How to Not Panic During an Interview

A lot of my friends are stressing out about upcoming interviews for various colleges. Many of you guys probably have interviews soon too (Symbiosis, Amity and all other MBA colleges have them!) I’ve given three interviews and cleared them all, so I guess it’s a good idea to help you out if you’re scared of interviews!
 

Historically, Interviews and I didn’t get along too well. Even viva examinations used to be a mess for me. I would end up shaking in my chair, sweating so much that my glasses would slip off my nose. But this became a huge problem as I had psychology in XI^th and XII^th and since handling nervousness was part of my course, I didn’t really make a great impression when I would have the semi-meltdown when the external examiner asked me about stress-reduction-strategies. The funny thing was that I had no issues in public-speaking and I was compering for some event or the other, all the time. So, I realized it was time to say goodbye to this fear of interviews.

I’m sure you’ve heard of the basics – every interview has an opening, a body and a closing. The biggest aid is when you have a good hold over your language. I’ve noticed this many a times, much to my advantage, that I got away with saying the most stupid and obvious things by using big words and with a good diction.

Usually, the interviewer is able to figure out if s/he wants you in or out in the first two minutes, maybe even less. Visual presentation is important. Make sure you dress appropriately, especially if you’re going for Hotel Management. And for Pete’s sake, don’t get your face inked. I know, school’s over, but that doesn’t mean you HAVE to get a tattoo! Have a firm handshake. Greet with a smile (and don’t say Good Morning at 12.) Make eye contact – and maintain it throughout.

 In a lot of interviews, the interviewer may try to intimidate you. That’s just to test your patience. Whatever you do, DO NOT lose your patience. That’s an absolute no-no. If you find the questions scary, or more specifically, demeaning (Yep, they do that.) the best way out is to smile. Take a pause, flash a smile, clear your head and continue. It is imperative for you to make sure you don’t say something you can’t defend. And by defending something, I don’t mean keep repeating the same line again and again – that’s just annoying. And you do not want to annoy the interviewer. If you do, by chance, reach a situation where you’re out of arguments, just pretend you’re looking at it from a different perspective now and say something like “Yes, that’s a very interesting take on it. I didn’t think of it that way. I’ll check that out.” Thus, taking extreme positions beforehand isn’t advisable, unless you are really well-prepared to defend your point. Make sure you have no signs of fear on your face and, I repeat, maintain eye contact. I’m stressing on this because a lot of people just look at the table or ceiling all the time and while that’s a great idea for overcoming stage fright, its best avoided in the interview room. Just make sure you don’t get into a staring competition either.

Make sure you have all your current affairs ready, read through trending Wikipedia pages and develop a decent opinion about major topics in the news; especially related to the field you’re going in for. It’s also useful to quote people. If you’re going for MBA, you may quote Bharti Mittal, Tony Fernandes, Naina Lal Kidwai or P. Chidambaram when asked about the recent economic-business scenario. If you’re going for media, throw in names of directors and news anchors. The trick I used was to throw in names of relatively unknown people, so that the interviewer would immediately ask me more about them! For instance, I talked about Pamela Fryman when asked about my favorite director, not Steven Spielberg – whom the interviewer knows a lot about. That way I was able to steer away from certain scary areas. A lot of times, the interviewer may simply be wrong. It’s the worst thing that can happen, but it happens a lot. And you can’t just tell them “You’re WRONG!” on their face, right? So make sure you don’t lose your cool.

So how exactly should you prepare for an interview? Well, first of all, remember that no interviewers are the same – they’re humans, after all. Do a background check on the institution. Talk to people who have given an interview where you are applying. Prepare a short introduction, highlighting your likes, visions and a few but impressive achievements. Try to keep them linked to your course in some way or the other. Prepare a short speech on your dislikes, but don’t start hating and ranting – instead, talk about how you’ll bring change to what you dislike. You’ll be asked to talk about your strengths. And weaknesses. And it can get tricky trying balance impressive attributes and not sounding cocky and narcissistic. So practice that. To kick the nervousness away, it’s best to practice in front of the mirror. If it works for you, try asking some other elders (or sensible friends who won’t start giggling) to have a mock interview with you. And most importantly, prepare an answer for questions like “Why should we choose you over others?” and “How will our institution benefit from having you as our student.” On the day of the interview, make sure you have copies of your transcripts (school certificates), certificates of achievements and anything else that might impress the interviewer. And finally, keep in mind that no preparation can be fool proof. Just be spontaneous, be yourself and be confident. I know you can ace the interview, you should too.

So, may the odds be ever in your favor and you get into the college of your dreams: Best of luck!