General Tips

General Tips To Overcome An Interview

• 
  

General Tips To Overcome An Interview
So what if you are not a mountaineer. Or a keen hiker. You still cannot treat your interview like a careless morning trot along a jogger's path. Your jaw-jaw at the interview table is nothing less than a cautious climb up a mountain trail--which begins around your early childhood and meanders through the years at the academia before reaching a new summit in your career.And as you retrace your steps down memory lane make sure that you post flags at important landmarks of your life and career, so that you can pop them before the interview panel scoops them out of you. You don't want to be at the receiving end, do you?
Face the panel, but don't fall of the chair in a headlong rush-and-skid attempt to tell your story. Take one step at a time. If you place your foot on slippery ground, you could be ejecting out on a free fall.
So prepare, fortify your thoughts, re-jig your memory, and script and design your story (without frills and falsity). Without the right preparation and storyboard, you could be a loser at the interview. Here are a few preparation tips that books on interviews sometimes overlook.
Before the interview
1. Chronological Outline of Career and Education Divide your life into "segments" defining your university, first job, second job. For each stage, jot down :
The reason for opting certain course or profession; Your job responsibilities in your previous/current job; Reason of leaving your earlier/current job. You should be clear in your mind where you want to be in the short and long term and ask yourself the reason why you would be appropriate for the job you are being interviewed for and how it will give shape to your future course.
2. Strengths and Weaknesses
You should keep a regular check on your strengths and weaknesses. Write down three (3) technical and three (3) non-technical personal strengths. Most importantly, show examples of your skills. This proves more effective than simply talking about them. So if you're asked about a general skill, provide a specific example to help you fulfil the interviewer's expectations. It isn't enough to say you've got "excellent leadership skills". Instead, try saying:
"I think I have excellent leaderships skills which I have acquired through a combination of effective communication, delegation and personal interaction. This has helped my team achieve its goals."
As compared to strengths, the area of weaknesses is difficult to handle. Put across your weakness in such a way that it at leaset seems to be a positive virtue to the interviewer. Describe a weakness or area for development that you have worked on and have now overcome.
3. Questions you should be prepared for
Tell us about yourself.What do you know about our company?Why do you want to join our company?What are your strengths and weaknesses?Where do you see yourself in the next five years?How have you improved the nature of your job in the past years of your working? Why should we hire you?What contributions to profits have you made in your present or former company? Why are you looking for a change?
Answers to some difficult questions :
Tell me about yourself ?Start from your education and give a brief coverage of previous experiences. Emphasise more on your recent experience explaining your job profile.
What do you think of your boss?Put across a positive image, but don't exaggerate.
Why should we hire you? Or why are you interested in this job?Sum up your work experiences with your abilities and emphasise your strongest qualities and achievements. Let your interviewer know that you will prove to be an asset to the company.
How much money do you want?Indicate your present salary and emphasise that the opportunity is the most important consideration.
Do you prefer to work in a group?Be honest and give examples how you've worked by yourself and also with others. Prove your flexibility.
4. Questions to As
At the end of the interview, most interviewers generally ask if you have any questions. Therefore, you should be prepared beforehand with 2-3 technical and 2-3 non-technical questions and commit them to your memory before the interview.
Do not ask queries related to your salary, vacation, bonuses, or other benefits. This information should be discussed at the time of getting your joining letter. Here we are giving few sample questions that you can ask at the time of your interview.
Sample Questions
Could you tell me the growth plans and goals for the company?What skills are important to be successful in this position?Why did you join this company? (optional)What's the criteria your company uses for performance appraisal?With whom will I be interacting most frequently and what are their responsibilities and the nature of our interaction?What is the time frame for making a decision at this position?What made the previous persons in this position successful/unsuccessful?
5. Do your homework
Before going for an interview, find out as much information on the company (go to JobsAhead Company Q and A) as possible. The best sources are the public library, the Internet (you can check out the company's site), and can even call the company and get the required information. The information gives you a one-up in the interview besides proving your content company or position.
Clearing the interview isn't necessarily a solitary attempt. Seek assistance from individuals who are in the profession and whose counsel you value most. Be confident in your approach and attitude; let the panel feel it through your demeanour, body language and dressing.
Getting prepared for your interview is the best way to dig deep and know yourself. You will be surprised that it would breed a new familiarity become more familiar with your own qualifications that will be make you present yourself better. All the best and get ready to give a treat.
Back To
Preparation
The Interview
Interview is an opportunity for both the employer and the applicant to gather information. The employer wants to know if you, the applicant, have the skills, knowledge, self-confidence, and motivation necessary for the job. At this point you can be confident that the employer saw something of interest in your resume. He or she also wants to determine whether or not you will fit in with the organization's current employees and philosophy. Similarly, you will want to evaluate the position and the organization, and determine if they will fit into your career plans. The interview is a two-way exchange of information. It is an opportunity for both parties to market themselves. The employer is selling the organization to you, and you are marketing your skills, knowledge, and personality to the employer.
Interview Preparation
Research is a critical part of preparing for an interview. If you haven't done your homework, it is going to be obvious. Spend time researching and thinking about yourself, the occupation, the organization, and questions you might ask at the end of the interview.
Step 1: Know Yourself
The first step in preparing for an interview is to do a thorough self-assessment so that you will know what you have to offer an employer. It is very important to develop a complete inventory of skills, experience, and personal attributes that you can use to market yourself to employers at any time during the interview process. In developing this inventory, it is easiest to start with experience. Once you have a detailed list of activities that you have done (past jobs, extra-curricular involvements, volunteer work, school projects, etc.), it is fairly easy to identify your skills.
