Factors in the Hiring Process

Level I Factors Outward appearance. Level II Factors Education and job history. Level III Factors Attitude, self-motivation, persistence, maturity, aptitude, temperament.

Principles for Exploring Past Actions

The best predictor of future performance is past performance in similar circumstances. The more varied the situations in which behavior is demonstrated, the more deeply-rooted the behavior. The more recent the behavior, the more predictive of future performance. The more long-standing the behavior, the more deeply-rooted it is. People reveal past patterns of behavior most vividly in instances where they experience greatest successes or setbacks. Look for patterns. If done once, it is a clue, twice, it is a pattern; if done three it is a well-established characteristic.

 Three Areas They Explore Family School Outside Activities

 Critical incidents are stories of real events that describe effective or ineffective job behavior. They are valuable for several reasons. First of all, they are data, not opinions. The data provided in a carefully gathered critical incident depend only on the memory and the observation skills of the person describing the incident.

 Example You are trying to do a cost analysis from all the various sections of the facility, people are very busy and dont see the importance of this information, so they arent cooperating. What would you do? Another example: One of your employees has misunderstood your instructions and incorrectly completed a task which you assigned to him. This has caused a severe problem in your section. What would you do?

information that emerges in most selection interviews,

Biographical facts, Credentials and Achievements Technical knowledge Experience/activity descriptions Self-evaluation information
Likes and dislikes Strengths and weaknesses Statements of Goals/attitudes/philosophy Hypothetical, speculative statements

Behavior descriptions

Competence Factors
Achievement motivation Career interest Decision making ability Independent work/initiative Learning ability Planning and organizing skills Stress tolerance Adaptability Oral/verbal communication Attention to detail Creativity Human relations skills Leadership Organization commitment Problem analysis Technical ability Written communication

Evaluating Resumes
The "best" resume may not always come from the "best" candidate; it often comes from the applicant who has had the most job-interviews. No excuse to sloppiness. An applicant who isn't astute enough or doesn't care enough to make the resume letter-perfect is not generally a good bet. A resume that is "puffed-up" with trivia (sports interests, hobbies, etc.) may be a sign that the applicant is weak in experience and skills. Applicants who lack appropriate education often beef up their background with lengthy (and often meaningless) descriptions of special courses and seminars. If the resume leads you to believe that the applicant is bitter about past jobs, it can easily surface on the job.

 Look for evidence that shows a willingness to work. ( Hard workers are not easy to find.) do the technical screening. A Technical expert can often tell, on the basis of a resume alone, which applicants should be eliminated

Questions to Ask
Employers should also discuss the work environment and company culture. Then applicants can decide whether this is the job for them. information about salary, benefits, vacation, hours (shift work, evenings or weekends) overtime, reporting relationships, deadlines, volume of work, work environment, travel and typical duties; the next step-in the selection process. Closed Questions Open Questions Hypothetical Questions Probing Questions

Probe for Details and Test for Truthfulness

What Review Describe Why When Which Tell Me Explain How Who Where Give me an Example

Facial Expression Frown Smile Raised eyebrows Narrowed eyes Blushing

Displeasure,unhappiness Friendliness, happiness Disbelief, amazement Anger Embarrassment

Eye Contact Glancing Steady

Lack of interest Active listening, interest, seduction

Hand Arm Gestures

Pointing finger Authority, displeasure, lecturing Folded arms Not open to change, preparing to speak Arms at side Open to suggestions, relaxed Hands uplifted outward Disbelief, puzzlement, uncertainty

Body Postures
Fidgeting, doodling Hands on hips Shrugging shoulders Squared stance Biting lip Sitting on edge of chair Slouching in chair Boredom Anger, defensiveness Indifference Problem-solving, concern, listening Nervousness Listening, great concern, Tention Boredom, lack of interest

Clothing
Business dress Sloppy attire Casual clothes Authoritative, conservative Disrespect, lack of responsibility Relaxation

Voice Characteristics Speaking loudly, quickly Monotone High pitch, fast rate Anger Boredom Joy

 Here are a few important points to be mindful of: A smile is the most positive signal you can give, it re-affirms your enthusiasm and good nature Maintain regular, attentive eye contact Relax! Give off calm signals and don't rush through the interview but be mindful of time, let the interviewer dictate the pace of the interview Mirror the interviewer's techniques. If they laugh, laugh with them. Do not hurry any movement, if you're challenged with a difficult question, remind yourself about negative body language habits before answering the question. Try to maintain an alert position, sit up straight, don't slump, and adjust your position slightly if you get uncomfortable, but don't fidget. Always try to adopt an open, honest and confident attitude: this is the starting point of managing subconscious body language.

Tough Interview Questions

Tell me about yourself. My background to date has been centered around preparing myself to become the very best _____ I can become. Let me tell you specifically how I've prepared myself . . .

 2.Why should I hire you?

Because I sincerely believe that I'm the best person for the job. I realize that there are many other college students who have the ability to do this job. I also have that ability. But I also bring an additional quality that makes me the very best person for the job--my attitude for excellence. Not just giving lip service to excellence, but putting every part of myself into achieving it. In _____ and _____ I have consistently reached for becoming the very best I can become by doing the following . . .

