have successfully gained admission into the school. They’re among 96 questions gathered by the staff of The Harbus, the school’s MBA student newspaper, for its just-published “Unofficial Harvard Business School Interview Guide.”

Explain to me something you’re working on as if I were an eight-year-old?

This question gauges your ability to distill the essence of your job into very simply language. Think of how you would explain accretion/dilution to your grandmother at the Thanksgiving dinner table. Take the question quite literally, but don’t talk down to the interviewer. The ability to communicate complex information to laymen who may not share your grasp of the subject material happens to be a very important business skill. Clever metaphors can add color or flair (as in Sherman McCoy’s explanation to his daughter of what selling bonds entails in Tom Wolfe’s Bonfire of the Vanities).

Describe something that you should start doing, do more of, and do less of?

This question is driving at your ability to step outside of yourself and perform an honest appraisal. Can you see and act on your areas for improvement? Self-awareness and the ability to make sound judgments are important here. HBS is looking for someone who knows they don’t have it all figured out yet and is reflective about what they can strive towards.

What’s the one thing you’ll never be as good at as others?

If you respond ‘nothing’ to this, it indicates a lack of self-awareness. If your response is ‘modesty,’ you’d better hope your interviewer has a good sense of humor. There are so many honest, personalized answers to this question that it should not be difficult to come up with an example. Be honest: don’t try to hedge it or spin it. Just own it.