Simply go through the list, and for each item ask yourself "What could I have learned by doing this?" "What skills did I develop?" "What issues/circumstances have I learned to deal with?" Keep in mind that skills fall into two categories - technical and generic. Technical skills are the skills required to do a specific job. For a laboratory assistant, technical skills might include knowledge of sterilization procedures, slide preparation, and scientific report writing. For an outreach worker, technical skills might include counselling skills, case management skills, or program design and evaluation skills
Generic skills are those which are transferable to many work settings. Following is a list of the ten most marketable skills. You will notice that they are all generic.
Analytical/Problem Solving
Flexibility/Versatility
Interpersonal
Oral/Written Communication
Organization/Planning
Time Management
Motivation
Leadership
Self-Starter/Initiative
Team Player
Often when people think of skills, they tend to think of those they have developed in the workplace. However, skills are developed in a variety of settings. If you have ever researched and written a paper for a course, you probably have written communication skills. Team sports or group projects are a good way to develop the skills required of a team player and leader. Don't overlook any abilities you may have
When doing the research on yourself, identifying your experience and skills is important, but it is not all that you need to know. Consider the answers to other questions such as:
How have I demonstrated the skills required in this position?
What are my strong points and weak points?
What are my short term and long term goals?
What can I offer this particular employer?
What kind of environment do I like? (i.e. How do I like to be supervised? Do I like a fast pace?)
What do I like doing?
Apart from my skills and experience, what can I bring to this job?
Step 2: Know the Occupation
The second step in preparing for an interview is to research the occupation. This is necessary because in order to present a convincing argument that you have the experience and skills required for that occupation, you must first know what those requirements and duties are. With this information uncovered, you can then match the skills you have (using the complete skills/experience inventory you have just prepared) with the skills you know people in that occupational field need. The resulting "shortlist" will be the one that you need to emphasize during the interview.
It is also in your best interest to identify the approximate starting salary for that position, or those similar. There are several ways to find out about an occupation:
Acquire a copy of the job description from the employer (Human
Resources/Personnel) or check with Student Employment Services. If you are responding to an advertisement, this may also supply some details.
The Career Resource Centre has general information files on a variety of occupations. Make sure you have read through the appropriate file and are updated on the occupation. If you belong to a professional association related to the occupation, use its resources. These associations often publish informative newsletters and sponsor seminars. It is also a good way to meet people working in the field. Conduct information interviews with people working in the field. Read articles about people in the occupation, and articles written by people in the occupation. Sources include newspapers, magazines and the internet. Find out what the future trends are in the area. Is technology changing the job?
Step 3: Know the Organization
The more you know about an organization, the better prepared you will be to discuss how you can meet its needs. Some of the characteristics that you should know about an organization are:
Where is it located?
How big is it?
What are its products and who does it serve?
How is the organization structured?
What is its history?
Have there been any recent changes, new developments?
There are a number of ways in which you can access this information. Most medium- to large-sized organizations publish information about themselves. You can access this a number of ways:
On campus at the Student Employment Services (company literature and business directories) or at the Drake Centre Library
The Winnipeg Centennial Library has a business microfiche with information on over 5000 Canadian companies and business directories
Many companies have internet home pages which you can locate by searching by industry and company name
Finally, you can visit or phone the organization and request some information on their products, services or areas of research
If the organization is fairly small, or fairly new, there may not be much information published. In this case, it will be necessary to do an information interview. Contact someone within the organization, introduce yourself, explain that you are considering moving into the field, and ask if it would be possible to meet with him/her to inquire about the company/organization and about what exactly the position would involve.
Step 4: Prepare Questions
Having completed your background research, you are now ready to prepare questions to ask the
interviewer(s). Try to think of questions for which the answer was not readily available in company
literature. Intelligent well thought-out questions will demonstrate your genuine interest in the position. Be
careful how many questions you ask, however, as too many can imply you feel the interview was not
successfully run. Pick your questions with care - this is your chance to gather information, so ask about
what you really want to know. Avoid sounding critical by mentioning negative information you may have
discovered. This is one of the most effective ways to compare different employers, so for issues of
particular importance to you (for example, whether they support staff upgrading), you should ask the same
questions of each employer. Some sample questions are:
What are the most significant factors affecting your business today? How have changes in technology most affected your business today?
How has your business/industry been affected by the recession?
How has your company grown or changed in the last couple of years?
What future direction do you see the company taking?
Where is the greatest demand for your services or product?
Where is most of the pressure from increased business felt in this company?
Which department feels it the most?
How do you differ from your competitors?
How much responsibility will I be given in this position?
What do you like about working with this organization?
Can you tell me more about the training program?
Have any new product lines been introduced recently?
How much travel is normally expected?
What criteria will be used to evaluate my performance?
Will I work independently or as part of a team?
How did you advance to your position?
What are the career paths available in this organization?
When can I expect to hear from you regarding this position?
It is very important to ask the last question because employers want to hire individuals who are interested in the position - and asking this question definitely helps to demonstrate interest on your part. Exercise judgement when asking questions to an employer. When being interviewed by a large company that has a high profile, one would not ask the question
"What is the history of your company and how was your company started?" You can find the answer to this question in the company's annual report or articles in magazines/newspapers. However, small- and medium-sized companies do not always produce publicly available annual reports and it may be difficult to access information on the company and its role in the industry. This question is appropriate if you have exercised all other ways to find out the answer.
Dressing
Preparations
Let's say you are going for an interview tomorrow. You have prepared yourself well for the occasion - anticipating the questions and getting ready the answers - but have you given a thought to what you will wear?
