Students’ Speak: Parameters taken into account for assessment during PI

By: Payal Jajodia

Interviewers always evaluate confidence level and positive attitude towards the company as well as body language, mindset, willingness to take challenges and to grow with the company. It is rightly said, no one is defined by the number of the attempts they fail, but instead how they got up and fought against the odds.

“It’s not whether you get knocked down. It’s whether you get up”- one of the most famous quotes by Vince Lombardi. This quote goes very well for every one of us who are told “no” or are not receiving any positive response for our highly crafted resume and our skills. There are times when a candidate clears all the rounds including technical or GD but fails to crack the personal interview. We are not defined by the number of the attempts we fail but instead how we stood up and fought against these failures defines us. Same goes with PI where a candidate gets rejected and feels knocked down, but how to get up is the real challenge. So here I am sharing some important parameters that are taken into account for assessment during PI.

A Personal Interview or PI is the structured communication between two participants or can also be called a method of survey where one participant i.e. the interviewer asks questions and the other participant i.e. the candidate answers. Generally, PI is conducted to get responses and to examine them so that the behaviour of the candidate can be probed. Some of the skills required for PI are:

Research the Organization: Before appearing for the PI find as much as you can about the company, look for their official website and all the mandatory details. Find about their vision, mission, and objectives, also most important is the organization guiding principles. Also prepare a list of some questions for the company and analyse the job profile that you have applied for whether it fits or not.

Be on Time: Always reach the venue of PI at least 40 minutes before the scheduled time. One day before the PI check for all the necessary documents like your resume, mark sheets, certificates, passport size photographs, photocopy of the documents and other documents required by the company in a portfolio. Arrange all the necessary things like your uniform or the formals, id card one day before.

Always Think Before You Speak:  Provide valuable information about yourself and always speak calmly and be crystal clear in your speech. Don’t use fillers like “um..”, “ohh”, while replying. Make it a habit to repeat the question of the interviewer by reply with “What a great question”, or “That is an interesting question”. Avoid sitting silent, staring here and there or just blankly looking at interviewer’s face.

Be Confident: Try to be confident by promoting your achievements, your work experience (if any) and your accomplishments. Avoid being rude or giving self- importance. One should be emotionally intelligent as there will be many obstacles to deal with. Your answers should reflect that you are a team player.

Effective Listening: Always be an active listener; listen to the questions asked by the interviewer carefully, even if you feel like that interviewer is just blabbing as you have to be in that moment. Don’t let the interviewer repeat the question as this might leave a negative impact. Stay focussed during the complete PI.

Be Optimistic: You should maintain a positive body language while giving responses and maintain proper eye contact with the interviewer. You should lean slightly forward so to engage in the interview. Rest your hands on your knees or either on the table properly. Have a firm handshake and also greet them with a smile. Use words like “Thank You” after completion of the interview. Remember that body language do matter a lot as it defines your character.

Show Interest: It’s not the matter whether you want the job or not but never ever let the interviewer feel that you are depressed or annoyed by the interview. Always sound interested in the discussion. Never beg or plead in front of the interview as this creates a bad impression.

Judgement criteria in an interview

There are various issues and key points that are judged during the personal interview. Here are some of the important things on how the overall performance of the candidate is judged. When a candidate appears for the personal interview each and every minute as they answer the question is observed like;

• The responses to the questions of the interview
• The body language of the candidate is probed including the greetings before the start of the interview.
• Assessment of the candidate’s awareness about the guidelines and the policies of the company, the mission, vision, goals and the objectives of the company
• Communication skills and confidence of the candidate.
• The quality of questions asked by the candidate during the interview.
• The way the candidate presents himself/herself in front of the interviewer, the team building qualities and the leadership qualities
• The interviewer also notices the honesty and enthusiasm of the candidate and how a candidate would react to a situation under pressure
• Also punctuality and the structure of the resume and portfolio of the candidate and.
• The interviewers often observe the reaction of the candidate when they are trying to misguide them by asking vague questions
• Most important is the effectiveness, flexibility and the expressiveness in the answers, the correct use of the grammar, enunciation of words and the language used, the positivity in the body posture. Also, the candidate response to the open-ended and close-ended questions is another important judgement criteria. Interviewers always evaluate your confidence level and your positive attitude towards the company.

About the Author:

Payal Jajodia is a student at Poornima University studying Bachelor in Technology with a specialisation in Computer Science Engineering.