Interview Tips

[via S Anand]

Interview tips from Prof. Vijay Kumar.

Although I don't see my self taking any interviews in the medium term, it's good to remember those general skills that any company looks for in an employee.

And I guess once you start working, it's eaqually important to remember why your company chose you, and what it expects from you.

I've noticed that employer expectations are fairly similar across companies -- Indian/ MNC, and irrespective of which fucntion of the company you handle (meaning you could be in sales, or you could be in project management!).

Companies want certain general skills, apart from competency in specific functional areas.

From Anand's post --

During the interview (what does the interviewer want?):

• Brains: logical thinking, primarily
• Creativity
• Hard-work, but one can take that for granted for a person from the IIMs
• Willing to take direction, and yet is a self-starter
• A person who can explore new ideas on their own
• Good interpersonal relationships
• A person who can make casual conversation
• Can suavely deflect objectionable questions
• Well dressed, good posture, etc.

And once you're on the job (although this was written for a consultant's role, I would think that most points apply in other roles as well):

• Quality of assignments
• Followup on assignment
• Client feedback
• Budget overruns (applicable more to PLs and managers)
• Input into thought leadership and knowledge-base
• Strengths and weaknesses
• Future directions for improvement.