If you have not peeked into your wardrobe yet, it's time to take a real hard look now. Your application's fate depends not just on how well you answer the interview questions, but also on how well you project yourself physically. The first impression your interviewer makes about you is based on the way you look, and you know what they say about first impressions. According to Joe Hodowanes, J.M. Wanes and Associates career strategy advisor, "The way a person dresses is the single biggest non-verbal communication you make about yourself." The right dressing is a measure of the seriousness that you place on the position, as a person normally spends time on his looks if he considers an event important enough.
"Although proper dressing by itself will not get you the job, a poor dress sense may exclude you from further consideration," warns Gerry Ditching, managing partner of Filgifts.com. Besides, given two equally good applicants, the company may choose to hire the person who is dressed more professionally. Here are some tips to give you a headstart.
Men
Long-sleeved shirt and dark slacks. White is still the safest and the best color for shirts. The colour is also appropriate for our tropical weather. Also acceptable: pale shades such as beige, blue, and other pastels.
Tuck in the shirt and do not roll up the sleeves. Never wear a short-sleeved shirt to an interview or any business purpose. Wearing a short-sleeved shirt will destroy your executive image.
Ties. Optional. But if you do wear one, choose a conservative pattern. Solids, small polka dots, diagonal stripes, small repeating shapes, subtle plaids and paisleys are all acceptable.
Belts. Belts should match your shoes. Those with smaller buckles with squared lines look more professional.
Socks. Black socks are the best, followed by blue or gray, depending on your attire. Never wear white socks! Check your sock length, too--no skin should show when you sit down or cross your legs. Shoes. Black or burgundy leather shoes with laces on them, because tassel loafers are very casual. Other suitable colors are brown, cordovan and navy.
Hair. Keep neat, short and preferably parted on the side. And shave off all those facial hair.
Jewellery. Wear no or little jewellery. The watch and wedding ring are the only acceptable pieces of jewellery to go with the male attire. Thin gold or leather-strapped watches look professional but not digital watches. Also, avoid political or religious insignias, necklaces or bracelets. Definitely no pierced body parts, and cover up your tattoos!
Accessories. As much as possible, use leather briefcases or folders to hold copies of your resume. Use narrow briefcases and avoid plastic folders and plastic ball pens as they are out of place.
Women
Three-piece business suits, blouse and skirt or slacks, and cardigan twin-sets. Sleeveless shirts should be rejected. Short-sleeved blouses are okay when they are tailor-cut or have features such as a sports collar or double breast design to create a business-like look. Skirts can either be long provided it does not create a Cinderella or barn-dance look or short where it falls no shorter than two inches from the knee. Nothing too revealing, please!
Panty-hose or stockings. A must for professional grooming, but nothing with overly fussy patterns. Bring an extra pair, just in case the ones you are wearing run.
Shoes. Closed shoes or pumps with at least 1½-inch heels suggest a more professional look. Dark colors are best.
Hair. Hair longer than shoulder length should be worn up or pulled back. Don't let it fall in front of your face and don't keep trying to fix it during the interview. Avoid large hair ornaments and trendy hairstyles.
Make-up. Be subtle; natural is the key word. Light shades of lip coloring and nail polish are recommended.
Jewellery. Be conservative. Studs of gold, silver or pearls are best. Do away with gaudy fashion jewelers, and those that clank and make noise when one moves.
Accessories. Folders and bags should blend well with the total professional look. Women should match their purse with their shoe colour.
Etiquette

Go for a mock exercise before the real talk at the job table
Hone your interview etiquette................ Churn the right mix of deportment, attitude and dressingskills for a great job talk !
Never make the big mistake of treating an interview lightly. It's not an impromptu thing where you depend on your improvisation skills. An interview requires careful thought and planning before you take it. Keeping in mind some basic attitudes and presentation techniques will help you sail through it with panache.
So if you thought that going for an interview just meant pulling your best suit out of the wardrobe and updating your resume, please think again. You are forgetting the other essentials: body language, basic etiquette and attitude.
Remember that you are actually selling an entire package and the packaging, in this case, is as relevant as the product inside. Ultimately you are presenting yourself as a valuable professional to a new job environment. And you can't do that without minding the basic interview etiquette to get you ahead of the rest of the pack.
An interview is the sum total of many parts. It's not just what you say but how you say it that matters equally. So it's good to brush up on more than just your training skills when you do go in for an interview.
ATTIRE
How you dress for an interview is perhaps as relevant as the way you lay out your resume. Says Nina Kochar of Upgrade Management Services, an organisation which coaches' executives in the basic rules of corporate etiquette: "A person who is sloppy in appearance shows a sloppy personality, so you have to be decently dressed." Of course, decently dressed does not necessarily mean being dressed to the gills. In most cases, this would mean you would wear long sleeved shirts and a pair of formal trousers. In fact, Nina Kochar does not recommend suits, especially for younger people. "A lot of young people do not have the money to invest in suits, consequently, they wear ill-fitting or borrowed suits and that looks even worse. A tie, shirt and pant should do the trick for most junior level positions."
Most HR experts would also tell you to mind the accessories like ties, belts and shoes. To be sure, badly matched shoes and ties can have a jarring effect on an interviewer. Similarly, please avoid heavy jewellery or personal accessories as they would look incongruous on you.
ENTRANCE AND INTRODUCTION
Even though most of us are primed for the basic grilling that we would face during the interview, we seldom pay attention to the way we enter an interview room or how we introduce ourselves. Says Subhashish Mitra, deputy manager, Essar Cellphones: "A lot of people do not think it important to knock properly while entering the interview room. They assume that as an interview is taking place, the panel will be expecting them. To my mind this is a very major faux pas which really jars."
