Be Social!
This is the best advice I can give you. This will greatly enhance your confidence and get you really good at talking to people and that is exactly what you want when you are interviewing.
Talk to EVERYONE in your day-to-day life. Make it a habit from today for the REST of your life! Talk to the auto driver, the vegetable vendor, the maid etc.
But what do I talk about? Global warming, acche din and aliens! Just kidding.
You can strike conversations about anything, really. You can start off with the weather, cricket, politics (who doesn’t like to hate politicians and talk about politics?), movies, talk about their profession, etc.
Talk to them about their jobs, ask the vegetable vendor about how much she/he sells, how far they go, the rates. Traffic to auto guys, the meter and the petrol price etc. Do you see a theme here?
Talk to them about their jobs, hobbies etc. People love talking about themselves and giving out their opinions. Get them to talk, listen to what they are saying and talk or ask about something from their replies. The conversation will flow naturally by doing this.
This little exercise will help you get really comfortable and confident in dealing with strangers, conversing, being charismatic. It takes time but boy does it deliver results! Stick to it, do it!
When you get really good at starting and carrying conversations with random strangers, you will feel at home when you face the interview panel. Starting conversations will come naturally to you. The interview will go better when you treat it as a dialogue/conversation between professionals rather than a quick-fire question and answer session. When you treat it as a conversation, it is more personal and more memorable to the panelists, because freshers rarely steer the direction of the interview, or involve themselves too much or engage the panelists.
Making interviews conversational has been one of my best secret weapons. I make it this way by using story telling methods while answering certain questions, adding some humor and of course asking plenty of technical and non-technical questions that no one does! Many experienced folks and of course the freshers hardly ask any questions, let alone lot of meaningful questions. This is your chance to make use of this simple but very effective method! I will go into detail in the interview section.
Time for you to improve the skills I mentioned in this chapter. Don’t miss out and don’t be shy to carry out the steps. Learn and enjoy these qualities for life. They will serve you well.
Note: Storytelling in interviews is not about telling them your stories like how you got chased by the dog or almost got caught by your GF’s father! It is about answering certain questions in such a way that the answer has all the elements, like being descriptive of the problem, research, solution etc.
A Trip Down The Memory Lane:
Remember the popular kid in your high school, college? Remember how everyone was drawn to him/her? And found him funny and how he had the ability to command everyone’s attention? Ever wanted to be like him? Of course you did! This is your chance to be popular. Be social and change your mindset and you will have people’s attention and they will respond to you!
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