I'm Not Afraid of GDPI 1680826778, 9788131774182, 9788131798843, 813177418X

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I’m Not Afraid of GDPI!

Tuhina Anukul Varshney

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The aim of this publication is to supply information taken from sources believed to be valid and reliable. This is not an attempt to render any type of professional advice oranalysis, nor is it to be treated as such. While much care has been taken to ensure the veracity and accuracy of the information presented within, neither the publisher nor its authors bear any responsibility for any damage arising from inadvertent omissions, negligence or inaccuracies (typographical or factual) that may have found their way into this book. Copyright © 2012 Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd. Licensees of Pearson Education in South Asia No part of this eBook may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without the publisher’s prior written consent. This eBook may or may not include all assets that were part of the print version. The publisher reserves the right to remove any material in this eBook at any time. ISBN 9788131774182 eISBN9788131798843 Head Office: A-8(A), Sector 62, Knowledge Boulevard, 7th Floor, NOIDA 201 309, India Registered Office: 11 Local Shopping Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi 110 017, India

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“Going from a place called Ordinary to a state called Extraordinary means you’ll have to drive through a village called Doubt and a town called Fear ... The journey can get confusing at times but if you just follow it courageously, I’m sure you’ll get there”

“The difference between Try and Triumph is a little “umph”

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To

All my students and trainees from the last 16 years

Thank you for teaching me so much!!

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Contents Preface  ix Acknowledgements  x Part 1 – Acing the Selection Procedures  1 1.  Let’s Begin  3 • • • • • •

But, What is Personality?  5 The Other Challenges  8 Understanding Life Skills  11 How to Create Magic in Your Life  12 Faith in Self  14 How to Get The Maximum From This Book  14

2.  Pre-preparation  16 • • • • • • • • • • •

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Changing Your Mindset  17 Enhancing English and Improving General Knowledge as a Bonus!  20 A Note on ‘Indianisms’ in English Language  24 Improving Your Speech  25 Comprehension Skills  28 Improving Your Trade Knowledge  29 Typing Skills  29 Understanding Your Own Priorities  30 Selecting and Applying to Companies  31 Reading up on The Companies Applied to  31 Preparing the Portfolio  32

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3.  Writing a Powerful Biodata  34 • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Understanding The Document  35 Structure of a Biodata  36 Personal Details  38 Photograph  40 Career Objective  40 Work Experience  41 Educational Qualifications  43 Achievements  44 Extra Curricular Activities  45 Hobbies and Interests  45 Languages Known  48 Formatting  48 Common Mistakes Made  50 A Note on Applications and Covering Letters  51 For Young Professionals Who Are Changing Jobs  54 Sending Biodata Via Email  54 Examples of Bad and Good Biodata  55 Examples of Bad and Good Covering Letters  67

4.  Grooming for the Big Day  74 • • •

Personal Hygiene  76 Clothing and Attire  77 The Briefcase and the Portfolio  80

5.  Group Discussions  83 • • • • • • • •

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Types of Group Discussions  84 Various Roles in a GD and How to Perform Them  86 Understanding the GD Topic  91 Types of GD Topics and How to Handle Them  93 A note on Jargon and Details  99 How Selectors Evaluate you  101 Practical Application of all This Knowledge  101 Some Additional do’s and don’ts of Group Discussions  103

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Contents

6.

• When You don’t Know Anything About the Topic  106 • After the Discussion  107 • Practice Group Discussion Topics  108 Interviews   111 • • • • • • •

7.

vii

Types of Interviews  112 Practice Interviews  117 Entering the Interview Room and Settling  118 During the Interview  120 At the End of the Interview  122 The Questions  123 Some More Questions  156

Feedback and Follow-ups  157 • Getting the Feedback  159 • Exit Interviews  162

Part 2 – Personality Development  165 8.

  Understanding and cultivating a polished personality for success  167 • • • • • • • •

9.

  Manners, Etiquettes and OLQ’s (Officer Like Qualities)  188 • •

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Clarity of Vision and Goals  169 Establishing Priorities  171 Time Management  173 Stress Management and Work-life Balance  178 Constantly Upgrading Yourself  182 Emotional Stability  183 Health  184 A Myth Buster  187

Pointers for Candidates Going Through a Job Selection Procedure  190 Pointers of General Office Behavior for Young Professionals  192

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• • • • • •

Etiquettes for Formal Situations  193 Dining Etiquettes  196 Telephone Etiquettes  200 Officer like Qualities  205 Political Correctness  209 A Note on People Skills  212

10.  Body Language  214 • • • • • • • • •

Understanding Body Language  214 How Body Language Helps  215 Head Movement  217 Our Windows – The Eyes  219 Using Your Hands  221 The Restless Legs  224 The Magic of a Smile  226 The Hows of Handshakes  227 Body Language Simplified for The Interview  232

11.  Good Communication Made Easy  233 • Types of Communication  234 • Difference Between Written and Spoken Language  234 • Written Communication  235 • Spoken Communication  236 • Understanding Good Speech  238 • The Elements of Communication  242 • Putting the ‘Knowing’ to Work  245 • Effective Listening  246 • Effective Listening Made Easy  247 • Aides to Effective Listening  249

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Preface Observation 1 Take a walk around in any city or town in India and you will find ever growing numbers of institutes and academies, big and small, for teaching English, training in GDPI and for personality development in general. Go inside any of them and you will see that they are full of students. Why? Observation 2 There are so many jobs out there and there are so many job seeking candidates out there. Seems like an ideal situation. Yet, so many posts remain vacant and so many candidates remain unemployed. Why? Because, there are certain essential facets of a well rounded character that schools and colleges fail to develop in young people as they lay too much emphasis on theory, rote and scoring and thus despite being academically qualified, the employers find most candidates unemployable. Because of this, there is a real and a felt need amongst the young workforce for the improvement of these skills. They recognize the fact that an enhanced personality, better English skills and GDPI skills helps them in landing better jobs. They recognize the fact that now just their qualifications alone are not enough to land the dream job as there is too much of competition specially for the masses who are not from the premier institutes. Improvement of these skills greatly improves their employability and the employers seem to agree by selecting the smarter candidates. The one question that I have faced repeatedly by my students during my 16 years of training them is—“If these skills are so important and crucial for young professionals, why is there no book written in easy English which is understandable by even those whose language level is not very good and which covers all the major aspects in ONE volume thus eliminating the need to read many books for overall development?” This book is an attempt to answer that question. It is written in easy English and covers all the basics required to jumpstart your career. It is divided in two parts. The first part holds your hand through the entire selection procedure, right from pre-preparation to the final interview and the second part deals with laying a solid foundation for an attractive personality which will be yours for life. These are life lessons. If the lessons are understood, digested and adopted in daily practice through self-study, they will truly bring about magical results. Tuhina Anukul Varshney

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Acknowledgements It all started because Shefali Kolekar was to be born and I substituted for her mother in the Institute of Hotel Management, Bhopal. After a few days, the principle Mr D K Agarwal asked me to stop taking hotel management courses and talk about interviews with the students since I had worked in many corporates and had interviewing experience. I shall remain forever grateful to both. I am also grateful to all my trainees and students over the last 16 years, who let me learn so much while teaching and training them. In a way, you all are co-authors of this book. A heartfelt thank you is due to Vikas Rakheja, owner of Manjul Publications, Bhopal, for putting me on the right path. There are some very special people in Pearson who have been kind, helpful and above all very patient with me—Showick Thorpe, Asad Shabir, Shaheen Chander and Prasun Chaterjee. My sincere gratitude to all of them and also to all the other team members in Pearson who are behind the scenes. Family and friends, at home and spread across all over the globe, encouraged and cheered me on and let me rant when I needed to. Thank you!

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PART

1

Acing the Selection Procedures

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Chapter

1

Let’s Begin

“You will never win if you never begin.” “The journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.”

Let’s begin with the one thing that we all know and understand very well and that is– This is the age of Competition. Extreme Competition. For every job and a B-school seat out there, there are thousands of candidates. Each one of these thousands will try his very best to be the chosen one, the selected one. Beating the competition is the name of the game. So, exactly when does this competition start? When does the race really begin? Does it begin when you apply for the job/seat or does it begin when the job or the admission notice is advertised? Well, you will be surprised to know that the competition begins much before all this. It begins the minute you decide what it is that you want to do. It begins the minute you decide what job you want, what profession you want to make your own or which B-school you want to join. YOU decide which race you want to run. YOU begin your own race. When you decide what you want, you immediately become one of the thousands of others who want the same thing and thus the race begins. But, the trouble in these times is that you can no longer depend

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    I’m Not Afraid of GDPI!

just on your academic qualifications to give you a good job, a good life. Those days are long gone when there were very few people with high academic qualifications and they were sure of a good life just because of it. Qualifications are no longer a guarantee for getting a dream job because they are no longer a rarity. Look around and you will see that now practically everybody is qualified in some field or the other. The number of engineers, computer professionals, business school graduates, designers and dental surgeons and all other manner of professionals floating around is stupendous. Almost everybody is at least a graduate if not a post graduate. And all these people are looking around for jobs. Yet recruiters say that there just isn’t enough talent in the job market and good employees are very difficult to find. Recruiters spend so much energy, money and time on selections, go through such long and exhaustive selection procedures and yet often are not happy with what they get. They exercise careful thought in matching the candidate to the job, put to use many principles of human resource management, human resource development and yet there is so much attrition, high labour turnover in every industry. Putting the facts together that employers find it difficult to find good employees despite the fact that there are so many qualified but unemployed people out there, brings us to a thought that something more is needed. What is that ‘more’? Let’s work on a very possible situation that a job has been advertised and you have applied for it. Let us presume here, that at least a total of thousand people have applied for this job, out of which you are one. Now, those other 999 people are not fools. The very fact that they have applied for this job means that they too have the required qualifications asked for in the advertisement. Your qualifications can help you only till here that you can apply on the basis of it. It will not help you actually get the job from among these 1000 candidates. Now think—why should the recruiters select YOU and not any of those other 999 candidates? What is so special about YOU? What is that something extra that you have to offer that all those others don’t have? Everyone has the same qualifications and yet only one will be ultimately chosen. This means that apart from the basic academic qualifications, every company has some ideas, certain norms and standards for how they like their people to be and the selected one will have that X-factor which will be missing in the others. Therefore, the question of your concern here is—What is that X-factor?

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Let’s Begin    

This ‘more’ and the ‘X-factor’ is a winning personality. Your personality has to be so attractive that the recruiters feel compelled to select you above all else. Your personality should shine through so bright that the selectors cannot even consider not taking you. This winning personality is strong yet not overpowering, pleasant yet not too easily malleable, confident yet not arrogant, stunning yet humble. A winning personality has a spark that stays ignited and energy that is always charged! A good personality makes you stand out apart from the crowd and draws positive attention towards you. Therefore, the fact stands understood that what you need to do in order to win your race is to develop your personality along with gathering academic or technical qualifications.

But, what is personality? Is it just one concept or is it made up of several aspects? Can it be broken down into smaller elements? How do we develop it? What are the areas that we need to take care of? How do we go about it? What do we do? Well, personality is a complex concept and a sum total of several aspects put together. But, when broken down into its several elements, it is not so difficult to understand and developing it becomes a fairly reasonable task. As you read about it, you will realize that developing your personality will help you in not only getting a good job but it is something that you will be proud of throughout your life. It will always help you in making a good impression on people around you and the confidence gained will result in you enjoying your life to the fullest. These elements are many and each person will need to concentrate on different areas because of existing individual differences. The main areas are: • Motivation  All the points below and the zeal to cultivate

them will depend on how motivated you are, how hungry you are for success. Are you just a passive person for whom a mediocre life with mediocre job and mediocre money is enough or do you want to shine! Exactly how much fire do you have? How far do you want to go? What heights do you want to scale? How high do you want to raise the scale of your personal excellence? The efforts you put in will be directly proportional to how much you want to achieve. And this will show up in your personality.

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    I’m Not Afraid of GDPI! • Knowledge  It is no point being physically smart, well

groomed and to have excellent language skills if you don’t have anything to say! There is no guarantee that the topic that you will be given for the group discussion or the questions you will be asked during the interview will be exclusively from your subject field only. You may be very well prepared in your subject but if you are not generally informed about things happening around you in the world, you will come across as dumb and selectors will very quickly lose interest in you. In comparison to a competitor, if your speaking skills are a bit poorer but knowledge levels are higher, you stand a better chance of winning.

• Communication skills  A little below the mark physi-

cal attributes and grooming are soon cancelled out by very good communication skills. Your speaking skills should be so good that as soon as you open your mouth, the attention of all the people around you gets locked onto you. The more captivating your speaking skills, the better are your chances of getting selected. When you speak really well, people no longer notice your clothes, your grooming etc. and they become secondary. For certain job profiles which involve a lot of face-to-face interaction and customer interface, communication skills take the primary position in the list of skills desired in a candidate.

• Grooming  —Whatever physical qualities you have been

blessed with naturally can always be further improved upon with good grooming. A dirty, untidy and uncared for look can turn people off despite your other positive qualities. To be well turned out shows that you give importance to the basic virtues of cleanliness and neatness and also that you respect the sensibilities of others.

• Body language  — A staggering 80% of our face to face com-

munication is via body language making it an important aspect of our personality. Although this could be a part of communication skills but since most of it is involuntary and because it plays a huge role in interpersonal interactions, it makes sense to study it separately.

• Etiquettes  Nobody likes boorish, ill-mannered and rude

people. All your other qualities will be immediately cancelled out if you don’t have manners and etiquettes. Good behaviour is an absolute must.

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Let’s Begin     • Positive attitude  —If you make all the efforts to better

yourself with an underlying thought that nothing is going to come of it then nothing really will come of it all. You have to have a positive attitude that yes, if I am putting in all these efforts and if I am doing everything right then good things will happen. The power of positivism is immense and will open doors that you didn’t know existed in places where you never deemed possible. This will not only get you the job or the college seat but also make you a successful employee since you will be open to challenges and not afraid to tackle problems.

• Confidence—  When you know you have the knowledge and

the communication skills to match, you are well groomed and can behave, there will be no reason not to have confidence in yourself. When you feel confident, everything feels right, you are able to pay full attention to others and what they are saying because you are not busy being nervous.

• Belief  Besides all above, belief is a big factor. Till the

time you don’t believe in yourself and in your capabilities, nobody else is going to. When you believe in yourself, you exude the feeling through the way you talk, the way you carry yourself and through your body language. The people who you are communicating with pick up these signals and they too feel positive about you. Hold your head high, throw back your shoulders, stand tall and face the world with all that you have.

• Health  —When you meet someone for the first time, the

absolute first impression is visual which includes physical condition, body language and attitude. Physical condition depends on the kind of health and body you maintain. Take good care of your health and try to keep it world class. Good health will give you stamina and a good base with which to fight the odds in life. Learn to eat well by choosing wholesome foods over fast foods, exercise as per your age, sleep enough hours in a day, stay away from smoking, drink moderately if at all and enjoy the outdoors. A healthy mind loves to live in an equally healthy body and a healthy body gives you confidence and a good personality.

In the chapters ahead, all these and much more will be dealt with in detail. Explanations and methods of improvement for

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I’m Not Afraid of GDPI!

each will be outlined. There will be plenty of tips and pointers. Of course one does not expect you to learn all of them by rote. You will feel well rewarded for your efforts if you read the chapters again and again over time and each time pick up something new, something more. You have to gradually make them a part of your everyday way of being and behaviour so that you look natural, effortless and polished. This sophisticated smoothness needs lots of practice. Daily and dedicated efforts will take you there.

The other challenges Now, here’s another thought: Your challenges do not begin and end only with the number of people running your race. There are other challenges too to be dealt with and those are from the selector’s end. The selectors do not have the time to minutely go through all those thousand biodatas or give a second chance to any of those candidates who didn’t perform well in the first round of group discussion or to interview every single one of those thousand candidates who have applied for the job. Any tiny mistake, any small irritant, any minor detail overlooked or any aspect of your performance that is not up-to-the-mark or others performing even better than you can get you eliminated instantly. There are so many others to choose from! Somehow the large numbers have to be reduced to a more manageable number. So the irony is that, what should actually be the Process of Selection has now become a Process of Elimination! Since there are so many applicants and the selectors need to reduce their numbers to a more manageable lot, you are no longer fighting to be selected, you are fighting not to be eliminated! What will help you here? How will you ensure not getting eliminated in the initial rounds itself? How to prepare exactly as per the requirements of the selectors? What are the issues here? Well, the main issue is of ignorance. • Ignorance of what do they want. • Ignorance of what is expected out of you. • Ignorance of the latest trends in the industry. • Ignorance of the right and wrong kind of behaviour.

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Let’s Begin     • Ignorance of what you should do and what you shouldn’t do. • Ignorance of what aspects you are evaluated on and you are

not even aware of them!

What are you to do? How are you going to deal with all these issues? The answer is simple. • Would any athlete go to a race without practice and prepa-

ration?

• Do you think our cricketers just go out there and play

matches without practicing during the other days?

• Do you think actors just get up and deliver their dialogues

so effortlessly without any rehearsal beforehand?

No! They don’t. Well, so shouldn’t you. You must prepare yourself and prepare yourself well. Preparedness is the key factor that is going to help you to cinch that job, that B-school seat. Preparedness is what is going to help you deal with the selection procedures and come out a winner. The groundwork or the preparation that you do will take you where you want to go. Therefore the quality of preparation should be as high as your dreams. You need to understand the fact that the hard work and the sacrifices you put in will benefit no one else but you. You are doing it all for yourself. Yes, it is understood that youth is the age to enjoy and have a good time too, but, this is also the age to lay the foundation for the rest of your life. The time spent in enjoyment and the time spent in preparation should be balanced so that you do not regret later on in life. No one likes the feeling of painful regrets. There are some aspects of life for which there is only one ideal time and that is youth. If this time is lost, it will never be regained. You can study about how to keep this balance by reading about time management in chapter 8. Your next obvious question here is—so how do I prepare myself? The answer is—Identification.

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10    I’m Not Afraid of GDPI!

You have to clearly identify: • What is it you want to prepare for? • What are the specific skills required here? • What are the areas you are weak in? • How are you going to strengthen yourself in these areas? • What kind of behaviour is expected out of you? • How should you present, carry and manage yourself in front

of the selectors?

Without a clear understanding of the specific areas that you need to work on, you will just run around aimlessly doing this and doing that, probably spending a lot of money, energy and time and achieving nothing! Selection procedures for most good companies and B-schools have broadly three elimination rounds:

The Biodata screening or the Entrance test Biodatas are screened and only those people whose biodata does not get eliminated are called in for the next round. For some very technical job profiles, most companies also conduct written tests for screening out the undesirable candidates and have a cut off percentage to be achieved in these tests. B-school hopefuls will obviously have to clear the entrance tests.

Group Discussion Further eliminations are done during Group Discussions. Scoring well in the GD is essential to reach the Interview round. Getting eliminated here would mean a chance lost forever and not even getting the opportunity to give the interview and prove yourself.

Interviews There could be several rounds of interviews or there may be just one round. It depends from industry to industry and company to company.

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Let’s Begin 

11

Therefore to prepare like a winner, the dynamics of each elimination round have to be understood and optimum preparation has to be made for each of them. But, before we go ahead and prepare for the individual rounds, there is one absolutely essential detail that you need to look into and that is—Pre-preparation. This will be your groundwork, your foundation for all the rounds of selection. So stronger your pre-preparation, stronger your foundation and better the chances of your winning.

Understanding Life Skills Moving ahead in life you will need to comprehend and accept another essential fact that once you get the job or the B-school seat, the race does not end there. It’s not as if then onwards you don’t need to continue developing skills and improving yourself. In fact, you have to keep growing and keep becoming better and better. There are certain skills that will help you get what you want initially but they cannot be discarded after that. These skills will help you throughout your life and make you a better person, a better organizer, a better manager of your life and work and help you gain maximum returns from your efforts. These skills are Life Skills. Their practice is valuable throughout life. They should be internalized so completely that they become a part of your nature, a habit. These are lessons learnt for life. Some of these lessons and skills are: • managing time • managing stress, pressure and anxiety • communication skills and public speaking • social, business, dining and telephone etiquettes • setting goals and priorities • positive thinking and positive attitude • enhancing knowledge on a continuous basis

There are many more and these will always be your loyal companions in your everyday life, all through your life, helping you to work to the best of your capabilities, reach professional heights, enjoy personal and family life smoothly without any clashes and

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I’m Not Afraid of GDPI!

discomfort i.e., help you create a work-life balance which is necessary for a peaceful and productive life in these hectic times. Now-a-days, student life and young professional life is so busy and full and crowded with to-do’s and achieving things, it is not always possible to absorb these life-lessons in the normal course by observing, analysing, ruminating and internalizing i.e., learning the natural way. This is where this book comes in. This book will take you through some of the most essential life skills by explaining the concept, their importance and how to make them a part of your way of being, your character and personality in the simplest ways possible. But, what is written ahead is what you need to read first and really understand.

How to create magic in your life Half the success is in actually laying out your dreams. A surprising number of people go through an entire lifetime without any tangible dreams that are close to their heart. Just being provided for and living a reasonably comfortable life is not a life of dream achievement. It is rather living a life along the lines laid out by the most basic precepts of societal living. When you have a dream, however big or small, you live a life of passion, removed from the ordinary. And when you fulfill that dream, your life is counted as extraordinary. And the other second half is in believing. There is magic in belief. If you think you can do something you will definitely be able to do it and if you think you cannot, then you most definitely will not. Your thinking has great power on the outcome. When you think you can, everything inside of you is tuned towards success. All your efforts will bring forth results and everything will seem possible. Believing that you are going to be a success for sure will radiate confidence from you and create a favourable image in the minds of the people around you. Then, they too will feel that you are going to succeed and respond accordingly. This positive thinking will have a direct effect on your actions, efforts, body language, dedication and energy. You will feel energized and eager to put in the required hard work. Therefore, it is very important to harness this power of positivism of your mind since it has a direct effect on the outcome. But, when you think you cannot, it is as if you have handicapped yourself right in the beginning. All your efforts will be

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Let’s Begin 

13

made half heartedly with the thought that nothing is going to come out of it all and thus, nothing will. This means that it is your thinking that decides the results i.e., positive thinking brings forth positive results and conversely, negative thinking brings about negative and failed results. There already are many factors in your environment to struggle against to achieve something. Why add one more? Why pitch your own self against your own efforts by thinking negatively and having no faith in your dreams and your capability to make them come true? As it is there will always be some people who don’t believe in you, why be one of them? If you have set your targets according to your capabilities and if you are willing to put in all the efforts sincerely, there is no reason to not succeed. Of course, it is nice to have a good team of cheerleaders backing you up, so, tell your dreams to the people you are emotionally attached to. Their support and their cheering you on will give you strength. They will take care of you whenever you feel disheartened and put you back on your path. They will rejoice with you when you reach your goals. Their positivism added to yours will bring about magical results! So, learn to maintain a positive frame of mind. Do not be afraid to make mistakes as mistakes only teach us to do better. Do not be afraid of failures along the way as failure teaches us to analyse what went wrong and how to do it differently the next time. By making a mistake or by failing we learn how not to do things, how they cannot be done and thus, then we explore new methods, new paths. Mistakes and failures are, in a way, teachers; they help us grow. They help us see our shortcomings and rectify them. Take every mistake, failure or misadventure as a learning experience and keep going. Keep trying out new ways of reaching where you want to reach. If one path does not take you to your destination, there are others that will. Just don’t accept defeat. Study the lives of great inventors and achievers and of some highly successful people and you will find one teaching that is common by all—Never give up! On the road to success, you probably cannot see beyond a few steps, but the fact is that the first step is the most important step of all. If you don’t even begin, how will you finish? If you don’t start, how will you reach the finish line? Begin your journey with courage and faith and everything else will fall in place. Do not be worried if you don’t know what is to be done beyond the first

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14    I’m Not Afraid of GDPI!

few steps because once you begin, the way keeps opening up by itself.

Faith in Self Within this big wide world, you have a small world of your own and YOU are the Hero of it, the axis and the centre of it. Of the film of your life, you are the story writer, you are the director and you yourself are the hero. It is in your hands to make it what you want it to be. A hero never accepts defeat, never sits down with resignation and says what will happen, will happen. The hero fights with all that he has and if one thing doesn’t work, he always finds another way. He has faith in himself and in his capabilities and therein lays his greatness, his heroism. This is exactly how you have to live your life because you are the hero of it. If you won’t do all that needs to be done to live your life to the full, who will? The most common observation is the lack of confidence. Lack of confidence is a result of the belief that you know less than others. You think you know less than others because you are aware that you have probably not worked hard enough. So, conversely, if you work hard and prepare sincerely, you will have that game changing faith in yourself. This faith will open doors where you didn’t even think there were any and help you reach your goals. The taste of achievement and success is sweetest when it is begotten with hard work and dedication. So, have faith in your choices, your chosen race, your priorities made and the efforts you are making on the path towards your goals. Dreams do come true, provided you have seen them with open eyes and have dedicated yourself towards them. If you won’t, who will? Nobody will come and offer you a life of your dreams on a platter. But nobody can prevent it from happening too if you are completely tuned towards it. So, just go out there and do it!

How to get the maximum from this book This book is divided into two parts: Part One deals with the job selection procedures and here you will learn how to prepare and groom yourself, write a winning biodata, how to participate in group discussions and perform in interviews.

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Let’s Begin    15

Part Two deals with Personality Development. A well developed personality helps build character and forms a solid base on which you can build yourself professionally. The question here could be—Why is there a detailed personality development section in a book dealing with group discussions and interviews? And the answer is—because giving group discussions and interviews successfully is like laying the roof of a building. And everybody knows that before you lay a good roof, you have to have strong pillars and walls standing on which to lay the roof! How and where will you lay down a roof when you have no pillars and walls? Developing various facets of your personality will be like building these pillars and walls right down to the foundations. You will gradually learn ahead that these firm foundations of a good personality are what will make the scary selection procedures seem easy to tackle. You will also note that some bits and pieces are repeated more than once in several chapters. This repetition is meaningful. This either shows the various facets of that particular activity or fact or emphasizes the importance of it. For example, the fact that you need to improve your general knowledge levels will come up in several chapters. This is because it really is very important and the repetition reminds you of it. Combining the learning’s of both sections together, doing the recommended exercises and faithfully following the suggestions made here, will produce in you an individual who is confident, strong, knowledgeable and able to deal with any situation to emerge as the winner of the race you are running and also a person who will find life a pleasant race to run and that it is not necessarily the proverbial rat-race. So, let’s begin and tackle Pre-preparation first in the next chapter, then we will move ahead.

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Chapter

2

Pre-Preparation

“Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude to achieve his goal.” “Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow.”

It is a common occurrence that during a Group Discussion or an Interview, a candidate knows what to say, has the knowledge, can come up with some good points and arguments but is unable to do so because his English language skills are not very good. This person, in spite of being very intelligent and knowledgeable is left out only because his English skills were not up to the mark. The opposite of the above is also a common scenario. A person may have adequate English language skills to speak well but has no knowledge about various topics and issues around. So, even though he could have spoken and communicated well, he couldn’t do so because he had nothing to say. The third sorry scenario is a combination of both of the above. Even though this person has very good command over his technical subject and could have been the best employee at his job if chosen, but he has neither the general knowledge nor the English language skills to beat the competition. He just sits there completely blank desperately wondering what went wrong and what could he have done to be selected.

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Pre-preparation    17

The fourth common scenario is when the candidate is asked questions about the industry or the company he wants to join and he does not have any background knowledge about it. True, he may be well trained technically for the particular job profile he is applying for but does not know much about the industry in general and when asked by the company representatives as to why he wants to join their particular company, he has nothing to say. All four are very sad situations. It does seem very unfair that just because a person didn’t know much about a topic (given as a GD topic) that was totally unrelated to his field of expertise, he does not get selected. Not having general knowledge, English language skills and background information has no direct bearing on the work skills of the candidate and he could have been an excellent employee if chosen. But, this is a fact now-a-days in the job market and just simply has to be dealt with. This is where Pre-preparation comes in. What you have to understand well is that if you go in for a G.D. or interview with bad language skills and inadequate knowledge, chances are that you are not going to make it. You need to understand that having a good subject grasp is just not enough in itself anymore. What is required is an over-all development and additional skills.

