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How To Act During The Interview ?

 

There are many things that you can do that can take away some of the pressure during a job interview. The way that you behave is one of the most important elements. It is not all in the words that come out of your mouth, but it often has a lot to do with the mannerisms that you use.

Interviewers are not just wondering if you’re skilled enough for the job, they’re often wondering if you would fit in nicely with your co-workers. Your personality is also a big part of your job interview and may make all the difference. Here are some of the little things that you should pay especially close attention to during a job interview.

You don’t want to be chewing gum or breath mints during your interview. You also do not want to speak in slang during your interview either. It’s unprofessional and rude.

Showing Confidence

You can’t enter into an interview with a defeatist attitude. You also can’t mope or exude too much placidity in your manner. It’s not inviting, and doesn’t give the impression of a person that you may want to face every day.

Be sure of your abilities without appearing too cocky or narcissistic. You want to let you interviewer know that you’re equipped to perform well at your job, without alienating other workers. You should point out your accomplishments in your field whilst remaining somewhat humble.

List your accomplishments in a matter of fact manner without going into too much detail. I know this sounds repetitive, but you can never get this point out too strongly. Understand that body language also plays a large part in exuding confidence to others. Try to sit straight. Practice good posture, and keep your head upwards.

Keeping a Positive Attitude

You must always try to smile and keep a positive outlook during your interview. If you hear something that doesn’t sound good to you, try not to frown and look disgruntled, just keep a slight smile on your face until it’s time for you to say something. Then approach your interviewer with your questions or concerns when the time is appropriate.

Maintaining Eye Contact

Keeping eye contact with your interviewer is a very important factor, especially when one of you is speaking to the other. If you’re looking around the room or at the items on the interviewer’s desk, you’ll appear uninterested. Just imagine what you’d be thinking if you were speaking to him and he was looking all over the room. You’d probably think that you already lost the interview.

Your Body Language

We have touched on this a little bit but you should mind some of the common errors that many people make when they are speaking to others.

I have listed some of the common things that you should avoid when sitting through an interview:

• Avoid fidgeting whilst speaking to your interviewer. It shows a lack of self-confidence.

• Avoid speaking whilst using overly expressive hand gestures. It’s distracting.

• Avoid biting your lips in between your sentences. It gives the impression that you’re making things up.

• Don’t sit with your arms crossed because it makes you appear stand-offish.

• Don’t shrug your shoulders when asked a question that you’re unsure of. Take a second to think of your response. Shrugging your shoulders gives the impression that you do not know the answer.

• Do not answer with nods and head shakes. Use words to answer questions.

• Try to get plenty of sleep the night before the interview. You do not want to yawn in front of the interviewer. He’ll think that you are expressing boredom.

In many cases, acing an interview is very much like making a sale, only instead of a product, you are marketing yourself. It’s important to go into the interview knowing as much about the company you are applying to as possible in order to confidently present your skills and experience in an engaging and relevent way. Learning about your potential employer can give you an edge on other interview candidates so profound, it’s like having a list of insurance sales leads in your back pocket.

How to make a good first impression during an interview

 

First impressions can be a hard thing to go through in any situation.

During an interview you want to really give the best first impression that you can.

There are many small things that you may do to assure that you give the best impression possible:

• You are never being too polite to the person that directs you to your waiting area when waiting to be interviewed. A small gesture such as, asking how they are doing can work wonders for you when you leave the building later.

• Whilst waiting to be interviewed, sit properly and behave as if everyone passing you by is your potential interviewer. They just could be. Smile at people as much as you can, but don’t overdo it. Don’t act impatient or bored because it sends the wrong message. Some interviewers might keep you waiting just to see how you handle yourself.

• Greet your interviewer with a good handshake and a smile.

• Remain standing until your interviewer asks you to be seated. It’s simply polite and shows proper etiquette.

• Again, dress according to the type of job that you’re applying for.

• Show yourself as well organized by having all things with you needed for the interview.

• Whilst waiting do not eat or drink.

• Do not chat on your cell phone whilst waiting for your interviewer. It can make you look distracted.

10 Most Asked Interview Questions

How many of you had stumbled upon an interview question you haven’t prepared yourself for, and your mind drew a blank? Sensing that awkward silence, you blurted out whatever words you could find and desperately made sentences out of them. The interview ended moments later, and as you reflect back on what you had said, you dreadfully realized those words don’t make much logical sense!

