Summary of Workshop

Originally at https://blogs.engineeringtimes.in/interview_workshop.html

We, at Engineering Times, always try our best to provide you with quality content. We know that the job placement season is a very crucial and stressful time for all the talented and skilled engineers out there. And the most important thing which helps you make your mark above everyone else is how well you perform in the interviews. And to perform well, it becomes very important to have efficient soft skills.

So, we have organized a workshop on soft skills by Richa Mutreja, the founder of Image and You. She is a Soft Skill trainer and an engineering graduate. It is a three-day workshop starting from 21st August. Here is an overview of why soft skills are so important and how to tackle the stressful environment of the Interview room. 

Richa, explains the importance of soft skills by a very simple yet efficient example. When she was small, her father asked her why she loves visiting her favorite doctor. To which she replied, that she loves going there because the doctor is kind and positive which helps her recover fast. And by this, her father explains that there are thousands of skilled doctors all around the world, but there are only a handful of doctors out there, to whom people want to visit. This is so because they have good soft skills and are able to efficiently portray themselves as a good human being.

Richa says that there are majorly three types of candidates present in an interview. She compares them with the three lead male characters from the film 3 Idiots. First, one is the one who really needs the job and does everything possible to get it like wearing rings or puja, who bites his nails out of nervousness, or is shaking his leg, folding his resumes- just like Raju. The second one is the one who is acting all confident in the waiting or reception area but the minute he steps into the interview room, he gets nervous – like Farhan. And the third one is the confident one who loves what he is doing and it doesn’t matter to him if he gets the job, he surely knows how to figure things out – just like Rancho. Out of all three, we always want to be like Rancho but unfortunately, not all are born Rancho. We have to work on ourselves in order to be the confident Rancho. And to build this confidence, soft skills play a major role. 

So, why exactly do we get nervous and stressed when it comes to interviews?

Richa answers that we human beings are like a living pile of fear. We all have a fear of rejection. The minute we step into the interview room, our minds get filled with stressful questions like “What are they going to ask?”, “Will I be selected or rejected?”, “What will I answer?”,

“What if they reject me?”. We have a ‘Fear of Failure’. We fear that if we got rejected, then a failure tag will be attached to my forehead. Some have pressure like what will their family say if he/she got rejected. It makes one more scared to sit in an interview room. 

 So, to overcome this fear, it becomes very important to be prepared for every possible situation. To start with, one must answer the question like “What to prepare in order to get this job?”, “Why do I want to join this company?”, “How to be a more effective candidate?”. Knowing answer to these questions will automatically ease your way into the interviews. 

Richa links confidence to skills. And skills are basically of two types: Skills learnt and skills that are your inner strengths. Now further dividing them into two we get; Hard skills and soft skills which can be learnt. And skills like attitude and qualities are one’s inner strengths. Hard skills are your academic marks and the technical stuff you learnt. Soft skills include your behaviour, they are the skills which make you a good human being. Attitude can be readjusted. Your qualities are what makes you unique. 

Soft skills are like Mr India; you can’t give any proof that you have soft skills; you can just make other people feel through your behaviour, body language and dressing. The interviewer is looking for skills like leadership skills, communication skills, persuasive skills, team spirit, interpersonal skills, and presentation skills. And these come under soft skills. 

Communication skills include verbal, non-verbal and para-verbal skills. Para-verbal skills mean how effective you are and how efficiently you are speaking. It can be improved by listening to radio news or reading news. Inter-personal skills mean how good you are with people, how you can develop good relations for a happy and smooth working culture.  

Types of soft skills

When you step inside the interview room, you are under continuous observation just like under CCTV surveillance. Every little detail like how you are speaking, how you are entering are being noticed. 

Appearance and Body language make your first impression. How you are looking, how do you enter the interview room, how do you shake hands with them, are you looking nervous or anxious or afraid or even confident becomes the deciding factor whether you are hired or rejected. So the initial 5-7 seconds play a crucial role when it comes to hiring. 

Content is answering the questions precisely and not giving them a tour of some parallel universe. Delivery means how you deliver the answers. Where you pause while answering, were to give stress at some words, when to speak fast and when to go slow, all this play an important role in giving an efficient answer. Etiquette is how you behave in public. It includes how you are talking to the receptionist or the staff who is serving you water, the way you are using the washroom. 

Some sample questions and which answers are considered inappropriate!

? Tell us something about yourself:

An answer like “Hello, I am XYZ. I am a trainer and in my family I have my parents and a younger brother. I belong to Jaipur. However, I’m settled in Delhi.” Won’t grab much attention as it doesn’t tell the interviewer about who you are as a person. This question is a very important one because based on this your further questions are designed. If you can answer this one nicely, then further questions will get milder and milder. So a full fledge answer which shows your strengths, weaknesses, achievements and everything will be a ten on ten answers.

? Why do you think that we should select you? / Why should we hire you?

“Because I am the best.” Is the most cliché answer one could think of.

? What motivates you?

Answering this question with a person’s name like APJ Abdul Kalam or your father will certainly won't help. The interviewer is not asking about who motivates you.

? What are your plans for the next 5 years?

An answer like “I want to become a successful entrepreneur.” Might result into a comeback like “Then why are you wasting our time?” by the interviewer. This would certainly make a bad impression.

? What are your hobbies?

Now, in every hobby, the interviewer has a hobby of questioning the hobby. So to answer this question becomes very critical. If you reply to this question with a hobby like cricket, then you might be entering into a chakravyuha. On this, the interviewer can ask questions like “Who do you think is your favourite cricketer and why?”, “Who, according to you, is a better captain, Dhoni or Virat?”, “Why Dhoni and not Virat?”.