Changing your mindset Developing a good knowledge base and improving English language skills should not be only for the benefit of getting a job or a B-school seat. Being knowledgeable and well-spoken is essential for personal development, personal growth and self-esteem. Amongst groups of people at various times and at various places, while having conversations, if you continuously find yourself at least at par with other people, if not above, it is a confidence boost. At various situations—social or official, if you continuously find yourself generally below the standard of the other people because you usually cannot join in on the on-going conversation since you either have nothing to say or don’t have the ability to say it, it is demoralizing and sub-consciously your self-esteem and self-confidence take a beating. So, improve your knowledge base and language skills for YOURSELF. This will improve your confidence levels, give you a better self image and greatly affect your social skills. All these, as we will see ahead; will make huge positive impacts on your

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18    I’m Not Afraid of GDPI!

performance during your selection procedures. Once you start working they will have powerful impacts on your professional growth too. This is so because trends change, technologies advance, newer concepts come into the work area and if you don’t keep yourself abreast with the latest, you will face the danger of either being superseded or being made redundant. You have to grow with the times or risk being left behind. Most of the people accept the fact that their biggest and most terrifying enemy during the selection procedure or a formal interaction is—Nervousness. Let’s analyse nervousness. When is a person nervous? When he has no confidence. Why does he not have confidence? Because he thinks others are better. Why does he think others are better? Because he knows he has less knowledge. Why does he have less knowledge? Because he knows he has not prepared well. The result: poor participation leading to no selection! So, how to change this? Is it difficult? Is it an uphill task? Will it require a lot of hard work? Well, the answer is a surprising ‘NO’. What is amazing is that the solution to all of the above problems is the same! By doing a set of simple, interesting and enjoyable activities you can deal with all these problems simultaneously. The first thing that you need to do is to change your way of thinking, change your mindset. Most young people today consider learning to be an undesirable task and want to avoid it as much as possible. Non-stop entertainment is in demand. People want to be entertained all the time. They consider learning to be a bore, a pain. Any activity that is related to learning and improving is seen as an undesirable chore and this is exactly what you need to change in your way of thinking. You have to think–

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Pre-preparation    19

Learning is FUN. Learning can be ENTERTAINING. You can find joy in learning and that it will help you move ahead in your professional life is an added bonus!

Do it yourself Sit quietly and try to remember at least three such situations when you were very nervous. Analyse those situations objectively. The following questions may help: • Why do you think you got nervous? • What were you wishing for at that time? • What do you think could have helped you avoid being

nervous in that situation?

• Does this kind of situation happen again and

again?

• Did you do anything to be able to handle the situa-

tion better the next time?

• Were you able to handle it better the next time? • If yes, what do you think made the difference? • Were you able to anticipate the problem at any occa-

sion henceforth?

• Were there some others around you who were not

nervous?

• Why do you think they were not nervous? • Do you think they were better prepared? • How do you think they prepared themselves? • How do you think you can prepare yourself better?

What do you learn from this exercise? How can you apply this knowledge to the way you prepare yourself to face the world, face challenges in life?

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20    I’m Not Afraid of GDPI!

Enhancing English and improving General   Knowledge as a Bonus! Think. How did you learn your mother tongue? Did you learn it after you grew up, went to school, studied it to increase your vocabulary, studied its grammar and did exercises in it? NO! You learnt to speak it much before you went to school. You started understanding it even before as a very young child. So, how did that happen? It happened because you were surrounded with it. Everybody around you was speaking the language and you learnt it as you grew because the environment around you had that language in it. Well, you can learn English the very same way. Surround yourself with English. Create an environment of the language all around you. Remember that funny dialogue by Amitabh Bachchan—“I walk English, I talk English.” You quite literally have to do that now. Whatever you read, whatever you listen and whatever you say should be in English. You have to develop a taste, a fondness for reading. You have to love reading. Enjoy reading. Read all the time. Change the mindset and do not see it as a study related task. Read a variety of stuff. Read anything and everything. Newspapers, magazines, books, comics, pamphlets, brochures, advertisements, anything you can lay your eyes and hands on. Just read. Enjoy it. Do not think about learning it all. Do not concentrate on memorizing and remembering it all. The human brain is an amazing sponge. It will absorb a lot of what you read automatically. Slowly, with time, layers upon layers of knowledge will accumulate in your memory, a lot of information will just go and get filed somewhere in your brain and you will be able to retrieve most of it when required. Over a period of time you will realize that you ‘know’ a lot. The amount of stuff you know will amaze you yourself and the questions you will ask yourself will be: How come I know so much? When did I learn all this? How and when did I become so knowledgeable? Well, because you started reading! To achieve the above results, be alert and make a habit of a few practices during all this reading that you do:

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Pre-preparation    21 • Keep a dictionary handy but refer to it only now and then.

Do not bother to refer to every single word you come across that you don’t know the meaning of. Refer to only those words that are crucial to understanding the passage you are reading.

• Do not try to understand the meaning of each and every

word initially. As long as you can grasp the meaning of the whole sentence or passage or news article, it is okay not to know the meaning of every single word. Over a period of time, after you have come across the same word several times, you will realize that you know what it means without having to refer it.

• Learn how to use a thesaurus. • Often words and phrases have a completely different con-

textual meaning than their dictionary meaning. This difference can be due to local influences or due to someone’s clever usage. This is true for all languages and you can find examples of this in the language you do know and are comfortable in. Accept and remember the contextual meaning. Try and use it in your written or spoken language so that it internalizes completely in you. This kind of innovative usage of words raises the quality of your language and is impressive.

• Sometimes there is a clever and subtle use of words. Do

not get discouraged if you do not understand them immediately. As your hold over the language strengthens, you will begin to understand them automatically and you will derive immense thrill and pleasure when you do so.

• Mix in a little light reading into your schedule. Every thing

you read should not be heavy reading. If you try to read only informative texts all the time, you will soon tire out and eventually stop reading. Remember to read for pleasure too. If it is difficult to understand grown up level books, start by reading story books for young readers and gradually raise your level of reading.

• Do remember the rule of Garbage in-Garbage out. It

means that if you read sub-standard language, you will develop sub-standard language that is grammatically poor with an inadequate vocabulary. So, make sure you read good quality material like national level English newspapers, magazines and books by reputed authors. Earlier good

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22    I’m Not Afraid of GDPI!

quality light reading material available in India was only by foreign authors. But now, there are plenty of books available written by Indian authors in English for all levels of reading. English translations of Hindi literature are also available now. It is easier to comprehend and enjoy them because they have culturally familiar concepts. • Always have some reading material with you. Utilize the

small pockets of time of just a few minutes here and there to read up a little. When you are waiting for the bus, during the ride, over a cup of tea leisurely had, waiting for a meal to be served or for somebody to come, a few minutes before going to bed and any other such few minutes snatched from here and there can bundle up to good reading time. (read more about pockets of time in chapter 8)

• Exposing yourself to jokes in English is an excellent way

of judging your progress because the true test of your mastery over a language lies in ‘getting’ jokes in that language. When you start understanding subtle jokes in English, you can be assured of making very good progress.

Gradually, you will realize that you have to refer to a dictionary fewer and fewer times, you are understanding and absorbing more and more and that sometimes you can also analyse and predict what will be written on an issue. This means that your brain has begun to respond to all that reading and you have developed a thought process all your own… this is excellent!! This will give you an amazing sense of achievement and accomplishment which will work wonders on your self confidence. When you reach the above stage, whenever you are amongst people, you will know what they are talking about, you will be able to participate, speak knowledgeably and soon you will be able to analyse stuff and put forth your own opinions on various issues. You will then be perceived as an intelligent person by others! How wonderful! All this just because you found out that—READING IS FUN! Now you do not have to be afraid of participating in group discussions and personal interviews. You can freely and confidently discuss any topic or affairs of the world. During any formal or social conversations, you can now put forth arguments and counter-arguments. During interviews you can comment on any topic not related to your subject, answer any questions.

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Pre-preparation    23

Here is a helpful reading list which will be enough to give you good language, reading pleasure, improve your general knowledge and keep you up-to-date with the current happenings. • Any one national newspaper in English everyday and two newspapers on Sundays. It is advisable to read two newspapers on Sundays because the editorials give you good discussable analysis of the important news happenings of the entire week. Example, The Times of India, The Hindustan Times, The Hindu, Mint, DNA, The Indian Express etc. • Any two news magazines in English on a weekly basis.

Example, India Today, Outlook, Newsweek and The Week etc.

• At least two or three of the other fortnightly and monthly

publications like Readers’ Digest, business magazines, trade magazines, health magazines and other general interest magazines.

• As many of any good story books or novels written by

recognized authors, foreign or Indian, as you can find the time and inclination for.

Suggestion for students and young professionals living in hostels or other shared accommodation Make a group of like minded friends and contribute a small sum of money on a monthly basis to create a ‘common pool’. From this pool, buy all the reading material and share it. This way you will have more to read without wasting resources if they are limited. The same group can also become a practice and discussion group. Practice will improve your public speaking and discussing abilities. At the same time, your English language too will improve. Whatever is the news of the day or whatever you have read recently, can be discussed and analysed together. It is a fact that discussing with others creates better understanding of any subject and better memory retention of the same too.

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24    I’m Not Afraid of GDPI!

A Note on ‘Indianisms’ in English language If you are aiming and training to get into very big companies, global companies or if you wish to polish your language to the best possible as a personal desire, you might want to study Indianisms that have become quite a standard in the kind of English that is spoken in India. ‘Indianisms’ are certain meanings attached to some words and phrases that are actually incorrect but are accepted here or a certain incorrect but accepted way of using grammar. People within India instantly understand what is being said but if the same is spoken in front of people from the western world, it can be confusing for them. Moreover, within India too, people who are highly polished in their language and know these ‘Indianisms’ to be wrong, will instantly recognize the ‘local’ quality of your English if you speak and use words and phrases this way. Therefore, if you wish to sound equally polished and global, you will have to consciously stay away from them. Some simple and common examples are: • I am having two sisters

I have two sisters. I didn’t know that. I’m telling to you… I’m telling you… I cannot discuss you that I cannot discuss that with you My childrens are grown up My children are grown up Today morning I woke up late This morning I woke up late I got a phone from him I got a call from him She returned it back to me She returned it to me Open the lights please Switch on the lights please (close—switch off) When I was small… When I was young… (On phone) I am Ashok this side This is Ashok speaking This company is more bigger This company is bigger This job is too good This job is very good What is your good name? What is your name? I am understanding it now I understand it now The bank is in my backside The bank is behind me/my house Me and Ashok will come Ashok and I will come

• I didn’t knew that • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

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Pre-preparation    25

There are many more. Be on a lookout for them.

Improving your speech Along with reading, start listening to English. Watch English news, movies, programs etc on TV. Have a mix of all kinds of programs—informative, infotainment, entertainment and comedies. This way you shall not be bored. While watching these programs, pay a little attention to the following: • The pronunciation of the speakers. Pronunciation and accent

•

•

•

• •

•

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give away the region you belong to. Ever notice how you can tell if a person is Punjabi, Bengali or a south Indian just by listening to him? You must try to overcome this regional effect and acquire a global English quality in your speech. The mouth movement of the speakers. Some new learners of English tend to make exaggerated mouth movements whereas some do not open their lips enough. Therefore observe how good speakers speak and try to copy them. Gradually you will develop your own comfortable individual style. Take note of the comfortable rate of speech as a listener and practice the same as a speaker. We Indians are famous for our very high rate of speech which sometimes makes us unintelligible to others. We can easily go up to 180 words or more per minute!! The ideal rate of speech is around 120 words per minute. Time and correct yourself accordingly. Tune in your ears to the intonations (the upwards and downwards movement of voice, volume and pitch) which give character to speech and prevent it from becoming a boring drone. Observe and add emotion to your speech. Avoid being a monotone. Learn to incorporate pauses in your speech which adds depth and meaning to what you are saying. Pauses are also used to give emphasis to what you are going to say next by creating a sense of expectation in the mind of the listener. Improve your voice quality. Most people speak without using the benefits of the stomach muscles. Singers know and understand this. Use your stomach muscles to give power to your voice.

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26    I’m Not Afraid of GDPI! • Clarity is a valuable attribute. Your speech should have

clarity which is achieved by a combination of correct pronunciation, accent, pace, pitch, volume and modulation.

Do it yourself Do you want to know how you sound to others? There are two ways to do this: 1. Use recording facilities if you have access to them.

Record yourself and listen to it objectively. What did you like? What did you not like? How can you further improve what you liked and change what you didn’t?

2. Find a corner of a room which has plain walls on

both sides. There should be no doors or windows near the corner. Now stand in such a way, facing the corner, that your face is 18” away from it. Speak as you normally speak but keep your eyes closed. The way your sound reflects back to you is very similar to how you sound to others. Analyse your sound carefully and objectively. Is it high pitched? Shrill? Nasal? A drone? Too thin? What do you sound like? Are you happy with it? How can you change it if you want to?

Now comes practice. Till now, we have been talking about ‘inputs’ only. Reading is input of knowledge and English; similarly listening too is input of both and also of speech and voice dynamics. But, so much of input is of no use without any practice of output too i.e., the actual ability to be able to speak. Speak in English as much as you can. Make a pact with your friends, teachers, family members or anybody else who you interact with on a daily basis. Find friends who are in the same position as you i.e., preparing for selections. It will be easier to convince them to participate in some serious practice with each other than say your music band pals or your cricket buddies.

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Pre-preparation    27

Everybody knows the old adage—Practice makes perfect. Initially you may be incorrect and imperfect in your grammar and pronunciation but that doesn’t matter, just keep going. The more you speak in English, the more your tongue will become familiar with it, the more at-ease and comfortable you will be speaking it. You will be less conscious while speaking it and will be able to concentrate more on content rather than on the actual speaking effort and thus you will begin to sound like a natural.

Do it yourself Extempore is a speaking exercise in which you are given a simple topic and you have to speak on it instantly for 2 minutes without a break. The basic idea is that you speak continuously for the length of time. What you say may be factual, imaginative, creative, a fantasy, connected to something else or a combination of any of these. Anything you say is okay and acceptable as long as somehow you connect it back to the topic. • They give you practice in speaking continuously. • They help you learn to think and speak simultane-

ously.

• They help you learn to think ‘on your feet’ which

means to be able to think, organize your thoughts and speak at the same time on a topic you are not prepared for.

Do a few extempore everyday. Ask someone to keep time. Initially you will manage only a few seconds. Do not be disappointed. Keep practicing. Soon you will be able to cross two minutes. Initially, pick any simple topic like: • leaf • tree • tea • green • shoe

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28    I’m Not Afraid of GDPI!

Do it yourself (Contd.) • pencil • glass

Let us take the example of glass. What can be said about glass for two minutes? Talk about the various uses of glass—in doors, windows, in buildings, as a looking glass, as barriers. Talk about a drinking glass—how it can be made of glass, crystal, wood, metals, plastic, can be plain or decorated etc. Talk about the status attached to glass in the sense that when we have visitors, we serve food and drink in glass crockery. Talk about mirrors and their various uses, where they can be found etc. Talk about eye glasses i.e., spectacles. Talk about the fragility of a glass. Talk about how a glass shatters and can hurt, how it is related to the breaking of the heart. Go more philosophical and talk about how we can learn from a shattered mirror which even though broken still performs its function of reflecting images and how we should be the same. Talk about transparency and yet how it can protect and how all this can be related to our style of working. Talk about a popular quote involving a glass half empty or half full and this can lead you to talk about good and bad attitudes. You can simply go on and on and two minutes in fact may seem less! This way, in an extempore, you can take the topic absolutely anywhere as long as you keep a thread attached to the original topic and can somehow loop it back. This requires a very quick and innovative mind and good command over the language. Practicing extempore will give you practice of quick thinking and using words instantly, a skill that will help

Comprehension skills Just to be able to understand and converse in English is sometimes not enough. This is because conversational English is always on the easier level. To truly comprehend a language means that you

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Pre-preparation    29

should be able to answer questions from a small write-up on any topic, known or unknown to you, after reading or listening to it just once. Comprehension means how well you are able to ‘catch’ stuff in that language and several companies have begun to test candidates in this field because they feel everybody comes prepared for interviews but as soon as they are made to talk about something different, they fail. True mastery over a language is seen when you can understand and talk about any topic in the language and not just the one you are prepared for. Do some comprehension exercises. There are plenty of books and cd’s available. People who are going in for English language improvement classes or are doing the TOEFL or IELTS courses will come across these.

Improving your trade knowledge There is a large body of knowledge attached to any field and it is dynamic which means it keeps changing and new stuff keeps adding up to it. New technologies, new methods, new people enter the field and sometimes old ones make news too. Changes happen and it is important to keep up with it all. Topics for group discussions or questions in interviews can be based on these. For this, read the trade journals, newsletters, news items etc. and keep in touch with people in your field. Be alert and keep your eyes and ears open.

Typing skills It may appear very strange to see this included here but good typing skills are fast becoming a major skill requirement now. Since computerization has entered all fields of work, more and more companies are taking typing tests particularly for jobs which do require constant work on computers. Otherwise too, in the times of computerization, to know typing has become a very basic skill and everyone is expected to know it. There are two factors by which you are judged— • All fingers vs two finger typing  There is a correct meth-

odology of typing using all fingers. If done this way, you can type without looking at the keyboard. Professionally, it is preferable that you be able to type this way. Two finger novice or dummy style of typing is looked down upon and could result in you not being selected.

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30    I’m Not Afraid of GDPI! • Speed  A speed of minimum 20—25 words per minute is

desirable. If you can make it more, it is better. Certain companies do eliminate people on the criteria of slower than the set standard speed of typing. So, if you don’t know professional typing, start learning now and practice regularly.

There are typing schools you can attend. Better still if you have a computer and access to internet, there are many sites which teach professional typing for free online. It takes just about 20 minutes daily for 10-14 days to learn it and then what speed you achieve depends on how much you practice after learning it.

Understanding your own priorities It often happens that students are confused and unclear of what they actually want, what they should do. There are so many options out there and it is very easy to feel lost. For example, a student preparing as a customer service professional has options between hotels, airlines, departmental stores, multiplexes, hospitals and some more. Or, the confusion could be between higher salary, better designation and a more prestigious company—what to choose. Confusions and conflicts can arise due to the differences between your own dreams, aspirations and needs and what the family expectations, social considerations, peer group pressures and actual life situations etc are. If these confusions are not dealt with, they can lead to bad choices, leading to failure and unhappiness. Therefore, it is important that these should be openly discussed and some decisions reached. You should be true to your feelings. Talk to people, gather information, think and analyse deeply for the long term. Sometimes talking to unrelated people helps to get a fresh perspective, so talk to your teachers or better still approach people who are working where you want to, explain your situation and ask them for their honest opinion, advice and guidance. Go in for interviews with a well settled mind that has no doubts about what you want, with very clear ideas regarding your life situation, priorities, motivations and goals. This way you will be able to project yourself as a balanced, mature and thus, a desirable candidate.

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Pre-preparation    31

Selecting and applying to companies Once you are decided upon your priorities and what kind of job you want, start looking for it everywhere. Be a regular in looking at advertisements in newspapers, employment publications, trade magazines, internet job sites, employment agencies, the bulletin board of your college etc. Take careful notes of the requirements. When applying to them, make sure you give all the information asked for. Adjust your biodata as per the information specifically asked. Attach a well written application letter giving details on where you saw the advert, what date was it published and what the job code is if any. Make sure you have attached all documents asked for. (Read all about this in detail in chapter 3) Do not wait for the very last day to post your application. If it is to be sent within the same city as you are in, go and deliver it personally. This will give you a chance to visit the premises and get first hand information and the feel of the place.

Reading up on the companies applied to It is very important to have full background knowledge on the company you have applied to. A little bit of its history, its progress over time, location of its headquarters and branch offices, its product line or range of services, turnover, its market, its future plans of expansion or diversification if any, its competitors and their market standing and plans and so on and so forth. This information will help you during the interviews. When you have to answer questions like—Why do you want to work for us?… What do you know about us?… How do you think your skills will help this company?… How can this company help you to achieve your goals in life?… What do you think of our expansion plans?… Do you have any ideas on how we could broaden our customer base in rural areas?… and so on… If you have no idea or information about the company, you will not be able to even attempt to answer such questions. But, imagine if you can answer such questions intelligently and show off your depth of knowledge and interest in the happenings of the company, how will the selectors ever resist taking you! Your success is ensured. Even if you are not directly asked any such questions, you can still cleverly slip in some bits of information about the company

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32    I’m Not Afraid of GDPI!

that you know when talking about your own goals, aspirations and skills by connecting them to the workings of the company. This will give a positive impression of good preparedness, alertness and of your definite interest in the company and will make a huge difference in your selection. You will come across information about companies in newspapers, magazines, TV news etc., that you will as it is read for preparation. The internet is a boon in this task. Within an hour or two of dedicated study, you can make enough notes to appear well informed.

Preparing the Portfolio Now that you are prepared and full of confidence, let’s focus on your portfolio. Portfolio is the collection of all the documents that you will be carrying for the interview. Get it ready with great thought and attention one day in advance. Many people assume that just carrying one copy of the biodata in a folder is enough. It isn’t. Given below are pointers on a well prepared portfolio: • The biodata that you are carrying should be exactly same as

the one you have sent them initially. During the interview, they may ask for some clarification and if the details in your copy are different, unnecessary confusions can arise.

• Carry at least five copies of your biodata. If there are more

than one interviewer and they are shuttling your biodata between them, you can smartly offer each one of them a copy and still have one left for yourself to refer to. This will leave a good impression.

• If you have posted them a biodata earlier, you must have

sent a covering letter also. Include a copy of it in your portfolio.

• Arrange all your documents in some logical order. Memo-

rize the order. This way you will not frantically search for a document when asked for it, instead you can very calmly find it and hand it over in an instant.

• Always carry a few sheets of plain paper in case you need to

write something, solve a problem given or give them some additional information asked for in written. It is very bad form to ask for a sheet or use the back of any of your other documents to do so.

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Pre-preparation    33 • Make sure you have a pen and that it works. It is not

impressionable to have to ask for it if needed.

• The file that you carry should not be fancy. There are many

professional looking ones available in the market. Choose one which is simple, neat and easy to use. The filing and clipping system should not be very complicated.

• Carry a few spare photographs. • Carry a set of photocopies of your original documents. • Do not carry your portfolio in a plastic bag into the inter-

view room. Leave the bag outside in the waiting area.

All these may look like a lot of work but when you start doing them practically, you will realize that they are actually very logical. Being careful and paying attention to small details will become a part of your way of doing things. Knowing that you are well prepared will give you a sense of peace which will translate into confidence during the GD and the interview. You will be calm and will not panic. You will be able to focus and pay complete attention to the race you are running. Developing a habit of keeping small details in mind and ‘sweating the small stuff ’ will pay out good dividends in the long run, not just professionally but also in your personal life. Above all else—Have faith in yourself and your capabilities. Remember that you have honestly worked hard to achieve what you want and there is very little that can stop you from getting it if you apply yourself completely to something. In a few months time, if you have sincerely followed these suggestions, you will find yourself in a position where you do not feel inferior to anybody else and can easily hold your own in a group of people without panicking. You will no longer be unsure, tongue-tied, nervous and terrified of opening your mouth. In fact you will find yourself looking forward to interactions and discussions with confidence and enjoyment!! You are ready. You are prepared. EXCELLENT! You can now happily say– “I’m Not Afraid of GDPI ! “ Good for you. Let’s move ahead.

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Chapter

3

Writing a Powerful Biodata

“Life doesn’t get easier, you just get stronger!” “Opportunities don’t mean anything unless you take them.” “Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you CAN do.”

Your biodata is you, you are your biodata. Your biodata goes places where you cannot go and before you can go there. It is your entry ticket. It is your passport to your dream job. You simply have to get it right. Your biodata markets you. It is your representative much before you can represent yourself. It faces your prospective employers and fights for your selection before you come face-toface with them and fight for yourself. Your biodata can get you selected or eliminated. It is a powerful document. It has to be good. It has to be persuasive. It has to be the best. Your biodata should be your friend and not your enemy. The first round of elimination, we have already learnt, is the elimination or selection of biodata. Your biodata has to get selected and thus give you the opportunity to showcase yourself and win the race. To give your biodata a winning chance, it has to be perfect. You cannot afford to have mistakes in your biodata. You cannot afford to have a sub-standard document. Remember those other 999 people who have applied for the same job from Chapter 1? Remember how at this stage, this is still a process of elimination

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Writing a Powerful Biodata    35

rather than a process of selection and how the number of candidates has to be reduced? In all probability about 800 of those thousand applicants will be eliminated here at this stage. • A spelling mistake—eliminated! • More than a page or two—eliminated! • Bad formatting—eliminated! • Too much un-necessary info—eliminated! • No photograph—eliminated! • Uncomfortable to read font—eliminated! • Unnecessarily stylish—eliminated!

Your Biodata has to be as professional and business like as possible so that it does not get eliminated and you get the opportunity to appear for the selection procedures.

Understanding the document Your Biodata is like a living thing. It will grow and change with you as you grow in your profession. It will change and evolve as you become more and more experienced. Newer and more important, more pertinent facts will be added and old ones will need to be removed from it. A person can also have different biodatas at any given time to suit different job profiles. Your first step, then, is to identify your target job. Once you’ve done that, you need to make sure that your biodata addresses it directly by modifying it accordingly. Every time you apply for a different job, you may need to re-craft your old resume so that it ‘speaks’ to your new audience. This does not necessarily mean that you have to re-invent the entire document since sometimes all it takes is a revision of certain portions only. If necessary, however, you should rework entire portions of your Biodata to suit your target audience. First, let’s deal with a big general confusion in the minds of students across the country that Biodata, resume and curriculum vitae (CV) are different documents. When asked the difference, most students will get up and say: Biodata—is for matrimonial purposes

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36    I’m Not Afraid of GDPI!

Resume—is for job purposes CV—is longer and gives more comprehensive and detailed information about our life. So, are these the correct definitions, accurate explanations? Is this really the difference between the three documents? If not, then what is the difference between the three? Well, the surprising answer is—nothing! There is absolutely no difference between the three. Consider this: In English we say—the world In Hindi we say—duniya In French we say—le monde In Spanish we say—el mundo So are the world, duniya, le monde and el mundo different things just because they are different words? No, they are all the names of the same thing in different languages. It is the same for above. In French we say—résumé In English we say—biodata In Latin we say—curriculum vitae In Hindi we might say—pehchan patra They are all the same document named so in different languages. There may be some very technical differences, but for all practical purposes in the open job market, they are synonyms. Now that this major confusion is settled, let’s move ahead and learn how to construct a good one.

Structure of a biodata The key words describing a good Biodata are—Concise and Precise. It should give all the relevant details about you in a single glance. Did you know that on an average one biodata is skimmed in less than 30 seconds! Out of these, the first impression is

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Writing a Powerful Biodata    37

already made in the first 10 seconds! In this very short time your biodata has to impress the selector enough to be short listed. To achieve this you need to understand the basic structure, what to write, what not to write, how to write, how not to write and more importantly the formatting of the document Imagine an HR manager of a company of which a few vacancies have been advertised. He receives thousands of biodata. Is he going to study all of them in detail carefully selecting the best ones? Do you think he has the time? No. He will just skim through them. He is a professional and has the fine tuned skill of identifying the good ones from the bad ones very quickly. We have already read the elimination criteria but let’s go through them again– The ones that are too long—go into the dustbin. The ones with spelling mistakes—go into the dustbin. The ones with grammatical mistakes—go into the dustbin. The ones that are haphazard and confusing—go into the dustbin. The ones that are not neatly typed and legible—go into the dustbin. The ones not properly structured and formatted—go into the dustbin. The ones that are short listed are those in which the reader can find all relevant information in one glance easily and without any trouble. They look neat and very well presented. There is no un-necessary and superfluous information and they are precise and concise. This requires structuring and formatting. At the most basic level, the biodata of a fresher has three parts and four parts for a person who has some work experience. A freshers’ biodata will have– • Personal details • Educational qualifications • Miscellaneous section

An experienced persons’ biodata will have an additional section on– • Work experience

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38    I’m Not Afraid of GDPI!

Personal Details This is the first part of the biodata and gives all personal information about you. • Name—should be written in a larger font and in bold. • Address—write it taking the appropriate number of lines

and don’t forget to include the pin code.

• Contact—Phone—if a landline; do not forget to include the

STD code.

Email—check carefully for correctness as a lot depends on it. • Age or Date of birth (any one). • Gender (only if not attaching a photograph). • You are not required to write your fathers’ and mothers’

name. This information is of no use to the employer, therefore is entirely dispensable unless specifically asked for.