In fact, the best way to enter an interview is to knock, ask for permission to enter and then wait for a while before you actually sit down. Few interviewees know this but the interview panel needs a little quiet time to discuss the previous candidate before they get around to the next one. So your silence till you actually get seated would be very valuable. Try and keep a bag with you for all your papers and certificates; make sure this bag is an unobtrusive as possible.
ATTITUDE AND RESPONSE
This is a grey area for most interview candidates. While dressing up and resume writing are skills you can Go for a mock exercise before the real talk at the job table handle with a little practice, cultivating the right attitude as an interviewee requires a lot of patience and reading between the lines. The usual complaint of most interviewers is that few interviewees are able to stri perhaps the best thing you can do for getting your answer right. Most interviewers like to give a lead to the candidate in the way they ask the question, so it's entirely up to you to note facial expressions and the tone of the words.
Do you show your certificates immediately to the interview panel?
Not till you are asked actually. You might already have sent in your resume, so you shouldn't try and offload all your achievements and skills onto the panel till a turn in the interview leads to such a situation.
Try and take cues form the tonal variations, facial expressions and thrust of questions from the interview panel. That in itself will give you a clue as to where this interview is heading.
TEN THINGS THAT AN INTERVIEWER LOOKS IN YOU!
1. Family Background
2. Education
3. Experience
4. Stability
5. Initiative
6. General Ability
7. Interpersonal Skills
8. Confidence
9. Aptitude
10. Pleasant Looks
How one wished that an interview were a simple meeting of minds and hearts. Just one casual meeting where an employee's future gets sealed. Unfortunately, it's not something as pre-ordained as you would like it to be; it's a pre-meditated exercise which fetches you dividends only if your homework is done right.
Questions
Type of Questions
Interviewers use five different types of questions - directive, non-directive, hypothetical, behavior descriptive, and stress. Being aware of the different types can help you in the preparation stage as you build your skills inventory. It may also help you focus in on exactly what is being asked and what the employer is looking for in specific questions.
Directive Questions
The interviewer determines the focus of your answer. The information that the interviewer wants is very clear. If you have completed the research on yourself, this type of question should be easy to answer.
Example: "What skills do you have that relate to this position?"
"I have very good communication and interpersonal skills that I have refined through several summer and part-time jobs working with the public. In addition, I am fluent in both English and French."
Non-Directive Questions
You determine the focus of your answer. The interviewer asks a general question and does not ask for specific information. The most common non-directive question is
"Tell me about yourself."
When answering the question, keep in mind that the employer is interested in knowing how your background and personality qualify you for the job. In your answer, you should cover four areas: your education, related experience, skills and abilities, and personal attributes. As you talk about these areas, relate them to the job you are seeking. Decide what your response will be before starting to speak, this helps to keep responses concise.
Example: " Tell me about yourself."
"I have a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology, and have recently completed the course
in Volunteer Management through the Volunteer Center of Winnipeg. These have given me a strong background in many of the principles of human behavior and the recruitment, training, and supervision of volunteers. I have experience in working with young adults in a helping capacity, both through my position as a Peer Advisor at the University of Manitoba, and as a camp counselor at a camp for behaviorally troubled adolescents. Both of these positions involved individual counseling, facilitating discussion groups, and teaching young people about health issues - all of which relate directly to the services which I would be training volunteers to provide within your organization. In addition, I thoroughly enjoy working with young people, and can establish rapport with them easily."
Hypothetical or Scenario Questions
When asking a hypothetical question, the interviewer describes a situation, which you may encounter in the position and asks how you would react in a similar situation. This is a good way to test problem-solving abilities. When answering this type of question, try applying a simple problem solving model to it – gather information, evaluate the information, priories the information, seek advice, weigh the alternatives, make a decision, communicate the decision, monitor the results and modify if necessary.
Example: "Suppose you are working your first day in our laboratory, and a fire at a nearby work station breaks out. What would you do?"
"Before I start working in any laboratory, I always locate the emergency equipment, such as eye washes, fire blankets and alarms. I would also review the safety protocols. So in this situation, I would be aware of these. As soon as I noticed the fire, I would shut down my experiment and if the fire is significant, I would pull the firm alarm and help to evacuate the lab. In the case of very small flame, I would ask the staff member at the station what I could do to help, Which would vary with the type of substances involved.”
Behavior Descriptive or Behavioral Questions
This type of question is becoming increasingly popular in interview situations. It asks what you did in a particular situation rather than what you would do. Situations chosen usually follow the job description fairly closely. Some employers feel that examples of past performance will help them to predict future performance in similar situations. There is no right or wrong answer to this type of question, but keep in mind that you should relate the answer to the position. If you are interviewing for a research position, talk about a research project you completed.
Example: "Give me an example of a work situation in which you were proud of your performance."
"While working as a sales representative for XYZ Company for the summer, I called on Prospective clients and persuaded them of the ecological and economic benefits of Recycling. I also followed up on clients to ensure that they were satisfied with the service They received. This involved both telephone and in-person contacts. I increased sales 34% over the same period in the previous year."
When preparing for this type of questioning, it is crucial that you review the skills and qualities that the position would require and identify specific examples from your past which demonstrated those traits.
Stress Questions
Some questions will surprise you and possibly make you feel uncomfortable during an interview. For
Example:" Which do you prefer, fruits or vegetables?" There are many reasons why an interviewer might ask such questions. They may want to see how you react in difficult situations, or they may simply be trying to test your sense of humor. Such questions may directly challenge an opinion that you have just stated or say something negative about you or a reference. Sometimes they ask seemingly irrelevant questions such as,
"If you were an animal, what type of animal would you be?"
The best way to deal with this type of question is to recognize what is happening. The interviewer is trying to elicit a reaction from you. Stay calm, and do not become defensive. If humour comes naturally to you, you might try using it in your response, but it is important to respond to the question. What you say is not nearly as important as maintaining your composure.
