T/I/P/S©

Training for Improving Performance in Selection Interviews

Santosh Mohanram, Co2012

© Santosh Mohanram
 2

Course Outline
1. What Happens in a Job Interview

2. How to Maximize Impact in a Job Interview (Relationship Enhancers)

3. Skill Areas for Success in a Job Interview

4. Impression Management in Your Job Interview

5. Common Interview Questions

6. Free Gyaan ☺

© Santosh Mohanram
 3

What Happens in a Job Interview

The purpose of any interview, be it a selection interview, a questioning by
your family doctor (medical interview) or an interview by a market
researcher, is to gather information from you.

Seen from this perspective, a job interview is nothing but a detailed

conversation the interviewer has with you.

© Santosh Mohanram
 4

What Happens in a Job Interview

The kind of information that an interviewer tries to get out of the interview
process is more on the lines of ‘the flavor and texture of the candidate’
than mere ‘facts’.

In recognizing the goal-directed nature of the activity,

interview is characterized as `A conversation with a
purpose'.

© Santosh Mohanram
 5

What exactly is assessed in an interview

The interview, either held on a one-to-one basis or by a panel, has the
broad objective of assessing your abilities in the context of the given job,
your level of enthusiasm and your fit to the job.

Generally, the interviewer tries to assess you in terms of :

(a) Social Skills

(b) General Attitude to others
(c) General Attitude to Work, and
(d) Overall Personality.

© Santosh Mohanram
 6

What exactly is assessed in an interview

Your behavior in the interview,
right from the way you talk and
listen to the way you handle
questions or situations help the
interviewer to make an educated
guess about the underlying
psychological traits.

And based on these traits to

predict your future behavior on the
job.

© Santosh Mohanram
 7

‘What does all this mean to me?’

Know the Company
When you prepare for a specific interview, ensure that you have all the
relevant information about the company and the particular job.

Analyze
Analyze this information and arrive at the kind of skills that the interviewer
will be looking for and therefore the kind of questions that you can expect.

Know Yourself
Then take a look at your own background and experience, and determine
how you should build on your skills and present yourself.

© Santosh Mohanram
 8

Selection Interview : Four Main Stages

1. Establishing rapport
2. Getting Information
3. Giving Information
4. Closing

© Santosh Mohanram
 9

How to Maximize Impact in a Job Interview

A lot of studies done in the area of interviewing suggest that irrespective of
function or level of the vacancy interviewers are influenced by certain key
qualities in the candidate.

These are called Relationship Enhancers and are grouped into three
sets:

1. Expertness
2. Inter-personal Attractiveness
3. Trustworthiness

(Strong's Social Influence Model)

© Santosh Mohanram
 10

Relationship Enhancers - Expertness

The first set pertains to candidate qualities that can be called competence
or perceived expertness. Initially, expertness is conveyed by visible cues
like attire and body language. This is supplemented by concrete evidence
of competence : for example, diplomas, certificates or testimonials, and
proven accomplishments in the past.

In the first stage of interviewing - Establishing Rapport - these cues go a

long way in creating the right impression. But sustaining this throughout the
interview is possible only through behavioral competence

© Santosh Mohanram
 11

Relationship Enhancers - Inter-personal Attractiveness

The second group of qualities - perceived attractiveness - can be described
as ‘positive feelings about the candidate, and liking and admiration
for him’. If you appear bored, dull, uninterested or tired obviously you will
not score on attractiveness. Nor would qualities like being cold and
humorless, and being unhappy and depressed help in creating any positive
feeling.

Psychological studies have clearly established the importance of

‘interpersonal affective behavior’ in an interview situation. If you are
perceived to be interested, alert and active, and warm and cheerful,
chances are that you will be perceived as an attractive candidate.

© Santosh Mohanram
 12

Relationship Enhancers - Trustworthiness

Trust is the perception that the candidate will not mislead. And can be
defined as the belief that one can rely on him.