• The profession of your parents and siblings is also unwanted

information unless it is somehow pertinent to the job applied for or the company applied to.

• Marital status of the candidate is usually not a concern of

the employer. If, in any kind of job, it is a consideration, you will specifically be asked about it and then you have to furnish the information. Otherwise in ordinary circumstances you don’t need to mention it. • Number of children is definitely not required unless asked for. • Height, weight, eyesight or any other physical parameters are mandatory in certain sectors like Hospitality, Aviation and certain customer services jobs where there is all-time customer interface etc. These should be quantified honestly. In sectors or industries where these are not essential, don’t mention them. • Passport details are areas that need clarifications. You need to mention your passport details in the following circumstances only-– • You are an Indian applying abroad.

• You are not an Indian but are applying in India

• You are applying for a job that involves overseas travel.

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Writing a Powerful Biodata    39 • For some reason the employing company has specifically

asked for it.

The details that you will give are – • Passport number • Valid till

There is no justification for giving passport details if you are an Indian applying for a job in India with no chances of going abroad. In such a case it is unnecessary information and since

Do it yourself Study carefully the personal information section of the biodata of Mr. Ashok Kumar who is applying for a Computer Programmer job in Pune :Name : ASHOK KUMAR Date of birth : 16 July, 1989 Age : 21 yrs Sex : male Father’s name : Mr. Pradeep Kumar Father’s profession : Businessman Mother’s name : Smt. Lata Kumar Mother’s profession : Housewife Height : 5’10’’ Weight: 65 kgs Passport: Yes. Validity – 2015 Marital status : unmarried No. of children : none Photograph: attached Can you identify how many mistakes there are apart from the fact that it is not formatted properly and all the colons are not neatly in the same vertical placing?

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40    I’m Not Afraid of GDPI!

we now know that the Biodata needs to be specific and precise with no superfluous information, it is best not to include such details.

Photograph The photograph that you attach should be— • In colour • Passport size • Absolutely recent. • Professionally taken and not photoshopped from a casual

picture

• It should be in the similar kind of clothes that you expect

to wear at work

• It should have a plain background and not holiday sceneries. • You should be looking straight at the camera. No cameo

poses.

• Have a pleasant look and a soft smile. • Attach it to the top right hand corner of your biodata. • While attaching it use both glue and staple to ensure that

it does not come off during handling resulting in rejection of the biodata.

• You don’t have to sign it or get it attested (unless speci-

fied).

Career objective Trends keep changing and sometime there is a trend of writing a career objective and sometimes not. It is otherwise completely optional and it is your choice whether you want to include it in your document or not. If you have plenty else to write and eliminating the career objective will bring down the number of pages in your document, it is advisable to do so. In the event of choosing to include it, here are a few points about it. The career objective is different for a fresher than that for a person who has had some work experience. The main objective of a fresher, frankly, is to get his first job. As a fresher it is understood it will be of entry level. The career objective has to project

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Writing a Powerful Biodata    41

this understanding and yet at the same time project a sense of commitment. Some examples could be – 1. Seeking an entry level job where I can use and enhance my

skills to contribute to the short term and long term goals of both—the company I work for and my family.

2. Interested in an entry level position leading to senior man-

agement responsibilities as a long term goal.

3. To secure a skill based and challenging position in a high

growth company with advancement opportunities.

In all the above examples, a fresher is making clear that he is skilled, wants to learn and grow and if all goes well between him and the company, a long term commitment and relationship is desirable. The skills mentioned here will, of course, be different with each candidate and you shall have to talk about your own during the interview. Remember to be honest about them in writing. A candidate who has a few years of work experience and a very specific set of skills should mention those in the career objective and offer them for the profit of the company and thus in return for his own personal advancement. Be very careful about the wording and the skills mentioned in the career objective as this is usually from where the interviewers pick their initial questions. Not being able to answer them well would result in a bad beginning which further will result in a ruined interview.

Work Experience This section is only for people with work experience and not for freshers. The main points to keep in mind here are– • Your work experience should ideally be of at least six

months.

• Any work experience whether related or unrelated to

the position applied for can be included provided you can answer questions about it during the interview.

• All work experience, if more than one, should be listed

according to one of these conditions–

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42    I’m Not Afraid of GDPI! ◊ In reverse chronology—this means from present to

past. What are you doing now, what were you doing before that, then before that and so on.

◊ In order of importance—if for some reason a job held

sometime in the past holds more importance and relevance to the job to which you are applying now, then it may be mentioned first, then the next and so on. The importance may be because— ♦ It is related to the job applied for. ♦ It is of a better and more prestigious company. ♦ In that job you held a better designation. ♦ The experience gained at that job gives you lever-

age here.

♦ For some personal or circumstantial reason you

want to highlight it.

Do it yourself When writing about your previous job profiles, use some targeted action words. They should give a precise picture of your accomplishments during your work tenure. A small sample list of such action words is given below: accomplished achieved consolidated converted coordinated designed

earned eliminated established founded implemented invented

launched produced redesigned reorganized simplified solved

streamlined strengthened structured transformed won wrote

Can you find more? Maybe description of your job needs some different words. Identify them and write them here for quick and easy reference for when you design your biodata. _______ _______

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_______ _______

________ ________

_______ _______

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Writing a Powerful Biodata    43 • The correct way to format your work experience is – ◊ Name of the organization. ◊ Designation held. ◊ From ________ to ________. ◊ Job description in brief (one or two sentences only). ◊ Any special works or projects handled (one or two sen-

tences only).

• Never write about your work experience in a paragraph

form. Write about it point wise as shown above for clarity and a quick read.

Educational qualifications This section of course applies to freshers as well as to people with work experience. The points to keep in mind are: • These too will be written in reverse chronology. • Usually only three levels are required i.e., people who are post

graduates can give details of Post Graduation, Graduation and Class XII. Just graduates will have to go till Class X.

• Any diplomas earned may also be included here fitted in

either chronologically or by order of importance.

• If you hold a professional diploma or have done a certificate

course that is very relevant to the job applied for then there are two ways to include them in your Biodata –

• You can write them first and before the other educational

details.

• You may make a separate heading before ‘Educational

qualifications’ called ‘Professional Qualifications’ and write the details of your diploma or certificate course as per the format given below.

• It is possible that you hold other diplomas or certificates

of courses that are not job specific but done for general self improvement like computer courses, spoken English, foreign language, typing etc. Though they do not directly make you more qualified but they definitely improve your overall worth by giving you additional skills and if you wish to showcase them, you may make another heading called ‘Additional Qualifications/skills.’

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44    I’m Not Afraid of GDPI! • When writing about any of the above you have to follow the

following format–

• Name of the University/College/Institute/Academy/School. • Name of the course. • Duration of the course (for diplomas and additional qual-

ifications).

• Year of passing. • Percentage (optional). • For class XII and X, instead of giving name of school you

may write the name of the Board under which you qualified.

The final part of the biodata is the Miscellaneous section. This section has bits and pieces that are all optional. You don’t have to write all of them. In fact, you don’t have to write any of them if you don’t want to. You can just pick and choose those that are relevant to you and where you have something to write about. These are usually added if you do not have anything much else to write and there is a lot of empty space even in a single sheet of paper. For this reason, generally fresh college pass outs include these. People who have been working and have adequate professional stuff to write about need not include these unless they have something very prestigious they want to mention and bring to notice. The various headings in this section are:

Achievements • Any awards won at at least the district level if not at state

or national level in sports or extra-curricular activities may be mentioned here.

• If you have anything else that you are proud of- like you

were the editor of the college magazine, you won the open photography competition or a slogan competition or have organized a big event, anything.

• You were a senior NCC cadet, you were at the Republic Day

Parade, participated/won at the National Youth Festival, and you won at the Math or Science or Cyber Olympiad, the Spelling Bee or any such achievement.

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Writing a Powerful Biodata    45 • You were a part of an adventure camp, you went for a moun-

taineering course, you went as an exchange student or any such activity that you want to showcase.

• Do remember that you should be able to document any

achievement with the help of certificates, photographs, articles, citations, awards, letters of commendation or any such proof.

Extra curricular activities You may not be competing; you may not be winning awards or prizes but are extremely fond of an activity and are dedicated towards it, showing you are a multi-faceted personality. Maybe you learn classical dance or music, you play a sport and are a part of a local club or team, you write and have been published, you are part of a theatre group, have done stage shows or recitals, you regularly take part in events like marathons and walkathons etc. You can write about these but only if there is a level of seriousness, dedication and quality in your activity. Again, here too, you should be able to talk about your activity to some level of knowledge.

Hobbies and Interests This is the trickiest section. Candidates very often mention hobbies that they actually do not have and when they are questioned about it during interviews they get bowled out. This happens because some interviewers pick this information up for questioning and if he happens to be interested in the same activity he will know when the candidate is bluffing and will not like it. For example, a student may write—Stamp collection and then consider the following scenario during the interview – Interviewer Candidate Interviewer Candidate Interviewer

— So, you have a hobby of collecting stamps? — Yes sir, I am very fond of it. — What is this activity called? — Eh… What sir? — The activity of stamp collection has a particular name and the collector also has a particular nomenclature. What are they?

Candidate

— I am sorry sir. I don’t know.

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46    I’m Not Afraid of GDPI!

Interviewer — Okay. Never mind. How many First Day covers do you have? Which is the latest one? Candidate

— Eh… What sir?

Interviewer — First Day covers, you know, for every stamp series release. Do you have any? Candidate

— I really don’t know. What!?!

Interviewer — Okay, tell me in which year recently did India release a collection of stamps that were triangular in shape and featured flowers? Candidate

— I don’t know sir.

Interviewer — You don’t know anything about your hobby? How many stamps do you have? Candidate

— Er… Sir, I don’t know. My grandfather used to collect them, they are lying around somewhere in the house.

Interviewer — Oh! So stamp collecting is not really your hobby! Candidate

— No sir, sorry sir.

(Collecting stamps is called Philately; the collector is called a Philatelist. No triangular, flower stamps have been released by India ever. The Interviewer was testing the authenticity of the candidate and he got caught because he was not really a Philatelist.) Do you see how dicey it is to include any activity that is not really your hobby? Do you want this to happen to you? Consider another scenario. Here the student has listed listening to music as his hobby. Interviewer — So what kind of music do you listen to? Candidate

— (Thinks it will sound all grown-up and nice to say Ghazals) Sir mainly Ghazals.

Interviewer — Name some famous Ghazal singers. Candidate

— Sir, Jagjit Singh, er…. Pankaj Udhas…

Interviewer — And?

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Writing a Powerful Biodata    47

Candidate

— Er…

Interviewer — Ever heard of Talat Mahmood, Mehdi Hassan etc. Candidate

— (Happy) Sir, this is a trick question. Mahmood is a comedian and Kamal not Mehdi, Kamal Hassan is a south Indian Actor.

(Candidate here is smiling and is very proud of himself) Interviewer — (Smiles) in the early days Jagjit Singh used to sing a lot of poetry written by one particular person. Can you name him? Candidate

— Er…

Interviewer — Who usually accompanies him in his duets? Candidate

— His wife.

Interviewer — OK…what is her name? Does she still sing? Candidate

— Er…

Interviewer — You don’t really listen much to them do you? Candidate

— No sir. Whenever there is a song on the Radio.

Interviewer — And when do you listen to the Radio? Candidate

— Sir all the time.

Interviewer — Any particular channel? Candidate

— No sir, wherever there is a good song coming…

Interviewer — So you are just a passive listener? Candidate

— Er… Yes sir.

(Talat Mahmood and Mehdi Hassan are very famous and serious Ghazal singers. Chitra Singh is Jagjit Singh’s wife and she no longer sings. This candidate too failed to talk about the activity that he listed as his hobby.) Similarly, there are many candidates who write stuff like— watching TV, reading books, reading newspapers, collecting coins, meeting people, traveling etc., but when are asked detailed questions, cannot answer any of them intelligently. Therefore, the point here is that do not write Hobby, unless you really and

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48    I’m Not Afraid of GDPI!

seriously do have one. If you must, then write Interests or Favourite Pastime. Although this too will require little knowledge but not as much as labeling something as hobby does. A hobby is something you have a deep passion for, you go out of the way to invest money, energy and time on it and have a solid body of knowledge about it.

Languages known Sometimes it makes sense, in some particular job profiles, to show that you have skills in languages other than Hindi and English. These skills could be in any regional language or may be a foreign language. In such a case, mention them clearly as: Gujarati—Speak, read, and write If you have only rudimentary knowledge of a language and are only a beginner, write it as– French—Speak, read, write (working knowledge only) Or Japanese—Speak only (working knowledge only) This will give a true picture of your skills and thus not make you face unrealistic expectations from your employers during the interview or at any future date.

Formatting The main thing to understand here is that there is no one perfect biodata. Every single person will have a different biodata and the same person will have a different biodata at different times. Your biodata today will be different from what you will have six months from now and that will be different from what it will be two years hence. Your biodata will keep evolving. It will change and grow with you as you grow in your life and in your profession. As it changes, the formatting too will change. You will need to include more and different kinds of information which will bring about a change in the way your Biodata looks.

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Writing a Powerful Biodata    49

Whatever your document may look like and how much ever it may change, some essential points about it will always be important: • An unwritten but generally accepted rule says that till you

have at least 4-5 years of experience, your biodata should not exceed one page.

• That doesn’t mean that if you have a lot to say, the document

ends up looking overcrowded. This rule of course stands null if you have several special projects or tasks completed and it is important for you to mention them. If absolutely necessary go ahead and use a second page.

• There are many biodata formats available on the Internet

now-a-days. You can surf through them and pick any you would like to use but remember the key considerations are— • It should be clean and simple. • It should be direct and functional. • It should be easy to read and find information in. • It should not be fancy. • It should look very trim, neat, precise and professional.

• The font used for printing should be simple. • The headings should be either underlined or bold in the

same font. Do not box them in.

• Every line should be left justified. • There should be a professional looking colour photograph at

the top right hand corner.

• Do not make tables for Educational Qualifications. It is

extremely old fashioned.

• All points under any heading should be properly bulleted.

It gives a smart, neat and organized look to the document. Observe how all points are bulleted in this book.

• Do not make borders around the page. • Do not shade certain areas. • Some companies have their own form-style formats they

want you to fill in. In such a case, fill in all the areas truth-

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50    I’m Not Afraid of GDPI!

fully. Use a pencil first and give it a go-over once you finish filling it. Make any changes required. When you are completely satisfied, fill in with a pen.

Common Mistakes made • Do not title the page with the words Biodata, Resume or

Curriculum Vitae. It is understood what the document is and the reader does not need to be told.

• Do not use a very fancy font for printing and use only one

font throughout.

• Do not leave any spelling mistakes. This is extremely essen-

tial. There is so much competition out there that there is no room for error.

• To give a neat look, make sure all the points are precisely in

line, under one another.

• Do not give References in your biodata unless specifically

asked for. References are completely outdated and redundant.

• Do not lie about any facts in the document. • Do not write about your strengths and weaknesses in the

biodata.

• Do not make it longer than one page if you are a fresher. • Make sure the spacing is proper, equal on the top and bot-

tom with written material evenly spaced out in between.

• Do not write any declaration in the end. This also is out-

dated.

• Do not sign and date your biodata. Sign and date are part

of the covering letter or the application that should always accompany the biodata.

• Do not use any decorative borders on the sides of the docu-

ment.

• Do not use white correction fluid in your biodata. • Do not print your biodata on dirty, old, crumpled and yel-

lowing paper. Make sure the sheet of paper is new, white, clean and A4 in size.

• Go through your biodata carefully several times to detect

any flaws.

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Writing a Powerful Biodata    51

Do it yourself Spelling bloopers!! In the examples given below, find and observe how small typos have made a big difference :– 1. Date of Birth : 17 June, 1890 2. Responsible for ruining the operations of the com-

puter department.

3. Please find all the relevant documents attacked. 4. Hope to hear from you shorty. 5. Dear Sir/Madman 6. Additional Skills: Computers and off ice machines. 7. Willing to relocate subject to getting a horse to live in. 8. Have ghosted many events as the Chief events man-

ager.

9. 2 yrs experience in making mouse calls. 10. Seeking a party-time position with potential for

advancements.

11. Good in multi-tasting. 12. Have complete knowledge of accounting and laxa-

tion.

13. Experienced in all faucets of computing. 14. Seeking to be fired as a receptionist 15. Am aware of the king of timings the position

requires.

A note on Applications and Covering letters Every biodata should always be accompanied with an application or a covering letter. Since the purpose of sending the biodata is explained in the letter, never send it without one. The letter will usually give one or more of the following information–

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52    I’m Not Afraid of GDPI! • That you are responding to a job advertisement, where the

advert was and dated when. (Ex—This is in response to your advert in the Times of India dated…)

• What post are you applying for. • Sometimes job adverts give a job code that is supposed to be

mentioned in the letter.

• Date and signature. • What other documents are being enclosed with the letter.

This letter has to be written in the accepted business format which is actually very simple and then prepared to be sent in a particular way. The salient features are – • In the modern times, everything is left justified. Even the

new paragraph starts at the left margin.

• Begin with your postal address. Do not write your name

here.

• Date. Learn the correct way of writing a date in an official

document. 03/12/’11 or 03/12/2011 is not the right way. 3rd Dec, 2011 is also not correct. December 03, 2011 is the right way.

• Name and/or the designation of the receiver. Address the

letter to the person stated in the advertisement in case you are responding to one.

• Receivers address. • The subject line is usually not required in a job applica-

tion.

• Salutation to the receiver. As a candidate you cannot write

‘Dear’ in the salutation. If you know the name of the receiver then ‘Respected’ followed by name is best and if the name is not known then just Madam/Sir is enough.

• If you know the name of the person you are writing to,

make sure that you write the name in the address and in the salutation too. Make sure the spelling of the name is correct.

• If you are responding to an advertisement, make sure you

include all the information about it and mention all the information you were asked to include like the position code etc.

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Writing a Powerful Biodata    53 • The main body of the letter should be brief and to the point.

Do not repeat information from the biodata here.

• Do not use any frilly phrases like ‘your esteemed organiza-

tion’ or ‘I would consider it my good fortune…’ etc.

• Use some of the language used in the advertisement. • Do not end with ‘sincerely yours’ or ‘yours faithfully’ or

‘yours truly’ etc. Simple use of ‘Regards’ is considered best.

• Leave enough space for signature specially if you have a

large one.

• Do not put your name in brackets, a commonly seen mis-

take.

• Properly number the attachments. • Space out the letter in such a way that it occupies the sheet

of paper evenly at the top and bottom.

• There is no way that such a letter exceeds one page. • Use clean white A4 paper. Use of coloured, designer statio-

nery is not suitable for the purpose. Also do not use thin, side-punched computer paper to print it out on.

• Check and re-check for mistakes. Do not leave even a single

mistake so that you have to use whitener in the final copy.

• Do not use multi-coloured printing. If you really need to

highlight something to attract attention to it, use just one additional colour and as sparingly as possible for the right effect. You could also use a pen highlighter.

• Maintain a copy of each covering letter sent along with the

biodata it was sent with. You will need this in your portfolio for when you go for the interview.

• Attach the letter to the biodata securely and fold it in a

three-fold.

• Make sure to attach any other documents asked for and in

the correct order as numbered in the ‘enclosures’.

• Do not fold it too many times to fit in a small envelope. • Use a long white envelope to post and address it neatly with

water proof ink.

• Do not forget to self address it at the left bottom corner in

small print.

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54    I’m Not Afraid of GDPI! • Use adequate postage if it is heavy. • If the number of documents is more and the resulting pack-

age is large, use a larger envelope of thicker or fabric lined paper to ensure safe delivery. In such a case you may not need to fold it all at all.

• Post it in good time. It should not reach after the last date.

For young professionals who are changing jobs • Never begin the cover letter on a negative note (“Last month

my position was eliminated …”). Instead, strive to promote all of your positive assets.

• Refrain from including a salary figure. If someone requests

a salary history, say that you would rather discuss such details in person.

• Highlight the skills that you have and don’t mention the

skills that you don’t have.

• Keep the letter simple, direct, and to-the-point. No one

wants to read lengthy cover letters.

• Do not give a reason for leaving your current or last job

here. This will be dealt with during the interview.

• Never write negatively about your current or last company

and the boss you worked under.

Sending biodata via email If you have been asked to send your Biodata via email, there are correct ways of doing it. The method is not very different from sending it in hard copy. • Do not write your Biodata in the main body of the email. • In the main email, the covering letter will be written. • The format of the covering letter will be the same as paper

written letters, only postal addresses of both parties will not be written.

• The biodata will be sent as an attachment. • Before sending the mail, check and re-check that you have

attached all the files you were supposed to in the correct order.

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Writing a Powerful Biodata    55

After you have sent off your biodata, continue with your preparations. You have a long way to go and a race to win!

Examples of bad and good biodata Carefully study these incorrect biodatas and try to find the mistakes yourself first before seeing the points made. You can also study the biodatas of your friends and acquaintances for added practice. As you become more and more adept in the art of constructing good biodatas, you will increase your chances of being called in for interviews.

Bad Biodata Example 1 CURICULUM VITAE Name – Akash Kumar Sex – Male Age – 22 years Dato of birth – 01/03/1990 Fathers name – Mr. Prakash kumar Fathers profession – State govt Mothers name – Mrs Kunti Kumar Mothers profession – none Elder brother – sales manager in private firm Younger sister – student Educational qualifications – Clas X—did from Santosh public school Navgarh. It is cbse boared . I am 66% marks. In 2005 all subjects Class XII—it is same school, same board. But in commerce streem. 63% marks. In 2007 B.Com—Navgarn univ. Pass out in 2010. With 60%. First class. M.Com—currently pursueng. Navgarh University first year I am 58 %. Waiting second year result. Computer course—1 year Work experience—no experience

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Bad Biodata (Contd.) Extra curicular activities— Play basket ball Sing songs on stage Prize in solo song at school Play music instruments Play in school band Watching tv Listening songs Hobbies— – Singing Playing cricket Greeting card collection Sleeping Personal information— – Address—69, shanti galli, Gautam nagar, Navgarh Phone—2435687, 9807645348 Email—[email protected] Height—5-10 Weight—72 Nationality—Indian Passport—no Marital status—unmarried Declaration— -All the information provided in thos Biodata is correct to the best of my knawledge and I hereby sign it as a gaurentee. (Akash Kumar) Date - __/__/__ Place – navgarh ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Writing a Powerful Biodata    57

Surely, you were able to find many mistakes in the above Biodata. So, let’s see what the mistakes here are: 1. There are several spelling and grammar mistakes. 2. In several places small letter has been used instead of capi-

tal letter.

3. There is no formatting in the first two sections of the docu-

ment

4. There is too much unwanted information i.e., names and

professions of family members.

5. He needn’t have written his gender 6. He should have written either his age or date of birth, not

both.

7. The way educational qualifications have been presented is

all wrong.

8. Since Akash has no work experience, he should not have

that heading at all.

9. Too many extra curricular activities and hobbies. 10. Important information like the address and contact details

are wrongly placed in the end. They should have been in the beginning.

11. Information about nationality, passport and marital status

is not required.

12. Email Id is too informal and casual. 13. Declaration, name, place and date in the end are not

required.

14. Overall this Biodata could have been much simpler and

cleaner. It could have fitted in one page.

15. There was no need to write ‘curriculum vitae’ on the top of

the page.

16. He hasn’t given the STD code for the landline number. 17. Educational qualifications are not in reverse chronology.

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Correct Biodata Example 1 AKASH KUMAR 69, Shanti Galli Gautam Nagar Navgarh—112233 Contact details—09876-2435687, 9807645348 [email protected] D.O.B—March 01, 1990 Career objective—Looking for an accounting position with learning and growth possibilities. Educational Qualifications M. Com—Pursuing Navgarh University, Awaiting results B.Com—2010 Navgarh University, 60% Class XII—2007 Santosh Public School—CBSE , 63% Additional Qualifications Proficient in accounting software—TALLY. Personal interests -– Music—sing and play instruments Sports—participate actively Availability—Immediate

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Writing a Powerful Biodata    59

Bad Biodata Example 2

VASU BALACHANDRAN GANESAN 25 A Dilkhusha Apartments New Development Area Punevasla—293847

02431- 2083741 97867-56453 [email protected]

Educational Qualifications: MBA – 2011 Ballu Bhai College of Management Sciences, Punevasla BBA - 2009 Ballu Bhai College of Management Sciences, Punevasla Class XII – 2006 Mount Convent Senior Secondary School, Punevasla Class X – 2004 Mount Convent Senior Secondary School, Punevasla Computer courses - Duration 3 months. To learn the basic handling and working with a computer. Good working knowledge of MS Word and using the internet. Spoken English course – Duration 6 months. Course undertaken to improve English language skills and to develop a good personality. Spanish language course— –Duration 1 year. Good working skills in speaking, reading and writing Spanish. Workshop on Business Communication— – 5 days Learnt all about formal communication. Non-verbal communication i.e., body language was also touched upon.

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Bad Biodata (Contd.) Work Experience: On-job-training – Maya Exports, Mumbai – 2 Months Was given orientation with the working of the entire production unit. Later was assisting the checking and packaging of orders as per the requirement orders. Asst. Floor Manager – Goodlife Departmental store – 7 months Was incharge of the floor selling fancy household goods and furnishings. Managed a team of 7 floor executives. Personal interests: Reading books, star gazing, collecting small unusual stones and rocks ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------Although Vasu has made no spelling and grammar mistakes and seems to have a good command over English language, yet there are some points to be made here. What are the mistakes you can find in this Biodata? How many can you find? 1. The most glaring problem with this Biodata is use of too

many fonts. This creates an immature and confused look in the document.

2. The next most important mistake is that Vasu has work

experience but he has left the mentioning of it to the end of the document.

3. The work experience of the Goodlife Departmental store

should be mentioned first and the summer training should be written about later. Reverse chronology by importance and time.

4. The document is of more than one page. 5. Vasu is a post graduate and has done so many other courses;

he needn’t have mentioned his Class X details.

6. His Educational qualification section is overloaded. He

should have made another heading called Other Qualifications and put all the other courses under it.

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Writing a Powerful Biodata    61

7. Underlining of the individual educational qualification could have been avoided. 8. He can club together the English and Spanish language courses if that will help bring the document down to just one page. 9. The highlighting of the entire section of work experience is to focus attention on it. This ruse would not be needed if the entire section was put in the beginning of the document.

Correct Biodata Example 2 VASU BALACHANDRAN GANESAN 25 A 02431- 2083741 Dilkhusha Apartments 97867-56453 New Development Area [email protected] Punevasla—293847 WORK EXPERIENCE • Asst. Floor Manager—Goodlife Departmental store—7 months Was incharge of the floor selling fancy household goods and furnishings. Managed a team of 7 floor executives. •

On-job-training—Maya Exports—2 months Was given orientation with the working of the entire production unit. Later was assisting the checking and packaging of orders as per the requirement orders.

EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS MBA—2011 Ballu Bhai College of Management Sciences, Punevasla BBA—2009 Ballu Bhai College of Management Sciences, Punevasla Class XII—2006 Mount Convent Senior Secondary School, Punevasla

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Correct Biodata (Contd.) ADDITIONAL QUALIFICATIONS Computer courses—Duration 3 months. To learn the basic handling and working with a computer. Good working knowledge of MS Word and using the internet. English and Spanish language courses—Duration 6 and 12 months respectively. Course undertaken to improve English language skills and to develop a good personality. Good working skills in speaking, reading and writing Spanish. Workshop on Business Communication— - 5 days Learnt all about formal communication. Non-verbal communication i.e. body language was also touched upon. PERSONAL INTERESTS Reading books, star gazing, collecting small unusual stones and rocks

Bad Biodata Example 3

Sangeeta Gupta 102, Block 3, Mayfair Apartments Dhangirabad—564738 Contact- 90786-58372 Email –[email protected] Work experience–— Blumos Associates – 2+ years I was the youngest member chosen to be part of the concept designing team. Most work done was on new innovative interior themes. Most of my design ideas were accepted. Major projects included several prestigious projects like Lobby of Lakeview Super Delux Luxury Hotel, Reception area of Healwell Super Specialty Hospital, Interiors of Mall 51, several offices and private homes. Das and Gupta Interiorscapes – 11 months I was lead assistant to head designer. Worked closely with the

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Writing a Powerful Biodata    63

Bad Biodata (Contd.) head designer in the interior decoration and designs of several corporate offices, farmhouses, private houses and a college was part of the job. Also went on trips to different states for gathering of indigenous and tribal fabrics and artifacts to be used in décor where my Diploma in the area were very useful. Designwhiz – 1 and half years Junior designer. Conceptualization and detailing of interior designing projects. Met with and dealt with suppliers and artifact designers and producers. This was a small company but handled few select clients and was associated with a major architectural firm of the city. Industrial training – Designwhiz – 1 month Introduction and orientation with all aspects of the industry. Worked on a couple of small projects. Report on “Changing trends in interiors from traditional to new age.” Educational background – BA Honors – Rohilla University Class XII – Arts – Central School, Dhangirabad – 72% Class X – Central School, Dhangirabad – 67% Diploma in Art and Design – School of Vocational Studies Diploma in Interior Decoration - School of Vocational Studies Diploma in Textile Designing - School of Vocational Studies Personal Strengths and Weaknesses Strengths – Creative, Imaginative, good sense of colour and design Weaknesses – Prefer working alone, dislike change in design proposals Expected Salary Rs. 20,000 – Rs. 25,000 per month References Mrs. Suman Singh Principal School of Vocational Studies

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Mr Suraj Kumar Gupta Manager Designwhiz

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What is wrong about Sangeeta’s Biodata? What are the mistakes she has made? She seems like a successful professional who is well trained for her job, but still appears unsettled in her Biodata. Why? 1. The first glaring impression that a reader gets from this

Biodata is the arrogance. The way she describes her positional standing in the office and the way she mentions the acceptance of her work amidst experienced colleagues does not make good and favourable reading. She should not be mentioning any of this and should leave it to be discussed during the interview.