10. “Tell me about yourself?”

This is typically the first question the interviewer will ask once you’ve taken your seat. This is the opportunity for the interviewer to assess you as a person through what you say and how you deliver it. As they always say, first impression is at utmost important, so you’ve to make sure you’ve prepared yourself adequately to answer it. Keep it short and succinct, preferably within 2 – 3 minutes.

How should you reply then? Like I said, you should have done your research on what the company expects from the candidates before heading for the interview. Your answer then, is to address how your qualities (e.g. qualifications, personalities and work experience) are relevant to the position in question. Therefore, you should only convey information applicable to what is required for the job, but not irrelevant ones pertaining to your family or personal events, for instance.

9. “What are your weaknesses?”

At first glance, this seems tricky. On one hand, you can’t reveal that you lack what it takes for the job; on the other, it will be an obvious lie if you claim you don’t have any weaknesses. What should you disclose then?

If you have thoroughly gone through the company’s profile and such, you will by now understand what qualities are considered strengths, and what are not. Now, there are several ways to answer double-edged questions like this.

With your knowledge of what constitute as weaknesses that are frown upon by the interviewer, you can admit to those which you have that are impertinent to the job requirement. Secondly, you can mask strengths as weaknesses. For instance, you can say you are a very meticulous person who gets picky with details of a project (for this to work though, the job must be one that is particular about specifics). Last but not least, you can confess to past weaknesses but show how you had triumphed over them.

8. “What is your greatest accomplishment?”

Although the interviewer is asking you about your greatest accomplishment, you still have to choose one that is more professionally relevant. This is a good time to illustrate how you can contribute to the company if you are successfully recruited, so it will be to your advantage if you mention an achievement that applies to the position.

Let’s say you are applying for a position that requires a significant amount of problem solving and troubleshooting. You might want to talk about a time when you resolved a persistent problem that had plagued your company for years. You can explain how you initiated some research and made a useful suggestion that was eventually implemented to all departments. If possible, quantify your results in terms of savings made and increased productivity for instance.

7. “Why did you leave your last job?”

There are various legitimate reasons for leaving a job. Yet, when it comes to interview, try to answer positively rather than complain about what made you unhappy. Talk in relation to your career goals and how the job you are applying provides a better environment for growth than your previous job. As always, angle your reply in such a way that what you had learned in your previous job had enriched you with valuable skills for the current position.

Here, the interviewer is trying to gauge how much the job fits to your expectations. You had probably quit your last job because you were unhappy about something. The interviewer wants to make sure that you will be committed to the job and not leave because your expectations are not met again.

6. “Why do you want to work with us?”

More likely than not, the interviewer wishes to see how much you know about the company culture, and whether you can identify with the organization’s values and vision. Every organization has its strong points, and these are the ones that you should highlight in your answer. For example, if the company emphasizes on integrity with customers, then you mention that you would like to be in such a team because you yourself believe in integrity.

It doesn’t have to be a lie. In the case that your values are not in line with the ones by the company, ask yourself if you would be happy working there. If you have no issue with that, go ahead. But if you are aware of the company culture and realize that there is some dilemma you might be facing, you ought to think twice. The best policy is to be honest with yourself, and be honest with the interviewer with what is it in the company culture that motivates you.

5. “Why did you apply for this position?”

Even if it’s true to a large extent, don’t give them the vibe that you applied for this job because you were retrenched from your previous company. Or for that matter, don’t give the impression that you are here because you need to make a living. Any company wants someone who is committed to the organization and eventually developed a sense of belonging with it. It doesn’t help claiming that you’re here for the monthly paycheck.

In fact, the best way to answer this question is to spend some time examining what you like or would like about your work and the company. It is likely you will find something, such as the culture, work environment, meaning of your work, etc. If you didn’t find anything, then you should seriously consider if this is the right job for you.

Once you know why you want this job, you can then answer them in a manner that’ll relate how well you fit with the position. For example, if you like the customer service work involved because you enjoy communicating with people, bring up that sociable personality of yours. Convince them that you’ll fit in very well here, and you’ll in turn convince the interviewer that you’ll be an asset to the company.

