MCM603_Professional Business Communication-1

Interview Skills 243 Some of the traditional questions asked in interviews are: Tell us about yourself. What are your career goals? Do you have plans to get additional education? Why do you wish to join our organization? What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses? Why should we select you? Have you any questions to ask us? According to a recent study, you are judged in the very first 7 seconds of your interview. There are multiple factors that employers take into account. Those include your knowledge, preparedness, skills sets, punctuality, and body language. The Do’s Before interview are: Dress well to make a good appearance, Arrive early to indicate your punctuality or time management skill and wait for your turn patiently with a smile. During interview: Walk in confidently; chin up with a smiling, cheerful face. Greet with a firm handshake. Wait until you are offered a chair before sitting. Sit comfortably and with good posture. Push your body to the back of the chair. Keep your hands on your lap right atop the left. Keep your legs stationed firmly on the ground right and left intertwined beneath the chair. Smile and make them aware of your pleasant and agreeable personality. Also, it makes you look less nervous, and prepared. Avoid excessive hand movement. Maintain eye contact and exhibit good manners. After interview, leave the hall gracefully after shaking hands and thanking the interviewer. 9. 7 Key Words/Abbreviations z Interview: An interview is a formal meeting at which someone is asked questions in order to find out if they are suitable for a job or a course of study. z Panel Interview: A panel interview is a job interview in which an applicant answers questions from a group of people who then make the hiring decision. z Group interview: A group interview is a screening process where you interview multiple candidates at the same time. The point of a group interview is to see how candidates choose to stand out from each other, how well candidates function in a group of people they do not know and if candidates show the teamwork attributes that you need. CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

244 Professional Business Communication-I z Telephone interview: A telephone interview is an interview for employment conducted on the phone. Telephone interviews are often used to screen candidates in order to narrow the pool of applicants who will be invited for in-person interviews. z Video interview: A video interview is a job interview that takes place remotely and uses video technology as the communication medium. z Stress interview: The term stress interview is used to describe a technique that deliberately places the job candidate in a stressful situation to observe how the candidate reacts during the job interview. z Project interview: It aims at assessing the knowledge, technical and behaviour skills of an individual with reference to projects he has undertaken or supposed to take up. z Body language: It refers to the conscious and unconscious movements and postures by which attitudes and feelings are communicated. 9. 8 Learning Activity 1. Viva-voce examination: Literally, “viva voce” means by or with the living voice ͸ i.e., by word of mouth as opposed to writing. So the viva examination is where you will give a verbal defense of your knowledge of management subject’s studied by you or project report prepared by you. Note to instructor. Step-1: Announce the procedure: In the next class I will form you into groups of three members. One of the group members will act as examinee. The remaining two will form the board of examiners and they ask questions and rate the performance. The examinee will then join the board and one of the board members will become examinee. The process is to be repeated till everyone is interviewed. Come prepared with questions to ask in the viva examination. CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

Interview Skills 245 Note: Sample questions are given under. Tell us a bit about yourself. What kind of effort did you put to realize your goals? With which subject do you want us to start? How do you define management? Who among the Indian managers is your favourite? What kind of challenges Indian managers face today? In which company did you undertake your summer project? What is the title of the project? Tell us briefly about the company. What are the objectives of your study? Did you form any hypotheses? What is the scope of your study? Did you make use of any research model? From which sources did you gather your data? What is the sample size and method of sampling? How do you justify your sample? How did you collect data? Have you used any statistical tools? Explain why have you used them? What are your major findings? What conclusions did you make based on the study? Have you given any suggestions? Outline a few of them. What is the response of the company to your sugge4stions? 2. Job interview: Note to instructor. Step-1: Divide the students into groups of four members. Ask them to conduct interviews. Step-2: Invite one from each group to describe their experience and announce their ratings. Note: Students can collect questions from internet sources. Sample questions are given under. Tell me a bit about your professional background. Tell me about your education? Why are you interested in this Company? How would your friends describe your strengths and weaknesses as a student? Rate your management skills on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 representing excellent management skills. Provide three examples from your student experiences that demonstrate your selected number is accurate. What management style will be most effective? What type of people do you like to work with? Give me an example, from your past experiences, about a time when you had to work with a mediocre co-worker. How did you manager to finish the work? Tell me about a time when you had a team member who performed very well. Describe how you felt when everybody complimented him or her? As a manager or supervisor, one of your jobs is to provide direction and leadership for a work unit. Describe how you played lead roles in the past. CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

