If you are preparing for an interview, chances are you have already hunted online for various articles on “personal interview dos and don’ts”. Regardless of where you’ve come across them, the basic principles of cracking a personal interview remain the same, so let’s see how we can actually get around to following them:

First impression: Don’t strut into the room wearing clown pants, plop down on the seat and then ask the interviewers where you can throw your gum. Make sure you have decent clothes to wear. Ladies, the harsh truth is that most mass-produced formal pants for women are ill-fitting (there, I said it!), so unless your pair fits you well, opt for a salwar kameez or saree instead. When you’re called into the room, smile, ask how everyone is doing and wait until you’re invited to before sitting down. For practice, start interacting with relative strangers — co-workers/acquaintances/classmates you don’t see very often — instead of briskly walking in the opposite direction as soon as you lay eyes on them.

Body Language: Do you involuntarily shake your leg a lot? Bite your lip when you get flustered? Stare into space with your mouth slightly open like an erudite zombie when you’re deep in thought? Obviously, if you’re trying to control these distracting mannerisms for the first time in the interview, you’re going to be expending half your concentration on just doing that.

Know Yourself and Your Resume Well: Be prepared to answer all possible questions a person could ask by looking at your CV. This is especially important for unpleasant questions like, “Why did you score poorly in your undergraduate degree?” or “Why did you take one year off after graduation?” Remember, if you made it as far as the interview round, the recruiters clearly feel that you have the potential to join the company/university. You just have to make a compelling case for yourself.

Prepare for The Unknown: It’s inevitable that at some point, you will encounter a question that you will have absolutely no idea how to answer. The key to handling this situation is to stay calm. If you panic, you’re likely to blurt out whatever comes to your head first. This verbal diarrhoea will leave you confused (“…and that’s why the T-Rex is the best dinosaur. Wait, what was the question again?”), and the interviewers even more confused (“Didn’t we ask him about corporate social responsibility? Why is he talking about dinosaurs?”). If you don’t know an answer, keep your response brief, or say “I don’t know”.

Learn About the Company: Before committing to marrying someone, you’re likely to do some level of investigating into their family background, or at the very least perform a cursory analysis of his/her social media accounts (or, if you were being totally honest with yourself, Facebook-stalking the entire family). Getting a job is sort of like getting married, because in both cases you are joining a new family; so it’s expected that you will have done some basic research on the company Interviewers probably feel a painful tug at their hearts when prospective employees ask, “So, what exactly does your company do?” It gives the impression that the interviewee neglected to put in the time or effort to learn about the employer, and perhaps doesn’t care about the job opportunity at all.

Watch What You Ask: People who tell you that, “There’s no such thing as a stupid question” are wrong. Stupid questions do exist, and they live disguised amongst us, opting only to reveal themselves during personal interviews.

Remember, during the interview, a lot of factors (unpredictable questions, the mood of the interviewers, the calibre of the other interviewees) are out of our control. So prepare well for what is within your control, and maximise your chances of acing that interview!

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