2. Second point of note is that she lists her diploma school

principal and the manager of the place where she trained as references. She does not mention any of her previous employers where she claims to have done exceptional work. If she did such good work then why would they not give her glowing references? This gives the reader an impression that maybe she did not get along very well with her colleagues and must have had an unfriendly termination— voluntary or otherwise.

3. There, in fact, is no need to give references. 4. What she writes as her weakness support her arrogance

coming across from the Biodata and give a clear indication what must have gone wrong in her previous assignments. Gives an indication that she is not a team worker and does not know how to maintain relationships.

5. Strengths and weaknesses need not have been included

at all.

6. Overall she sounds like an immature and unstable person

who lacks etiquettes.

7. Mention of salary in a Biodata is wrong. 8. Another clue to her arrogance is her id for email—super-

sangeeta. It is not very official.

9. The description of work done in every assignment could be

shorter and not so detailed.

10. The educational qualification section has been badly han-

dled. The various diplomas could have been under a different heading like ‘Additional Qualifications’ or even better, ‘Professional Qualifications’ and placed before and above

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Writing a Powerful Biodata    65

the educational ones. With so many added qualifications, she need not mention Class X. 11. Even though she has a few years experience, her Biodata

could still fit in one page.

12. Neither age nor date of birth has been given. 13. Study the corrected Biodata of Sangeeta and observe how

all the information required is fitted in one page with no superfluous information.

14. Also note in the corrected Biodata, how all the work she has

done and all the exposure she has had in the field has been mentioned without any hint of arrogance.

Correct Biodata Example 3 Sangeeta Gupta 102, Block 3, Mayfair Apartments Dhangirabad—564738 Contact —90786-58372 Email —[email protected] Date of birth—23 November, 1990 Work experience Blumos Associates—2+ years Was part of the concept designing team working on new innovative interior themes. Major projects—Lobby of Lakeview Super Delux Luxury Hotel, Reception area of Healwell Super Specialty Hospital, Interiors of Mall 51, several offices and private homes. Das and Gupta Interiorscapes—11 months Lead assistant to head designer working on decor and designs of several corporate offices, farmhouses, private houses and a college. Accompanied on trips to different states for gathering of indigenous and tribal fabrics and artifacts to be used in décor.

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66    I’m Not Afraid of GDPI!

Correct Biodata (Contd.) Designwhiz—1 and half years Junior designer. Conceptualization and detailing of interior designing projects. Interacted with suppliers and artifact designers and producers. This small company handles few select clients and is associated with a major architectural firm of the city. Industrial training—Designwhiz—1 month Introduction and orientation with all aspects of the industry. Worked on a couple of small projects. Report on “Changing trends in interiors from traditional to new age.” Professional Qualifications Diploma in Art and Design —6 months — School of Vocational Studies. Diploma in Interior Decoration —6 months — School of Vocational Studies Diploma in Textile Designing —6 months — School of Vocational Studies Educational background – BA Honors—Rohilla University Class XII—Arts—Central School, Dhangirabad—72%

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Writing a Powerful Biodata    67

Examples of bad and good covering letters Consider this job advertisement that, let us suppose, appeared in the Times of India, dated 30 November, 2011:

Office Administrator Post—1 Location—Chennabad Job code—OAC-1 We are a well established company supplying hospital equipment to major hospitals in southern India. The candidate should have at least 2 years of experience in a similar capacity. Good command on English is a must. Minimum Qualification—Graduate in any field preferably management. Apply within 10 days to the Recruiting Manager mentioning the job code at – Precision Equipments 123, ABC Building XYZ Road Chennabad—465728

Now study the application given below which was written in response to the above advertisement.

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Bad covering letter Example 1 01 December, 2011

Flat 19, QWE Building RTY Road Ramanapur—987654

To

The Manager, Precision Equipments Dear Sir/Madam, I read your job requirement in the newspaper yesterday and would like to apply for the job. I have been working in a similar capacity for three years in a company handling office supplies for many offices. I have also done my BBA as you will note in my attached Biodata, so I am perfectly suitable for the job. Also, I have been based in Chennabad itself. My salary here is Rs.22,000 and I hope you will add some percentage to it. But I shall need one months joining time as I will have to give notice.

I am eagerly waiting for your response. Yours sincerely

Rupesh Kumar

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Writing a Powerful Biodata    69

What is wrong about Rupesh’s application? What mistakes has he made? He seems to have good language skills as he has made no language related mistakes and could have a good chance at getting this job as he has the appropriate qualification and the experience, but still he just does not seem polished enough for a company as big as Precision Equipments. Why? • The entire format of the letter is faulty. All the lines should • • •

• •

• •

•

•

• •

varshney_v4.indb 69

have been left justified. The ad clearly mentioned ‘Recruiting Manager’ and yet Rupesh has written only ‘Manager’. The word ‘To’ is not written in the modern format anymore. Either write the entire address of the receiver in the beginning or do not write it at all. Writing just the name of the organization as above is wrong. Since the person is not known to you, do not write ‘Dear’ in salutation. The entire information and the main body of the letter is all bunched up in one big paragraph. This makes reading and getting relevant information difficult. There should have been at least two or three smaller paragraphs if so much information has to be written about. He has not mentioned the job code which was mandatory as per the advertisement. It does not state which ad, in which paper, of what date and for exactly what post. The company could be recruiting for several posts and receiving applications for all, how will they know which post this application is for? The last line ‘I am eagerly waiting for your response’ is very old fashioned and not written any more. The finish has to be stronger pushing your candidateship. The line ‘I have also done my BBA as you will note in my attached Biodata, so I am perfectly suitable for the job’ should be the last line as it brings focus on your qualification and ends the letter on a strong note and also informs that the Biodata is attached. The elaborately mentioned salary issues, though well intentioned, should not have been written about. The letter has not been well spaced. The entire letter is bunched at the top half of the page.

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70    I’m Not Afraid of GDPI! • Sincerity is expressed towards people we know better. In

letters like this ‘Regards’ is best.

• Since he is in the same city, he could offer his immediate

availability for interviewing.

Good Application Example 1 01 December, 2011 Flat 19, QWE Building RTY Road Ramanapur—987654 The Recruiting Manager Precision Equipments 123, ABC Building, XYZ Road Chennabad—465728 Re: Job code—OAC—1 Sir/Madam, This is in response to your ad in the Times of India, dated 30 November 2011, for the post of Office Administrator. I have been working in a similar capacity for three years in a company in the field of office supplies catering to many big and small offices in Chennabad itself. I have learnt well and wish to move ahead in life now. I have also graduated as a BBA matching your requirements, as you shall note in my Biodata which is attached. I shall be available for an interview any working day if I may be informed one day in advance. Thank you With regards (signature) Rupesh Kumar Encl: Biodata—1 page

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Writing a Powerful Biodata    71

Bad Application Example 2 Consider the situation—Nitin Sharma observes on a company website that they are hiring fresh graduates and he wishes to apply for it. The company has asked for applications in hard copy to reach by 20 December, 2011 addressed to Mr Shaan Malik, the hiring consultant. 56 B, Green Enclave Opposite P&S Bank Fershana Road Gangapur—394857 19 December, 2011 Mr Malik Hiring Consultant 5, ABC Building New Delhi Sir/Madam, While surfing the various websites, I came upon the company website of Shree Hotels and Towers where I saw that they are hiring and have engaged your honorable self for the process of selections. I have recently finished my studies and I would consider it a great honor to be a part of that esteemed and glorious organization. I have always wished to be a part of the 5 Star hotel glamour industry and this opportunity is a godsend. Therefore, I request your good self to please consider me for this post so that I may prove myself to be worthy of the confidence bestowed upon me. Thanking you in anticipation and looking forward to hearing positive news from you at the very soonest, I remain Yours very truly (Nitin Sharma) Enclosures—as asked for

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Read this application again with a professional eye and think— what is wrong with it? The language is good, no spelling or grammatical mistakes are seen and yet it does not sound correct. This means just having good language is not enough until you have the right ‘sense’ about what kind of language to use where, what are the trends and how things are done. • The language is too flowery and has many verbal flourishes.

This is not how official language is written.

• Nitin says he came upon the recruitment requirement only

while surfing the internet. The way he has worded it, it sounds very casual and gives the impression that he is not actively searching for a job and it is not of much importance for him. This does not set a very good impression.

• He has not written the receivers full name even though it

is given in the ad.

• Even though Nitin knows the person he is writing to is a

male, he still writes Sir/Madam.

• Going by the date mentioned, his application is going to be

late and yet he makes no mention of it requesting consideration nevertheless.

• His own name should not be in brackets. • He should have specified what enclosures he is attaching. • The corrected letter below is precise, smooth and has the

intended feel specially because he has honestly stated that he is late, gives an acceptable reason and requests politely to still be considered. He also gently pushes for consideration by writing ‘Kindly consider’ again in the end.

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Writing a Powerful Biodata    73

Good Covering Letter Example 2

56 B, Green Enclave Opposite P&S Bank Fershana Road Gangapur—394857 19 December, 2011 Mr Shaan Malik Hiring Consultant 5, ABC Building New Delhi Sir, The website of Shree Hotels and Towers states that they are hiring young, fresh graduates and that you are selecting and hiring for them. I have recently graduated and am keen to find employment in a company that holds a status as high as Shree Hotels and Towers. Since I happened to see the ad just today, one day before the last date of submission of application, my application may be late but I sincerely hope you will consider my candidature. Please find enclosed all the documents asked for. Kindly consider. Thank you With regards Nitin Sharma Enclosures – • Copy of graduation marksheet • Copy of Class XII marksheet • Copy of Class X marksheet • Copy of birth certificate

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Chapter

4

Grooming for the Big Day

“There is a difference between interest and commitment. When you are interested in doing something you do it only when it is convenient. When you are committed to something, you accept no excuses, only results.” “You are your greatest asset. Put time, effort and money into training, grooming and encouraging your greatest asset.”

Your biodata has passed the test and has been short listed. You have received a call letter and now for the first time you are actually going to go and face your selectors. You must be very excited and rushing around to prepare, making all sorts of arrangements. In addition to all the other preparations you need to make, keep in mind grooming too. You have to make a favourable first impression because first impressions do matter, they do make a difference and you get only one chance to make it. You never get a second chance to make a first impression! An employer will size you up in a matter of 5 seconds as you walk into the room based on how you look and how you carry yourself. What you wear speaks a lot about who you are, how you see yourself and who you are presenting yourself to be. Therefore what you wear to a job interview is important. With first impressions there is no erase button, so you need to make certain that your first impression is the most positive one possible. Your looks have to impress employers enough that they will consider you seriously. If you appear for an interview carelessly-

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Grooming for the Big Day    75

groomed, a potential employer will assume that carelessness is in your nature and you will be careless about other things too. He or she may think you lack the initiative, may need close supervision, and thus may not be a good employee. Dress to project the image you want the employer to receive. Since a working position requires maturity, refrain from dressing like a college student going to a class. Let your clothing reflect your knowledge and understanding of the dynamics of the job for which you are applying. Your appearance may also affect how you feel about yourself. Knowing that your appearance is good and impressive, gives you added confidence in yourself—and self-confidence is essential for performing well in Group Discussions and Interviews. Grooming for selection is crucial. Most candidates applying for the job will be equally qualified and equally capable. You never know, correct appearance may end up being your competitive advantage over someone else. It is true that potential employers seek individuals who are qualified, skilled, dependable, and enthusiastic and someone who will represent the values of their organization, but during the interview one more thing that the potential employers are concerned about is whether or not you will “fit in” with the culture of their company. One of the determinants for this is your appearance. If your appearance is very different from the other employees, you may not “fit” the image that the company is seeking. Therefore, when seeking employment you may need to alter your appearance to match the values of the company where you are seeking employment. Your clothes are talking about you. Not in words but in dozens of quiet unsuspected ways. What you wear expresses how you feel about yourself. If you are in dirty, scruffy and unkempt clothes for this important day, it shows that either you are a rebel or just don’t consider yourself and the interview important. Nobody wants such employees. On the other hand, if you are well groomed and dressed, down to the minutest details, it shows your fastidiousness and attention to detail. The second case is of course preferred over the first one. Remember, what your clothes say about you is within your control. Looking your best always demands careful attention to personal grooming and the clothing that you wear. There are three main components to your appearance and they are each equally important. They are inseparable in the sense that they each have a bearing on the other. If any one is overlooked it will reflect on the other two also. Whether you are

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76    I’m Not Afraid of GDPI!

going in for a selection procedure or whether you are already working and are attending office, these are the three areas you need to look into –

Personal Hygiene No amount of fancy and expensive clothing can hide improper hygiene. Daily hygiene practice is essential not just for office but for overall health too. Everyone should have simple but complete daily, weekly and monthly hygiene routines mapped out. These routines should be followed diligently. At all times your hygiene should be impeccable. This will mean: • Clean teeth and odor free mouth. Avoid eating ‘gutkas’ and

‘paan’ a few days before the important day. The red staining of the teeth because of these is unsightly. Have mints ready if you have a case of smelly breath.

• Clean and grime free skin surfaces. Proper baths with the

use of products will ensure this.

• Well cut, shampooed and groomed hair. Maintain an appro-

priate hair style, nothing very fancy or flamboyant when looking out for formal jobs. Keep a simple combed look for the interview and not a punk gelled look, however smart you may look in it.

• Clean, trimmed (and maybe manicured) nails. If you are a

boy and like to keep one finger nail long (usually the smallest finger) keep it unpainted. Girls will do well to remember to use very light or clear nail varnishes on nails that are not too long for interviews.

• Use deodorants and antiperspirants as per requirement. • Body odors of any kind are not good. If you happen to suffer

from them, find out the cause and take the required steps. Sometimes simple anti-fungal and anti-bacterial body powders are enough to fight this condition.

• Proper shave and a well trimmed moustache or beard for

men. Do not try to have a fashionable or a trendy look with a two day stubble. This is not the place or time for it.

• If you suffer from smelly feet, adequate use of anti-bacterial

and anti-fungal products is required. Fresh socks and well aired shoes on the day of the interview are advisable.

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Grooming for the Big Day    77 • A ready supply of handkerchiefs and/or tissues in case you

have a cold or cough. You should never be caught sneezing or coughing without a handkerchief or into your hands or sleeves.

• A ready supply of handkerchiefs, hand towels or tissues if

you tend to sweat a lot. Nobody likes to see beads of sweat dripping down from everywhere.

• Judicious use of moisturizers in the winters as dry, flaky

and whitish skin is unsightly.

• If wearing open sandals, feet should be well-cared for i.e.,

clean, trimmed toenails and smooth heels. Opt for shoes otherwise.

Overall, you should look like a picture of good health. If you generally have a good sense of health and follow a reasonable routine of hygiene, your skin, hair and eyes will shine with robust health. Take care not to have a late night before the interview. Also do not drink much the night before. These will leave your eyes red and puffy. Have a good nights’ sleep the night before. Not only will this make you look healthy but also help you in being alert and tackling the discussions and questions well.

Clothing and attire Most workplaces have some sort of dress code which could range from very strict to not-so-strict. If your office has strict ones or maybe a prescribed uniform, there is not much for you to think about as you dress for work every morning. Just make sure your clothes are clean, ironed and generally neat at all times. In case your office has a loosely held dress code or if you are going in for a job selection procedure, the following should be kept in mind: • First and foremost, make sure you are dressing according

to the requirement of the job you are applying for. Office desk jobs, executive positions usually require a basic sense of formal/semi-formal dressing which is salwar suits or sarees for women and trousers, shirt and tie for men with or without jackets. Some companies also allow or expect their women work force to wear western style pant suits or skirt suits.

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78    I’m Not Afraid of GDPI! • It is not necessary that men wear suits only (a suit is under-

stood to be where the trousers and the coat are made up of the same material). Combinations like dark trousers, a light shirt and a third colour jacket is good as long as they ‘go’ with each other. For example, black/dark blue trousers, white/light blue shirt and a dark grey jacket will be just fine, but, you cannot wear a brown jacket with this combo.

• Some jobs are more practical in nature and if you are aware

that a practical round of selection may take place, dress and be prepared accordingly. For example, if you are applying for a position of a chef, you cannot do it in a jacket and tie, especially if you know you will be asked to demonstrate your skills. You should have a change of chef coat, cap and apron. Another example could be of a physical education trainer where it would be advisable to go in proper sports shoes instead of pointed, heeled leather dress shoes.

• Make sure that your clothes reflect the current trends or

the evergreen styles. Clothes that look outdated or are very rebellious in style should ideally be avoided.

• The colours of your clothes should be neutral or muted.

Women’s clothing can be a bit brighter but not flashy. The styles and patterns should be simple. Sarees are best plain with thin borders or of small prints. Men’s shirts should be plain, striped or in small checks. Avoid large checks, prints or embroidered shirts for office wear. Shirts are normally lighter in colour than trousers.

• Girls should practice wearing and moving around in a saree

if they are not accustomed to it. Make sure to fix the pleats and the ‘pallu’ with safety pins for easier handling. Do not use fancy brooches. The pallu should hang till the knee or just above.

• Coats and jackets should be formal. For day wear double

breasted coats and jackets are not recommended since they are considered evening wear unless you are going in for a very important meeting. Blazers are okay but remember, sports jackets are not formal office wear.

• Ties should be thin and not very broad. The colour should

be muted, not very bright and it should not have very large prints or designs.

• The tie should be knotted properly in a double knot. No half

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knots. The under hang should be at least 1-2 inches shorter than the front lap. The tip of the front lap should reach your belt buckle. It should not hang below the buckle and nor should it be above the buckle. • Comfortable footwear is a must to see you through the day.

Formal shoes for men and shoes or sandals for women. The height of the heel should be such that you can manage yourself well in it and not hurt yourself. Just because it is footwear, it does not mean it can be dirty and scruffy. They should be clean, dust free, in good repair and polished where required. The laces, if any, should not be in tatters.

• Belts should be formal and in good condition. Buckles not

too big and showy. Belt colour should preferably match the colour of shoes for formal dressing.

• Socks are an article of clothing about which many men are

confused. They wear white socks with everything and that is so wrong! An easy way to remember and decide which colour socks to wear is this—your socks should be the same as either your trousers or your shoes in colour. If you follow this rule, you can never go wrong. Women wearing formal western style pant suits can follow this rule too. With sarees and salwar suits, of course, skin colour socks are worn when required.

• Accessories require great thought. Belts, handbags, wrist

watches and pens should be in good condition, well matched to your clothes and not very flashy or of poor taste.

• Jewellery is an area where much can be said. All jewellery

for both, men and women should be simple, quiet, understated and complementary to attire and your personality. Shiny and flashy jewellery is not appreciated in any official set up. Modern chunky jewellery should be worn only if the atmosphere of the work place allows it. Place of work affects these decisions. For example, working in a bank or in a premium hotel would require muted jewellery and accessories whereas if you happen to be working in a fashion house, you probably can indulge in a lot of bling.

• Flavours of perfumes and fragrances are a very personal

choice. Day and office wear perfumes should not be very strong and overwhelming. When you pass by someone or are in an enclosed area like an elevator, your perfume should not

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produce a swamping feeling. Take care to wear soft tones in the day and leave the stronger ones for evenings. • Make up is an area where great restraint and skill is

required. You have not been employed for your looks but for your skills. Light and basic make up is recommended for office. Very bright and garish lipsticks, eye shadows, designer bindis and any other products are best left for evening get-togethers and parties. Healthy, well cared for skin which is clean and looked after is adequate in itself for work time. Keeping good health via intelligent eating and sufficient exercise will help a lot. Some work places, like hotels, airlines etc., do require make up and have their own standards for it. Adhering to those standards will be enough guideline as to how far to go with products.

• Girls should not wear flowers in their hair for selection pro-

cedures.

• Also make sure the anklets you wear (if any) do not have tin-

kly bells and do not make any such sounds while walking.

The Briefcase and the Portfolio The Portfolio This is the file or the folder that you will take with you to carry your papers, certificates and documents in. There are literally thousands of options available in the market. There are files made of paper, hard paper, cardboard, plastic, cloth and of so many other types. These could be plain, printed, designed, embroidered or transparent, with or without compartments and pockets and of so many other possibilities. There are two criterions to help you decide which kind you are going to choose to take for your interview. The first is functionality and the second is style.

Functionality If you have just a few sheets of papers to carry, the simplest of the files that is neat and tidy will do. If you have to carry a lot of stuff, documents, maybe a CD or two, newspaper or magazine clippings, photographs etc., then a thicker and a properly compartmentalized portfolio will be required so that it is easy to

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store stuff and then quickly find it all in the shortest time. Compartments are important because if you have lots of stuff and bunch it all together in one space, it will be time taking and difficult to find any one specific item when required. This will make you appear disorganized. But if you organize and put things in different compartments, it will be easier to produce the required item quickly and smartly. If you are a designer of some sort and need to show your work, then you may need additional bags. So, assess your requirements and invest in a good portfolio to suit your purpose. It is better to opt for ones with pockets or compartments rather than ones with clips or rings. In a clipped file, once you open the clip to take out a document, there is always a chance that several papers may get dislodged or displaced or may even fall out. You will then either have to excuse yourself to take the time to sort it all out or have to just stuff it all back in, in a haphazard manner. This will only add to your nervousness during the interview. In a ringed file to take out a paper, several have to be moved to the other side first and this takes time. Moreover, there may be some documents you do not want to punch holes in. Therefore, in all considerations, it is best to have folders with pockets and compartments. Also make sure there is a loop or two to hold pens.

Style The style of your portfolio should match up with your clothing style. If you are very formally dressed, a formal and official looking file will be best. Men can usually carry only simple files or folders. Make sure they are of good quality and not very flashy in colour. Women can use varied kinds of folders. If in a formal western attire, the folder will be simple and official. If in a salwar suit or saree, a trendy designer portfolio would add to the look. There are simple, stylish and beautiful fabric covered ones available with traditional gold borders and/or embroidery on them and these look very attractive with Indian attire.

The Briefcase The same considerations apply to the briefcase you carry to office. The briefcase can be hard or of the soft variety. Make sure it is of good material, neutral colour, of a lasting style and complements not only your usual office wear but also the kind of office atmosphere you work in. A shabby briefcase in a plush office will be

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frowned upon. Men should mainly opt for leather ones. Women may alternatively go in for the cloth, canvas or the lovely fusion of tradition and the modern jute ones available. Carrying a plastic shopping bag to office with some of your stuff in it is definitely not the way to go. If you do need to carry a bag with things that cannot to be kept in a briefcase, invest in a decent looking cloth, jute or leather bag.

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Chapter

5

Group Discussions

“You cannot make a positive life out of negative thoughts.” “There is a difference between ‘almost giving up’ and ‘giving up’. How many ever times you may feel you are almost on the verge of giving up, it’s ok as long as you never actually give up.”

Till now your biodata was fighting for you to get you selected. Your biodata has done a good job, passed the test and you have now received a call for the group discussion round. Excellent! You need to keep in mind that this is the first time your selectors and your prospective employers are actually going to see you and meet you. So be careful, dress properly, carry a well prepared portfolio, mind your manners and exhibit your OLQ’s. Do not make the mistake of assuming that since this is not an interview, all these factors do not matter. They still do. As the name suggests a group discussion is simply a group of people discussing a topic. This is used as a powerful tool in the selection process for new recruits by companies because of its time efficiency. They can eliminate large chunks of candidates in a few minutes and this is why your GDs skills have to be top class. Supposing they call in 150 people, they may make 10 groups of 15 people each and select the best two from each group. This means only 20 people go in for the interviews and all the others do not get this chance. It is not a very easy task to stand out and be selected from amongst 15-20 people who are all prepared and trying their best. Failure to get selected in this

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round will mean you don’t even get to give the interview however good you may be. But the truth is that the very mention of GD makes some people begin to shake with fear and uncertainty. There is a sense of pending doom and terror attached to GDs. Sometimes perfectly good and capable candidates also tend to lose complete control over their preparedness when faced with group discussions. Whereas in truth, there is absolutely nothing terrifying about a GD if you are well prepared. All that is required is confidence, a can-do spirit, presence of mind and focus. Thinking positively that ‘this is NOT beyond my capabilities’ helps tremendously. Relaxation techniques of deep breathing, being quiet for a few minutes before the event, collecting yourself and your thoughts will help you get through this with ease. We have already read earlier about the various scenarios that can happen to an unprepared candidate. The candidate may know the language but have inadequate knowledge, may have the knowledge but have low language skills or may be lacking in both. But, this is not all that you need to know to participate successfully in group discussions. There are certain set ways of conducting yourself during these discussions and also, a good grasp of the various dynamics of GDs is indispensable. Group discussions are not of only one kind. Their topics are of different kinds and need different handling. Further, there are certain methodologies and rules which need to be followed during a GD and there are particular formats used by selectors to judge you. Complete knowledge and understanding of all these rules, methods and formats is crucial. So, let’s study about it all now.

Types of Group Discussions There are broadly two types of GDs:

Structured GD In this style, a topic is given and each candidate is given a chance to speak on it for about a minute each, turn-by-turn. Interrupting somebody else’s speech is not allowed and may result in point deduction. There are usually two such rounds of opinion presentation, so in the second round you can agree or disagree with others or comment on the views that the others expressed in the first round.

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This is good in the sense that everybody gets a clear opportunity and uninterrupted time to speak, there is no competition to speak and the GD doesn’t turn aggressive. You don’t have to fight to get to speak and to be heard. You are not interrupted and nobody is contradicting you at the same time as you speak. You can take your time and speak with ease. This can also be a discouraging experience if it so happens that you know nothing about the topic and cannot speak for one minute on it when your turn comes and also if your communication skills are so poor that you generally cannot perform for that length of time. To have the complete focus and attention of all the people in the room too can make some people too nervous to speak well. The good news is that this kind of GD is rarely practiced now. This kind of GD tests only knowledge and the communication/ language skills. It does not test your social skills and leadership skills as there is no real interaction between the candidates since the entire GD is tightly controlled. It may or may not test your creativity depending on the kind of topic. But, it definitely tests your patience levels, your OLQ’s and your control over yourself. So, the main aspect to keep in mind is not to interrupt however wrong or controversial the other candidates’ points are. The one thing that can be done here is to request to speak last if your turn comes towards the beginning so that you can speak after you have heard everybody else and can pick up points, debate them or build upon them. But remember, this may be taken negatively as the selectors may think that you do not know anything on the topic. Also do not insist if this request is denied once.

Un-structured GD This is the more commonly practiced type of GD. Here the topic is thrown open to the floor and anybody or everybody is allowed to speak. There is a tendency for this GD to turn aggressive and into the proverbial fish market because everybody speaks at once, trying to say something to prove themselves to be the best resulting in selection. Just sitting there and being a mute witness won’t get you anywhere and neither will being too aggressive. You have to put to use all your skills here. Your knowledge, your memory and recall, your language skills, your social skills, your creativity and the way you speak and deliver with an impressive voice. All these are put to good use here. To emerge a winner in this type of GD proper understanding of the various roles you can play is

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required as well as of the various dos and don’ts. You should also be aware of how a candidate is evaluated and marked during a GD. This knowledge will enable you to present yourself in the exact manner that is preferred by the selectors.

