Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Don'ts: Never give a general answer like 'in a higher management position' etc., as this
shows a complete lack of planning and thought. Care should be taken however that one's
plans are plausible and not unachievable/mere pipe dreams.
Question: One may be asked numerous questions that can give a feel of a candidate's
local/global awareness, i.e. they reflect the candidate's knowledge of and ability to
analyse and comment on current issues.
Objective: While checking out the interviewee's reading habits, it also evaluates
his/her awareness about the fact that local and global events are bound to impact every
institution/organisation.
Don'ts: Desist from engaging in guesswork.
Question: An important area of evaluation is testing an interviewee's subject
knowledge. Testing of this area is directed at reflecting the knowledge of and ability to
analyse and comment on the candidate's area of specialisation and possibly some other
areas, related to the candidate's knowledge and skills set.
Objective: A key area, this is an assessment of the competencies/talent that can be
drawn on by the company and the area(s), where training would be unavoidable.
Don'ts: Don't ignore preparing by brushing up and updating one's knowledge set. It is
also important that one does not have to answer in the negative (I don't know) for these
set of questions.
On the other hand, it is equally important not to bluff, as this may be easily caught and
would reflect very badly on you.
Moreover, to cover up one lie, one would have to engage in another, resulting in creating
a very poor impression of the self, since it is for one's knowledge and skills that one
would essentially be hired.
Questions: Though comparatively few, the questions in this area cover the
organisation's work area, their USP/ reasons for their success, their annual turnover, the
main people in their organisation, their chief rival(s) etc.
Objective: The idea is to test the candidate's keenness for joining the company.
Don'ts: One should not be unprepared in this area. Information can be gathered
through annual reports, publications of the company, the internet (however it is
preferable to validate this information or then stick to their official website) or
Objective: To assess your commitment to the company and your keenness about the
profile/organisation.
Reply: Learning and not money is the primary concern of any professional. So, if I were
to be given adequate challenges, the scope to grow and a fair compensation, there is no
reason why I would leave.
Don'ts: Do not say a definitive 'yes', as this shows a lack of commitment to an
organisation. On the other hand, a definitive 'no' is bound to sound untrue.
Question: Are you willing to take up additional responsibility?
Objective: To find out whether you are flexible or are a stickler for a profile.
Reply: Definitely, if it is in keeping with my knowledge/skill set or if it will provide me
the scope to learn something useful. (This would give you the flexibility to refuse
unproductive expectations later).
Don'ts: One should not flatly refuse to take up greater challenges. So too, one shouldn't
leave the scope for random work being dumped on oneself.
Question: What are your weaknesses?
Objective: This question attempts to find out how well aware you are about your
lacunae and what you are doing about them. It is thus important to not merely list out
one's weaknesses but also what one is doing to address them so as to either get rid of
them or reduce their impact.
Reply: These can be two or three skill or personality deficiencies, but one's which will
not majorly hamper one's efficiency in the profile that is being offered. (Thus while not
being able to network/being shy may be an acceptable weakness in a back office finance
employee, it would not do for a marketing/HR professional). This should also be
accompanied by an action plan that one has already undertaken/proposes to undertake,
to address these deficiencies.
Don'ts: Never say that you don't have any weaknesses, as nobody is perfect, so the
underlying statement appears to be that you are not aware of them. So too, do not list
really flippant/stupid sounding areas of weakness (like I can't get up in the morning, I
am lazy etc.), since they can prove counterproductive. It is also important not to lie
about either the weaknesses or what one is doing to address them.