Students’ Speak: Which 10 qualities will get you hired at your campus placement?

By: Om Ranga

The interviewer knows that you’re a college student and knows the level of ability that most students of your age have. Don’t try to over-exaggerate your achievements, deliver them in a sober and a subtle manner, says Om Ranga. Read what more he has to say.

Campus placement is a wonderful opportunity if taken correctly. It’s the closest experience you can have of the real-world job scenarios and interviews. I think the best way to describe campus placement would be that it is a SWOT analysis of your ability and credibility but it’s also a fast-track to getting jobs in well-reputed companies without doing much of job hunting. So it’s extremely crucial to know the qualities that would work in your favour doing an interview.

1. Jack of some, Ace of some: Gone are the days when companies looked for a particular skill in an employee. A combination of soft skills along with hard skills can really help hit the sweet spot. During my interview, my soft skills were given almost as much attention if not more than my academical results. The points that worked well with me was the fact that I knew German and had multiple certificates for MS Excel, PowerPoint, Photoshop, etc. Knowing relevant soft skills can help you stand out.
2. Adaptable: World is changing faster than ever and it’s extremely crucial for a candidate to keep up to the change. During my interview, I was asked if I could travel to another city for a project or if would be able to learn new skills if the company ever required. It’s very important to not create a fake persona just to get a job. Be yourself, know your capability and then proceed.
3. Honesty and Credibility: Organisations look for candidates that can be trustable and can perform their tasks without jeopardising the company’s standards. Certainly during an interview, a person cannot be judged about their honesty and credibility. This is where a letter of recommendation or past internships help.
4. Personality: Another very important quality is how you present yourself. This is not limited to how you dress up but also how you speak, your body language and more.  I am a fairly confident person thanks to participation in a lot on-stage events that helped me get over the stage fright. So dress properly, take all the opportunities you can to improve yourself in anyway.
5. Being a team player: The last thing an organisation wants is an employee that cannot work in synergy with his subordinates and superiors. So being able to work in bigger groups properly is important. I had worked for multiple fests in college and had a good reputation among other students and teachers. So I used this point to describe my ability.
6. Dependability: This comes with a commitment to work. The organisation must feel that you are dependable to perform the task assigned and doing the task correctly. Mention small but relative incidents from your past internships to drive the point. That is what I did.
7. Communication skills: This speaks a lot about a person’s chain of thoughts, ideas and confidence quite literally. Be sure to speak clearly and think of your choice of words, try being simple. I’ve always been good with my English and have a strong vocab to help. So this was a fairly easy one for me.
8. Don’t oversell yourself: The interviewer knows that you’re a college student and knows the level of ability that most students of your age have. Don’t try to over-exaggerate your achievements, deliver them in a sober and a subtle manner. It’ll deliver your point much more effectively.
9. Don’t be a yes man: It’s a common misconception that organisations look for candidates who would say yes to everything they are asked to do. It is very common when the organisation can actually look for inputs from employees and try to establish two-way communication. During my interview, I was asked if certain practices of the interviewing company were correct or not. I replied with constructive criticism and mentioned points that would help the company overcome certain problems.
10. Try finding the ‘middle point’: No organisation would want an employee to be an overconfident idiot or a shy genius. Finding the middle point between these two extremes is not very difficult and if you’re able to find it for yourself, you would clearly have an edge over the other candidates.

About the Author:

Om Ranga is pursuing BBA from iLEAD Institute of Leadership, Entrepreneurship and Development. He is a certified Pioneer DJ and a music producer. He is also into cars and e-sport racing and loves making short music videos. Om is on a path to become a successful businessman. He is driven by curiosity and excitement.