Disclosure of accurate, appropriate and up-to-date information is the very

first step in establishing trustworthiness. Any discrepancy that surfaces
during the interview will be strongly damaging and show the candidate in a
very poor light.

Apart from the congruence of verbal and nonverbal messages, accurate

listening and appropriate paraphrasing on your part also enhance the
feeling of trustworthiness.

© Santosh Mohanram
 13

Relationship Enhancers - Summary

© Santosh Mohanram
 14

The Effect of Self-Perception on Interview Success

© Santosh Mohanram
 15

The Effect of Self-Perception on Interview Success

© Santosh Mohanram
 16

Skill Areas for Success in a Job Interview

There are three skill areas that are necessary to ensure success in a job
interview. These are:

1. Presenting Information
2. Listening
3. Non-Verbal Behavior

© Santosh Mohanram
 17

Skill Areas for Success in a Job Interview

Presenting Information
This process starts much before you walk into the interview room. You
must first get a good understanding of the job that you have applied for, the
background of the company and the industry, the current trends in the
industry, etc. And based on this, plan for providing information. The steps
involved in planning are:

A. consider what questions are likely to be asked during the interview,

B. identify relevant elements of information that may be presented in
response to the questions,
C. assess the relationship between these elements, and
D. organize and structure the information not only to meet the needs of
the interviewer but also to present it to your advantage

© Santosh Mohanram
 18

Skill Areas for Success in a Job Interview

Presenting Information
Now we come to the actual presentation of information, which must have
clarity. The factors involved are : rate of speech, fluency and language
used.
• While an excessive speech rate may lead to wrong responses and
indicate nervousness, a very slow rate may be interpreted as
reticence or being non-responsive.
• When it comes to fluency, garbled sentences may be construed as a
sign of incompetence. Fluency can be greatly improved by taking
some time to plan responses but at the same time ensuring that this
is not perceived as hesitation.
• The language used must be simple and direct, and while presenting
technical information or specialist knowledge, the language used
should be familiar to the interviewer.
© Santosh Mohanram
 19

Skill Areas for Success in a Job Interview

Presenting Information
This process starts much before you walk into the interview room. You
must first get a good understanding of the job that you have applied for, the
background of the company and the industry, the current trends in the
industry, etc. And based on this, plan for providing information. The steps
involved in planning are:

A. consider what questions are likely to be asked during the interview,

B. identify relevant elements of information that may be presented in
response to the questions,
C. assess the relationship between these elements, and
D. organize and structure the information not only to meet the needs of
the interviewer but also to present it to your advantage

© Santosh Mohanram
 20

Skill Areas for Success in a Job Interview

Listening
In order to be heard you will first have to show you can hear. Quite often
people don’t listen very well and this leads to a communication bottleneck.
Therefore listening skill is of paramount importance to a candidate facing
an interview

This demonstration of listening can take different forms : nodding

appropriately, eye contacts, paraphrasing and summarizing, and
responding only after fully hearing the question

The initial nervousness that you experience may lead to ineffective listening
and answering questions prematurely. Guard yourself against this tendency
and exercise patience. Many times fatigue also limits your ability to listen
effectively.
© Santosh Mohanram
 21

Skill Areas for Success in a Job Interview

Non Verbal Behavior
In the interview situation, your non-verbal
behavior must clearly indicate that you are
attentive and interested. Adopt an open posture
and use frequent eye contacts, appropriate
facial expressions and head nods.

The advice of the body language experts is this:

‘Dynamism or energy level is communicated
through the way you shake hands, sit, walk,
stand, and move your body. Try to appear
calm, relaxed, and in control by avoiding
nervous gestures and movements. Speak in
normal conversational tone with vocal variety
that exhibits confidence and inter-personal skill.’
© Santosh Mohanram
 22

Impression Management in Your Job Interview

The process of controlling verbal and non-verbal messages so
that positive images are created.

© Santosh Mohanram