Various roles in a GD and how to perform them The Initiator The person who begins the GD is the initiator. Nobody is formally chosen by the selectors to do this. Anybody can take the bold step to be the initiator. If you are initiating, start by wishing the selectors the time of the day. In fact, this is the only time during a GD that you should look at the selectors and make eye contact with them till the end when the results or the conclusions of the GD are presented. Next, acknowledge the group members, clearly state and announce the topic of the discussion, give a short explanation of it and then express your opinions on it. A person who initiates well gets extra points. Here are a few pointers to help gain them. • Never initiate if you do not have anything to say on the

topic. It is very wrong to just start, state the topic, say nothing about it and immediately ask if anyone else has anything to say. It is imperative that you have good material to speak on the topic if you are initiating.

• Be pleasant and smile. This creates a good atmosphere and

sets a friendly tone to the discussion till the time it starts getting heated up.

• Never introduce yourself by name here. In fact, even if you

are not the initiator, even if you enter the discussion later, never introduce yourself the first time you speak. The selectors mark all the candidates by numbers according to the seating position and therefore know who is who.

• Do not start speaking on the topic straightaway. As stated

earlier, go through the general formals first.

• When introducing the topic, be careful to state it verbatim.

Any change may bring about a change in the meaning of the topic from the intended one.

• Briefly explain the topic, analyse it and pick out the main

words and issues. This will bring focus on the exact aspect of

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•

•

•

•

the topic that the selectors want you all to discuss. This way there are less chances of the discussion going in a wrong direction or taking a completely unintended tangent. Do not use the archaic flowery language like—today we have been given the golden opportunity to discuss a topic given by our esteemed panel … be professional in your language. Say something straight forward like—Dear group members, today we are to discuss --------------. Organize your thoughts, points and language before initiating. You will be given precious few minutes between the declaration of the topic and the start of the discussion. Put all your mental skills and faculties that you have been preparing and polishing all this time to good use here and in these few minutes understand the topic, think out points, organize them and mentally prepare the language you are going to use. Continue speaking till somebody else takes over. Take the opportunity to present all the knowledge you have on the topic and skillfully keep it all under control till either someone else starts talking or you finally run out of things to say. Sometimes, when no one jumps into the discussion and you have run out of things to say at that point of time, cleverly ask someone for their opinion or throw a fairly easy question on the floor and thus get a breather. Remember, just opening the discussion is not enough unless you have some meaningful insights to share. If you don’t, then all your efforts of opening and gaining attention will fail.

The Moderator This too is a self imposed role. Sometimes, when the GD becomes very aggressive or a nasty argument flares up between two or three members of the group, one person in the group can try to break it up and restore order in a firm but polite manner. Be assertive here and not dominating. This has to be done without pointing at any group member and without taking any sides. This has to be very neutral for the benefit of the entire group which could otherwise be totally eliminated. The ability to do this exhibits social skills and tactful behaviour and can fetch extra points. This also shows that you can exert authority over others, a character trait that selectors appreciate in prospective employees.

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Do remember that this task has to be carried out diplomatically and not by shouting yourself since diplomacy is also a trait that selectors are always on a lookout for. Do not point out to any one person to be responsible for creating the ruckus and do not point with fingers. Explain to the rabble rousers that creating a ruckus is not going to help them or anybody else get selected and that they should maintain the GD as a discussion and not as a personal debate. Sort out the issue in a polished manner and bring focus back on the topic of discussion by either taking up a point yourself or inviting some other member to speak. The action of a moderator may also be required if the discussion is going off the topic given. Bring the attention of the group members to the fact that they are digressing from the topic and since the time is limited and all of us here have the same goal, we need to stick to the topic given. Then bring it back on the floor by introducing one or more fresh points about it. This exhibits your sense of concentration, analysis and focus. There can be more than one moderator during a GD session. If something in the GD goes wrong the second time, it is not necessary for the same person to act who controlled it the first time. This time any other person can be a moderator provided he is sure that he can handle the situation.

The Leader Leadership is not about having complete control over the group. It is about showing and keeping the group on the right path. There are various ways in which you can exhibit yourself to be a leader irrespective of the fact whether you expressed your views on the topic or not though of course it will be preferable for you to have participated actively in the discussion on hand. You can do one or more of the following: 1. You can sort of conduct the GD, control the rabble-rousers

and in general keep a cap on the tempers around by breaking one-on-one arguments and making sure the discussion doesn’t go off the topic. But do remember not to lose your own temper in the process and that you don’t get so busy doing this, you forget to be a part of the discussion. 2. Control a person who is interrupting too much by firmly and politely saying something like, “Maybe we should let Mr A finish his point first then we will be able to listen to you better”.

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Group Discussions    89 3. If one person is going on and on and not giving anyone else

to chance to speak, you can pitch in by saying, “Mr A, all that you are saying makes sense, now lets see what Mr X would like to say on this”, and take the name of the person who has been wanting to say something for a long time.

4. If you observe there is a member of the group who has not

spoken at all throughout the proceedings, you can very kindly invite the person to say something by saying—Mr A would you like to say something here? Or Mr A do you agree or disagree with what Mr X just said or Mr A we would like to hear your views on it. Now here, a candidate may argue that it is good that a member is not speaking as it reduces the competition and why should such a member be invited to speak who does not have the gumption to do it himself? Well, there are two explanations here—first, the timid candidate who speaks only by invitation as it is will not get many points so he is not competition for you anyways and second, the fact that through all this you were able to keep a lookout for timid ones and cared enough to support them and help give them a break will reflect brilliantly on your social and leadership skills. This will bring extra points to you. Only, remember to do this towards the end of the allotted time and that you do this only if you yourself have participated actively in the discussion.

The Concluder This is a very exciting role as you can earn yourself lots of points and leave a good final impression. There is a correct technique to closing a group discussion. Read and study these points carefully: 1. Most candidates lose track of time during a GD especially if

a heated discussion is going on and so the selectors have to abruptly bring the GD to an end by saying “Time up” resulting in the discussion being interrupted, stopped and left hanging mid-air. This leaves the participants frustrated, unsatisfied and fearful of non-selection. So, keep an eye on your watch, be alert towards the time limit that has been allotted and begin to conclude the GD exactly one minute before the time is up.

2. The fact that you begin concluding exactly one minute

before the time is up means that the conclusion itself should

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not be of more than one minute. For the conclusion to be short and effective you should know the correct procedure and format. 3. Begin by drawing everybody’s attention towards the fact

that the time is almost up and that you are thus going to conclude the topic on everyone’s behalf and then follow these steps. • Re-introduce the topic of the discussion • If mainly the discussion has been ‘for’ the topic, highlight

the main arguments swiftly with a brief mention of the ‘against’ points and vice versa.

• State the consensus—that this is the conclusion we have

reached after the discussion. Use good technical language here so that you sound precise and finish in time.

• If the group has not reached any conclusion then say so.

You could say something like—this is a highly debatable topic and needs a lot more time and deliberation than what is possible here and thus we have not been able to reach a conclusion but the main and interesting points discussed here were… Then proceed to state those points briefly.

• If it was a problem solving kind of GD then there can

be only two ways to conclude it—either the group has collectively reached some solution/s or has not reached any solution. Speak accordingly. If there is a conclusion, state it precisely with whatever conditions discussed. If there was no conclusion, mention what were the obstacles and why the conclusion could not be reached and what other resources or additional information on the situation given could have been helpful.

• The conclusion should not be based on personal opinion.

Do not take this opportunity of concluding to push your points. It should be based on the entire discussion and on the points made by all the members.

• It may happen that a member of the group may inter-

rupt the closing either because he has not spoken a word throughout or has suddenly ‘woken up’ realizing the GD is almost over or because he has just thought of something to say. Such a person will have to be told that the

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time is up and the GD is over. This may take some delicate but firm handling but if he insists, let him go ahead after you have finished the conclusion. This way even the selectors will know he is in the wrong and the fellow will not gain any points. • Thank the group members for a good discussion even if it

was not so and compliment them on their efforts

• Look towards the selectors, thank them for listening and

inform them that you are done.

There are some more categories of people that can be seen in a group discussion and it is best to avoid being any one of them. They are ‘The disgruntled participant’, ‘The Attacker’, ‘The Dominator’ and ‘The Clown’.

Understanding the GD topic Nothing exhibits your intelligence better than grasping the correct meaning and intent of the topic and comprehending what exactly is it that the selectors want you to say, discuss and bring out. The topic given for discussion may be very simply stated or can be phrased and constructed in such a manner that the discussion requirements under it may not be immediately evident. Often whole groups of candidates are disqualified for not perceiving the basic sense of the topic resulting in the discussion going scattered in all pointless directions. If you can be the one clever person who gets it right and gives out relevant points, you greatly improve your chances of being selected. There can be infinite number of topics that can be used as a GD topic since any idea under the sun can be given as one. The requirements and treatment of all topics are not the same and thus they all need to be dealt with differently. Sometimes facts and figures are important and sometimes the analysis of the facts and logical arguments on the basis of the facts. At other times it would demand innovativeness and creativity. The trick is in analyzing and understanding the dynamics of the issue falling under the topic. Pay close attention to the words and any phrases in the topic. The presence and use of some words/phrases is more important than others and need to be emphasized upon during the discussion. You have to ‘catch’ this. For example, consider this topic–

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‘The problem of parking space in our cities— your suggestions.’ Now here, the tendency of those people who are not thinking very well will be to go on and on about how the number of vehicles has grown, how bad the traffic is and how impossible it is becoming to get easy parking space anywhere. One or two of them will speak about economic growth, improved purchasing powers of people and availability of easy loans and installment paying system as the reason behind increased number of vehicles on the roads. They might start complaining about how bad the parking mafia has become charging exorbitant amounts for parking for a few hours. Someone will surely come up with the idea of improving and using the public transport system. But, if you study the topic carefully, you will see that all of above is not what the selectors want out of the group. Here the emphasis is supposed to be on ‘your suggestions’. This topic falls under the category of ‘Problem solving’. In this discussion, after briefly talking about the problem itself, its causes and effects etc, the members of the group are actually expected to come up with new and creative ideas on how to deal with the problem. Imagine this topic being discussed in two different ways. One, where the members go on and on about the problem itself and another where the members get together, discuss, put forth ideas and come up with practical, possible and innovative solutions. How different these two discussions will be! What made them different? The understanding of the focus of the words and phrases in the topic is what made the two discussions different. Let’s study another example –

Effects of pollution. Here there are only three words and if we discount the word ‘of ’, effectively we have only two words in the topic. So, either you can concentrate on ‘effects’ or on ‘pollution’. Experience says that most people will go on and on about pollution. They will name the different kinds of pollution, how we are polluting the Earth with plastic and the atmosphere with carbon dioxide; they will talk a lot about the various renewable energies too! Whereas, if you think carefully, you will realize that the topic requires you to talk about the ‘effects’. Here again, the two discussions with two distinctly different focus would be very different. Instead of talking about pollution, how it is coming about to be etc. the real

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need here is to talk about its effects now, in the long run and how disastrous it will be if not dealt with soon enough. Here, elaboration is required on how pollution is changing the environment, the biosphere, the plant and animal life, the climate and the health and quality of human life itself. The emphasis is on the results of pollution rather than on pollution itself. Therefore, it is imperative to first mentally conduct a careful examination of the topic, understand it and conclude what exactly the selectors want to hear from you and then prepare your points accordingly.

Types of GD topics and how to handle them All GD topics are not the same. They can be of various types, each requiring different treatments. In some, just presentation of points is required, some demand a debate and make you take ‘for’ or ‘against’ sides, some require you to work as a team with the other members, some require problem solving capabilities and then there are some that require proof of an extremely creative mind. Depending on the type of job on offer, its profile, the selectors have parameters, certain qualities in mind that they wish to see in the candidates they select and give out topics accordingly. If the job for which selections are happening is technical- the topic will test your technical thinking, if it involves a lot of customer interface—the topic will test your communication skills, if it demands creativity—it will test your creativity and capability to think out of the box and so on. These various types of topics can be roughly categorized as below: 1. Technical  Some jobs require very good technical skills and the candidate’s communication skills, language skills etc., do not matter as much. For the selection of such jobs the topics given may be of technical content. The preparation needed is mainly complete knowledge of your area of work. You should have a good grasp on your subject and do a complete revision of it before the selection day. A person with just basic skills in language and communication but in possession of deep subject knowledge will stand a much better chance of being selected in comparison to a very well groomed and well spoken person whose knowledge level is inferior. Though, these skills will be an added advantage to your selection if there are other candidates too who have excellent

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subject knowledge. So, for a technical job, prepare very well in your subject but also polish other skills to a certain fighting level because you just never know which skill of yours could be the winning one. 2. Current affairs  Anything that is in the news at the moment or was till a few days ago or has been an ongoing issue for the past few months and has been in and out of news is a possible topic for a GD. This is where the insistence made in the chapter Prepreparation comes to your help that you must read newspapers, news magazines regularly and listen to TV news too. Most major news agencies, Indian or foreign, have their own websites with news streaming 24/7. They give excellent coverage, analysis and also pictures and videos which make for better experiencing and understanding of the news item. If you dedicate one hour or so everyday to visit these sites you can be sure of your preparation levels to participate in such discussions. In a discussion with this kind of topic, it is imperative that you be up-to-date with the happenings in your country and the world. A little analysis, the effects, the history behind the news item, something about the people in the news, everything should be mentioned. Here, the selectors want to see your ready awareness levels, communication skills, your alertness and social skills. 3. Social issues  There are certain such issues that are always in the collective consciousness of the people. When something happens within that field like a law breaking incident, some major happening or a new law being passed etc., the issue comes into the front news and then recedes again. These were used as topics 20 years ago, are still being used and probably will be 20 years hence too. They are evergreen and because of this, there is always a lot of material, lots of points, lots of controversy, lots of examples and lots of names attached that can be picked up and used during the discussion. There is usually enough material to write a whole book on it and if despite all this information freely available a candidate shows up with having nothing to say on the topic, it can be very disgraceful. A regular reading habit as explained in the chapter Pre-preparation can be the life saving habit here. Mindful reading and general attention towards what’s happening in the world around you mixed with little analytical capabilities can make such a discussion very easy for you. Examples of such topics are:

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Group Discussions    95 • Practice of Child labour in India. •

Global Warming

• Our city slums

• Female foeticide—our disappearing girls. • Development of our villages.

• Improving the education system of the country.

There can be many more. Now here, the thing to keep in mind is that these topics can be dealt with in many ways. You can simply state facts or you can give reasons behind the facts or you can come up with some statistical numbers or you can also mention some solutions. You can stay within the country or go global with your points unless specified in the topic as in the first topic in the examples above. If the topic has been worded in a particular manner and demands a particular treatment (as discussed earlier) then go according to it. Otherwise the playing field is very large as there are always innumerable points under such topics and you can never run out of things to say as long as you have been reading, assimilating, are alert and have good recall powers. These are by far the easiest topics. 4. Problem Solving  In this kind of topic, you will be given a problem which could be subject related, a current news item or a social issue posed as a problem. After you have opened and talked about the subject briefly, quickly go on to putting forth solution ideas. Here are a few points to keep in mind— • Understand the problem completely before speaking.

• Present your solution in an impressive way, dressed in tech-

nicalities so that it is not shot down immediately.

• Even though a GD is like a war which you are fighting to

win, remember, a problem solving topic needs team work. There are no ‘for’ or ‘against’ sides here. Every member of the group has to come together, work together and come up with one or more solutions. • Do not shoot down others points just for the sake of it. Be co-operative and appreciative and help build upon a good idea even if it is someone else’s unless you have a much better idea yourself. • Make sure that your solutions are intelligent and practical.

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96    I’m Not Afraid of GDPI! • Give supportive arguments for your solution in a convinc-

ing manner.

• At the end of the discussion, the team can have more than

one solution idea, present them all as options, mentioning the extra resources required if any. It is also possible that there may be no one idea that you all decide is practical. In such a case, the concluder may say something like, “After much deliberation we could not come up with any one good solution. This topic obviously needs deeper thought. However, here are a few points we did discuss,” and here the points can be enumerated.

5. Case Studies  For very technical jobs often case studies are given as GD topics. These are also given in selections for places like NDA. These cases may be actual or fictitious. They usually involve a problem to be solved or a question that needs to be answered at the end of the discussion. Since it is technical and related to subject matter, the best way to prepare for it is to be good in your subject, examine the problem or question well, think out of the box, be creative and innovative with the solutions. If this case study is present or future oriented, like a marketing campaign for a product, be creative and you can suggest use of some more resources if they bring about results to cover and justify the expenditure. But, if the case study is of the past, like a failed program and why did it fail, more of an analytical discussion is required. There could be some other unknown conditions too. Therefore, it is imperative that the perspective of the situation is clearly understood. 6. Abstract  This can be the most fun filled and thrilling GD if you are very quick thinking and nimble minded or it can be a complete nightmare if you are basically not creative at all. In this kind of topic there is only one rule—you can say anything, take the discussion anywhere in any direction as long as you can loop it back and somehow keep it connected to the topic. There are people who can go on and on and others who will just sit shell shocked because they cannot think of a single thing to say. In such a case, quickly snap out of it and pay attention. This is where all those hours of extempore practice you were asked to do in the chapter Pre-preparation will come in use. If you have done that exercise diligently, you just may be able to talk here too. Quickly tune into what the others are saying, pick up points from them, innovate and say something and remember

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Group Discussions    97

to keep it connected to the topic. Agree. Disagree. Do anything to keep yourself visible to the selectors. These topics can be quotations, weird sayings, lines of poetry, pictures, photographs, drawings, similes and in fact absolutely anything. Examples are: • Why is 2+2 = 4 and not 5? • A fly cannot bird but a bird can fly, but if the fly was human

it sure would try!

• Life is a fork in the road. • An apple cannot be a pumpkin. • The depth of our success equals the height of our self-

identity.

• Purple tomato.

To have an idea let’s see what can be said for the fourth topic here—

An apple cannot be a pumpkin “If an apple tried to be a pumpkin it would lose the particular combination of nutrition that it offers us ... people will not be able to carry it in their lunch bags as it would be too big... it would be inconvenient to eat as it would have to be cut to portion and the left over part would darken and go to waste unless consumed quickly and because of all this it would lose its popularity... and whatever would we do without the delicious apple pies?... and further, can you imagine the plight of the poor apple tree with all those pumpkin sized apples hanging!!... and what about poor Newton with a pumpkin size apple falling on his head! We probably would not have known about gravity till now!... and that would mean large blank areas in physics; it would mean no space travel!! No one would have gone to the moon! We would still be thinking of the moon as a mystical celestial object and made of cheese!... without the concept of gravity and space travel we wouldn’t need NASA and ISRO and others... that would mean we would know nothing about the space and the universe... and all this just because an apple wanted to be a pumpkin!... besides I simply love having apples, so no, an apple can definitely not be allowed to be a pumpkin!”

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Do you see how here we went from nutrition to size to convenience to pies to apple tree to Newton to gravity to moon to space travel to NASA to universe and then looped it all back to an apple being a pumpkin. And it also included a touch of humor that the speaker loves apples so for that reason alone an apple cannot be a pumpkin. This can further be taken in reverse too that even a pumpkin cannot be an apple and similar real or made up reasons can be given. The philosophical aspect of the topic can also be brought out into the light that essentially this means we are who we are and cannot be somebody else. It is a waste of effort, time, energy and any other resources to try and be anyone else other than ourselves. We should try to be the best we can be as ourselves for therein lays our true future, our highest destiny. You can go on and on elaborating and picking up links and incorporating them as the discussion goes forward. This is how imagination, creativity and quick thinking combined to good language skills and confidence can help you tackle abstract topics. These are the very skills that are being tested here by the selectors. Jobs in the hospitality industry, aviation industry, customer services jobs, jobs in the advertising industry and many more require these skills of innovation and quick thinking and for them such topics are often used. So, if you are preparing for any such jobs you need to learn and practice thinking this way. 7. Debatable topic  This is the most easily understood kind of topic. There is a ‘for’ side and an ‘against’ side to be taken. Think carefully which side you would like to hold and then prepare your points accordingly. Also, try to imagine what the people taking the other side would say and prepare arguments against them. It is not just how intelligent and how valid your points are that counts here but also how well are you able to debate and counter argue without losing your cool and your patience. How well and efficiently you are able to cut others points with intelligence and without appearing stubborn and aggressive will hold importance. Sometimes, it is okay to hold views for both sides i.e., the ‘for’ and the ‘against’ sides provided your supportive arguments for each and the reasoning for holding multiple views are convincing and well expressed.

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Group Discussions    99

Some common topics under this category are: • Who is greater—a teacher or a doctor. • Population of India—a boon or a bane. • Should so much money be spent on space research when

millions are hungry?

• Should more and more public amenities be privatized? • Should we give aid to other nations when we have so many

people under the BPL line?

A note on jargon and details Jargon is a very interesting concept. Jargon is terminology related to a specific field, subject, activity, profession, group, or event. Every subject has language components and vocabulary of its own which is used and understood by people who work in that particular area. Therefore, use of that particular terminology shows that you are properly acquainted with the subject you are talking about. But, it is not just subjects or study/professional fields that have their own jargon, in fact every topic has certain terminology attached to it. If you use those terms in your discussion, you will sound well read and knowledgeable. It will show that you are aware, up-to-date and keep yourself mentally involved with the happenings of the world. Therefore if you are, for example, talking about Global Warming, you should use words and phrases like greenhouse effect, greenhouse gases, CO2, acid rain, rising sea levels, earth heat radiation, heat traps, methane, bovine contribution, affected polar caps, the water cycle, conversion of fresh water into sea water etc. If you say the same concepts in simple English, however correct you may be in your facts, the other candidate using such terminology will definitely sound more intelligent and impressive. If you have developed a good reading habit as described in the chapter on Pre-preparation, you will come across well written articles and good books where any subject or topic is written with the appropriate accompanying jargon. Through extensive and continuous reading, when you come across these terms again and again, they will automatically make space in your mind and establish themselves there and whenever you need to talk on the subject, the correct jargon will come forward all by itself. No extra efforts are required at such times if you read a lot.

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There is one more way jargon can be used and that is the inter-disciplinary usage. Now, this is a very interesting concept but requires superb levels of language and innovation skills. Here jargon from one field of study is creatively used to express ideas in another field of study. The conceptual meaning of certain words and phrases are used innovatively to make perfect sense in connection to something completely unrelated and explain its points better. Here is an example to understand this – Suppose there is a GD on Child labour, the jargon filled language of people from different fields could be something like this – Commerce graduate  At the macro level making of laws is okay but we need to ensure they are implemented at the micro levels. Initially the investments may seem huge but in the long run we will see that the cost-benefit ratios and the investment returns are in favour not only at individual levels but also to the national economy. An engineering graduate  The mechanics of bringing about a change in this field are not simple and a complete detailed blueprint has to be prepared with elevation views of each angle from where we expect problems to arise. The quantum differences we need to make in the lives of such children have to be engineered with systems that are practical and that logically flow down to all levels without any snags. A medical professional  The nation is like one whole body and the billions of cells are its citizens. They all together make a complete nation and the health of the body as a whole is dependent on the health of each cell i.e., each citizen. Just as we take care of any part of our body that is not well, we have to take care of each section of our society. Therefore, the physical, mental, intellectual, psychological and spiritual development of these children, who are being used for child labour, is of serious concern. The above is just an example of how inter-disciplinary jargon can take your discussion up several notches and set higher standards. It is not advisable to talk like this throughout the GD. Use topic appropriate jargon and some simple language too. You have to develop a sense of how much jargon is enough because it is not nice to overdo it. You have to sprinkle it here and there just enough to sound intelligent and in the know. It is possible to overdo jargon too. When you overdo jargon, firstly, no one understands and secondly, you sound like a showoff

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Group Discussions    101

and reduce your chances of selection. The use of jargon has to be judicious and just adequate. Consider this example— A man walking on the road stops a motorist and says, “Sir, the spherical orb that displaces your vehicular entity on the desired vector path has lost its rotundity”. What he wanted to say was that the car had a flat tire!

How selectors evaluate you— Your group discussion evaluation parameters depend on the job description for which you have applied. One job may need better technical skills whereas another may demand better interpersonal skills, one may require leadership qualities and yet another may need creativity and innovation skills. The selectors will therefore evaluate you accordingly. Points are assigned to various aspects of your personality and performance. The aspects which are of more pertinence to the job description are given more points. For example—for a job in the customer service field, less points will be given to technical skills and more to inter-personal skills and communicative skills, whereas, for a computer programmers job, grooming and interpersonal skills don’t really matter so much and more points will be on technical skills and possibly communicative too. So, it all depends on what is the nature of the job that you are fighting for. Some skills are common and desired in every kind of job. Whatever the job profile and the company requirements may be, some desirable character traits are common for all like social skills and team spirit. You must demonstrate the fact that you are capable of maintaining social relationships and you are willing and inclined to work as a part of the team. The points scored by each candidate under various headings are totalled and the top few are then notified to appear for the next round. The ones who are left out here are out of the race for this job and do not get to go for the rounds ahead under any circumstances. This is why optimum performance here is vital.

Practical application of all this knowledge Now you know almost everything there is to know about group discussions—the types of group discussions, the various roles to play, how to initiate and how to end, how to show and exhibit

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your leadership, creative and communication skills, the various kinds of topics and how to identify them, how to treat each kind of topic differently. Now, you also know why pre-preparation is crucial, how it helps you in the long run and what a pivotal role it plays in your final success. You now understand how to incorporate jargon in your language to make it richer and you know how to twist and turn terminology from one subject to fit in another to score extra points. You are also clear on what is it that the selectors are looking for in you and how you are being evaluated. But this does not mean you depend only on those skills you think you are being evaluated on since the total points of another person could still be more if he averaged well in all aspects. It is always better to groom yourself and prepare yourself in all spheres and score good points under each heading during evaluation thus ensuring your total to be amongst the highest and therefore be short listed for the next round. Apart from and above everything, the main fact to consider here is that no amount of reading of these pointers and advice is going to be of any benefit to you if you don’t internalize it all and consciously practice it. Just knowing these points theoretically will not help you one bit. Unless you practice your discussion skills you will not know what it really feels like to debate and express yourself, exactly how to play the various roles, how to actually break up a fight, how to actually bring a discussion going off track back on the topic. The point scoring openings and closings need a lot of practice and can be done only if you actually sit with a group to do so. A lot of practice is needed for abstract topics as your brain needs to be trained to think out of the box and perform on short notice. For this you need to have a group of like minded people who are also serious about their future and are willing to put in time and effort for practice. Set up a schedule; dedicate a chunk of time everyday and stick to it diligently. There should be no compromise on this. Consider it as one of the most important activities of your daily routine as reading and listening to news is. The more you practice the easier it will be for your tongue to move in the language, smoother your speech will be and quicker your brain will function. The intelligence and skill level of your group members will have an impact on your development. If all the others are less skilled than you, you will not have an opportunity for growth.

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Group Discussions    103

Therefore, make sure you are a part of such a group which has some people who are better than you in every way. This way you can learn and hone your skills. Observe carefully what you see and like in the methods, behaviour, speech, body language etc of the other people and work them into your own performance. Try and vary your group and bring in more and more members for variety. Better still, be a part of more than one group to get better practice. If possible have a senior knowledgeable person come and observe and give feedback. Maybe the members of the group themselves can have a feedback session after the discussion. You yourself can mentally analyse your own and others performance later on. Recall the good things done by you and others and fix them in your mind. Concentrate also on the wrongs done by everybody so that you know what to avoid. If you feel you cannot remember all this in one go, make a notebook to write everything down. Read everything that you have noted repeatedly and remember to put it all into practice during further practice sessions. Pick up an on-going conversation anywhere, even if it is casual, like on a bus ride, in trains etc with strangers to give you the confidence to speak amongst unknown people and also to expose yourself to various view points. This way you only have something to gain and nothing to lose. Just be careful not to say anything too controversial and not to get into any serious arguments.

Some additional Dos and Dont’s of   group discussions 1.

The biggest and the most common mistake made by many candidates is looking at the selectors and speaking. This is simply wrong. This happens when the candidate is not confident and is looking for support. Or, when his points are being shot down and he is desperately trying to argue it out, he looks to the selector for validation. Instead, you have to maintain all eye contact with the group members only and address them when you speak.

2.