Example: "Which do you like better, Lions or Tigers?"
"Oh, lions definitely. They appear so majestic and are very sociable. To be honest, I think that seeing The Lion King four times has probably contributed to this!"
Answering
Way of Answering
Regardless of what type of question you are asked, you will find it easier to respond effectively if you keep in mind some basic question answering strategies:
You can never predict every question that you will encounter, so approach the interview with an inventory of important points. Make a list of the points about yourself that you want the interviewer to know. For example, if you were to apply for a job as a Sales Representative, you might want to list the products you have sold before, types of customers (by industry, age, etc.), languages spoken, personal experience in that industry and related knowledge (perhaps from your academic program).
Consider each question an opportunity to provide some of this information. Don't assume anything. You will be evaluated on your answers, not your resume. Therefore, ensure you incorporate the relevant information from your resume in your answers.
Pause a couple of seconds before you respond to each question, even if you know exactly what you want to say. Take this time to quickly plan your answer, this helps to avoid misunderstandings and produces much more concise answers.
If you don't understand a question, ask for clarification. This is expected and is preferable to providing an unsuitable answer. If you need time to collect your thoughts - take it. When people are nervous they tend either to "draw a blank" or to babble. It is better to think for a few moments and make sure that your answer is doing you justice and that there is a point to what you are saying.
Always expand. Never answer a question with a "yes" or "no."
The interview is an opportunity for you to sell yourself. Don't be afraid to 'blow your own horn.' As long as you can back up what you are saying with examples which demonstrate that what you are saying is true, you are not bragging. Third party observations can also be mentioned. For example, "My last employer told me that I was promoted because of how I handled conflicts with clients."
Be very positive. Don't complain about anything - from your former employer to the weather - and don't apologize for experience that you don't have. Just sell what you do have and let the employer decide if you have what he/she is looking for. Also, avoid negative words. For example, you would not say "I have a little experience...," you would say "I have experience......"
Don't be afraid to repeat important points. In fact, it is a good idea to do this.
Process of interview

Go Through The Process
There are many different types of interviews designed to serve different purposes or situations. Regardless of the type of interview, most will incorporate the following stages: establishing rapport, exchanging information, and closing the interview. Pay attention to the job titles of the interviewer(s). This can help you decide how much technical detail to provide in your responses.
Establishing Rapport
This is a very important part of the interview because while establishing rapport, first impressions are made, and the tone of the interview is set. Some people suggest that the decision to hire is greatly influenced by the first five minutes of the interview. A good interviewer will introduce him/herself, and take the lead. Follow his or her lead - if they are chatty, be chatty; if they are formal, be formal. Some employers use what seems to be casual conversation to get to know you on a more personal level – this may be crucial to a hiring decision!
Tips:
Smile and maintain eye contact. This is one way of communicating confidence, even if you don't feel it.
If the interviewer offers his or her hand, shake it firmly. If they don't, it is appropriate to offer yours.
Wait until the interviewer sits or offers you a seat before sitting down.
If the interviewer is making small talk, participate. Keep your answers short and positive.
Exchange of Information
This is the bulk of the interview. It is your opportunity to let the interviewer know what you have to offer, and your chance to learn more about the organization.
Tips:
When you answer a question, look the interviewer in the eye.
Be aware of the interviewer's reactions. If he or she looks confused, ask if you can clarify anything.
Be aware of what your body is saying. Avoid closed postures. Sit upright, but not stiffly.
Try to find a comfortable position as that will make you feel more relaxed.
Control your nervous habits. Don't swing your foot, talk with your hands (to an extreme), or fiddle with jewelers, buttons, pens, etc.
Show that you are interested in the job by asking questions.
Try not to appear bored or anxious. Don't look at your watch.
Closing the Interview
When the interviewer is done gathering the information that is needed, he or she will ask if you have anything to add, or if you have any questions. This is your opportunity to mentally review your inventory of skills and make sure that you have communicated everything that you wanted to. If any of your questions have not been addressed during the course of the interview, now is the time to ask them.
Tips:
· Thank the interviewer for his/her time and consideration.
· Ask when you can expect to hear from him/her.
· If it is not known when a decision will be reached, ask if you can phone in a week's time to inquire about the progress.
· If the interviewer offers his/her hand, shake it firmly. Otherwise, it is fine to offer yours first.
· If not already discussed, you can offer to leave a sample of your work, or portfolio if you have one.
Mistakes
Think about the following points. Do any of them apply to you?
Oversell
Trying too hard to impress; bragging; acting aggressively.
Undersell
Failing to emphasize the fact that you have related skills; discussing
experience using negative qualifiers (i.e. "I have a little experience...").
Body Language
It is easy to create a negative impression without even realizing that you
are doing it. Are you staring at your feet, or talking to the interviewer's
shoulder? Be aware of what your actions say about you.
Lack of Honesty
The slightest stretching of the truth may result in you being screened out.
Negative Attitude
The interview is not an opportunity for you to complain about your
current supervisor or co-workers (or even about 'little' things, such as
the weather).
Lack of Preparation
You have to know about the organization and the occupation. If you
don't, it will appear as though you are not interested in the position.
Lack of
Enthusiasm
If you are not excited about the work at the interview, the employer will
not assume that your attitude will improve when hired.
Top Tips
Great interviews arise from careful groundwork. You can ace your next interview if you:
Enter into a state of relaxed concentration. This is the state from which great basketball players or Olympic skaters operate. You'll need to quiet the negative self chatter in your head through meditation or visualization prior to sitting down in the meeting. You'll focus on the present moment and will be less apt to experience lapses in concentration, nervousness, self-doubt and self-condemnation.
