What do Interviewers look for?

© 2005 Ma Foi Management Consultants

 Road map
• Today’s job market
• What interviewers look for
• Successful interviews

Avoiding the six deadly sins
• Presenting personality
• Ground work for interview

© 2005 Ma Foi Management Consultants

 Today’s job market
• IT
• ITeS/ BPO
• Retail
• Insurance
• Technical Publishing

© 2005 Ma Foi Management Consultants

 What interviewers look for
• General requirements

Communication skills
 Articulation of thought
 Presenting opinions
 Stability of thought

Team skills

Basic selling and negotiation skills

Basic etiquette and work standards

Personality traits
 Presenting self
 Dynamic attitude
 Assertiveness
 Matured behavior
 Emotional stability

© 2005 Ma Foi Management Consultants

 What interviewers look for
Vertical Qualification Parameters Assessed

1 IT MCAs / M.Sc in Computer 1) Problem solving skills and

stream/Engineering graduates numerical ability
with CS, EEE, ECE 2) Basic coding skills
2 ITeS Graduates 1) Basic language proficiency
2) Voice clarity
3) Pronunciation and diction

3 Retail Matriculate 1) Communication skills

2) Aptitude to sell
4 Insurance Any Graduate 1) Numerical ability
2) Ability to look for details
3) Understanding finance as a
function
5 Technical Graduate in mathematics preferred 1) Numerical aptitude
Publishing 2) Written English
3) Communication skills

© 2005 Ma Foi Management Consultants

 Successful interviews
• Avoiding the six deadly sins

Not listening

Parroting

Not taking time

Diffidence

Lack of preparation

Absence of goals

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 Not listening
• Right answers to wrong questions
• Long answers
• Why?

Nervous

Known questions vs unprepared answers

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 Parroting
• Self introduction – “My Name is ……”
• Strengths and weakness – “Im a good
communicator/ Im a very confident
person”
• I want a challenging job!
• Declaration – “Above are true to best of
my …..”
• Why?

Poor ground work before interview

© 2005 Ma Foi Management Consultants

 Not taking time
• Immediate responses – Sometimes
even before the interviewer finishes the
question
• Trying to avoid starting trouble

Eg: What is probability?

Probability is…………..(Long pause)
• No clarification

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 Diffidence
• Buckling under questioning

Lack of preparation

Previous bad experience
• ‘Do you have any questions?’

Nothing wrong in asking a question to an
interviewer

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 Lack of preparation
• ‘What do you know about us?’

It’s a multinational organization with a
nation wide reach 
• ‘What is your favourite subject? ‘

Mathematics but I did that in I Semester –
Don’t remember anything

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 Absence of goals
• No career plan or thoughts
• ‘Where do you see yourself….’

I want to learn…

I want to be xyz

In the same company

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 Presenting personality
• Presenting pleasant
• First impression
• Confidence and self esteem factor
• Physical hygiene
• Attire – Don’t dress to kill
• Body talk – Stature, posture and walk

© 2005 Ma Foi Management Consultants

 Need for groundwork

A thorough groundwork helps in:

• Identifying skills
• Mapping your skills
• Understanding the growth patterns
• Getting prepared
• Minimize the unknown factor

© 2005 Ma Foi Management Consultants

 What ground work to do
• Knowing the organization
• Knowing the job
• Understanding what the job can offer
you

© 2005 Ma Foi Management Consultants

 Know the organisation

• Product/ Service – Main line of business

• Size of the company and
reputation/Image
• History, philosophy vision and goals
• Management team, talent and style
• Current problem / issues of the
company
• Market demand for product/ services
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 Know the job
• Skill requirements
• Opportunity to perform
• Growth patterns
• Industrial standards of pay for the job

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 How to do the groundwork

• Company website
• The anchor person
• Friends working in the company
• Journals/ magazine/ newspaper –
company’s news, general market
information

© 2005 Ma Foi Management Consultants

 How to use the groundwork

• Asking questions to the interviewer

• Using power words

I Understand (“I understand that the
company is currently working on…..”)

I believe (“I believe there is a requirement
for…”)
• Customized presentation about self

© 2005 Ma Foi Management Consultants