Further, some candidates, when their points are cut or cannot debate skillfully enough; address the selectors out of frustration and in expectation of intervention. This exhibits weakness. Make sure never to do this. During the discussion you have to behave as if the selectors are not in the room.

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104    I’m Not Afraid of GDPI! 3.

Sometimes a candidate becomes too excited or agitated and stands up and advances towards the person he is addressing his speech to. This appears threatening or foolish depending on the expression and what is being said. Maintain your cool and conduct yourself with ease.

4.

Mind your body language. Sit comfortably and erect, hold your head up, use your hands to make appropriate gestures and do not shake your legs nervously. Some people have a tendency of sitting very straight and rigid whereas some others wave their hands around too much while speaking. None of these extremes are good. Sit comfortably, plant your feet squarely on the floor and use hand gestures to help express yourself in a better way. Move your head according to your speech or nod when you agree with somebody.

5.

Establish eye contact with every member of the group throughout the GD. Smile pleasantly and appear friendly even if the discussion is heated.

6.

Your facial expression should always be positive or neutral at most. Do not put on a disagreeable expression even if you disagree and never have a look of derision or sarcasm if somebody is speaking utter nonsense. Use words to shoot him down.

7.

Do not be so intent on just speaking that you fail to listen to what others are saying. If you just go on and on with your own points and not listen to what is being said by others, you might sound incoherent and it is very easy for experienced selectors to perceive such behaviour. You will be out of sync with the entire group and chances of selection are almost nil in such circumstances. After all, this is a discussion and not a monologue.

8.

Don’t get too emotional about anything. Remember that this is just a group activity and the result required is just a selection to the next round. What you say here is not personal and is not going to have any further implications.

9.

Never take anything said by anyone else personally. Keep in mind that everyone is here to score. Fight for yourself with your ego in check. Fight with intelligence rather than with vengeance. You score by remaining calm and collected under direct provocation.

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Group Discussions    105 10. Disagree politely and show appreciation for some good

points made by others.

11. If the topic is debatable and you have to take a side, remain

flexible by not expressing your views very harshly. This way even if you have to give in to the other side later on, you can do it gracefully without appearing as if you have been defeated in any way. Guard against appearing too rigid but on the other hand take care not to appear spineless too by not arguing for your taken side at all.

12. It is not enough just to have spoken. What you say and

contribute to the discussion must have substance so that the group members and the panel actually notice you and pay attention to what you are saying. Participation in a GD is all about getting noticed.

13. It is perfectly alright to use a quote, a few lines of poetry,

an anecdote, a short story or an example to illustrate or strengthen your point as long as it is completely relevant, not too long and is easily understandable. Further, it is also okay to use these in any other language if you can quickly summarize it in the language of the GD and link it to the topic under discussion. Just make sure the addition is so well matched to the topic that nobody can find a fault and drill you on it and put you at a disadvantage.

14. Listen attentively to what others are saying and pick up

any loose points. It sometimes happens that a group member presents a brilliant idea in a much unfinished manner and does not follow it through. This may be because he is not thinking clearly or is nervous. Pick up the idea, dress it in different words and present it as if your own.

15. It may happen that you have a good point in mind but

you find yourself unable to express it because of its complexity and you are stuck for the right words. Instead of struggling with it for a long time, break it down to its most basic components, basic ideas and present it in simple language. Sometimes, simplicity also brings out the accurate meaning and the finer nuances are understood automatically by all.

16. Being openly negative towards anyone is bad etiquette.

For example, saying something like “that idea will never work” or “your idea doesn’t make any sense.” Alternative

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to these two statements are “that idea raises some further issues” or “I see your point, but I foresee a number of problems that may arise.” 17. Be appreciative when someone else makes a brilliant point

or a very good observation or comes up with a good idea.

18. Above all, remain polite and well spoken. Maintain your

balance and do not allow anyone to anger you into misbehaviour. Keep your ultimate goal in mind which is more important than a personal victory over a group member who you have never met before and maybe never will again. Remain focused on the goal of selection.

When you don’t know anything about the topic The evaluators want to hear you speak but despite all your preparations or because you did not prepare well for some reason, it may happen that you are faced with a GD topic you know nothing about. This is common for a general social issue, an offbeat current topic or an abstract one. This should never happen in a topic related to your subject because you are supposed to have studied it. This can be a frightening experience but if you are in the know of what to do in such situations, you can save yourself. Here are a few methods of saving and increasing your chances of selection— • First, STOP panicking. Become alert and ‘switch yourself

on’.

• Pay close attention and listen very carefully to what others

are saying for the first 2 or 3 minutes. Quickly absorb the points and information given out by them.

• Two results can happen here—first, after hearing others

you may suddenly understand the topic or recall something about it and you can now take it from here. Second, you may still not have any material of your own to say, so you will have to cleverly recycle what has already been said.

• To recycle, you need to use all your language skills. You

have to use the capability of quick thinking too. Listen to what the other group members are saying, quickly understand and absorb it all and then instantly put the points in

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Group Discussions    107

different words and phrases and throw them back on the floor. If done well, you will not be caught and will sound knowledgeable. Don’t have a guilty expression on your face while doing this. Appear confident and in control. Remember, more than 80% communication is non-verbal. • One another way of handling such a situation is to ask ques-

tions, though this needs some basic knowledge of the topic to avoid asking silly, meaningless or very basic questions. Question and drill a speaker a little as your contribution to the discussion.

• If all else fails agree with another speaker and paraphrase

him as a last resort.

• Remember to use whichever of the above technique you are

using within the first 4-5 minutes of the discussion because the selectors have unconsciously already made their impressions early on about the speakers who speak in the first half and who do not. They do not really pay much attention after this except for the conclusion.

• This brings us to a valuable thought that during the prac-

tice sessions with the practice groups you have made as discussed earlier in this chapter, be sure to accept such topics for discussion plenty number of times, of which you know nothing, so that you can hone these skills. If every time you agree to discuss only such topics of which you know something, you will never get a chance to face a situation of not knowing and learn how to handle it.

After the discussion After the formal discussion is over and if you are asked to wait for a minute or two for the decision, you could just mention informally and conversationally how nice the discussion was, how it made you think and how much you enjoyed it. If there is a willing group member, maybe you could mull over the topic a bit more. Maintain your best behaviour and don’t drop your guard yet. On the announcing of the results if you have been selected, thank the selectors warmly and if you haven’t been, still thank them and ask them for any feedback as to what you could have done better and where you lost out on points. This may ensure you are put on a stand-by list if they make one and give you a sliver of a chance. Do not fight or argue on the result. Leave the

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room peacefully and don’t misbehave till you are out of the premises regardless of the fact you are selected or not. On careful study of this chapter, you must have realized one fact of very real importance and that is of pre-preparation. Top class preparation not only helps you perform well but also helps you in troublesome situations. It ensures you have the required knowledge, the language skills and your creative skills are practiced and in top condition. The second inference here is of your behaviour and social skills. The way you present, carry and manage yourself throughout the GD carry a lot of points and could tip the scales for you towards selection. So, the main thing to realize here is that you need a complete and overall development of your personality, faculties and expression to be a successful candidate and win your race. All the best!

Practice Group Discussion topics Here are some topics which have been mixed up purposefully. You need to figure out what category they fall under and then figure out how to deal with them. These are of course just some and as said earlier there are infinite possibilities for topics. Of course, this list does not include current topics. For those you will have to be on a lookout in your own real time. Also, understandably there are no technical subject topics and case studies as these are particular to subject fields. Besides those, if you practice with these to begin with, you will see that your capability of thinking, reasoning and speaking will improve with sincere efforts and time. • Are Indians less quality conscious? • Commercialization of health care: Good or bad? • How can a business rid itself of a bad name it has earned? • Boats in the harbor are safe but that’s not what they are

made for.

• Privatization will reduce corruption. • Every cloud has a silver lining. • Globalization versus Nationalism. • Yoga—more popular in the western world.

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Group Discussions    109 • A person should not be too honest. • Indian villages: our strengths or weakness? • What can we really do about our increasing population? • Marketing of Coke and Pepsi in villages with no drinking

water!!

• Why do we not have proportional number of Olympic med-

als?

• Advertising ethics. • The wheel is turning round and round. • The great Indian brain-drain. • Today’s heroes. • Westernization versus traditional values. • Why make films? • Flexi timing versus fixed timing at work. • Individual brilliance in an increasingly social world. • International terrorism—your ideas. • Re-mixed music—for better or for worse. • Euthanasia—your views. • Capital punishment—yes or no. • Compulsory military tenure for all college students. • How flat is the world? • Religion—a maker or breaker. • Minimum qualifications, retirement age and selection pro-

cedures for politicians.

• What revolution is needed in India? • Why is Indian tourism not flourishing? • Improving education in India. • Should everyone be educated? Who will do the menial tasks

then?

• Why is that chair blue? • So many plates—no food. • Trees make wood or wood makes trees?

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110    I’m Not Afraid of GDPI! • Tomorrow for one day—fish will fly! • Do international sports have any practical purpose any-

more?

• A green orange. • Advertising creates un-necessary wants. • Man’s own inventions have enslaved him. • Will India ever be a ‘First’ world country.

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Chapter

6

Interviews

“Failing is not failure. Failure is - —not learning from mistakes. Failure is - —doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” “Being defeated is temporary. Giving up makes it permanent.” “Splendid things are achieved by those who dare to believe that something inside them is superior to the circumstances outside.”

Congratulations! You have received a call for the interview! Your Biodata has done its job well, you have done well in your written tests too, you performed brilliantly in the group discussions to beat the other candidates and now you have been asked to appear for the interviews. You have reached this far by beating hundreds of those 999 candidates in a tough fight. All these accomplishments should give your confidence an amazing boost and reason to believe in yourself. You are now proud of yourself and full of optimism. You are now completely charged-up and eager to ace the interviews. Interviews are the more personal interactions between the representatives of the recruiting company and you. Many things

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are talked about in detail here and a final impression is made about you. Some companies may have only one interview before finalizing the selected candidates whereas some may have two or more rounds with eliminations in each round to fine tune the list and select the few best candidates for the top bosses to have the final deciding interview with. Then there also are hiring consultants who conduct the initial screening stages for the actual recruiting companies. They are hired by the recruiting companies to advertise, collect biodatas, conduct the various elimination rounds and send across only the few selected candidates for the final rounds of interviews to be held within the company. Here you need to remember that these consultants are acting on behalf of the recruiting companies and their decisions are binding. Therefore you need to behave with them as you would behave with the people of the actual recruiting company and do your best in front of them also. Sometimes the recruiting companies request these consultants to send their strong recommendations for who they think are the best or prime candidates out of all the ones they are sending for the final interviews and of course you will not be aware of this list of premium candidates. But, since you definitely want to be on any such list of recommendations, you must be at your best at all times, mind your manners and behaviour and create the desirable impression.

Types of interviews Interviews can be of many kinds. Each company has its own policies and methodology of selection according to which they decide which kind or kinds of interviews they wish to conduct. The job profiles and the job requirements also could be a factor influencing the type of interview you might have to face. But whichever kind of interview you end up facing, most behavioural issues will remain the same. The other factors that remain the same are that having optimum levels of technical or subject knowledge, general knowledge and communication skills will help you ace any kind.

One on One There is one interviewer and one candidate. The complete attention of the interviewer is on the candidate all the time. The character and the likes and dislikes of the interviewer can play a major role in selections here since he may take a liking or a dis-

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Interviews    113

liking towards the candidate instantly on the basis of the chemistry he feels. He may be kind, compassionate and encouraging or he may be the sort who gets irritated easily. Be careful and be alert, pick up the vibes and look for clues to his state of mind through his body language. Although this is not a rule, but if you feel that the interview is continuing for longer time than usual and he is asking more and more detailed questions, chances are that he is seriously considering you otherwise he would not ‘waste’ too much time on you. So, take a hint from a prolonged interview to feel more confident which will raise your performance a few levels.

Group interview Here, the number of interviewers may be one or more than one but the main point is that there are 3 to 5 candidates who are interviewed together. The idea is to pitch them against each other and see who performs the best. This can happen as a preliminary round if group discussions have not being conducted or if the number of applying candidates is not too large but still some lowering of the numbers is required to make a list of the selected candidates for the final interview. The difficulty level here rises because you have to compete against the other candidates while ‘handling’ the interviewers and also answer the questioning well, all at the same time. The benefits of this kind of interview over a group discussion are that you can address the interviewers directly, speak to them and make eye contact to hold their attention. Also, the group interview is not about discussing a topic about which you may not know much as can happen in a group discussion. Remember to be polite towards the other candidates; do not get into controversial or heated arguments with them and to not interrupt un-necessarily. Be quick in thinking and answering before any other candidate does.

Panel interview In this interview, there is only one candidate but more than one interviewer at a time. It takes a fair amount of skill and diplomacy to handle this kind of interview. If you are adequately prepared and confident then it can be comfortably handled. The most important thing here is to remember to pay equal attention

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to all the panel members. Maintain eye contact with and answer each of them even though one may seem friendlier than the others and you may be tempted to talk to him only.

Telephonic interview For a job that involves a lot of time spent on telephones, it has become customary to put you through a telephonic interview to test your telephone conversation skills. Or, when the main interviewer who needs to interview you cannot avoid being absent at the time, he may conduct a telephonic interview to assess you. In some companies, where it is mandatory for someone from the headquarters to interview the candidate and it is in another city, then too a telephonic interview may take place. The basic telephone etiquettes come into play here. (Read about this in Chapter Nine) Take care that you effectively listen to the question and understand it well before answering. No body language is in play here, therefore your voice and speech quality have to be excellent. (Read about this in Chapter Eleven)

Meal time interview Sometimes very busy corporate people utilize the meal time slot to conduct business of all sorts and interviewing can be one of them. This can take place at any time—breakfast, lunch or dinner. This may take place in a hotel, a restaurant, a club or in the corporate lunch room. It can also happen over a cup of coffee in an uptown café. This kind of interview is usually employed when recruiting senior level personnel or when a person is being headhunted from another organization. Chances are remote that a fresher or a beginner may have to face such an interview. Just in case you do find yourself in such a situation now or some day in the future, remember that in a way it is not much different from an ordinary office interview except that you have to have good dining etiquettes and mind them too. (Read about this in Chapter Nine) Additionally remember to politely ask your host to order the food with an excuse that you are not familiar with the place and consequently do not know what is good here. If you do happen to be familiar with the place and your host is aware of this, or if your host insists that you order for yourself anyways, then keep the following in mind:

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Interviews    115 • Do not order foods which are very expensive. • Do not order foods you are unfamiliar with. This is not the

right time to experiment.

• Do not order non-vegetarian food if your host is a vegetar-

ian or is ordering vegetarian food.

• Do not order foods that are very messy to eat. Preferably

order foods that can be eaten with a spoon or fork instead of your fingers.

• Do not order meals that are elaborate, large and heavy.

Order a meal that is simple and light.

• Eat slowly and concentrate on answering questions rather

than on eating.

• Do not give an appearance of being very hungry or greedy. • Do not be wasteful. Since leaving a lot of food uneaten for

any reason reflects badly on you, order a small and easy-toeat meal, so that you can finish it comfortably and answer the questions too at the same time.

• Take utmost care not to speak with food in your mouth. • Use the napkin often to clean the sides of your mouth before

speaking.

For general interview pointers, read ahead and for dining etiquettes read the appropriate chapter as already suggested.

Stress interview Stress interviews are conducted for several reasons: • The job profile is stressful and it needs stress handling

capabilities.

• Interviewers wish to see if your confidence is just a façade. • Interviewers want to see how exactly you react to stress. • They wish to check for any maniacal tendencies.

There are several methods of applying stress: • You may be kept waiting in the waiting room for a long time.

It is okay; do not enquire or insist too many times. Keep cool.

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116    I’m Not Afraid of GDPI! • When you are waiting, people will come and look at you and

seem to talk about you and discuss you among themselves. Do not feel self conscious. Try and show that this does not disturb you.

• In the interview, room there may be instances of long

uncomfortable silences. Stay calm and make eye contact intermittently. Do not make the major mistake of blabbering on with nonsense just to fill these long, awkward silences. Sometimes candidates reveal things they are not supposed to at such times.

• Your answers may be openly challenged and you may be

asked something again and again. Stick to your answers if you believe in them and if you are sure you are speaking the truth.

• The interviewers may begin a heated argument amongst

themselves and demand you to be the referee. It is a ploy, don’t fall for it. Try to bow out of it diplomatically and be non-judgmental. Do not take sides. If they insist, say in clear terms what or who you find wrong or right, be tactful and do not point fingers.

• One or more of them may just go on staring at you. Again,

stay calm and do not look at them and do not feel self conscious. There is nothing wrong with you or your clothes or your manner of being. Recognize and remember the fact that he may be trying to make you uncomfortable purposefully to see how you react.

• You may be insulted openly. Do not take it personally. Do

not take the bait and get angry or insult them back.

• They might try to deliberately confuse you. They will pick

out ridiculous and meaningless leads out of your answers and drill you with them. They will refuse to see any logic and hear any reasoning and question everything you say. Stand your ground. Do not get flustered, upset or irritated. Give and ask for clarifications.

Remember, all these are just games and you are being tested for your ability to play them. Some jobs will in real life put you in these situations and they just want to make sure you are made up of tough stuff and will not crack easily under the pressures and demands of the job. Don’t lose your nerve, keep your cool

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and show them that you have the mettle to face stress and can perform well even when under it.

Internet interviews With the advances in technology, globally spread out businesses and scarcity of time it is fast becoming a common practice to have interviews over the internet through the various audio and video software available. The rules and considerations remain the same since only the lack of physical proximity is the issue here and nothing much else changes. If you have been called to a local branch of theirs, then the setting up and the functioning of the equipment is not your concern but if you are to use your own computer and premises then you have to— • Make sure you are in such a place where there aren’t any

disturbances of any kind. There should be no family members popping in asking what’s going on or friends dropping in to see what you are up to.

• There is no background noise and activity or it is at least

minimal.

• Your internet connection, web camera, microphone and

speakers are working fine.

• Also make sure you have uninterrupted power supply for

the duration.

Practice interviews You realize that these are the crucial and deciding moments and you need to perform well. At this time, it will be so much easier if you were mentally free to concentrate only on your responses and not on your body language and other social skills. Proper body language and social skills during the interview can only come with practice. It is thus not advisable to go for the interview of your dream job completely raw and without any practice. If you are a working professional already then you probably have faced a few interviews before and know what it feels like but if you are a student just out of college then you definitely need practice runs. There are several ideas how you can get this practice: • Find in your local newspapers the advertisements for jobs

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that are in the similar field as yours. Apply for them and go give the interviews even though you have no intention of joining them. Remember to take them seriously so that you can get the real feel. • Almost all colleges now have a Training and Placement cell.

Ask the counselors of this cell of your college to organize some mock interviews for you and to make them as varied as possible to give you good practice.

• There may be some people working in the corporate sector

who you know socially and they can be requested to take a mock interview to give you the feel. These people can be anybody—neighbours, relatives, friends’ parents or even people from your own parents’ offices.

• In every city there are institutes and academies that pre-

pare people for group discussions and interviews by giving them the practice. If you do not have the possibility of any of the other solutions mentioned above, then join such an institute and get the much needed practice. Make sure to choose a reputed one. The quality of the trainers there is very important since they will be influencing your performance. Find out about the trainer quality by talking to the other people who are attending training sessions there.

You can put to use more than one of the solutions given above to give yourself maximum exposure and practice. Initially, you will feel nervous and awkward but gradually you will find yourself becoming more and more comfortable. After you have had a session, if possible ask for feedback. Listen to this feedback carefully and work on the suggestions given. The more such interviews you give, the more quickly at ease you will be and by the time you need to attend actual interviews, you will be ready.

Entering the interview room and settling When it is time and the interviewers are ready to meet you, you will be called in. Get up and thank the informer pleasantly, straighten your clothes and your hair, hold your portfolio smartly, stand tall and straight, take a few deep breaths, calm down and mentally prepare yourself for the task ahead by focusing on it.

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You don’t just barge in into the room and grab a chair and sit down. There is a proper way of doing everything. Here is what you do and how you do it to start off on a positive note: • Knock on the door with three knocks even if it is open.

Never enter without knocking even when you have been called. Wait to hear the permission to enter if the door is closed or maybe just a look or a nod if the door is open. If you don’t get the permission, wait for a few moments and knock again.

• When you enter leave the door as it was i.e., close it behind

you if it was closed or leave it open if it was open.

• Don’t start bowing and greeting the interviewers from the

door itself. Calmly walk to where you see a chair placed for you to sit on and then stop near it, smile and greet.

• How to greet is also confusing sometimes. Make eye contact

while greeting. Wish the lady first if there is one. Stand straight and nod just your head while wishing. Don’t bend from your waist as if in the presence of royalty. Remember to smile.

• Simply wishing them the time of the day is enough i.e.,

Good morning, Good afternoon or Good evening depending on what time it is. Remember it is afternoon after midday and evening after 4 pm.

• You don’t have to ask them “How are you?” But in return to

your greeting if they do ask you the same then answer with “I am good/well, thank you. How are you?” Don’t just say “Fine.” When they ask you this question, they are just being polite and not really wanting to know if you are well so, just in case you do happen to be suffering with something at that time, do not begin telling them all about it just because you are supposed to be honest.

• Restrain yourself from offering your hand for a handshake

on your own initiative if they haven’t. It is their choice to shake hands with you or not. Let them initiate it if they will. (Read more about this in Chapter 10)

• Do not sit unless asked to. Keep standing. Stand tall and

stand proud. Answer their questions if they begin asking without asking you to sit. When they do ask you to sit or make a gesture meaning the same, say Thank you and then sit.

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120    I’m Not Afraid of GDPI! •

Don’t change the position of the chair when you sit. If it was close to the table, sit there and if it has been placed away from the table, sit there itself. It has been placed so for a reason which could be that they wish to observe your body language more clearly.

• On sitting, quickly adjust and make yourself comfortable

enough that you can sit without fidgeting for at least 15 minutes. For how to position your legs go to the chapter on body language.

• The table in front of the interviewers is for their use only.

Don’t keep your file or portfolio on it. Place it on your lap or if the chair has sides, you can carefully wedge it between you and the chair. Don’t keep your file on the floor.

• You do realize that all the above steps are over in less

than a minute. Your movements should be smooth and natural.

During the interview Like any other activity, interviews too have some do’s and don’ts and certain etiquettes. Since an interview is an important activity, it makes sense that these be studied and practiced. You may feel there are some repetitions here but they are important and revisiting them will only make you remember them better. • Never sit down without being invited to. • Never offer your hand for a handshake unless they offer

first.

• Always give due consideration to a lady. • Maintain eye contact with all the members of the panel

throughout the interview if there are more than one.

• If you are answering one question and another person asks

you another question in the middle of your answer, stop to listen and then politely seek permission to finish the ongoing answer. If they don’t want you to finish, they will say so and you can proceed accordingly.

• If you did not hear the question properly, politely ask them

to repeat. If you didn’t understand the question, it’s okay to ask them to explain. This is better than making guesses

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about what it could have been or what it could have meant and ending up giving the wrong answers. • Concentrate completely on the task at hand and for those

few minutes mentally cut yourself off from the world outside. At this time, you should not be thinking of what fun you had yesterday, what are the plans for this evening, will your tickets be confirmed or why hasn’t your friend called yet or any such happenings of your day.

• If you don’t have answers to a question asked then don’t

attempt it. Be honest and accept that you don’t know and apologize for it. It’s better than making it all up and either being wrong or getting caught later on.

• It’s alright to use a few words or phrases of any other lan-

guage for effect and added meaning provided the interviewers can understand that language and it is used only sparingly.

• If you are facing too much trouble expressing yourself in

English and feel you can really impress the interviewers if allowed to speak in another mutually understood language, politely ask for permission to do so. But after that make sure that your answers are of such quality and your knowledge levels and character shine through so brilliantly, that the selectors can excuse your lack in English language skills and find you worth selecting.

• If it so happens that because of nervousness you find that

your mouth or throat is dry and you are unable to speak and you feel that water will help then ask for it. But only if it is there, available on the table and not if one of the interviewers has to get up and go and get it for you.

• During the interview, if the interviewers are served bever-

ages and snacks, do not stare at them or at the interviewers when they are eating or drinking. If you are offered the refreshments too, politely refuse and keep refusing if they insist. It is very bad form to eat or drink during the interview and surely you can survive without eating or drinking for 15 minutes or so.

• For pointers on how to sit, how to position your legs, how to

move your head and hands and other non-verbal communication cues, refer to the chapter on body language.

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At the end of the interview When the interview is over, the interviewers will say so and indicate that you may now leave. At this point of time, if you feel you have cracked the interview and made a good impression and your chances of selection are bright, don’t just get up and leave. There is a proper way of ending the interview and leaving the room. You may have begun your interview nicely and smoothly, you may have fared well during the entire interview and are quite happy about it but if you mess up the ending and leave the interviewers finally in distaste, it will all come to nothing. It is crucial not only to begin the interview on a positive note but also to end it on one. The ending has to be as brilliant as the beginning and you have to leave the room looking as positive and confident as when you came in or more. There is no one single perfect way of ending the interview and it will depend on how well you have connected with the panel members and what kind of atmosphere the interaction has created in the room. The atmosphere could be tense and formal if things didn’t go too well or it could be friendly and free and jovial if you have managed to impress them and everybody is relaxed. • You may be asked if you have any questions to ask the panel

members. If you are a fresher, you should thank them and say no. If you are a working professional already, you can ask an intelligent technical question which will show your keenness and acumen too.

• Never talk about the remuneration i.e., the salary. Avoid

stating a figure you expect. Say that you are sure that the company has a policy and a salary structure and you will be happy to be paid accordingly and are sure that the company takes good care of its employees.

• If you are already working, they can ask you for your cur-

rent salary. Be honest about it because they may have a way of confirming it or might ask you for a salary slip and you do not want to be caught stating a false or inflated amount.

• When you are dismissed, you must thank them all for the

time and patience and interest shown.

• If you are a working professional and are one of very few

candidates, it is a good idea to ask for a business card or contact details so that you may make a follow up call.

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Interviews    123 • Get up, thank them, wish them a pleasant day or evening,

smile, gather up your papers, turn around and march out smartly with your head held high.

• Do not walk backwards and do not keep bowing and thank-

ing them till you are out of the room.

• Leave the door as it was on your way out too. • When you are out of the interview room don’t stop behaving

properly. The receptionist or any other representative of the company may still be observing you.

• Once outside, don’t start talking about what happened

inside immediately and loudly to the others in the waiting area.

• Remember not to speak negatively about your interview

and the interviewers to others in the waiting area.

• Confirm from the company assistant there as to what hap-

pens next, how and when you will be informed about the results and whether you are to stay or leave.

• Stay on your best behaviour till you are out of the premises

completely. On the way be polite and friendly with any company employees you meet, whatever level and designation they may be of.

The Questions Questions asked in the interview can broadly be divided in two categories—Technical or personal. Technical questions are not a problem and not difficult to deal with if you are strong and knowledgeable in your subject. If you are fresh out of college then everything should be fresh in your mind and such questioning will not perturb you at all. If you are a working professional, then too this line of questioning will be comfortable to handle since you have practical knowledge and first hand experience of the field. Regardless of the fact that you are fresh out of college or a working professional, you have to make sure that you are aware of the latest developments and the latest happenings in your field of work and expertise. Keep in touch with the advancements in your field through trade journals, news, trainings and conversations with your career mates etc. To stay updated in these times where everything is moving and advancing at an

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incredibly fast pace is important or else you will be left behind and may also find yourself to be redundant. Strive to be in step with the changing patterns of your industry since recruiters are always in search of such people who are aware and skillful with the latest advances in the work field. It is imperative to be in touch with the latest technology. To be able to answer questions regarding these in the interviews will greatly improve your chances of being selected. Another aspect of technical questions that make them easier to answer is that they have clear and correct answers from the body of knowledge of the subject. With a little memory and application put together technical questions can be answered satisfactorily. But here the personal questions are different and thus difficult to answer. There is no one correct answer and no one correct way to say what you want to say. Everybody has different life facts, different motivations, different goals and aspirations. Everyone’s personal introductions are thus different. Moreover, different selectors may want personal questions to be answered differently. What works with one may not necessarily work with the other. Therefore it is best to be prepared with some pre-laid out answers to commonly asked questions and innovate on the spot depending on the type of person you perceive the interviewer to be. Some of these commonly asked personal questions are – Tell us something about yourself. Or How would your friends describe you? Or How would your co-workers describe you? Or What would you like us to know about you? Or Speak about yourself for a minute or two. There are other ways in which this question can be worded but they basically want you to tell them about yourself. There are two most common mistakes that candidates make while answering this question—

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Interviews    125 • They start by saying—Myself Ashok Kumar or by saying—

This is Ashok Kumar.