Act spontaneous, but be well prepared. Be your authentic self, professional yet real. Engage in true conversation with your interviewer, resting on the preparation you did prior to coming to the meeting. Conduct several trial runs with another person simulating the interview before it actually occurs. It's the same as anticipating the questions you'll be asked on a final exam.
Set goals for the interview. It is your job to leave the meeting feeling secure that the interviewer knows as much as he or she possibly can about your skills, abilities, experience and achievements. If you sense there are misconceptions, clear them up before leaving. If the interviewer doesn't get around to asking you important questions, pose them yourself (diplomatically) and answer them. Don't leave the meeting without getting your own questions answered so that you have a clear idea of what you would be getting yourself into. If possible, try to get further interviews, especially with other key players.
Know the question behind the question. Ultimately, every question boils down to, "Why should we hire you?" Be sure you answer that completely. If there is a question about your meeting deadlines, consider whether the interviewer is probing delicately about your personal life, careful not to ask you whether your family responsibilities will interfere with your work. Find away to address fears if you sense they are present.
Follow up with an effective "thank you" letter. Don't write this letter lightly. It is another opportunity to market yourself. Find some areas discussed in the meeting and expand upon them in your letter. Writing a letter after a meeting is a very minimum. Standing out among the other candidates will occur if you thoughtfully consider this follow up letter as an additional interview in which you get to do all the talking. Propose useful ideas that demonstrate your added value to the team.
Consider the interviewer's agenda. Much is on the shoulders of the interviewer. He or she has the responsibility of hiring the right candidate. Your ability to do the job will need to be justified. "Are there additional pluses here?" "Will this person fit the culture of this organization?" These as well as other questions will be heavily on the interviewer's mind. Find ways to demonstrate your qualities above and beyond just doing the job.
Expect to answer the question, "Tell me about yourself." This is a pet question of prepared and even unprepared interviewers. Everything you include should answer the question, "Why should we hire you?" Carefully prepare your answer to include examples of achievements from your work life that closely match the elements of the job before you. Obviously, you'll want to know as much about the job description as you can before you respond to the question.
Watch those nonverbal clues. Experts estimate that words express only 30% to 35% of what people actually communicate; facial expressions and body movements and actions convey the rest. Make and keep eye contact. Walk and sit with a confident air. Lean toward an interviewer to show interest and enthusiasm. Speak with a well-modulated voice that supports appropriate excitement for the opportunity before you.
Be smart about money questions. Don't fall into the trap of telling the interviewer your financial expectations. You may be asking for too little or too much money and in each case ruin your chances of being offered the job. Instead, ask what salary range the job falls in. Attempt to postpone a money discussion until you have a better understanding of the scope of responsibilities of the job.
Don't hang out your dirty laundry. Be careful not to bare your soul and tell tales that are inappropriate or beyond the scope of the interview. State your previous experience in the most positive terms. Even if you disagreed with a former employer, express your enthusiasm for earlier situations as much as you can. Whenever you speak negatively about another person or situation in which you were directly involved, you run the risk (early in the relationship) of appearing like a troubled person who may have difficulty working with others.












C- Questions
What does static variable mean?
What is a pointer?
What is a structure?
What are the differences between structures and arrays?
In header files whether functions are declared or defined?
What are the differences between malloc() and calloc()?
What are macros? what are its advantages and disadvantages?
Difference between pass by reference and pass by value?
What is static identifier?
Where are the auto variables stored?
Where does global, static, local, register variables, free memory and C Program instructions get stored?
Difference between arrays and linked list?
What are enumerations?
Describe about storage allocation and scope of global, extern, static, local and register variables?
What are register variables? What are the advantage of using register variables?
What is the use of typedef?
Can we specify variable field width in a scanf() format string? If possible how?
Out of fgets() and gets() which function is safe to use and why?
Difference between strdup and strcpy?
What is recursion?
Differentiate between a for loop and a while loop? What are it uses?
What are the different storage classes in C?
Write down the equivalent pointer expression for referring the same element a[i][j][k][l]?
What is difference between Structure and Unions?
What the advantages of using Unions?
What are the advantages of using pointers in a program?
What is the difference between Strings and Arrays?
In a header file whether functions are declared or defined?
What is a far pointer? where we use it?
How will you declare an array of three function pointers where each function receives two ints and returns a float?
what is a NULL Pointer? Whether it is same as an uninitialized pointer?
What is a NULL Macro? What is the difference between a NULL Pointer and a NULL Macro?
What does the error 'Null Pointer Assignment' mean and what causes this error?
What is near, far and huge pointers? How many bytes are occupied by them?
How would you obtain segment and offset addresses from a far address of a memory location?
Are the expressions arr and &arr same for an array of integers?
Does mentioning the array name gives the base address in all the contexts?
Explain one method to process an entire string as one unit?
What is the similarity between a Structure, Union and enumeration?
Can a Structure contain a Pointer to itself?
How can we check whether the contents of two structure variables are same or not?
How are Structure passing and returning implemented by the complier?
How can we read/write Structures from/to data files?
What is the difference between an enumeration and a set of pre-processor # defines?
what do the 'c' and 'v' in argc and argv stand for?
Are the variables argc and argv are local to main?
What is the maximum combined length of command line arguments including the space between adjacent arguments?
If we want that any wildcard characters in the command line arguments should be appropriately expanded, are we required to make any special provision? If yes, which?
Does there exist any way to make the command line arguments available to other functions without passing them as arguments to the function?
What are bit fields? What is the use of bit fields in a Structure declaration?
