Interview Experience at KIIT

Final semester students must read each & everything from their project topic, including results, observations and findings for the placement interviews.

In engineering, there are basically two types of interview rounds i.e. Technical round & HR round. Whenever we hear the term 'interview', especially if we are not used to it, it is only natural that we all get stressed. And the only way to deal with this is to practice more & more by appearing for preparatory or demo/mock interviews. To help & tackle this fear, the training & placement cell of KIIT ensures that no student is left behind because of interviews. And that is why interview preparatory sessions are organised for all Schools of Engineering right from the beginning of the fifth semester. Students are allotted slots according to their roll numbers to clear doubts regarding interviews or group discussions. If taken seriously it turns out to be quite beneficial during actual placements.

Tips for Interview During Placement at KIIT

Instead of worrying about interviews, students should work on the fundamentals of their core subjects. That is where no one can help, only being thorough about the subject gives a candidate an edge in the interview. Few important points to be taken care of before appearing for the interviews:

• A candidate should be formally dressed and dark coloured clothes must be avoided.
• Don’t try to bluff, interviewers can figure it out easily. Simply say NO if you don’t know the answers.
• Try to maintain eye contact with all the members in the panel rather than focusing on only one.
• Wish each & every member as soon as you enter the room & don’t sit unless they ask to do so.
• Don’t drag your answers and avoid using fillers, rather be firm & stick to the point.

Commonly Asked Questions

It may happen that the candidate's HR interview goes for a longer duration than the technical one, this, in case the candidate has exceptional grades. Below are some of the most common questions a student may face:

• Tell me something about yourself or introduce yourself?
• Tell me about your family members & hometown – Be careful while answering this question, they may ask something about the place to check one's awareness.
• Why we should hire you?
• What do you expect from the organisation/company?
• Why have you chosen this specific field?

So, prepare these sets of questions thoroughly & try to keep them crisp as much as possible. For final semester students, read each & everything from your project topic, including results, observations and findings.

For core branches (Electrical, Mechanical, Civil), interviewers may ask about units & their conversions, important theorems such as Bernoulli’s, Hook’s law, Terzaghis’s equation, Types of Equilibrium Equations, Tests for Concrete, Brick etc. They can also ask the candidate to draw free body diagrams, graphs of UDL( Uniformly Distributed Load), UVL(Uniformly Varying Load) & their formulae, Types of Cement, Compressive Strengths, etc.

For IT branches, the number of visiting companies is much more as compared to core ones & students will clearly have an idea of the interviews. Be thorough in any one programming language, and try to focus on your major project.

Some questions such as how much do you expect, and whether you are interested in higher studies are just to check your mind-sets, so please be careful while answering such tricky questions. Always say NO when asked about higher studies, for the salary you can simply say, being a fresher I am expecting the salary as per the company norms & I am much more interested to work with an organisation, which can help me to get better & offers me a professional growth.

Conclusion

Please note that interview is just an interaction between the interviewer & interviewee to know about the skills and competency of the appearing candidate, hence, deciding whether the candidate is fit for the organisation or not. A positive attitude is key to sail through this round. Before every interview, students have to clear the online aptitude test.

About The Author

Sachin Singh is a Civil Engineering student of KIIT with proven experience in site management, sub-contractors billing and liquid waste management.

Note: The views expressed in this article are solely the author’s own and do not reflect/represent those of Shiksha.