4. “What would you like to be doing five years from now?”

Again, this question is asked to find out whether you are committed to the job. The fact is that there are people who hop from job to job, and that is because they don’t really have a solid plan to follow.

Another reason for popping this question is to see whether you are someone who sets goals in life. It’s undisputable that people who set long-term goals are more reliable than those who don’t. I mean, knowing what you want in life says a lot about your personality, perhaps as a person who can lead and stay motivated.

Your reply should assure the interviewer that your career progression goals are in line with the actual advancement route in the company. The interviewer wouldn’t want to disappoint you in the next five years and end up with you resigning. As such, it is crucial that you do your homework on the company’s prospects so that you know what to expect for yourself, and whether it will meet your long-term career objectives.

3. “Why should I hire you?”

This is the part where you link your skills, experience, education and your personality to the job itself. This is why you need to be utterly familiar with the job description as well as the company culture. Remember though, it’s best to back them up with actual examples of say, how you are a good team player.

It is possible that you may not have as much skills, experience or qualifications as the other candidates. What then, will set you apart from the rest? Energy and passion might. People are attracted to someone who is charismatic, who show immense amount of energy when they talk, and who love what it is that they do. As you explain your compatibility with the job and company, be sure to portray yourself as that motivated, confident and energetic person, ever-ready to commit to the cause of the company.

2. “How much are you expecting for the salary?”

Salary negotiation is a tough and delicate matter. Preferably speaking, you should avoid going into this topic until the later stage of the recruitment when you are being offered the job. That said, some recruiters might be hoping that you’d yield in to this question and be the first to give the number and set the benchmark. The repercussion? You might end up making less than what the position is worth!

Hence, research on the salary range in your field to have a rough estimate of how much you should be earning. Give a large range rather than a specific amount if you have to answer it. An alternative is to pose the question back at the interviewer by asking what kind of salary does the position warrants. At other times, interviewers might just be testing you to see if money is the only thing that matters. So, do emphasize that your priority lies with the nature of the job and not the salary per se.

Remember that when the job is finally being offered to you, the interviewer would have to quote the salary. That will be the best time to negotiate your way because you will then become the one being sought after, and not the other way round.

1. “Do you have any questions to ask me?”

This is normally the last question posed to you, so it’s your chance to finish the interview elegantly. True enough, your doubts about the job position might already been allayed by this time when the interview is almost done. Nevertheless, you’ve got to say something other than replying that you’ve got nothing to ask. Doing otherwise might leave the impression to the interviewer that you are not exactly keen to get the job.

Unless an employer is interested in recruiting a passive employee, the interviewer is likely to be attracted to proactive candidates who ask intelligent questions. If you must ask, do make sure that they aren’t those with obvious answers that you can get if you have done the research thoroughly. Yes, there’s no such thing as a stupid question, except those that you ask for the sake of asking. Try to incorporate your knowledge of the industry and the company into a question that will address a genuine concern of yours. That way, you get to amaze your interviewer and assess for a final time whether the job aligns with your expectations.

One of the best responses to this question is to find out about your chances of landing this job. Thank the interviewer for the opportunity and express your enthusiasm for the position before asking if there is any reservation for hiring you. This will be your final chance to address any concerns the interviewer might have of employing you. Stay calm and reply objectively rather than taking any criticism personally.

Of course, you are free to ask any questions in your mind. It is, after all, you who is seeking a right job for yourself. Gather as much information about the position and have a feel of what it’s like working there day in, day out. If they offer you the job and it is what you are seeking for, go for it!

Engineering Interview Questions (Top 100)

General Questions for All People
Q: Describe yourself.

Q: Tell me about your educational background?

Q: What do you know about the organization?

Q: How would you do justice to the job?

Q: What are your weaknesses?

Q: What are your salary expectations for this job?

Q: What are the projects you have ever undertaken?

Q: What do you do in leisure?

Q: Do you want to ask anything from us?

Q: What are your hobbies?

Q: Why do you want to go into this field?

Q: Describe one of the technical problems you had to solve.

Q: How would you develop yourself in this type of Structural Engineer role?

Q: Do you have any experience in developing technical specifications?

Q: What are the differences between vector and array?