To which numbering system can the binary number 1101100100111100 be easily converted to?
Which bit wise operator is suitable for checking whether a particular bit is on or off?
Which bit wise operator is suitable for turning off a particular bit in a number?
Which bit wise operator is suitable for putting on a particular bit in a number?
Which bit wise operator is suitable for checking whether a particular bit is on or off?
which one is equivalent to multiplying by 2:Left shifting a number by 1 or Left shifting an unsigned int or char by 1?
Write a program to compare two strings without using the strcmp() function.
Write a program to concatenate two strings.
Write a program to interchange 2 variables without using the third one.
Write programs for String Reversal & Palindrome check
Write a program to find the Factorial of a number
Write a program to generate the Fibinocci Series
Write a program which employs Recursion
Write a program which uses Command Line Arguments
Write a program which uses functions like strcmp(), strcpy()? etc
What are the advantages of using typedef in a program?
How would you dynamically allocate a one-dimensional and two-dimensional array of integers?
How can you increase the size of a dynamically allocated array?
How can you increase the size of a statically allocated array?
When reallocating memory if any other pointers point into the same piece of memory do you have to readjust these other pointers or do they get readjusted automatically?
Which function should be used to free the memory allocated by calloc()?
How much maximum can you allocate in a single call to malloc()?
Can you dynamically allocate arrays in expanded memory?
What is object file? How can you access object file?
Which header file should you include if you are to develop a function which can accept variable number of arguments?
Can you write a function similar to printf()?
How can a called function determine the number of arguments that have been passed to it?
Can there be at least some solution to determine the number of arguments passed to a variable argument list function?
How do you declare the following:
An array of three pointers to chars
An array of three char pointers
A pointer to array of three chars
A pointer to function which receives an int pointer and returns a float pointer
A pointer to a function which receives nothing and returns nothing
What do the functions atoi(), itoa() and gcvt() do?
Does there exist any other function which can be used to convert an integer or a float to a string?
How would you use qsort() function to sort an array of structures?
How would you use qsort() function to sort the name stored in an array of pointers to string?
How would you use bsearch() function to search a name stored in array of pointers to string?
How would you use the functions sin(), pow(), sqrt()?
How would you use the functions memcpy(), memset(), memmove()?
How would you use the functions fseek(), freed(), fwrite() and ftell()?
How would you obtain the current time and difference between two times?
How would you use the functions randomize() and random()?
How would you implement a substr() function that extracts a sub string from a given string?
What is the difference between the functions rand(), random(), srand() and randomize()?
What is the difference between the functions memmove() and memcpy()?
How do you print a string on the printer?
Can you use the function fprintf() to display the output on the screen?

C++- Questions Go Up

What is a class?
What is an object?
What is the difference between an object and a class?
What is the difference between class and structure?
What is public, protected, private?
What are virtual functions?
What is friend function?
What is a scope resolution operator?
What do you mean by inheritance?
What is abstraction?
What is polymorphism? Explain with an example.
What is encapsulation?
What do you mean by binding of data and functions?
What is function overloading and operator overloading?
What is virtual class and friend class?
What do you mean by inline function?
What do you mean by public, private, protected and friendly?
When is an object created and what is its lifetime?
What do you mean by multiple inheritance and multilevel inheritance? Differentiate between them.
Difference between realloc() and free?
What is a template?
What are the main differences between procedure oriented languages and object oriented languages?
What is R T T I ?
What are generic functions and generic classes?
What is namespace?
What is the difference between pass by reference and pass by value?
Why do we use virtual functions?
What do you mean by pure virtual functions?
What are virtual classes?
Does c++ support multilevel and multiple inheritance?
What are the advantages of inheritance?
When is a memory allocated to a class?
What is the difference between declaration and definition?
What is virtual constructors/destructors?
In c++ there is only virtual destructors, no constructors. Why?
What is late bound function call and early bound function call? Differentiate.
How is exception handling carried out in c++?
When will a constructor executed?
What is Dynamic Polymorphism?
Write a macro for swapping integers.

DATA STRUCTURE QUESTIONS
Go Up
What is a data structure?
What does abstract data type means?
Evaluate the following prefix expression " ++ 26 + - 1324" (Similar types can be asked)
Convert the following infix expression to post fix notation ((a+2)*(b+4)) -1 (Similar types can be asked)
How is it possible to insert different type of elements in stack?
Stack can be described as a pointer. Explain.
Write a Binary Search program
Write programs for Bubble Sort, Quick sort
Explain about the types of linked lists
How would you sort a linked list?
Write the programs for Linked List (Insertion and Deletion) operations
What data structure would you mostly likely see in a non recursive implementation of a recursive algorithm?
What do you mean by Base case, Recursive case, Binding Time, Run-Time Stack and Tail Recursion?
Explain quick sort and merge sort algorithms and derive the time-constraint relation for these.
Explain binary searching, Fibinocci search.
What is the maximum total number of nodes in a tree that has N levels? Note that the root is level (zero)
How many different binary trees and binary search trees can be made from three nodes that contain the key values 1, 2 & 3?
A list is ordered from smaller to largest when a sort is called. Which sort would take the longest time to execute?
A list is ordered from smaller to largest when a sort is called. Which sort would take the shortest time to execute?
When will you sort an array of pointers to list elements, rather than sorting the elements themselves?
The element being searched for is not found in an array of 100 elements. What is the average number of comparisons needed in a sequential search to determine that the element is not there, if the elements are completely unordered?
What is the average number of comparisons needed in a sequential search to determine the position of an element in an array of 100 elements, if the elements are ordered from largest to smallest?
Which sort show the best average behavior?
What is the average number of comparisons in a sequential search?
