5 KILLER Interview Tips No One Told You About

The views expressed in this post are purely the opinions of an iimjobs recruiter and may differ from company to company. But if you follow these rules and get a job, we claim all the credit! (You can send us gifts as well; we’re fairly flexible)

1) It’s Ok to Show Off – But Just a Teeny Bit!

Imagine yourself in the shoes of the recruiter (especially a pretty one) and then try to listen to an interviewee who loves to drone on about himself:

“Frankly I think I’m the best fit for this job because I love challenges. I’ve been solving challenges endlessly ever since I learnt to spell them and that’s why I always get the highest score in Scrabble. Oh and did I tell you how great a team player I am! I single-handedly won everything for my school and college and all the corporate awards in my previous company went to me. In fact, I think this year they’re scrapping all those awards because they want to be fair to other employees as well. And yes, this was my idea, too!”

Yeah, we don’t want to elaborate any further on this one. You get the point!

2) Don’t EVER Bitch about your Current Job – And that Includes your Boss

Yes, we know that your current job sucks and that your current/ex-boss is equivalent to the combined evil of Lord Voldemort + Magneto + Darth Vader and looks exactly like the bone-crunching shark from Jaws.

But it’s really not a good idea to share this with the recruiter, no matter how tempting it may seem! If you boss is indeed the epitome of evil, then instead focus on something positive about your job. Think hard enough and you’ll definitely come up with 2-3 positive things

P.S – Just so you know, I love my current boss. I’m sure Tarun knows that 🙂

3) Stand out from the Crowd – Be Creative

No that doesn’t mean you come dressed in pink Govinda pants or Salman Khan shirtless style! But frankly, no one wants to hear this as your opening line on why you want this job:

“To obtain learning through experience of processes and practices in an organization, which either has best in class practices or has been bench-marked with global best in class practices”

The most important part is to be yourself and play to your strengths. Show the recruiter why your skills are the ideal problem solver for this job and believe you me; you’ve just increased your chances of landing this job ten-fold!

4) (Don’t) Show me the Money!

Everyone loves a millionaire and more so, if it stares at you in the mirror every day. But (and no we don’t mean your posterior), it’s usually not a good idea to talk money and benefits during the early stages. Normally, interviewers don’t bring up this topic till the very last so don’t take the lead and jump the gun.

Sample this (not to have) Conversation:

Recruiter: Please tell me something about your family?

Mr. Money Dream Candidate: My father works as a senior bank manager and he usually does under the table money dealings worth 1 crore every year…which I feel is absolutely wrong because my brother makes the same every 3 months or so. By the way, my family and I love to travel. Especially to exotic locations (wink wink)

5) My Dream….is to Fly

When I was about 9 years old, I wanted to be a DTC bus conductor. I thought they had the best job in the world with free travel included!

Of course, my parents didn’t approve of this awesome idea because it was not realistic. And this goes for interviews as well. Have realistic goals and aspirations in mind and show that you have clarity on your career path. It’s great to aim high but remember; even Jack had to climb the beanstalk to cross over to the other side!