Interviewing is a learned skill, and there are no second chances to make a great first impression. So get these 5 things right before & during the interview and the dream job will be all yours. 

Conduct Research on the Hiring Company & Job Opportunity

You must spend a good amount of time to conduct research about the hiring company & the requirements of the job. Information sources include the company’s website, other published materials, search engines, research tools, and your own network of contacts.

Review Common Interview Questions & Prepare Responses

Another key to succeed in interviews is by preparing responses to expected general interview questions. Your objective is to compose detailed yet concise responses, focusing on specific examples and achievements. Please don’t memorize responses (they will make you look phony), but keep a mental note on few important talking points.

Dress Well

Wear good clothing that fits you well and is clean and pressed. Keep accessories and jewelry to a minimum. Try not to smoke or eat right before the interview — and if possible, brush your teeth or use mouthwash.

Don’t Talk too Much

Talking more than necessary in order to please the interviewer could be a huge mistake. During the interview, when you realize that you are just rambling while answering a question, take a pause to think of a better response & then go on. Keep your answers concise; yet try to give all the necessary details reg the question.

Ask insightful questions

Employers make a judgment about an applicant’s interest in the job by whether or not the interviewee asks any insightful questions about the job, work culture, etc. So, be a smart job seeker by preparing questions to ask after the interview, & you can add any additional queries that might arise from the interview. But don’t overdo it by asking more than 2-3 questions.

Finally, succeeding in job interviews takes a lot of research, practice, and persistence. The more effort you put into your interview preparation, the more success you’ll see in getting excellent job offers — especially if you remember and follow these 5 job interviewing tips.

Hope you find this blog helpful. Stay tuned with us for more such writings. You can learn more about us by visiting our website, we are the Best Institute in Chennai.

Other related blogs:

Preparing for your job interview

Interview Etiquettes

Interview Questions and Answers

Resume Building

Firstly, Create a Header

Your name, address, contact number, and email id should be given in the header.

The name should be bold and let the font size be one or two numbers high.

Give the address next line. The contact number should be the one you’re using currently.

The email id should be professional and not like coolRaghav@gmail.com. It’s time to create a new mail id if you’ve something of that kind.

Next, Write Down Your Career Objective

This is the main thing an interviewer focuses on.

The career objective must be in a sentence or two and not more than that.

Think about what job interests you and which industry you would like to work in and then write the objective.

It is always better to customize your objective for every company you’re applying to.

If you don’t have a specific industry in mind, you could even leave the objective off your resume. It’s always best to have an objective though. 

Examples: 

To obtain an entry-level designer position in Company Name.

Seeking a mid-level SEO analyst position in Company Name.

Now, Share Your Experience Details

List the jobs you’ve had with the number of years of experience. Start from the most recent job and end with the first job you did.

Include your role and what exactly you did in each company and the skills you obtained.

Try to put those skills relevant to the type of job you’re looking for now. 

Next, Mention Your Education Qualification

Provide your educational qualifications here. Go from what you studied last and end with your schooling. 

Have Space for Your Skills

Don’t put random skills here. Try to be really specific about the skills you have.

If you’re looking for a Graphic Designing post, some of the skills you should be mentioning are problem-solving, creative thinking, analytical skills, attention to detail, etc.

And then put software and mention the software you know like Illustrator, Photoshop, CorelDraw, Indesign.  

Next, Highlight Your Certifications

If you have done any certification or specialization course and got a certificate, including the course details with duration here.

If they are related to the job you’re looking for, that’s even better. 

Example: Completed Graphic Designing course from Web D School, Chennai.

After that Comes Your Awards and Recognitions

If you received awards or any kind of recognition, you should let the employers know that. Include the awards you’ve won and when and for what you won them.

Finally, Your Personal Interests

Mention your interests and hobbies here.

Include only those you think are relevant to the job you’re applying to.

Watching TV is not a hobby you should be putting out here.

The hobby you’re giving here should be something that helped you grow professionally or as a person. 

Start Applying

Once you’re done with the resume, it’s time to start applying for jobs. The Internet has changed the way we search and apply for jobs.

There are many ways to apply for a job now. Uploading your resume in various job portals, submitting in the company websites, emailing the resume and so on. 