Q: What experience have you had in writing technical materials?

Q: What is the thing you dislike the most in the world? Why?

Q: What does success mean to you?

Q: How do you define failure?

Q: How do you define arrogance? Are you arrogant?

Q: What role are you ready to take in a group?

Q: Who has been an inspiration for you?

Q: What is more important to you, money or success?

Q: What were some of your most important engineering achievements?

Q: Can you name some engineers that you knew or worked with?

Q: Can you describe how engineering generally has changed during your lifetime?

Q: Why do you want this job?

Q: Why do you want to work with this organization?

Q: Where do you see yourself five years down the line?

Q: What are your strengths?

Q: How do you pursue your hobbies?

Q: What has been your greatest achievement?

Q: What has been your greatest failure?

Q: How do you take challenges?

Q: Are you willing to work in shifts?

Q: What is the thing you like the most in the world? Why?

Q: What kind of person are you?

Q: Rate yourself on a scale of 10.

Q: Why did you choose _________ as your major/subjects?

Q: Are you willing to travel?

Q: Why are you leaving the organization you work for?

Q: How much time do you need to join the organization?

Q: Are you aggressive?

Q: What makes you a good manager?

Q: What motivates you the most?

Q: What skills and abilities do you have?

Q: Is there anything you want to ask?

Q: Design a four-input NAND gate using only two-input NAND gates.

Q: What experience have you had in working with field forces?

Q: Tell us about your experience with computer-aided design software.

Q: Where were your early contributions in your engineering work — planning, design, construction, operation, writing, teaching, and research?

General Questions for Civil Engineers

Q: According to you, what is the best design for building bridges?

Q: What are all the new civil construction materials and concepts?

Q: What is softsoil?

Q: Explain your project management?

Q: What are the CAD software versions you have used?

Q: What are some of the different ways to lay a foundation?

Q: Why is a manhole round?

Q: What is earth?

General Questions for Mechanical Engineers

Q: Explain about power technology?

Q: How is SAP useful for mechanical engineers?

Q: What are the different types of bearings? What are different types of rivets?

Q: What is the applicability of mechanical engineering in the industry?

Q: Explain Newton’s Laws.

Q: How is a factor of safety used in design?

Q: Interpret a Stress vs. Strain Curve.

Q: What types of equations or theories would be used in Static Failure?

Q: What types of equations would be used in Fatigue Failure?

Q: Which one is more efficient– a four stroke engine or a two stroke? Why?

General Questions for Electrical Engineers

Q: Why electrical engineering?

Q: What is the difference between earthing and grounding?

Q: Why transistors are not used as switching devices?

Q: Define watt.

Q: How are analog signals converted to digital signals?

Q: Explain the differences between a transistor and capacitor.

Q: Describe the functions of a diode.

Q: Describe the basic elements of an integrated circuit.

Q: What is a UPS?

Q: Describe how energy is stored in an inductor on electronic level.

Q: What is the difference between a Verilog task and a Verilog function?

Q: What is the difference between a Vera task and a Verilog task?

General Questions for Chemical Engineers

Q: How do you go about mixing two unknown chemicals?

Q: How would you separate water and benzene?

Q: How do you calculate the sonic velocity of a gas stream?

Q: What is unit operation?

Q: What are the effects of oils on the properties of Polyolefins?

General Questions for Computer Science Engineers

Q: Write a function that returns the factorial of a number.

Q: What are data structures?

Q: What are condition statements?

Q: Define exception handling with example.

Q: Name the operating systems you are familiar with.

Q: What is the difference between a bug and a virus?

Q: What is hyper threading (HT technology)?

Q: Which programming language would you choose to make accounting software and why?

Q: What is a database? How does it differ from data marts and data warehouses?

Q: Explain the projects undertaken by you.

Q: Write the code to sort an array of integers.

Q: What is the difference between recursion and iteration?

Q: What are the similarities between recursion and iteration?

Q: What are constructors?

HR Interview Questions & Answers For Freshers

1. Tell me about yourself?
I am down-to-earth, sweet, smart, creative, industrious, and thorough.

2. How has your experience prepared you for your career?

Coursework:
Aside from the discipline and engineering foundation learning that I have gained from my courses, I think the design projects, reports, and presentations have prepared me most for my career.