246 Professional Business Communication-I Describe three components of your philosophy of management that demonstrate what you value and add, as an individual, to an organization’s culture and work environment. If you were in this job tomorrow, what are the first things you would do and in what priority? Why do you think you are the ideal candidate for this position? Where do you want to be in five years? What questions do you have for me? When can you start? 3. Body language: Note to instructor Invite students to demonstrate the following in the class room. (a) Initiatives: z Tell an amusing story or joke with a straight face. z Tell an exciting story without gestures. z Now tell the same story with gestures. z Convey bad news with a smiling face; e.g., “Hello, Ravi, you failed in the examination,” “Hello, Sangeeta, you have not been selected for the post of computer software engineer.” z Convey good news with a sad face. (b) Responses: Let one person tell a long story or give a long explanation of some subject. While the person is talking, let another use facial expression and other gestures, but no words, to communicate to him/her. (i) To continue talking. (ii) To speak louder. (iii) To speed up and get to the point. (iv) To slow down. (v) That your are not following him/her. CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

Interview Skills 247 (vi) That you wish him/her to expand on the point. (vii) That you think he/she is talking rubbish. (viii) That you are bored. (ix) That you feel offended by what he/she just said. (x) To stop and let you talk. (xi) To end the conversation. 9.9 Unit End Questions (MCQ and Descriptive) A. Descriptive Types Questions Short answer questions 1. What is interview? 2. Identify the types of interview. 3. What are the three phases in an interview? 4. How do you introduce yourself in an interview? 5. List the common questions asked in an employment interview. 6. What is the appropriate body language when facing an interview? Long answer questions 1. What is interview? Explain the different kinds of interviews. 2. State the tips for facing an interview. 3. What are the common questions in an interview and how do you answer them? 4. What is body language? What is the appropriate body language in an interview? B. Multiple Choice/Objective Type Questions 1. A kind of interview in which several interviewers are involved at same time in interviewing job applicant is classified as.. (a) Directive Interview (b) Non-Directive Interview (c) Panel Interview (d) Stress Interview CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

248 Professional Business Communication-I 2. A kind of interviews which creates anxiety among interviewees by putting pressure to see how applicant respond is classified as. (a) Group interview (b) Stress interview (c) Focus group (d) Brain storming 3. The common form of screening interviewing, used quite often today is …. (a) Telephone interview (b) Face-to-Face interview (c) Video conferencing (d) None of the above 4. Which of the following is the most appropriate to wear to an interview for men (a) Simple dress - Slack and trouser with chappals (b) Casual dress and sneakers (c) Trouser and light colour shirt, belt and shoes (d) Any one of the above 5. The first question in most of the interviews is (a) Why should we select you? (b) What are your strengths and weaknesses? (c) Why do you wish to join our organization? (d) Tell us about yourself Answers 1. (c), 2. (b), 3. (a), 4. (c), 5. (d). 9.10 References Textbooks 1. Agarwal, Shailaja & Kalia, Shalini (2015), Business Communication: A Practice- Oriented Approach, New Delhi: John Wiley & Sons. 2. Raman, Meenakshi &Singh, Prakash (2012), Business Communication, 2/e, New Delhi: Oxford University Press. CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)

Interview Skills 249 Web Resources 1. [PDF]NOTES ON INTERVIEW SKILLS Retrieved from https://www.bangor.ac.uk › skills-and-employability › services › documents 2. Interview Skills, Retrieved from https://www.sun.ac.za › english › student-affairs › cscd › Documents › Do... Reference Books 1. Guffey, M. E. & Loewy, D (2016), Essentials of Business Communication, 10/e, United States: Cengage Learning. 2. Covey, Stephen R (2012), Style Guide for Business and Technical Communication, 5/e, USA: Franklin Covey Co. 3. Sengupta, Sailesh (2011), Business and Managerial Communication, New Delhi: PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd. CU IDOL SELF LEARNING MATERIAL (SLM)