Had you ever experienced the nerve wrecking interviews, when you are waiting for your turn wringing your sweaty palms, every moment is mammoth and your heartbeat gets faster and faster. You would have experienced hundreds of youtube videos, thousands of the best practices and what not. But, here I am sharing one of the best practices which is being followed by very less number of job seekers and if they follow the chances for them to ace any interview increases by many folds.
Before I start, let me share a quick brief about myself - The seasoned and renowned Talent Acquisition professional with over 20 years of experience and post recruiting 10k plus people for Fortune 500 companies. I encapsulated many short-term and long-term courses from prestigious Institutes like ASCB (UK), CAMI (USA), Thomas Assessment (PPE) and IIM Bangalore to mention a few. I also shared my knowledge from prestigious Dias of IIMs, IITs and other 20 plus prestigious institutes of India and coached more than 10k plus students till date.
As a bright student and University topper, he got many awards since his scholastics onwards, few of very prestigious awards in his kitty includes All India Radio award, Government of India Award and World HRD Congress.
He imparted his knowledge to mid-career professionals and the HR fraternity through NHRD, GWFM, Corehrir, AIMA and many more communities and forums globally.
He is also a LinkedIn Evangelist with 30 thousand plus followers and shared his LinkedIn secrets though Mentogram - An Singapore based firm. His all three books are available to read
free of cost to job seekers and he had not put these books for commercial usage till date.
Coming back, one of the non-negotiable Interview questions we all face are
1. Why should we hire you?
2. What do you know about this company?
3. Why do you consider yourself suitable for this role?
4. What are you prepared for this interview?
5. What value addition you can bring on the table?
And many more similar questions, confusing every candidate and inevitable for them to crack the Interview, let me share you the best practice as mentioned in my book “Interview Mantra” and which I encapsulated with my two decades of Talent Acquisition Career working for Fortune 500 Companies and Recruited Ten thousand plus candidates.
Let’s Decode the answer by dividing into four parts, Genesis (The Reason), Expectation (The Reality), General Practice, My best practice suggestion and one real time example.
Genesis – The hiring manager would like to know primarily whether you are a cultural fit or not. The technical manager, on the other hand, would love to have someone who is skilled and who is also a team player. If someone already knows the culture, then it will be almost certain that they would succeed in the familiar environment.
Expectation- The interviewer would expect you to check through primary research and secondary research, so that you can be a potential culture fit. There was this candidate who was a sales manager but would still apply for engineering roles because of his B. Tech Degree. Does this case not seem absurd?
General Practice- Candidates want to join organizations when they need a job. But, none would survive for long, or be able to be productive, in a hostile environment. Career planning requires us to be aware of our own fitment before we apply for a position. If we fail here even once, making a comeback becomes very difficult, if not impossible.
Best Practice- I suggest a 321 approach to this problem. Spend 3 minutes on Wikipedia as most relevant information is mentioned in it. The products, turnover, services and the people involved can be derived through this search.
3- Minutes on Wikipedia
2- Observation from Website
1- Statement prepared by your own by combining primary and secondary data available
I suggested just three minutes on Wikipedia, as spending more time on Wikipedia may distract your thought process (due to many hyperlinks) and you may end up in some crossroad and get deviated from the actual preparation.
Next, spend a few minutes on the company website and note at least two important points related to your field and understand the same in a better way to explain to the interviewer when you are asked this question.
Lastly, you need to prepare a statement of your own by combining the primary and secondary data that you collected from the public domain. For example, any finance manager can mention the increase in turnover, earning per share and /or EBITA growth etc. by looking at the balance sheet of the company. Also, you can combine your past experience with the current opportunity and create the pitch for your own achievement on various social media or websites like moneycontrol.com. The achievement could be a turnaround or an award received for achievement in the chosen field.
Example – I am good at product development from an early age and have participated in many new launches in several science exhibitions. As I learned from my friends, social media and the website that this company is known for its unique innovations, I think it is the right organization for me to showcase my skills.
Conclusion – Utmost care should be taken while joining a new organization. The finances, culture, products of the company as well as our own experiences and capabilities in dealing with similar challenges are to be considered thoroughly before we take a decision. While answering this question, we need to convince the hiring manager of our due diligence, by researching the organization portfolio beforehand.
About the Author: Vivek Trivedi is author of Three Books – Interview Mantra, Interviewer Mantra and Resume Mantra, He is Global Interview Coach and Entrepreneur, Trained More than 10 thousand plus people IITs, IIMs and Fortune 500 Companies. He is recipient of many awards including All India Radio award, Government of India and World HRD congress. (www.authorvivek.com) (www.shikshakji.com)