Work Experience:
Through internships, I have gained self-esteem, confidence, and problem-solving skills. I also refined my technical writing and learned to prepare professional documents for clients.

Student Organizations:
By working on multiple projects for different student organizations while keeping up my grades, I’ve built time management and efficiency skills. Additionally, I’ve developed leadership, communication, and teamwork abilities.

Life Experience:
In general, life has taught me determination and the importance of maintaining my ethical standards.

3. Describe the ideal job.
Ideally, I would like to work in a fun, warm environment with individuals working independently towards team goals or individual goals.I am not concerned about minor elements, such as dress codes, cubicles, and the level of formality. Most important to me is an atmosphere that fosters attention to quality, honesty, and integrity.

4. What type of supervisor have you found to be the best?
I have been fortunate enough to work under wonderful supervisors who have provided limited supervision, while answering thoughtful questions and guiding learning. In my experience, the best supervisors give positive feedback and tactful criticism.

5. What do you plan to be doing in five years’ time?
Taking the PE exam and serving in supervisory/leadership roles both at work and in professional/community organization(s).

6. What contributions could you make in this organization that would help you to stand out from other applicants?
In previous internships, my industriousness and ability to teach myself have been valuable assets to the company. My self-teaching abilities will minimize overhead costs, and my industriousness at targeting needs without prompting will set me apart from others. Additionally, one thing that has always set me apart from my scientific/engineering peers are my broad interests and strong writing abilities. I am not your typical “left-brained” engineer, and with my broad talents, I am likely to provide diverse viewpoints.

7. What sort of criteria are you using to decide the organization you will work for?
Most importantly, I am looking for a company that values quality, ethics, and teamwork. I would like to work for a company that hires overachievers.

8. What made you choose your major?
My academic interests are broad, so I sought civil engineering to achieve a great balance of mathematics, chemistry, biology, physics, and writing.

9. Have your university and major met your expectations?
The College of Engineering at MSU has exceeded my expectations by providing group activities, career resources, individual attention, and professors with genuine interest in teaching.

My major has met my expectations by about 90%. I would have enjoyed more choices in environmental courses, and would have preferred more calculus-based learning.

10. What made you choose this college?
I chose this college for the following reasons: my budget limited me to in-state schools, I was seeking an area with dog-friendly apartments, the MSU web site impressed me, I saw active student groups, and the people were very friendly.

11. List 2-3 of your greatest achievements since you’ve been in college and why? Receiving the SWE Outstanding Member Award and College of Engineering Student Service Award? 
I got involved with student activities to overcome my debilitating shyness. Receiving these awards signified that I had accomplished a transition from dragging myself to participate to feeling energized by it.

Receiving the SWE Web Site Award?
Without training in web design, I competed against not only the other student sections, but professional sections around the nation. Despite competing with more HTML-experienced people, I brought this award to my section. After getting so much from SWE, I was able to give something back.

Earning the highest grade in an organic chemistry class of ~200 people
I worked very hard for this grade and loved the subject, so it was a great feeling to see that the hard work paid off.

12. Which subjects have you enjoyed studying the most and why? 
I have enjoyed hydrology, fluids, solid & hazardous waste management, water and wastewater treatment, and oceanography because I love water and environmental topics.

Calculus and linear algebra excite me because I love logic.

I enjoyed the writing and analysis in economic history.

Business law thrilled me because I have a strong interest in legal matters.

13. Which subjects did you dislike and why? 
Introductory soil elicited little interest in me, most likely because the professor was inexperienced, the book was ineffective, and I had little spare time that semester to look into other resources.

14. Do you have plans to continue your education? 
Yes, but not immediately. I plan to continue part time with either an MBA or an environmental engineering masters, depending on which will be more beneficial to my work.

15. How would a professor who knows you well describe you? One who does not know you well? 
A professor who knows me well would likely describe my personal qualities: sweet, down-to-earth, smart, hard-working, and conscientious.

As specific examples of those who did not know me well, my soils professor and soils teaching assistant each considered me smart and respectful, and both thought that I must have enjoyed the class a lot, due to my performance.

16. Given the chance, how would you alter your education? 
Knowing now what I like the most, I would have used my electives for extra math and psychology classes, since I tend to be well-rounded enough that a variety of classes are unnecessary; my personal reading is diverse enough. I have found that mathematics and psychology are helpful to all career and life paths.

