Guidance and advice for shaping your IT career - Freshers
What do companies look for in freshers and students during campus interviews?
- High percentage? - WRONG!!
- Technology? - WRONG!! (See my next post on specific technology areas)
- How many puzzles you can solve? - Not really!!
- Your C/C++ or Data Structure skills? - Not Completely!!
Some of the definite areas observed:
1. The way you dress!!
If you are dressed shabby, it gives the first impression that you may not fit the corporate culture or you may be that rebel kid and high chances you will get rejected in the campus interviews.
2. The way you greet!
A firm handshake demonstrates confidence and confidence is one of the selection criteria in most MNCs and big companies.
Smile - it definitely increases your chances of getting selected. A good morning, or good afternoon can definitely make the atmosphere a little warmer and opens up for a conversation, adjusting your voice etc.
3. Your manners and attitude! - For eg: Are you a good listener, do you cut the conversation etc
A major percentage of campus rejections happen due to the students not patient enough to hear the complete question. Many of the interview panels ask tricky questions which can be understood only after hearing it completely.
Use of etiquette like "Thank you", "Please", "Can you please" can make a big difference to the conversation and can change the complete impression about you. So make sure you try to be formal and do not show a casual attitude.
In one of our recent campus drives - some of the students were seated in the balcony area of the auditorium and they were asked to come down for the presentation. The students did not really take it seriously. But during the interviews, the panels casually asked where they were seated AND EVERY SINGLE CANDIDATE WHO WAS SEATED IN THE BALCONY was REJECTED!!
Moral of the story - Discipline matters.
4. Practice your introduction
"Tell me about yourself" is the most common first question in interviews and campus drives.
It takes only a few minutes to practice how to introduce yourself. You can even take a paper and a pen or a notepad and write a paragraph about the question "Tell me about yourself". A good "Tell me about yourself" can score a lot of points.
5. More...
There are some more aspects to campus interviews like being honest, bold and confident when giving answers. Do not say a hobby just for the sake of saying it. Interviewers may sometime have the same hobby and ask a question or two about it. I always get some folks saying their hobby as "Reading" or "Chess" or "Football" but for the next question "what do you read" they hardly have the name of an author or a book. Most people who say chess as their favorite hobby has no clue about "Sicilian defense" or "Ruy Lopez" and can score low points by quoting it as a hobby.
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Note: The above points are real situations based on a lot of experience and observations. I hope this helps in getting through campus interviews or doing your interviews better. I have interviewed hundreds of students in campuses in different states and even countries like US and Europe apart from India. Please let me know if these points helped you in anyway and how you were able to use the above points in your specific situation which may help other readers too!
- High percentage? - WRONG!!
- Technology? - WRONG!! (See my next post on specific technology areas)
- How many puzzles you can solve? - Not really!!
- Your C/C++ or Data Structure skills? - Not Completely!!
Some of the definite areas observed:
1. The way you dress!!
If you are dressed shabby, it gives the first impression that you may not fit the corporate culture or you may be that rebel kid and high chances you will get rejected in the campus interviews.
2. The way you greet!
A firm handshake demonstrates confidence and confidence is one of the selection criteria in most MNCs and big companies.
Smile - it definitely increases your chances of getting selected. A good morning, or good afternoon can definitely make the atmosphere a little warmer and opens up for a conversation, adjusting your voice etc.
3. Your manners and attitude! - For eg: Are you a good listener, do you cut the conversation etc
A major percentage of campus rejections happen due to the students not patient enough to hear the complete question. Many of the interview panels ask tricky questions which can be understood only after hearing it completely.
Use of etiquette like "Thank you", "Please", "Can you please" can make a big difference to the conversation and can change the complete impression about you. So make sure you try to be formal and do not show a casual attitude.
In one of our recent campus drives - some of the students were seated in the balcony area of the auditorium and they were asked to come down for the presentation. The students did not really take it seriously. But during the interviews, the panels casually asked where they were seated AND EVERY SINGLE CANDIDATE WHO WAS SEATED IN THE BALCONY was REJECTED!!
Moral of the story - Discipline matters.
4. Practice your introduction
"Tell me about yourself" is the most common first question in interviews and campus drives.
It takes only a few minutes to practice how to introduce yourself. You can even take a paper and a pen or a notepad and write a paragraph about the question "Tell me about yourself". A good "Tell me about yourself" can score a lot of points.
5. More...
There are some more aspects to campus interviews like being honest, bold and confident when giving answers. Do not say a hobby just for the sake of saying it. Interviewers may sometime have the same hobby and ask a question or two about it. I always get some folks saying their hobby as "Reading" or "Chess" or "Football" but for the next question "what do you read" they hardly have the name of an author or a book. Most people who say chess as their favorite hobby has no clue about "Sicilian defense" or "Ruy Lopez" and can score low points by quoting it as a hobby.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: The above points are real situations based on a lot of experience and observations. I hope this helps in getting through campus interviews or doing your interviews better. I have interviewed hundreds of students in campuses in different states and even countries like US and Europe apart from India. Please let me know if these points helped you in anyway and how you were able to use the above points in your specific situation which may help other readers too!
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