Which data structure is needed to convert infix notations to post fix notations?
What do you mean by:
Syntax Error
Logical Error
Runtime Error
How can you correct these errors?
In which data structure, elements can be added or removed at either end, but not in the middle?
How will inorder, preorder and postorder traversals print the elements of a tree?
Parenthesis are never needed in prefix or postfix expressions. Why?
Which one is faster? A binary search of an orderd set of elements in an array or a sequential search of the elements.

JAVA QUESTIONS
Go Up
What is the difference between an Abstract class and Interface?
What is user defined exception?
What do you know about the garbage collector?
What is the difference between java and c++?
In an htm form I have a button which makes us to open another page in 15 seconds. How will you do that?
What is the difference between process and threads?
What is update method called?
Have you ever used HashTable and Directory?
What are statements in Java?
What is a JAR file?
What is JNI?
What is the base class for all swing components?
What is JFC?
What is the difference between AWT and Swing?
Considering notepad/IE or any other thing as process, What will happen if you start notepad or IE 3 times ? Where three processes are started or three threads are started?
How does thread synchronization occur in a monitor?
Is there any tag in htm to upload and download files?
Why do you canvas?
How can you know about drivers and database information ?
What is serialization?
Can you load the server object dynamically? If so what are the 3 major steps involved in it?
What is the layout for toolbar?
What is the difference between Grid and Gridbaglayout?
How will you add panel to a frame?
Where are the card layouts used?
What is the corresponding layout for card in swing?
What is light weight component?
Can you run the product development on all operating systems?
What are the benefits if Swing over AWT?
How can two threads be made to communicate with each other?
What are the files generated after using IDL to java compiler?
What is the protocol used by server and client?
What is the functionability stubs and skeletons?
What is the mapping mechanism used by java to identify IDL language?
What is serializable interface?
What is the use of interface?
Why is java not fully objective oriented?
Why does java not support multiple inheritance?
What is the root class for all java classes?
What is polymorphism?
Suppose if we have a variable 'I' in run method, if I can create one or more thread each thread will occupy a separate copy or same variable will be shared?
What are virtual functions?
Write down how will you create a Binary tree?
What are the traverses in binary tree?
Write a program for recursive traverse?
What are session variable in servlets?
What is client server computing?
What is constructor and virtual function? Can we call a virtual function in a constructor?
Why do we use oops concepts? What is its advantage?
What is middleware? What is the functionality of web server?
Why is java not 100% pure oops?
When will you use an interface and abstract class?
What is the exact difference in between Unicast and Multicast object? Where will it be used?
What is the main functionality of the remote reference layer?
How do you download stubs from Remote place?
I want to store more than 10 objects in a remote server? Which methodology will follow?
What is the main functionality of Prepared Statement?
What is meant by Static query and Dynamic query?
What are Normalization Rules? Define Normalization?
What is meant by Servelet? What are the parameters of service method?
What is meant by Session? Explain something about HTTP Session Class?
In a container there are 5 components. I want to display all the component names, how will you do that?
Why there are some null interface in JAVA? What does it mean? Give some null interface in JAVA?
Tell some latest versions in JAVA related areas?
What is meant by class loader? How many types are there? When will we use them?
What is meant by flickering?
What is meant by distributed application? Why are we using that in our application?
What is the functionality of the stub?
Explain about version control?
Explain 2-tier and 3-tier architecture?
What is the role of Web Server?
How can we do validation of the fields in a project?
What is meant by cookies? Explain the main features?
Why java is considered as platform independent?
What are the advantages of java over C++?
How java can be connected to a database?
What is thread?
What is difference between Process and Thread?
Does java support multiple inheritance? if not, what is the solution?
What are abstract classes?
What is an interface?
What is the difference abstract class and interface?
What are adapter classes?
what is meant wrapper classes?
What are JVM.JRE, J2EE, JNI?
What are swing components?
What do you mean by light weight and heavy weight components?
What is meant by function overloading and function overriding?
Does java support function overloading, pointers, structures, unions or linked lists?
What do you mean by multithreading?
What are byte codes?
What are streams?
What is user defined exception?
In an htm page form I have one button which makes us to open a new page in 15 seconds. How will you do that?
Operating System Questions
Go Up
What are the basic functions of an operating system?
Explain briefly about, processor, assembler, compiler, loader, linker and the functions executed by them.
What are the difference phases of software development? Explain briefly?
Differentiate between RAM and ROM?
What is DRAM? In which form does it store data?
What is cache memory?
What is hard disk and what is its purpose?
Differentiate between Complier and Interpreter?
What are the different tasks of Lexical analysis?
What are the different functions of Syntax phase, Sheduler?
What are the main difference between Micro-Controller and Micro- Processor?
Describe different job scheduling in operating systems.
What is a Real-Time System ?
What is the difference between Hard and Soft real-time systems ?
What is a mission critical system ?
What is the important aspect of a real-time system ?
If two processes which shares same system memory and system clock in a distributed system, What is it called?
What is the state of the processor, when a process is waiting for some event to occur?
What do you mean by deadlock?
Explain the difference between microkernel and macro kernel.
Give an example of microkernel.
When would you choose bottom up methodology?
When would you choose top down methodology?
Write a small dc shell script to find number of FF in the design.
Why paging is used ?
Which is the best page replacement algorithm and Why? How much time is spent usually in each phases and why?
Difference between Primary storage and secondary storage?
What is multi tasking, multi programming, multi threading?
Difference between multi threading and multi tasking?
What is software life cycle?
Demand paging, page faults, replacement algorithms, thrashing, etc.
Explain about paged segmentation and segment paging
While running DOS on a PC, which command would be used to duplicate the entire diskette?