Now this sounds so wrong that in the beginning itself you may have completely put off the interviewer. He may decide not to select you just because of these few initial words of yours. Telling someone your name is probably the first sentence everybody learns on learning a language and you simply cannot get it wrong. The correct way is – My name is Ashok Kumar. Or I am Ashok Kumar. • The second mistake is to start relating all the factual details

about you that are already there in the Biodata. Consider the fact that they have already read about it and know it, so why would they want to hear it all again from you? They want you to tell them something more about you, something that is not just facts and figures and something that is not there in the Biodata. This is an ideal opportunity to tell them all that you want to but had to leave out of the Biodata. What are your motivations? What are your dreams and aspirations? What drives you? Why do you want this job and what does it mean to you? What kind of person are you and what do you wish to tell them? What do you want them to know that they will select you? If they want you to tell them the factual details, then they will particularly ask for it.

This first question and its answer are critical as you can set the mood and the pace for the rest of the interview with the quality of your answer. In these first few minutes, you can either lose the interview or build chances of winning it. Don’t get too historical and don’t wander here and there with your introduction. Keep it crisp, focused and purposeful. Make sure your answer is related and relevant to your work. For example if you are in the computer field, telling them you are a good dancer or you love dogs makes no sense. Do not be shy in the job interview. Do not be bashful. You have to sell yourself and do a good job of it. Describe yourself well but remain honest. If you mention a quality and they ask you to

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relate an instance illustrating that quality, you should be able to. For example, if you say you have good organizing skills, then you should have some events to talk about that you organized or maybe some emergency when you were able to rally people around and cope with the situation with success. Newer and newer concepts are always coming up on how to express an idea in the interview and you need to be updated on them. Like for example, instead of simply saying the old fashioned way that you are a fast and keen learner, say how much more than just academics your college life taught you or how you learnt of different perspectives during certain situations in your previous job. This will illustrate that you have an open mind and willingness to learn and grow. But, remember to be ready to give examples and instances of these situations and the learning you gained. Pre prepare a 60 seconds introduction of yourself keeping the job profile in view making it easy for the selectors to match you with the job on offer. Practice speaking it as naturally as possible in a few different ways so that it does not sound rehearsed and as if you have it down by rote. Describing one self takes a lot of effort as it should be balanced. This means you should neither downplay yourself nor should you sound as if you are bragging. Speaking well about our self is also difficult because most of us have never really sat down to think what is good about us. In fact, surprisingly most people find it a lot easier to list out their faults and shortcomings. Most people tend to just follow the usual and commonly used words doing the rounds and are in trend. When talking about yourself, do not use the oft repeated and very common adjectives like honest, hard working, sincere, fast learner, loyal etc. These adjectives have been overused and just do not impress the selectors any more. Search for better descriptions that suit you and your field of work. Here is a list of some positive and effective adjectives to use. Study them carefully to see which fit you best and where you have example stories to illustrate them. There are innumerable more possibilities; these are just to give you an idea – Inventive Practical Proactive Consistent Industrious

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Curious Good listener Customer Oriented Constructive Intuitive

Attentive Committed Ambitious Conscientious Trustworthy

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Meditative Focused Genuine Open minded Adaptive Organized

Stable Tolerant Self disciplined Adept Sociable Motivated

Flexible Persistent Methodical Perceptible Thoughtful Compassionate

Why should we hire you? Or Why are you the best person for this job? Or What value will you bring and add to the company? Or Why do you think you are fit for this company? Or What specific skills are you bringing in? Or If you were interviewing for this job, what qualities would you look for in the candidate? What this question means to you depends on your own attitude. Either you can see it as a question that is impossible to answer satisfactorily or as an opportunity to sell yourself. Consider your self as a product that needs selling and you have to convince the selectors to buy it. The bottom line here is that they want to know what you can do for the company, how you will add value and how well you fit in the requirements of the job profile. When answering this question be careful not to sound egoistical or unrealistic. Do not oversell and lose control while stating your qualities and enter false grounds. Focus on the requirements of the job, the skills that are important for it and how you are going to match them. If you are a fresh student, talk about what you learnt, how it interested you and if you have done any extra study work or projects in the area. If you are already working then you can talk about your experiences in the field from your previous job and how you handled the problems that arose or how you innovated or how the systems were streamlined with the help of your and your team mates efforts. Or, if you have recently finished re-training yourself and expanding your skills,

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talk about it and how these skills fit in with the job. Maybe you have ventured into the latest technology in the field, the latest skills and this could be your pivotal point in selling yourself. In this question the main word, the emphasis is on ‘you’. What are you bringing in to the job, the position and the company that the other candidates will not. Why and how are you different and better? Any adjective, that you use to describe any quality you have, will be used by other candidates too. All of them will say good stuff about themselves and try to sell themselves to their best. Then what is it that is your unique selling point because of which you should be selected? Say that you don’t know anything about the other candidates and what they are claiming to have on offer, but that you can only speak for yourself and why you think you are a good fit for the job. Here the interviewer is probably thinking, “A serious candidate will have thought through what distinguishes him from other similar professionals that have applied for this job and ought to be able to make a case for himself. If he can’t do so in a straightforward, non-boastful and convincing manner, he’s probably not my guy”. The trick is in understanding the needs of the position, matching them to your skills and interests and then presenting them with the best attitude and confidence. For this you have to do some homework and find out about the dynamics and the challenges of the post you have applied for. Therefore it is crucial that you know very clearly what the job involves, only then you will be able to talk about it, show them how your skills fit in with it and how both, the company and you, benefit if you are placed in the position. What you are saying is very important but how you are saying it is more important. If you do not have the confidence and the conviction about your suitability, then the doubt will show in your body language, speech and voice. And if you are not sure yourself, then how will you convince them? Therefore, speak with confidence, speak strong and make a convincing offer. Tell us about your understanding of the job you’re applying for? Or Tell us how you interpret this job profile? Or What do you think are the salient features of this job?

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This is very similar to the previous question, only a more detailed examination of the job is required. You should know exactly what are you going in for, what are the various duties involved and what kind of responsibilities you will have to undertake. Speak about technical details and use some jargon without overdoing it. (See ‘A note on jargon and detail’ in chapter 5) As you enumerate the job details, match each of them with your skills and capabilities. If you have recently undergone any retraining or have upgraded your skills to match the job profile, make absolutely sure to mention it. It is very important to bring it to their notice that you are trained in the latest technology or the appropriate methodologies. Keep your focus on describing the job as that is the original question here but keep selling yourself. What is the ideal job for you? Or What kind of job fits you best? Or How would you design a job profile for yourself? This is an ideal opportunity to tell them what brings out the best employee in you. Keeping in view the job you are interviewing for, lay out your expectations here. Obviously, you should be very clear about them in your mind and present them in a favourable manner. Here, you need to apply your perception of what makes a good employee, what kind of people are considered to be good employees and combine these characteristics to your individual qualities and lay them out. Some may say that they don’t mind doing repetitive jobs whereas others may say repetitive jobs makes them dull and unproductive. Some are up for challenges and some are not. Some can work things out for themselves while others need very clear instructions. Some prefer to work alone, some like to be a part of a team. Some excel in a creative environment and others may need well laid out plans. Some prefer field work while others prefer desk work. Some would like client or customer interface while another one may want only back office duties. Some need a certain amount of freedom or a free hand to work their own way as long as the results happen whereas others go strictly by the rules. Some want to learn new things constantly, some don’t. Some like to socialize, some don’t.

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None of the above is wrong in any way. They are just different kinds of people. Do you know what are you like? Do you know what kind of work dynamics you would want? Do a little introspection and be clear on your style of work. Keep in mind the job on offer here. Then answer this question. Make sure there isn’t any direct conflict or contradiction between the dynamics of the job on offer and your preference. For example—you may be applying for a job that needs teamwork and you insist that you work alone better. Or, it needs on the spot innovative thinking and you need well laid out plans. You cannot say that you find it difficult talking to strangers when interviewing for a customer service job. A near perfect appreciation of both, the job and the self, is required here. What are your strengths and weaknesses? Or What do you think are your positive and negative attributes? Tell the truth. Everyone knows that nobody is perfect. This is not a trick question, nor is it a trap, the selector just wants to know you better. He just wants to see how well you know yourself and how good are you in self assessment. You can improve yourself only when you can be self-critical and are committed to self improvement and excellence. Therefore, give careful thought to this and be prepared with a smart answer because when asked this question, you really don’t want to say, “Huh, I don’t know…. I am not sure.” Be ready with about three of each—strengths and weaknesses. Here, you need to understand the key difference between skills and strengths. Skills are just a set of abilities that can be learned over a few days with training. Skills are something that the organization will most probably be training you in once you are selected and sent in for orientation and then during the training period. But, strengths are character attributes that you are either born with or have developed over the years with life experiences and perseverance in the face of trials and adversities. These are not something you can be trained in with a training program but a personal virtue that defines your character. Instead of trying to come up with some strengths and wondering if they fit the job, there is an easier way to deal with this.

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Carefully analyse the job and its key character requirements. Make a list of them and pick at least two that fit you or the ones you know you can give illustrative incidences for. For example, if the job involves long hours and handling large sums of money, the strengths required are honesty, loyalty, good physical health to handle long hours and ability to handle stress. Which of these two would you like to mention? Also consider what personal strengths could be good add-ons here? Like, maybe you are thrifty or keep good humor or basically enjoy challenges. Any of these three can be of good use in the above mentioned job. Nothing is more unbelievable than a flawless candidate. It means either you have a serious flaw that you are hiding and keeping covered or you have no idea and do not have any real self assessment skills. To confess that you have made mistakes in the past and have learnt valuable lessons from them, that you are now a better person because of it all, you will sound more mature, experienced and above all human. The fact that you bounced back and did not repeat it is what makes those weaknesses your strengths in a way. Give an impression of how you turned a weakness into a strength and are continually improving. It is better to be forthcoming with a weakness or two as soon as you are asked rather than be forced to mention some under repeated questioning. The trick is in telling the story in such a way that it gives the feeling of a lesson well learnt and that the weakness will not be repeated in future. Just remember to keep it quite harmless and somehow related to work. Another thing to keep in mind is that your answer should not sound very ordinary and unimaginative. To say that your strength is that you are a team player and your weakness is that you are a perfectionist is very commonplace and will not impress anybody. Instead, as your strength if you say, “I understand that the team is higher and more valuable than personal agendas at certain times and thus I easily adapt to team situations”, the same idea sounds impressive and mature. Similarly, as a weakness if you say, “Since I am a perfectionist, I sometimes get so engrossed in finer details that I tend to lose sight of the larger picture, therefore I like to keep someone who focuses on the larger picture in my team.” This sounds so much better since you are speaking of awareness of the problem and also of a solution to it. Frame an answer to this question in the most non-contro-

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versial way giving as few openings to further questions as possible. Don’t be boastful when speaking of strengths and don’t be too negative when speaking of weaknesses. Try and make the answer such that it is over with as quickly as possible and the interviewers do not dwell on it too long. Why did you leave your previous job? Or Why do you want to leave your current job? Or Why do you need this change? Or What is wrong with your current job? Or You are currently employed so why are you looking for a position? The whole recruiting process, the orientation and the training process of a new candidate is a long and expensive business. The company has to invest good amount of resources to find and make a good employee. Therefore, it is only justified that they don’t want a high labour turnover and attrition rate. If the candidate is already holding a job some place else, they would obviously want to know why he is seeking a fresh position and if something about him is undesirable or if he is the kind who finds it difficult to maintain a relationship with the employing company for any reasonable period of time. Maybe his Biodata indicates that he is a frequent job hopper, and they will want to know why. They would preferably not want to hire such a candidate even if he is brilliant because of the possibility that he might leave soon and they will have to start the process of hiring all over again. So, if you are a candidate who has just left a job or are looking for a new one while holding a job, chances are very high that you will be asked this question. This is a very sensitive question and can change the entire direction of the interview. Be prepared with a concise and precise answer. You may have left the previous job due to any of the following reasons: • You did not get along with your colleagues—this shows

social inadequacies.

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Interviews    133 • You did not get along with the management in general—

this shows that you might have problems accepting authority and working within a given framework.

• You left because you did not get along with your boss—if

this has happened just this one time, you may have the benefit of doubt. Relate the extreme conditions honestly and explain the situation and what attempts you made to rectify and work around the situation like asking for a transfer under a different boss or taking the situation to an even senior person. But, if this has happened more than once, then it is likely that it is you who has problems and may not be able to adjust here too.

• You had to leave because you were made redundant. This

is certainly not your fault but still a lesson has to be learnt here. Redundancy means that the level of skills you possess are not enough anymore and you need to learn new skills. What are you doing about this?

• Maybe you had to leave because the company you worked

for was downsized for some reason. Here too there may be a small issue of why weren’t you one of the essential ones who were retained. This again calls for looking into your skill levels.

• Maybe it was the worst scenario wherein you were asked

to leave or you were terminated because of some disciplinary or behavioural issues or simply because of lack in job competence.

All the above are negative conditions and it is not necessary that you have left your previous job or jobs for negative reasons only. Some positive reasons also exist and they could be: • The company you worked for genuinely did not present you

with growth opportunities as per what you felt you deserved and could handle.

• You wanted to shift your work profile a bit, broaden your

skill base, your competence base, grow by working on different aspects of your field and become well versed and well rounded in all aspects of it but your current company did not provide you with the relevant opportunities.

• You were being transferred out of your current city and for

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some personal reason just don’t wish to go or maybe you are seeking a transfer out of the current city for imperative personal reasons and your current company has no such options. • You have recently finished studying or training in new skills

and therefore seek a better job since with your recently acquired skills, your current company is unable to offer you an appropriate position.

• You genuinely do not find the work atmosphere of your cur-

rent company conducive to good work and to your liking.

• The company has malpractices in several areas and you

don’t wish to be a party to it.

• You know the company has no future and you wish to secure

your own.

Whatever you reasons for searching for a new job are, they will either be negative or positive. If your reason is any of the negative ones given above, you simply have to downplay it all. Do not dwell on it for too long, give a very short and dismissive answer and try not to give any further leads resulting in closer questioning. Remember to never ever speak badly about your previous company or boss or colleagues. Bad mouthing your previous company and your colleagues can expose you to be a person who has social and adjustment problems. If your reasons are one of the positive ones, then of course you elabourate on it and make it part of your sales pitch for yourself. Where do you see yourself 5 or 10 years from now? Or What are your goals? Or What are your future plans? Or What do you think you will be doing in the foreseeable future? Or Where are you headed? Or

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What are you long term objectives? Or What are your plans for yourself for the next 5 or 10 years? Remember, when you were a small child and someone asked you what you wanted to be when you grow up and you would tilt you head, smile cutely and tell them your dream with great ease without a seconds thought, however ridiculous or far fetched it was? Now that you are grown up and supposedly much more knowledgeable and mature, the same question is difficult to answer. You have to be careful of matching your answer to the goals and directions of the company even if it takes a bit of maneuvering. For example you cannot say that you should be into your first million and somewhere in the upper reaches of the corporate ladder in 10 years time when you are interviewing for a job in the non-profit sector. You have to tailor the answer in accordance to the company you are interviewing with. Broadly speaking, the selectors are looking to see if you have ambitions and if your ambitions are in the same direction as those of the company. They want to see if you can plan your career path ahead and visualize it happening. They don’t want a person who hasn’t yet made up his mind and still has mental loose ends regarding his career. Of course your future visualization cannot be very detailed and down to specifics but some structure and some direction should be present in your mind. Talk about growth, both in personal life as well as in professional life, talk about learning and developing, about promotions and most importantly talk about the satisfaction and the pleasure you look forward to receiving from the job you do. Talk about the sense of achievement and of arrival, of having made a place for yourself in your field. Talk about how ultimately everyone’s expectation is to be happy, though their happiness may come from different sources. Tell them what are yours in relation to the company of course. Speak passionately so as to sound charged, motivated and determined. Talk in such a way that you can infect them with your enthusiasm and they feel that yes, this is the kind of employee we want for our company. Do not forget to tell them that you are flexible and not rigid about it all and can go with the flow when and where required. You understand that sometimes the turns life actually takes can

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be very different from what we had envisioned for ourselves and because you know and accept this, you are not the kinds who will be upset. This way the selectors can see you being a part of any expansion plans or any technical changes to take place without any hassles. There of course are some very wrong answers too to this question and these are said surprisingly often: • In your chair/job  This is simply being rude and

unthoughtful. This can offend the interviewer in two ways. First that you are not in the company yet and are already threatening his job. Second that you are claiming to be in his chair in 5 or 10 years when it maybe took him 20 years to get there. This demeans his worth and all his hard work of so many years. It can also be construed that either you consider yourself to be better than him or are ignorant about the pace of the industry.

• Definitely in this company itself  Though this is desir-

able from their point of view but to make such a strong claim is showing immaturity.

• Married, one house, two children, two cars, middle

to senior level  This is too personal and too specific and you cannot really predict it this way for sure. Moreover, you need to stick to professional stuff mainly. • I don’t know!  Why don’t you know! If you don’t then who

knows? Who is planning your life? Who is living your life? It is your business to at least make an attempt at having some workable plans for your future.

How do you typically stay in the information loop? Or Do you try and keep up with the latest trends? How? Or What are your ideas about continuous education? Or When do you think we stop being students? Basically, what they want to find out is if you keep up your awareness levels of what is going on in your industry, your field.

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Are you in the know of what are the latest trends, new developments, new systems, new technologies and methods in your field of work? Are you well informed about the who’s who and the big names of your industry? Are you in the loop of all the latest news? You have to express the idea that you understand that we are students for life and we never ever stop learning. Tell them how you continuously re-educate and re-train yourself. This shows your interest and dedication towards your subject and the will to better yourself. Such candidates are usually seen as an asset and are quickly selected. Again, a big measure of honesty is required here. You cannot claim to be updated and then fail to answer the questions that follow. Say that you try your best but of course it is possible that you may have missed out on some bits of news. This way you have covered your back if you are unable to answer a question or two. The various ways of staying abreast with the latest happenings of the industry are: • Being regular with news and current affairs. • Reading trade journals and publications. • Utilizing the internet. • Visiting trade fairs, conventions and any such events. • Talking to people in the industry and having a network. • Attending training sessions and workshops. Sometimes the

company you are working for nominates you for a training program and other times you have to take the initiative to pay and go yourself. (Read more about this in chapter 8)

Why do you want to work for our company? Or What do you know about us? Or You must be applying to other organizations too. If you get a call from us and one another, who will you join? In the chapter on pre-preparation, it had been suggested that you read up on the company you are applying for. Try and gather as much information as you can on that company from various sources. This is where all that information comes to use. If you

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don’t know anything about the company how will you answer such questions? How will you justify your wish to work for them specially if you are changing and switching jobs? The information that you have about the company will enable you to speak about concepts like their products, various policies, their growth patterns, their targets, their work culture etc. You will be able to talk about their market image and what attracts you to them. Here you can also bring up your priorities (chapter 8) and talk about how the job that this company is offering matches them, fulfills them. If you have applied for more than one organization, it is okay to say so. Everyone knows that the process of getting a job has its uncertainties and keeping more than one option open is wise. But, when you are in the interview room of one of them, you have to give the impression that they are your first preference. You have to make them feel as if your wish and desire and loyalty lie with them. To be able to put this forth in a convincing manner, it is important to know all about them and also the other organizations you have applied to. Then armed with this knowledge you can give arguments for why this particular one is better suited to you and your plans and why you would prefer to join them if you get multiple offers. Pre-preparation is imperative here because unless your argument is well thought out and smoothly expressed, it is very easy to be caught out. Do not try to impress them by naming some very large organizations in the industry since it is kind of understood that large firms are more attractive because of their brand names and how good those names will look in your Biodata some time in the future. Give honest answers and have reasons ready as to why you will join this one Whether you are ready with this answer or not, try and keep it as simple and short as possible as this can either become controversial or if handled badly can bring the interview to an end here itself. Tell us something about your previous organization. Or What was your experience in your previous organization like? Or What was your previous boss like?

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Or What was good or bad about your earlier organization or boss? This is a very sensitive question. Under no circumstances, speak negatively about your previous organization or boss. You do not want to give an impression of being negative and foul mouthed. Speaking badly of your previous employers shows you are ungrateful, unappreciative and rude. There is a kind of grace, elegance and maturity in speaking well of people who you are leaving or have already left and giving a positive spin to all your experiences with them. Try and talk about what you learnt from your previous organizations and colleagues, how they had an impact upon you and how you are now a better person and a better worker because of it all. Praise the company, your boss and your colleagues moderately and if asked why you are leaving if everything was so good, talk about the points given under the related question in this section itself. Mix in those answers to this one and say, even if all was good, you felt it was time for you to move on. The interviewers should feel that you are not a graceless person and will not talk bad about them too if in the future you leave them and move on to another organization. All this shows good poise, good mental carriage and a harmonious personality. Do you believe in job hopping? Or What makes you want to change jobs? Or How long do you think you will stay with us? Or What will make you stick around for a long time in any company? This question needs a clever answer. Although most job hopping takes place for better money and the interviewers know it too but this cannot be spoken of during the interview. Everything else can be spoken of but not money. Speak about how you will not consider leaving until the organization gives you a reason to do so.

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Throw the ball in their court by asking why would you want to ever leave if everything is going well? Why would you consider leaving if your professional and personal goals were being facilitated and met? Why would you want to leave if the working conditions and growth levels were good and you are happy in the organization? You would wish to leave only if something started going wrong. Maybe you were not learning anything new or were not given a chance to do so even if a possibility was there. Maybe the philosophies and working conditions of the company changed with time or under some new management. Maybe you educated and trained yourself in newer technologies and appropriate job profile changes and promotions were not happening. There could be so many reasons why you could start feeling dissatisfied in your job and even though you discussed this with the management, no changes took place. This may make you want to change. Try and assure them that as long as you feel taken good care of by the company, you will have no reason to change. Actually managements of good companies know of this and this is why they conduct exit interviews of people who are leaving to find out why they were leaving and what aspect of the company made them unhappy enough to do so. Are you willing to relocate? Or Is it okay with you that this is a transferable job? Or Are you ready to travel excessively? Or Will it be an issue with you if you are asked to make client calls in other cities? Essentially there are two different situations here but since they overlap a bit, let’s study them together. To relocate means to be given a job in a city away from your hometown or wherever it is you are working now. It requires a complete shifting of base and may also require uprooting and moving of family. If you are still all by yourself, it may not be too much of a problem but if you have family then consideration of spouse’s job, children’s schools, old parents’ doctors and hospitals etc., can be serious considerations.

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If you are asked to travel a lot, this too could be an issue if for some reasons it is difficult for you to leave home for several days. The various reasons for not preferring a relocation or frequent travel can be: • As a girl your family would not allow relocation or frequent

travel.

• Your spouse may be holding a very good job in your cur-

rent location and you collectively decide that it would not be wise to give it up.

• You prefer the schooling arrangements in your current city. • You have the responsibility of old parents and the dynam-

ics of looking after them demands that you stay in this city itself and also not travel much.

• You, for some personal reason, do not like the new city being

offered and do not want to go and live there.

• The new location could be very far from your hometown and

all your family and relatives.

• You are not medically very fit or have some health issues

and thus cannot travel too much.

• You are a person who finds it difficult to adjust to different

climates, food and culture and thus relocation is something you are not looking forward to.

• You just simply like to live where you are living and do not

want to make the move.

Whatever your reasons are, speak clearly about them in the interview itself since they can create unpleasant situations later on. If you do not speak up now and are hired and then are asked to relocate or travel, it will be a situation of loss to both—you and the company. You may have to leave and look around for another job all over again and the company will have to go through the hiring procedure all over again too. In fact, this aspect is so important that if they do not ask you this during the interview, towards the end, you should bring it up yourself. Ask them if there is any possibility of relocation or heavy traveling and explain why you are asking this. Of course, if relocation and traveling are non-issues for you and you don’t have any problem with either, this question is easily handled.

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Do you prefer to work alone or are you a team worker? Or Do you usually find it difficult to get along with your team mates? Or What do you think team dynamics should be like? Or What would your ideal team be like? The way you answer this particular question can make a deep impact on the selectors and thus on your selection. This is a very sensitive question since it is a well known fact that in any organization, work is done and accomplished in teams. If you say that you prefer to work alone and find it difficult to fit into team schedules and team agendas, you are basically telling them that all the other colleagues of yours are going to have a hard time working with you and you are going to upset the smooth functioning of the organization. Team spirit is an important ingredient of your personality and there is no avoiding it. Tell them you understand the concept of team work and have always fitted in well with your team mates in your previous jobs or in college and school. You appreciate the fact that working in a team is a better way of working as everybody’s efforts and ideas put together give better results and also leads to more learning. You understand the support that the team members have to provide to each other and move ahead together towards team targets and completion of team projects. Show them your understanding of vertical and horizontal teams. Horizontal teams are those who work together on a project and are more or less of similar hierarchy and vertical teams consist of the hierarchical structure of a department and maybe the organization with a leader at the top. At any given time, in a reasonably sized organization, one person is a part of both types of teams. Therefore, team spirit is important and a clear view of team working is required. Who is your ideal? Or Who do you want to be like? Or

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Who motivates you the most? Or Who do you admire and why? Or Who according to you are truly great people in this world? This question is rarely asked but when it is asked, it is for a very specific purpose. The interviewer wants to know what kind of people you admire and wish to be like. Your choice speaks a lot about you and your way of thinking. Most people tend to orient their thinking and behaviour according to the people they hold as ideals and getting their names can be an important input into your psychology. It is important that you know a lot about the person you name here. You should be able to specify which qualities you like and why. You should be able to say aloud some such quotes by them that are meaningful to you and which help you live your life better. You should be able to relate incidences from their lives which are an inspiration for you. You should know their life circumstances because of which they became the way they became, they did what they did. Without any background knowledge, just taking any persons name is meaningless and can land you in trouble during the interview. Candidates make a major mistake here by taking the name of a global personality or any other very well known person just because they think it is impressive to do so. What they don’t realize is that they may not be able to answer the questions following this declaration of theirs. Some of the most commonly named people are Mahatma Gandhi, Bill Gates, A P J Abdul Kalam, Indira Gandhi, Sachin Tendulkar, Mother Teresa and such likes. Taking names of people of this league can land you in trouble if the interviewer decides to grill you on your choice. He may start asking questions about them in detail and it may happen that you don’t know the answers. He may start a discussion on their philosophy and their contributions to humanity and you may not know anything beyond the very basics. He may start playing the devil’s advocate i.e., he may start trashing your choice of ideal and point out what was wrong about them and their teachings and expect you to defend the person with intelligent arguments, facts and anecdotes. If you fall short here, it will reflect badly on you.

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Therefore, unless you do have such an ideal and know all about him or her and can answer all questions and put up a good commentary on him or her, the best way to answer this question and defuse any grilling possibilities is to name someone from your personal life since there is no chance that the interviewer will know anything about them. You can choose one of your parents, a grandparent, an uncle or an aunt, any other elder in your acquaintance for some such qualities of theirs that make you more determined, give you a better outlook towards life and its various aspects or generally make you a better person. You may also name a peer or a younger person for some genuine motivating attribute like overcoming a handicap in life or achieving greatness despite some very compelling and opposing circumstances. But, be ready to talk about them too. What is an ideal working environment for you? Or What did you dislike about your previous place of work? Or What kind of Boss do you like to work under? Or What qualities do you like in an organization, your colleagues and your boss? Or What circumstances make it difficult for you adjust and work? Or What kinds of people do you find difficult or easy to work with? This is similar to two questions already dealt with above. First thing to keep in mind is to never say anything outright negative about the previous organization, your colleagues or your boss or the management in general. Another point to bring up here to gain some winning points is to mention that there is no glory in having a tailor made and ideal environment to work in as it leads to no learning and no growth of the individual. A few challenging aspects of the envi-

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ronment and the people in it are good to have as they teach us how to deal with undesirable situations, how to be diplomatic and how to face adversities. They develop in us a kind of finesse and we grow to become a better person with a depth of character. Say that you understand an ideal working condition is a myth because even if it is ideal for one person, there will always be another such in the team for whom it is not so and that persons’ discomfort or dissatisfaction will affect all others. Therefore, it is best to be flexible, adjusting and accommodating. You can go on to then enumerate a few basic good values that you would appreciate to have in the work culture such as—no illegal work being done, emphasis on social responsibilities, open door policies, value given to qualities like honesty, sincerity and creativity etc. Very non-formal and friendly atmospheres are a norm now-a-days and very conducive to work in. There are organizational efforts for a better social interaction between the employee families too and this is good for a better balance between the professional and personal lives of the employees. How do you cope with stress on the job? Or This job has high stress factor. How do you plan to deal with it? Or How do you manage yourself under stress? Stress is an integral part of working life in these times. There are many factors that can contribute to stress and differ from person to person. The long commute, the heavy traffic, the challenges of work, maintaining of relationships with colleagues, the competition, the deadlines, the office noise, the endless meetings, the paperwork to be completed, enforced creativity, financial management and juggling, job insecurity, the long hours and so many other possible reasons can create stress. To know how to manage stress has become not only an important skill but a survival tool. (Read more about stress management in chapter 9) This question has become quite a standard one in interviews. Some companies also put you through stress interviews where they judge you on your ability to handle it. (Read an earlier section in this chapter) Everyone has different ways of handling stress. Think and recognize which one you use and reflect on it.