17. Which part-time job did you enjoy the most and why? 
Working for PM Environmental was most enjoyable to me, since I felt like I was significantly contributing to the company, and I enjoyed learning on my own.

18. Interests: 
Some of my interests include dogs, hiking, snow-shoeing, water sports, writing, reading (especially Charles Dickens’ novels), skiing, drawing, crafts, and computers.

19. What are your strengths? 
My strongest strength is the ability to teach myself difficult material, regardless of the subject (with the exception of theater and drawing blood from dogs, which I have no talent for). Additionally, I have always excelled verbally and look forward to writing opportunities.

20. What are your weaknesses? 
I tend to try to do too many things, leaving little time for myself. I have worked on balancing myself for the last several months. I am also working on improving my public speaking skills.

21. What sort of serious problems have you experienced, and how have you handled them? 
My apartment building burned down at the end of January during one of my semesters at MSU. Before the fire got too bad, I was able to rescue my pets and the neighbor’s dog, as well as my textbooks and backpack, but I lost most of my mementos and possessions. While the firemen were preparing their hoses, I drove to school (with the animals in the car) to meet my lab partners, who were waiting for me. I explained the situation, emailed my professors, and rushed back to the apartment.

Fortunately, I had renter’s insurance. I missed about a week of school to deal with the insurance matters and find a new place to live. In order to salvage my grades and sanity, I dropped a course and honored my existing student group and research commitments. Staying active socially and keeping myself well-rounded were the best healing tools for me. Within a few weeks, I was caught up and had recovered reasonably from the loss of sentimental items.

22. Do you or have you in the past experimented with illegal drugs? 
No. My only addictions are caffeine and sugar.

23. Would you be willing to take a drug test? 
Of course.

24. Do you drink alcohol socially? 
No, but I enjoy Shirley Temples quite a bit.

25. If you had your whole life to live over, what would you do differently and why?
I was always good in math, but I wish that I would have focused on math more. I feel that mathematics can lead one anywhere, and is the basis of most disciplines.

On a personal level, I would have ensured that, despite pre-teen angst and insecurity, I would have been nice to everyone, even on especially bad days.

26. Which is more important to you, your salary or your job?
Salary is important, but I couldn’t stay with a job that brought me misery when I could support myself doing something else; hence, my job is more important.

27. What have you found to be the biggest source of motivation in your life?
Taking advantage of my strengths so that they are not wasted. Since nobody is lucky enough to be strong in every area, I think it is important to make good use of one’s strengths.

28. What sorts of things cause you stress, and how do you deal with them?
Lack of organization throws me off. To deal with this, I come up with some kind of system to organize things, even if it is only in my head, in the case when chaos is desirable.

29. What is your definition of success?
Being a good person by improving the quality of the lives of others, whether it be through work, doing sweet things, improving the environment/community, taking care of one’s family, etc. Superficially, I tend to measure success by level of education and abilities within one’s career; however, I try to remind myself of the things that are more important.

30. What qualities should a successful supervisor possess in regard to job requirements and those who report to him/her?
A successful supervisor should be able to tactfully give criticism, guide, motivate, encourage and foster a positive work environment.

31. How would you develop team spirit among the people that you supervise?
My experience in student groups has taught me that people work best when their friends (teammates) are counting on them to do well; therefore, I believe that bonding motivates people. I would also foster team pride by promoting our team’s assets.

32. Do you like to work independently or as a team?
I like to work independently towards a team goal.

33. What kind of work environment do you like the best?
I enjoy working with friendly co-workers who can share a laugh while working hard and overachieving.

34. How would you resolve conflicts with employees, coworkers, and supervisors?
If possible, I would refresh my memory on what I’ve learned about conflict communication, and then I would discuss things, honestly and tactfully. I am a big fan of kind sincerity and honesty, as well as humility (when appropriate).

35. In what ways have you learned from your mistakes?
Upon getting myself overwhelmed with involvement in too many projects, I changed my approach. When possible, I now start with less than I can handle and add more only as time allows, and in small increments.

36. In what areas do you need to improve your skills?
I would like to improve my public speaking skills.