The Interview.

I was sitting there on one of the 4 chairs placed at equal paces. My legs were shaky as though I'd fall off as soon as I stand, butterflies were having a field day in my stomach, my mouth was dry no matter how much water I drank and was feeling as though I needed to use the restroom even though I actually did not need to. Then finally I was called and I managed to force myself to go till the Interview room. And as soon as I entered, I was greeted by the interviewers but suddenly my cell started ringing and and everything was haywire since.

"Pheww... That was close", I thought after waking up. So it was a dream after all and the time was, Oh God already 6:30.... never woke up after 5:30am for the previous 2 days. But then I never felt more sleepy so I slept again and lazily got up by 7, went out to eat something and thought I will study for a while. But then my laziness got the better out of me. So again I wasted some time and then finally had bath and got dressed up by around 8 and my father started preparing me for some possible questions in the interview. By 9 I thought I would go through the text book but instead I took some time out and just focused my thoughts and thought how to present my body language. My batch's interview started by 10 so I was supposed to report by around 9:30.

I left for the university by 9:30 and met my other classmates and we started discussing. We all were supposed to go one by one roll number wise and there was one common waiting hall for each batch that was going on (10 guys in each batch) and the next four boys who were going to be interviewed after the boy being interviewed were supposed to sit on some four chairs and not supposed to talk. I was 2nd from last in my batch so I had to wait a lot to sit in one of those chairs. Each chair was at a distance of about 6 feet from each other with the last one ending up near the boardroom where the interview was going on. Slowly-slowly I reached till the last chair and instead of being nervous, I was excited. I wanted to go in and get done with it soon. Then finally I was called and asked what did I learn in NCC. That took me by surprise so I said some words like "discipline, military etc". Then I was asked a question from accounts by the controller of examinations and I gave exactly the opposite answer. Then he asked me if I was sure and gave me the hint that it was wrong. So then I gave the correct answer. Then came the Vice-Chancellor's turn to ask and he was know to ask economic questions (he is from the IAS). And I answered them really confidently that he himself doubted that if his question was correct and that just boosted up my confidence to new heights. So realising me as a tough candidate to tackle with he told me that I could go and then did not fling any more questions. Mine was one of the shortest interviews and I was not even told that my entrance test marks unlike my peers who were told that they did not do so well. Guess I must've done well. I was off the hook soon and today i was really happy when I got the news that I was selected for the course.

May be it was my luck or the way I showed my body language, but my interview was a hit. I was scared of interviews but after giving 2, I am really confident about them.

The 1st mistake most of the people do is that they smile too soon. Don't smile as soon as you see them but wait for a second or 2, soak in their persona and then let a big , warm, reponsive smile flood over your face and overflow into your eyes. That looks more genuine while the immediate smile looks like artificial. The next thing is to maintain eye contact. Especially when you are answering someone's question, look at that person in the eye and answer confidently even if you are not too sure about the answer. But don't look at the same person for long as it may become intimidating. Your posture is important too. How you walk into the room, how you sit on the chair and how you stand up again. Don't move much as it is a sign of nervousness. Usually many interviewers are present in a interview but only a few ask the questions while the others are busy observing you. Dress formally and decently. Wear clothes which suits you and the institution which is conducting the interview. Don't fold your arms or legs as it sends out very negative signals. Keep them by your side. And never have a blank face. If you have an idea but don't know the exact answer then start your answer with "I think or I believe". If you don't have even an idea then ask for a change in the question. After answering each question give a short smile to the questioner. Know about the background and history of the Institution for which you are being interviewed. And if you are feeling nervous, then take in long breaths and drink small amounts of water with intervals cos you don't want to start searching for the toilets!

These tips are really useful if you want to get through an interview successfully. Have some clarifications or suggestions then do paste them in your comments. All the Best.

Arrivederci

Have A Nice Day!!!