Uploading on Job portals

In the job websites, you could upload the resume as a word document or just paste the resume into the body part.

Make sure it is properly formatted either way. Try to avoid Bold, Italics because we might not know how it is shown when the employers see it.

So if you want to emphasize or highlight a particular word, you could use block letters instead of using Bold. 

If you’re going to upload as a Microsoft document or PDF, email the resume to yourself and see if it looks okay from the receiving end.

Upload your resume in all job portals like Indeed, Naukri, Shine, Freshersworld and so on. Find out where the vacancies are and apply directly to companies through mail. 

The most important thing to do while uploading in Job sites is including job-related keywords. For a designing job, you should use keywords like Graphic Designing, Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign, CorelDraw, problem-solving skills, creativity, etc.

Submitting on the Company Website

If there’s a vacancy for the role you’re looking for posted on the company’s website, you can directly submit your details with the resume there.

Like always, check if it is properly formatted and submit only Microsoft word document. 

Emailing your resume

The resume could either be added as a plain text in the body part of the mail or you could send it as an attachment.

If you send a resume through the mail, including a cover letter will be an added advantage. 

Research the company you’re going to interview for

Researching the company is one of the most important things to do before going for an interview.

Once you get a reply from any company or you’re shortlisted for the interview, go to the company website and find out the type of industry it is and the kind of business they’re doing.

Read the “About Us” page, look for the timeline, if there is any, to know the history of the company. 

Understand the culture of the company and think well about how you would fit in there.

Many companies give huge importance to this culture and proudly show off various events they’ve conducted on the website. 

These things should give you an idea about the company and this awareness will help you during the interview when they ask “Why should they hire you?”. 

Apart from the website you could also Google the company and find out the recent updates or initiatives they have taken. This will not only give you an idea of the company but also give you an edge while pitching yourself for the job.

Dress professionally. Regardless of the type of job you’re going to join, the first impression is very important. In India, formal for men would be shirt and formal pants and shoes and for women cotton salwar or Kurti or even a formal shirt and pant would be great for women. Hair should be properly combed and you should look presentable.

• Don’t ever be late. Know the correct time of the interview and venue and reach on time or before the given time. Work out the travel time beforehand, start few mins early and reach the place a little early but not too early.
• Once you reach the venue, let the receptionist know you’ve come for the interview or if you’ve the concern person number, call them and inform them you reached. 

• While waiting to get interviewed, sit straight and do not fidget. Don’t be nervous. Be confident and have a smile on your face. 

• Once you go in for the interview, confidently introduce yourself to the interviewer and greet them with a firm handshake. Make sure it is not too hard or shaky.  

• Make sure you’ve kept your mobile silent. Prepare yourself for some small talk but see to it that it doesn’t go overboard. Let the interviewer lead and you follow the conversation and go with the flow. 

• Body language is very important. Look confident and focus on your posture. Use hand gestures while speaking and always have a smile. Even if you’re nervous, don’t show it out. 

• Answer the questions right and make sure it is clear. Listen to what exactly they’re asking, take a moment to think and then answer. And if you don’t understand or hear the question clearly, you can always ask them to repeat it one more time.

• You should research the company and have some questions to ask about the company or your role to the interviewer. This is very important because it shows how much interested you’re to get this job.

Introduce yourself starting with your previous experience if you’ve already worked. You should start with the most recent job or the one relevant to the job you’re interviewing for and end with the first job. If you start with the boring part of your job and end with the interesting part, the interviewer is likely to zone out before you get to the good part. 

If you’re a fresher, you could start with your qualification, the projects you did relating to this job and then go about why you’re interested in this job

Examples, 

• Experienced: I’m an innovative Graphic Designer with 4 years of experience in designing for like logos, poster, brochures, product packaging, business cards and so on in the company. I have spent these years developing my skills as a designer for the company where I have been recognized for my works and been promoted twice. I love solving problems through design. Although I love my current role, I feel I’m now ready for a more challenging assignment and this position really excites me.