3. What is your long-range objective? Where do you want to be 5 years from now? Although it's certainly difficult to predict things far into the future, I know what direction I want to develop toward. Within five years, I would like to become the very best _____ your company has. In fact, my personal career mission statement is to become a world-class _____ in the _____ industry. I will work toward becoming the expert that others rely upon. And in doing so, I feel I will be fully prepared to take on any greater responsibilities that might be presented in the long term.

How has your education prepared you for your career? As you will note on my resume, I've taken not only the required core classes in the _____ field, I've also gone above and beyond. I've taken every class the college has to offer in the field and also completed an independent study project specifically in this area. But it's not just taking the classes to gain academic knowledge--I've taken each class, both inside and outside of my major, with this profession in mind. So when we're studying _____ in _____, I've viewed it from the perspective of _____. In addition, I've always tried to keep a practical view of how the information would apply to my job. Not just theory, but how it would actually apply. My course project in my final semester involved developing a real-world model of _____, which is very similar to what might be used within your company. Let me tell you more about it . . .

 5. Are you a team player? Very much so. In fact, I've had opportunities in both athletics and academics to develop my skills as a team player. I was involved in _____ at the intermediate level, including leading my team during the past year--I always try to help others achieve their best. In academics, I've worked on several team projects, serving as both a member and team leader. I've seen the value of working together as a team to achieve a greater goal than any one of us could have achieved individually. As an example . . .

What is your greatest weakness? I would say my greatest weakness has been my lack of proper planning in the past. I would over commit myself with too many variant tasks, then not be able to fully accomplish each as I would like. However, since I've come to recognize that weakness, I've taken steps to correct it. For example, I now carry a planning calendar in my pocket so that I can plan all of my appointments and "to do" items. Here, let me show you how I have this week planned out . . .

 If I were to ask your professors to describe you, what would they say? I believe they would say I'm a very energetic person, that I put my mind to the task at hand and see to it that it's accomplished. They would say that if they ever had something that needed to be done, I was the person who they could always depend on to see that it was accomplished. They would say that I always took a keen interest in the subjects I was studying and always sought ways to apply the knowledge in real world settings. Am I just guessing that they would say these things? No, in fact, I'm quite certain they would say those things because I have with me several letters of recommendation from my professors, and those are their very words. Let me show you . . .

What qualities do you feel a successful software engineer should have? The key quality should be delivering in time and quality, what is expected of him or her. Clarity in thinking, taking up work challenges with enthusiasm, having a healthy team spirit, continually improving on programming skills, upgrading self on newer technologies, escalating problems in time and most importantly understanding customer needs are some of the . . .

 If you had to live your life over again, what would you change? That's a good question. I realize that it can be very easy to continually look back and wish that things had been different in the past. But I also realize that things in the past cannot be changed, that only things in the future can be changed. That's why I continually strive to improve myself each and every day and that's why I'm working hard to continually increase my knowledge in the _____ field. That's also the reason why I want to become the very best _____ your company has ever had. To make positive change. And all of that is still in the future. So in answer to your question, there isn't anything in my past that I would change. I look only to the future to make changes in my life.

 After scoring good marks at Inter why did you score less in engineering? Sir, in Inter we had 5-6 subjects to be studied in 14 months. But in engineering we have four-month semester and we need to study 6 subjects per semester. Moreover the labs. Yes, I think I could have studied still well and could have performed still better.

Why do you want to work in a software company? When I took the seat in mechanical I didnt know about software. But afterwards I thought, I better could have taken computer science branch because software is the fastest growing industry where one can build his career faster. Moreover I am flexible and efficient which make me suitable for learning the changing technologies faster and give my best.

 Who is your role model? [You can say anybody but you should know what you like about him or her] My role models are Sachin and Shahrukh Khan, because apart from their talent they worked hard and dedicated themselves to their field and rose to stardom right from the scratch. I mean to say, they justified their talents to the full extent. I like their consistency [You can say Bill Gate, Narayan Murthy, Sports persons. Your Father, Scientist, politician or anybody. By the way many say, east or west Vivekananda is best]

Your Hobbies?

[They see your resume or bio data and ask about whatever is written there. So prepare well thought resume. About hobbies say some quality hobbies (of course you should cultivate them) like writing articles, quizzing, organizing tournaments or competitions, knowing new cars, meeting new peoples and places, singing, sports, etc. Eighty percent of students write, reading books and playing cricket. Please avoid these two options as they have become default and moreover interviewers will be fed up seeing same hobbies again and again. So dont put up something that makes interviewers boring and lose interest in you. You need to out think and present yourself as an interesting, curious, fresh and raring to go kind of candidate.

 Why do you want to join our company? What are your strengths or why should we hire you only? What about your higher studies? What are your future goals? IF YOU CAN'T GET SELECTED TO THIS JOB, WHAT CAN YOU DO?

 CELEBRATION Selected!! Wow thats nice. Celebrations are totally left to you. But I suggest, if you want to party and have fun, do it on the same night as after couple of days you lose the josh of your success. After you get selected I swear, you wont get sleep in next couple of nights. So ultimately everything has to be fought and earned. Believe in yourself, not in luck. Luck never made a mad man wise. NOT SELECTED!!!????