There have been umpteen examples of students who stand first in their universities end up getting least paying jobs? Don’t marks count? They do but just a good percentage is not what companies look at. They want the right candidate for the job that they have in mind and it is the personality of the individual that counts.
The interviewer is looking for a person who can fit into the company’s ethos, its culture and more importantly if the candidate can deliver. For instance, Sneha Reddy, a B. Tech Computer Science (CS) graduate from IIT Hyderabad, bagged a huge pay package of Rs 1.2 crore from Google this year. It is the highest pay package offered at IITH since its commencement in 2008. While her batch mate who topped the class got a package of Rs 35 lakh. Is he anyway inferior to her? Not at all, but what clicked in Sneha’s favour was she was being herself and that her passion lay in research and she was not looking out for a software job.
Always passionate about research, Sneha, even while in college applied for research projects and completed many. Google was looking out for someone to do research on a project on Artificial Intelligence and she fit the bill.
The common mistake one does is to rattle off a list of academic accomplishments, what is crucial is to also let the panel know about your interests and hobbies.
Sameer, a final year B Tech Computer Science (CS) student was filled with all joy, when he received two offer letters in the campus interviews conducted by two renowned multinational companies (MNCs) in his college. The two MNCs that he got job offers deal with two different processes in software technology. One company works on cloud computing and the other on software testing tools.
He attended both the interviews with a presumption that it would give a great boost to his confidence to face interviews after the completion of his course.
When asked why he attended interviews for two different companies, he said “I wanted to understand the prospects available in both the organisations. I was candid in giving answers to the questions posed by the interview panels”. He also said that he chose to be associated with cloud computing organisation keeping the growth prospects and scope to learn things in the innovative field.
Rahul, another final year electronics and telecommunication engineering (ECE) student completed three months internship in a reputed organisation, and was offered a full-time job at the same organisation after the completion of his course.
He said, “I strictly followed what my professor told me in the mock interviews, and what made me unique in the competition for the job was my brief internship experience”.
Swathi, a final year MBA student emerged victorious in a campus interview conducted by a reputed bank. She was skeptical about whether she would succeed, as her fellow students to have similar levels of skills and expertise.
What made her succeed in the interview was she let them know about her hobbies and interests including her interest in learning foreign languages and dance, which helped her to develop a good rapport with the interviewer on a more personal level.
Kartheeban, an engineering graduate in metallurgical engineering from the Government College of Engineering, Salem joined an IT company but the bosses who heard him during the interview about his social activities, later made him the head of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) wing. Kartheeban was overjoyed as he always wanted to do something in the social service space. Moral of the story: Let the interviewer know who you are and what your likes are.
TIPS
- Do not rattle out a list of your academic accomplishments; your resume has them already. Instead, strike a conversation by first telling them about your interests,
- Do not show off and say that you can do anything. It is better to do one thing perfectly than do ten things indifferently,
- When you boast there are chances that the interviewer would want to identify your personal weaknesses,
- Be truthful, be genuine. I am ready to learn and should be able to with a little help, goes a long way. Employers want people who have integrity,
- Do your homework on the company. Employers love to know that the candidate they are interviewing knows about the company. If you could suggest solutions to ailing problems, which can really boost your chances of getting selected.