• I have more than 3 years of experience as a Digital Marketing Executive at the company. Recently, I brought my previous company’s website from the second page to fifth position on the first page. I’m a person who thrives in a fast-paced environment so right now I’m looking for an opportunity to apply my technical experience and my creative problem-solving skills at a Digital Marketing agency like this one.

• Fresher: I am a recent B.com graduate with a strong background in designing. I was always interested in designing, so I joined in on a graphic designing course where I learnt using various software. I learnt different techniques on how to create a great design. I’ve worked in Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign and CorelDraw. And now I want to apply my skills in this company and grow along with the company. 

Don’t assume that the interviewer had gone through the whole of your resume and leave out good point but at do not just repeat the same thing you’ve put on your resume as well. Give them something new.

2. What are your strengths?

The strengths you say should be really specific and relevant to the job you’re there for. Don’t be “My biggest strength is hardworking or being punctual.” Be really specific about what your strengths are. Tell your strengths with an example. Giving them some professional experience to complement with the strength you’re telling them. 

It should be something like this

Examples,

• I think one of my greatest strengths is problem-solving. I can see a situation from different perspectives and get my work done even during the difficult times. I think I’ve good communication skills as well. I have the ability to communicate any concept through a design. 

• I am very good with the writing and believe it makes me a analyse things better. I think I have a writing style that makes the readers understand even complicated topics in a simple manner. I am capable of acquiring a lot of information and give the audience in a way they like it.

3. What is your biggest weakness?

Do not give your answer like you’re short-tempered or you get angry easily or anything that gives away your character or personality and don’t do that thing where you answer your weakness as your strength. Give a real weakness that doesn’t directly affect the job role and give examples on how you’re already working on it to improve the weakness. 

Examples,

• I am not a very organized person but I’m aware of the lack of organizing skill and I try to keep things organized and work systematically.

• Sometimes I get a little nervous when I have to start speaking to a large group of people. But I have joined Toastmasters recently to improve my public speaking skills. 

4. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

The reason why the interviewer asks this question is to know if you’ll be committed to the job and be with the company in the long run if they hire you. So you must give your answer in a way that convinces them you’ll stay committed to the job. 

Examples,

• I want to find an entry-level position as a web designer in a company where I can grow and eventually take up new and advanced projects. The main focus is joining a company where I can have a career growth.

• I always give my best at what I do and I want to work somewhere where I’ll be encouraged to develop my skills, take on interesting projects, and work as a team and learn from other people. 

5. Why do you want to work here?

This is where your research about the company comes handy. You should go to the company and understand them in detail. Go through the whole website, know the culture of the company and see how you would fit in there because that’s what the interviewer wants to know. Apart from the website, also check their press release, subscribe to their newsletter to know the latest update. It is important to know the recent happenings. 

Examples,

• I have been following your work on Behance for a long time now and I feel that my design style matches a huge deal with your company and I really believe I’ll be able to create great designs and evolve with the company. 

• I am just starting out as a digital marketing and joining a digital marketing agency like this one will help me in learning new techniques and improve my skills. 

6. Why should we hire you?

There is a reason why interviewer asks this question. They want to hire the best fit for the job, who is a good addition to the team and stays in the company for a long time and not leave as soon as he joined the company. If the interviewer hires a person who isn’t a good employee to the company, he will look bad in front of his superior and lose his reputation. He obviously doesn’t want that. So you need to ensure the interviewer that you’ll be a good fit to the team and the company. It’s all about how you sell yourself to the person interviewing you. 

Examples,

• I have learnt the various aspects of Digital Marketing like SEO, SEM, SMM, SMO in detail from the course I did. I understood the concept easily and was curious to learn new things because of which they asked me to do an internship at the company where I was able to implement what I learnt. So I have practical experience of working as a digital marketing.

• I think the job role suits me really well. You’re looking for an entry-level programmer who knows Python, PHP, Ruby and I’ve hands-on experience working on the languages during my course in web development and now looking for a junior developer position.

7. Do you have any questions for me?

This is not point where you ask about the salary and money. This is the point where you should show real interest in the company and role you’re interviewing for. You need to ask questions about the company and your role. 

Examples,

• What is the best thing you like about working here?
• Can you explain the daily responsibilities expected out of this role?
• How will the career growth be for this role here?
• What will be the next step of the interview process?