Companies mainly want your technical knowledge to be topnotch and strong because that is what will make their company progress. But soft skills are like 0's and technical skills is like 1. The 0's add on to your work capability and makes you a better employee. It will help you in fruitful discussions. You can convince other people easily and can share what is on your mind. The soft skills will make you in demand but only if your technical knowledge is at par!

Hence, here we are to help you out. To enhance your soft skills, this workshop will help you. It is for three days starting from 21st August. For further details, check out the poster. 

Q and A session:-

? How to remove the fear of rejection?

One thing you have to understand is that fear is as big as you think of it. Instead of thinking what if we got rejected, one must think that if you get selected it’s well and good and if you don’t then you have got yourself an experience. In this way, both situations are a win-win for you. Your interviewer won’t eat you up, he is a human being just like you.

? How to present yourself in front of the interviewer?

Presenting means how unique you are. Presenting yourself effectively means convincing them that you are the best suitable candidate for this position. To present yourself, you need to have a good grip on A, B, C, D and E. 

? Examples of hard and soft skills:-

When asked about this, Richa gives the answer by taking her example, “I being an instrumentation engineer, love to work with control walls, field transmitters and analyzers. I am also good in control systems. I also have good interpersonal skills- I am a friendly person. I take only 5 minutes to make a friend.”

? How to answer the question: “What if we relocate you in five years from now?”

An appropriate reply to this question will be of this form: “As of now, I can see that I can relocate to any location you provide, however at that very moment I need to check my responsibilities to my family and if all the situations are favourable I’ll be happy to move and grow at other location.”

? What to reply when they ask about the expected salary?

Replying to this question with an exact figure like 50k or 60k is quite a vague answer. If the company is offering the job at the campus, then it is offering CTC. So, in such a situation, do your homework, find out what do they offer to a fresher, and inquire about the initial packages. And based on your homework, reply with a certain range like 40 to 50k rather than some exact figure. And you can also reply with the statement: “I can also go with the company norms on the package.” In this way, you letting them know your expectations and at the same time, you are also agreeing with what they are offering.

? Why do the interviewers ask for one’s hobbies?

Interviewer asking about your hobbies is basically a trick question. Hobbies determine the personality of you. When asked such question replying with cooking won’t seem a good answer as it is nowhere required in the job (unless and until you are applying for a chef’s position). You can reply with reading- this shows that you can read documents, which is important in designing field. Travelling as a hobby can be useful in the field of marketing and travelling. Sports can portray you as someone having sportsmanship and as someone who can work in teams. (But these hobbies must be genuine and should be your hobby!)

? How to be confident?

Confidence is all about enhancing your skills. When you know that you have so many skills, it automatically boosts your confidence. Knowing how capable and unique you are, boosts your confidence. When you walk into the room with your head high, it reflects your confidence to the interviewer and it can be a major plus point.

? How to respond if you are not able to answer the questions?

If you don’t know the answer to any question, then at least try to answer as much as you can. Even if it’s 10, 20 or 30 % correct will add to your positive points. When you think you are not sure that you are 100% sure, then inform them about the same. You can say something of this sort: “I believe …. But I’m not sure.” In this way you are being honest to them and at the same time gaining some points.

? How to answer about having a career gap of one or two years?

In this situation be completely honest to them. They are not going to mark something negative about you. But if you try to hide about it or lie then it will surely result in negative marks. 

? Is it necessary to shave the beard before the interview?

Having a beard is one’s own choice. It’s not necessary to shave your beard but for the interview trim it properly. It shouldn’t look shabby like you just woke up from a good sleep. The same applies to your hair; it should be well-trimmed and should look neat and tidy. Looking neat will be added in your positive remarks. 

? How to improve verbal communication?

Nothing can help you improve your verbal skills, except practice. The more you practice speaking in English, the better it will get. Also, listening to English news will definitely help. There is also a theory named VAK i.e. Visual, Audio and Kinesthetic. It means you can improve your skill by either watching it or hearing it or doing it like practising it.

? How to answer the question: “Why this company?” 

To answer this, you have to do a little homework on the company. You have to find out some x,y,z factors which makes you feel that you would love to work in this company. Reading about the growth and the standards of the company might help in this.

? Is it necessary to wear light make-up during interviews?

It’s not a compulsory thing. But if wearing makeup gives you confidence in yourself then it’s a part of grooming and won’t harm anything. However, wearing flashy colours like blue, green eyeliners or some sparkly lipstick might seem a little inappropriate. Neutral and subtle colours will do.

? How to answer to this: “Will you change your attire or personality for this job?”

If you feel confident about your attire then you can reply with: “No sir, I feel that whatever I am wearing is suitable to my personality and my role.” And if you are in some sort of doubt then you can say: “Ok sir, I can make it more appropriate.”

? How to be good in group discussions?

The first thing one must understand is that debate and group discussions are two different things. Group discussions are basically to see how good your leadership skills and team spirit are. You are not there to prove your part. Always keep in mind, that all the other people present there are your colleagues, or friends, so have a lot of empathy when you are presenting your views. Be subtle. Don’t blame. Put your point with lots of facts and examples, which can help you prove your efficiency. 

? What to say when asked about low percentage?

It totally depends on you why your percentage is low. If you have some genuine family problem or health issue, then say it out. 

? How to correct the answer which we might have given incorrectly?

You can ask the interviewer whether you can reattempt that question. If they say yes, then you can say the correct answer.

? If one doesn’t have many hard skills, so can we persuade the interview with only soft skills?

Hard skills are something without which the company won’t take you. There will be technical rounds like coding rounds which will require hard skills. Though, it’s not necessary that you must excel in every technical subject. If you are good in one or two things, then you must make them your strengths. Be prepared to answer any question related to that, as that will make you above everyone else who are doing okay in all the subjects. Remember “Quality is more important than Quantity.”