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There can be more than one of course. Search in your memory for examples where methods worked for you and helped you deal with a stressful situation. Speak about them with conviction because if you yourself sound unconvinced, you will not convince others. If you do not yet have any such particular stress busting method of your own, develop one or more. You are reading this, therefore it stands that you are preparing yourself for job selection procedures, so it further stands that you are either a student right now or a young professional. In both conditions, stressful situations occur. Start working on handling them now and you will see a pattern emerge. How you intuitively handle it will be your most natural response. Study it and develop that method and learn to speak about it. The commonly observed methods are – • Be prepared. When you are well prepared, the task ahead •

•

•

•

•

is not a hassle. Anticipate. When you are able to think ahead of what possible situations can occur and pre-think ideas to deal with them, you defuse a possible stressful situation. Be knowledgeable. Knowledge never goes to waste. Knowledge is a very important tool in your tool box. Study well; sharpen your memory and recalling skills so that you can remember stuff at the right time at the right place. Develop a skill of application. This is taking knowledge to another level. Just having knowledge is useful so a certain extent where the situation is simple and straight forward. As soon as the situation deviates from the normal path, application of knowledge will help you deal rather than just stressing about it. Develop creativity. This is by far the most helpful skill. To be creative gives you freedom to break the confines of conventionalities and come up with solutions to problems that have never occurred before or for those you were completely unprepared for. In such a stressful situation, a knowledgeable person may sit dejected and defeated but a creative person will find a solution by thinking out of the box and using other inputs too. Personal beliefs. To some people belief in the almighty and the higher powers is a stress handler. They pull themselves together and have a go at the problem with deter-

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mination with the belief that the higher powers will look after them. • Recreational activities. These rejuvenate, recharge and

refresh you. They make you ready for another day of stressful dealings.

• Sharing with friends and family. When you discuss

your problems with people, tell them how things are with you and seek their advice, you are not so alone. This sense of support makes it possible to handle stress with ease.

• Physical fitness. Bad health adds to stress since the knowl-

edge that your health is not optimum and needs attention and care itself is stressful. Good health helps in increasing the capability of taking the stress, working long hours without getting exhausted, keeping your morale up and keeping you in good humor. When you are in good health, your body helps in absorbing the strain.

• Meditation. Many people now are looking towards the age

old methods of meditation for maintaining peace of mind. Mental stability and calmness are huge factors in handling a stressful lifestyle. When you are at peace with life in general, stress does not harm and is perceived as a wave that will come and go harmlessly.

• Positive attitude. Maintain a positive attitude towards

everything. Don’t see a problem or a stressful situation as the end of the world. If there is a problem, there has to be a solution too. Keep calm and look for it instead of panicking and worsening the situation.

• Above all, have faith in yourself and see the stressful

situation as a learning and growing opportunity. Believe that you will emerge a much improved person on the other side of the situation.

What are your hobbies? Or How do you like to spend your free time? Or What other activities are you fond of? Or What makes you feel refreshed and alive?

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Or Do you have any non-work passions? This question is asked mostly when the job profile is very stressful and it helps if the employee has interest in some recreational activities as stress busters. A hobby or any such activity that takes the mind off the job for a while helps the person maintain balance and equilibrium and prevent a burnout. Your hobby or preferred activity does not have to be very fancy or any of the commonly seen ones. It can be very individualistic and simple. It can be indoor or outdoor, sporty or artistic, passive or active. Basically any activity you really do like indulging in and feel better on doing it is good enough to mention. The depth of your fondness for the activity should shine through in the manner in which you talk about it. You would also be comfortable talking about it in some detail. Do not try to bluff your way through this one because the interviewer may decide to ask questions about it and you do not want to be caught making it all up. Read more about this in Chapter 3. Examples of some very possible scenarios are given there. If you are unable to think of any such specific activity offhand, spend some time to analyse your days and identify the activity you tend to indulge in to rejuvenate. Try and have at least one activity to be mentioned because it is an important aspect of a well rounded personality. Be cautious not to mention such an activity which the employers feel can disrupt your workday. For example, if you say internet browsing, they might feel that you will indulge in it during office hours. Similarly, if you choose to mention something like late night parties, an active interest in the stock market or long telephone chats with family and friends, this is going to be a cause for concern for the employer as it may have an effect on your productivity. Keep your activities non-threatening. Explain long gaps in your academics or jobs. Or Why is there a gap in your work chronology? Or What were you doing in this one year after college and before you got your first job?

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Or Why were you unemployed these few months? Or Explain your employment gap. Employment gaps are periods of months or years when you were unemployed but when ideally you should have been employed. If there is a sizeable time gap between your passing out of college and your first job or between two jobs, it becomes questionable. The employers are usually concerned about the hiring of people with unexplained gaps because these gaps could have been for some negative reason, though of course they can be due to some harmless reasons too and therefore this question is raised. Your reasons could be one of many. For example, • You took off to deal with a family emergency. • You were unable to work due to a medical condition. If this

is the case, then you should have medical records and be honest as to what that condition was since some medical conditions may make you unsuitable for certain jobs.

• You were not working because you had to take care of an

old parent.

• You had to bring up a child. • You were attending school or college or some such institute

full time, where you were further building your skills and qualifications.

• Your previous company underwent down-sizing or layoffs

and it took you some time to find another job.

• You took time off to travel or rejuvenate. • You were imprisoned. • You accompanied your spouse to such a place where you did

not find gainful employment for the period.

• You were terminated from your last job and you couldn’t

find any job after that for some time.

An employment gap or gap in employment history raises red flags in the eyes of a potential employer when the unemployed

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individual tries to return to work and because of this an employer is justifiably nervous about hiring a job candidate without a consecutive employment history. A truly smart candidate will be upfront about any gap in his job profile and answer all questions honestly. Candidates, who are trying to cover up the employment gap or fool the potential employer, use tricks to make their application materials appear free of employment gaps but get caught when questioned closely. This drastically reduces any chances of selection. If you have a perfectly explainable reason for your work gap, state it simply and briefly, maintain a positive, optimistic attitude, and be sure to let the interviewer know that you are excited and ready to return to work. Focus on selling your skills and capabilities and try to divert attention from the gap. What do you think are the main reasons for anyone’s success? Or What does success mean to you? Or How do you define or quantify success? Although for most people success may be evaluated in terms of money i.e., what salary levels they have reached, it is not considered proper to talk in these terms during an interview. Here you will have to approach the issue in a more balanced manner. Your answer has to be less materialistic and more about the intangible things. Talk about the other rewards of life that have nothing to do with money. Talk about human values, emotions and feelings. Some ideas could be— • Reaching your goal within a reasonable period of time feels

like success.

• Your family being proud of you is success. • Getting and doing a job that you love is success. • Experiencing job satisfaction is success. • Making a place and a name in the industry is success. • Completely enjoying all aspects of life and maintaining a

work-life balance is success.

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is success. For example, some people play a sport, are part of sports clubs and participate in tournaments. Some people engage in artistic endeavors or maybe something in music or dance. Some may be into writing and get published. Establishing a whole different identity that is not work related is a successful achievement for some and very close to their heart.

• To be in a position to be socially useful is success. Social

service of any kind can mean a lot to some people.

• Overcoming a personal problem, a handicap or any other

odds in life and yet making a good life is definitely a success.

There can be so many other individual ideas of success. Talk about it with a depth of feeling and mean it genuinely. Again do not try to bluff through by choosing to say something that you think will impress. Be genuine and look in the eye when you speak. While answering such questions, keep a thought on your body language for maximum impact. What are your main motivations in life? Or What makes you tick? Or What drives you? Or What fills you with energy? Or What are your lifetime ambitions? Here they are digging for information regarding your mental makeup. They want to see if you have any negative streaks. An individual’s motivation in life gives a clue about the way he may behave later on because it becomes his driving force. His morality and sense of judgment is affected by his motivations and thus are good indicators to his character. For example, •

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If he says money is his motivation and he wants to earn a

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lot of it really quick, it could be possible that he may job hop very frequently for a better monetary package offered and his loyalty is attached only to the money he is getting. It could also mean that he may be tempted to commit a scam or an illegal act of any sort if he believes he will be able to get away with it. He may also be the kind who will always be on the lookout for ways to make quick and easy money. Of course, this is not necessarily true for every person. A person with money as motivation can be very clean and moral too. The kind of body language and gleam in the eye he has when speaking about this can help a keenly observing interviewer to form the correct impression. •

If he says that his motivation is to rise very high as quickly as possible by any means, by hook or by crook, it clearly means that his actions will neither be good for the company nor for the team he is to be a part of. This person is a compulsive climber and will mercilessly use and stomp everyone in his path to attain his motivational goals.

•

If he says that ultimately he wants to open up his own company or business, it puts the interviewers on alert. This means that he is here only to learn the business, get the experience and then will leave.

•

If this interview is for a smaller company and he says that he dreams of working for a very large multinational with an opportunity to travel the world, the interviewers will know that he will always be on a lookout for another job and would not like to hire him.

There can be more such examples. The point here is that even if these do happen to be your motivations, do not answer in this manner. Nobody will want to hire a person who in some way or the other is not beneficial for the company. Further, nobody wants people who may turn out to be notorious characters. Instead, give such answers, which on reflection you will find are actually quite true. Tell them that your motivations are ultimately not different from anybody else’s, including them. Like everybody you want to be happy and have a happy family. You want a taste of success and contentment. You want to be able to fulfill the needs of your family to the best of your capabilities and have the satisfaction of the same. You want to work and grow

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in such a way that you can hold your head high and with pride in the society and contribute to it also and for all this you are willing to work honestly, diligently and with dignity. Keep your answer as general and non-controversial as possible. What are your salary expectations? Or What remuneration do you have in mind? Or Shall we talk about compensations? Or Okay, let’s talk money now. This question usually makes the candidates uncomfortable and embarrassed though there is no reason to be so, since it is after all understood that you are not going to be working for free and that this is not social service or volunteering. This is a question as important as any other since money is undoubtedly a serious consideration when you are picking up a new job. Talk about this very openly and without any hesitation, only remember to handle this with tact and delicacy. If you are fresh out of college, this is where some homework done will come in use. While doing your industry background fact finding (as suggested in the chapter on pre-preparation) you would have found out what are the starting salary levels of this kind of job in this industry. If you didn’t find out then, take care to find this information before the interview. Before the interview, also try to find out the kind of money this particular company offers for this job profile if possible. Go for the interview only if it is acceptable because they will possibly not pay you more than their standard. This is important because as a fresher you are in no position to name a figure and negotiate. You have to say—what ever the company policies are, I am okay to go with them. There must be some set remunerations for this post in the company and I understand that you will not pay me more or lesser than that and whatever that is, it is acceptable to me. Express your faith that the company recognizes the worth of its employees and believes in taking good care of them and plays fair.

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If you are already working and are job hopping, you will be asked what your current salary is. Do not lie about it; do not inflate it in the hope of getting more. Recruiters sometimes have methods to find out or confirm the figure you quote. They could also ask you to show a salary cheque or some sort of receipt or document to back your claim. If you had been untruthful, you will create an un-necessary embarrassing moment. Be honest since they already know what the industry standards are and will not be easily fooled. Tell them what your current salary is and that you are hoping to improve upon it. Salary negotiations are possible under only certain conditions: • You have been head hunted. This means, you have not

applied for the job but they have approached you and offered the job because of some special quality of yours and your skills. In such case, you can name your terms but keep them reasonable.

• You have recently undergone some skill enhancing train-

ing and bring some very special abilities to the table. These skills are of immense value to the hiring company and thus you can name your terms. Still, keep them reasonable and not over ambitious. Also remember, it is not pleasant to mention that competing rival companies may also make you an offer. No one likes to be put in a corner like this.

• When you have more than one job offer in your hand and

therefore, the freedom to pick and choose. If for some reason you would prefer to work for this particular company but their offer is a little lower, you may mention this fact but keep it honest.

• The amount offered is really low and you know that to live

on that amount is not possible for you.

Tell us a joke. Or Tell us a true humorous incident. Or What amuses you?

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This question asked in between serious questions can take you completely unawares. As a result, you may blurt out something completely inappropriate. The joke you tell them should be clever and tasteful. It should not be cheap or lewd. Keep it clean. It should not target any specific social section of people. Have a repertoire of some jokes which use language cleverly for effect. Keep it short and simple and use intonation and dramatic effects while telling to make it effective. Stay calm and enjoy the telling of it at a proper pace. A joke told all in a rush and in a flat tone can fail to amuse. You may also tell it all wrong or mess up the punch line. The true incident too has to be such in which the fun factor was not on someone’s expense and no one was hurt or harmed in any way. It can be work related or from personal life but take care that no sensibilities are hurt. The kind of jokes or incidents you relate will give the selectors an idea about the kind of sense of humor you have, how considerate or inconsiderate you are and the kind of sensibilities you maintain. It will tell them a lot about the person that you are. How you view others and whether or not you will be desirable in their office atmosphere. Do you have any questions? Or Is there anything you would like to ask us? It has been observed that candidates are highly concerned with this question. What can I ask? What questions are appropriate? Which kind of questions will not make me appear ignorant or stupid? Should I even ask a question? Ideally, if you are a fresh out of college candidate, you should just thank them for the opportunity and say no, there is nothing you wish to ask at this stage. If you have the confidence and the just-do-it spirit, you may smile and say something like—When do I join? Or—I do not have any questions now but I am sure I will have plenty when I join and start working. Say this only if you are very confident, have received positive feedback and can pull it off with panache. Say it in good humor. If you are an already working professional, you can ask technical questions regarding work, the company, the job profile etc. Keep your questions intelligent, relevant, genuine and few.

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Some more questions Besides these there are more questions that can be asked but if you have studied these carefully, you must have grasped the idea how to handle such questions. The basic underlying concepts here are not very difficult to grasp—prepare well, keep everything related to the job on offer and speak knowledgeably. Speak with confidence and conviction. Answer as non-controversially as possible. Be honest and don’t try to pull any fast ones on the interviewers because you harm your chances of selection this way. Some more questions worth considering and preparing could be: • Describe an incident where your initiative or creativity

saved or earned your company money. (This is asked after the candidate has made a claim in the direction.)

• How do you prefer to work—in a team or alone? • How do you adjust to a new work environment? • How do you adjust with new workmates? • Do you consider yourself successful? • What is your philosophy towards work? • Have you ever been asked to leave a position? • Tell us about a suggestion you made and was accepted. • Tell us about a problem you encountered with a supervisor. • Tell us about the most fun you have ever had on the job. • In your previous job, what were your responsibilities?

Which was most/least rewarding?

• Have you ever gone beyond the call of duty? • If you could start again, what would you do differently? • What have you learned from mistakes in life? • Describe your work ethic. • Talk to us about one world leader that you admire and why. • What bores you? • What are your fears in life? • How do you prioritize and balance your time?

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Chapter

7

Feedback

“Nobody trips over mountains ... it is the small pebble which causes you to stumble ... cross all the pebbles in your path and you will find you have climbed your mountain.” “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.”

Getting feedback and utilizing it after careful analysis is for improving oneself. Improvement is a desirable and a continuous task. You can always be one step better than what you are. Even the best of us can further improve. Some of the most successful people are those who are not enamored by people who praise easily. They listen very carefully to people who are their critics and take the criticism positively. Criticism should never be taken very personally. Don’t take it to heart, take it constructively. People who praise you are good for encouragement but people who are your critics are essential for improvement and in a way are true teachers. Sometimes the feedback you receive may not be positive and may not be what you hoped for but every little bit of information helps. Sometimes you may get to hear something that feels hurtful or something you just didn’t expect to or don’t wish to hear but, that exactly is the point, to come to know what is wrong in your method of performing, what is keeping you back and to

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improve upon it. The best candidates take the feedback from any setbacks as lessons and use it to refine and sharpen themselves to progress. Feedback is one of the most effective tools you have to improve your interviewing skill set. You can use the points from your interview feedback to focus more on the things that worked and earned you positive points, and to eliminate those things that didn’t. Candidates, who fail to use feedback to improve, commit themselves to play the game of hit and trial, hoping one day to get lucky and get it right. Success is achieved through understanding, preparation and taking the right action. Interview feedback helps you to identify what the right action is. Ideally, everyone would like to get the feedback on their performance in a selection procedure instantly, as soon as the procedure gets over, but it seldom happens so. After a selection test, group discussion or interview, every candidate has questions in his mind—How did it go? How did I do? Was there something that I did wrong? How could I have done better? What would have made a difference? Did I do as well as I had prepared for and had thought I would? Where did I fall short on my own expectations and why? These questions are of particular importance if you do not get selected even after what you consider to be your best efforts. When the results are out and you are not amongst the selected ones, the questions banging around inside your head are—What did I do wrong? How will I know? How will I improve myself? What should I have done differently? How do I come to know of my shortcomings so I can overcome them and perform better next time? You have probably changed your resume, your cover letter, your manner of answering and in desperation even changed your clothes for interviews and nothing seems to be helping. You really need some feedback here. If you have been in the job market for some time and if you have had several phone or personal interviews and still are not getting offers, it is time to start wondering what you are doing wrong. It is time to become aware of your deficiencies and work on improving them. The more details you manage to gather regarding why you didn’t get a job, the easier it becomes to actually figure out how you can improve your performance during interviews in the future. Admittedly, finding a job that is just right for you in today’s tight job market is much more difficult than it was just a few years ago but no matter what, you can’t give up hope.

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Getting the feedback There are many possibilities from where you can get feedback on your group discussion and interview skills. Try and employ as many of them as possible and make careful notes of it all for easy, ready and continuous reference. Gathering feedback can be a tedious task and needs a lot of patience but if your will to achieve is strong; you will take out the time and energy to do this exercise. People who can give you feedback are also a resource and to have a resource and not use it is not very intelligent. These various people could be:

The interviewers The actual interviewers or the selectors are the best people who can give you the most appropriate feedback on your performance because they can tell you exactly why they didn’t select you. But they are very difficult to approach. Very few selectors give you an opportunity or the time to talk about your feedback. Still an attempt should be made to approach them and ask them for it. • If they were the departmental managers of the company, it

might be difficult but by making a phone call and politely asking them for a few minutes of their time after explaining your purpose may get you what you need. Agree to meet whenever it is convenient to them and be there in time. Do not make them wait. Show respect and interest in what they have to say to you even if you find yourself disagreeing. Do not try and influence them now into selecting you and do not seem to beg.

• If they were the HR managers of the recruiting company,

it will be easier to get hold of them for a feedback as it is inline with their work. Call them and make an appointment. Before you go, have some questions to ask ready in your mind. They might be willing to give you a detailed analysis of your performance and even tips and pointers on what to learn and how to do better in the future. A careful and measured questioning may also make them tell you what exactly it is that they look for in a candidate and how do they evaluate them. This will help you in your future attempts to get similar positions.

• They may also have been from a third party hiring company

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also known as third party head hunters, hiring consultants or recruitment agencies. These are the easiest to approach. In fact some such companies do a briefing and a debriefing session for the very same purpose. Before the dates of the actual selections arrive, go and talk to them and ask them politely about what the procedures will be and what will they be looking for in the candidates. Listen to what they are saying very attentively because they may not tell you what you need to hear directly and the answers you seek may be hidden. Some hiring consultants also run trainings for candidates for a fee. In these trainings, they teach exactly what the requirements are. Wait for a few days after the interview before contacting the interviewer and asking for feedback. Not everyone will be willing to provide feedback but if you use tact and professionalism when asking for the feedback, you will be amazed at the responses you get. If this person is reluctant or does not respond positively, assure them that you are not contesting their decision not to select you but are only interested in improving your skills. Request them to share with you some specific pointers about you and your interview like—too experienced for the job or less experienced, not strong enough in a particular area or some social skills lacking or any other pointers that can help you improve. You can even make a list of certain aspects of your performance that you would like a feedback about or you can leave it up to the person and his perception of you. Just remember, the information provided to you is not personal, it should be viewed as constructive criticism and it should be used as a learning tool for your next interview.

Professional trainers In almost all cities, there are various GDPI academies and institutes which conduct specialized trainings to prepare candidates for job selection procedures. Some are general whereas some give industry specific training. For example, interview skills required for guest interface jobs in a five star hotel will be very different from the interview skills required by a data entry operator. These training institutes are very helpful for such people who need organized and concentrated help in preparing for selection procedures. Be sure to tell them what kind of job you are applying for so that they can help you accordingly.

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Now-a-days, most colleges too have started maintaining Training and Placement cells for the same purpose and such training programs are held in the college itself during the college hours. They employ soft skills trainers and organize industry specific trainings. It is up to you how much you utilize this resource. Attend all classes and pay close attention. Ask questions, discuss matters and keep hounding the trainers for more and newer methods since interviewing trends keep changing. If you are already working and are looking for a job to raise yourself, it is possible the interviewing dynamics have changed since the last time you gave one. Explore this possibility with the trainers. The feedback from these trainers can be valuable. They will conduct mock interviews. They will bring in people from the industry to take practice interviews. Take these interviews seriously. Perform in them as you would in an actual one and then listen very closely to the feedback they give you. After you have understood all the feedback and the changes you need to make, give these mock interviews again and look for improvement. Practice till you and the trainers are satisfied with your performance. In many ways, these practice interviews and their feedback will be the closest to the real thing.

Fellow interviewees When you are in the waiting room waiting to be called for your interview, talk to the others who are coming out having had the interview before you. Ask them politely about what’s going on inside and what kind of things are being asked and how are the interviewers responding. Specially focus on the last—how are they responding? You might pick up some clues as to what the interviewers are like and mentally prepare yourself accordingly. This is effectively some feedback about the interviewers and may give you an edge to know more about them beforehand. But be careful of being misled by any fellow interviewee. He may hand out some wrong information too as he sees you to be a competitor.

Self analysis Use your instincts. Whenever you go for a mock or practice or a real interview, you yourself will have a feel about how you did and what you could have done better. When you say some-

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thing, instantly you will get a feel of having said it well or having messed it up. Recall these instances later and analyse them, ruminate on them. Respect your own instincts and learn from what they tell you. Suppose at some point during your interview you felt—I have done this wrong— recall it later and think why you felt so and what else should you have said or how you should have said it. Or, when you felt—this feels right! This is how I have to answer—remember it and put it to good use in future interviews.

Exit Interviews Exit interviews are another important tool of self improvement at your disposal if you know how to utilize them. Exit interviews are usually arranged by the company when you are leaving it. They can be organized in both the conditions—when you are leaving on your own free will for better pastures or when the company is terminating your services for some reason. In the first condition, this is conducted to know the reason for your leaving, what could the company have done to have retained you and your interests in the company and if you have any feedback for them. In the second condition, it might be conducted to talk about the reasons. In both the conditions, you can take the opportunity to ask them a few questions yourself. If the person in front of you is the same who had initially interviewed you, you can now ask about the good and the bad points of your performance then. Of course, this will make sense only if the time gap is not of too many years. If it is your boss or some other senior, ask them to critique your working style, request them to give you friendly suggestions to improve your worth as an employee and anything else they would like to tell you which will have a positive impact on your professional standing. If you are leaving the company amicably, it is advisable to have a good talk with your seniors and colleagues before leaving. These people have actually worked with you and have surely made some observations on your style of working and also of your personality traits. They know you best. They may not have shared their observations with you till now but since you are leaving, they could be ready to tell you all. They may have excellent feedback on what skill sets of yours are well developed and ones which you need to work on. They can tell you what they

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perceive to be your positive traits which you need to maintain and the negative ones which you need to work on. If they are your friends, they will have invaluable feedback not only professionally but on the personal level too—on your personality, character and behaviour. Your seniors can take on the role of mentors, make suggestions and guide you on how to take your career forward. This kind of guidance is precious as it cannot be bought. Whatever feedback these colleagues give you, pick up points for your skills, strengths and weaknesses and use them in your next interview.

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PART

2

Personality Development

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Chapter

8

Understanding and Cultivating a Polished Personality for Success

“Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid” —– Albert Einstein “Magic in your life will happen the minute you realize that You are the magician!” “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”

It is said that a strong building can stand well only on an equally strong foundation. Similarly, an excellent career and a beautiful life needs a foundation of not only superb skills but also a good, stable personality. A good personality is a result of good habits. Good habits are a result of good intentions and good intentions are in turn a result of correct thinking. You, therefore, need to think for yourself and decide what is good for you and then work upon it. Friends and peers can sometimes take you wayward by not being so thoughtful themselves and laying more emphasis on entertainment and in having a good time rather than applying themselves to self

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development. Therefore, you need to have the strength of character to resist the temptations of your friend group and know how to balance the two. Play and fun activities are important too for good overall development and sanity but if a majority of time is spent on them, the results can be poor preparation for the things that are ultimately more important at this point in your life like getting a superb job and making a good living. There are certain building blocks of personality that are required not only during the selection procedure for a job but also to help you live a rich and fulfilling life in both aspects of it—personal and professional. Your professional and personal lives are not really as separate as you think they are and have a deep impact on each other. The kind of person you are in your personal life, your set of values, your virtues and your habits will have a direct effect on your professional life and vice versa. Your thoughts, your habits, your skills and your personality should have the qualities that are game changing! They should raise the level of the quality of your life and the competition for those around you. A few such habits and skills will be discussed here to get you started. These will give you a good foundation and you can build more upon them later in life as you grow and progress. Although a lot has already been written in books and articles on all the topics included here, in this chapter we will touch upon only the basic foundation and habit forming ideas in a very simple and easily applicable manner. Here no big, complicated ideas and theories and all that confusing stuff has been included, just the very basic and important things you really need to understand if you wish to win the race you have begun. By understanding and internalizing these basic pointers, you can give yourself a jumpstart and your career a perfect take-off. Remember, it takes only 21 days of dedicated effort to form a new habit. You will be stunned by the collective results of small daily improvements. So don’t just read this chapter, ponder on the ideas given, make a list of the changes you feel you need to work upon and make a conscious decision to form these habits—Now! Think of it as an investment of only a few weeks that will pay very rich dividends throughout your life. Investing in your personal and professional developments are the best investments that you will ever make. Make an honest effort to cultivate the habits you decide you need to develop and keep the practice of them in the forefront of your daily routine so that very

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soon they are an integral part of you and are helping you reach your goals.

Clarity of vision and goals How will you travel if you do not know where you want to reach? It is like getting into a taxi and when the taxi driver asks you where you want to go, you have no answer to give, no direction to point. The taxi driver either will take you just anywhere or will not take you anywhere at all. Life is no different. If you do not know where you wish to go, it will either take you just about anywhere or it won’t take you anywhere at all. Very few people have the luck to be taken to good places by life with no efforts made and directions given. Most are not so lucky and end up in unhappy and unfulfilling situations in life. Are you willing to depend on luck? Are you very sure of good luck in life? Or, do you want to make your own life? You have to be the director of your own life, the writer of your own story and the star of your own movie. You have to have a vision, a dream of what you want to achieve, where you want to go, the heights you want to reach, the distance you want to travel and what you want to become. Only then will it be clear to you what strengths and skills you have to find inside yourself or develop to make those dreams come true. You also need clarity because to know what you want is half the battle won. If you do not know what you want, you will run around in circles doing this and doing that but achieving nothing. All your investments of energy, time and money will be wasted. The saddest truth is that a lot of young people do not know what their dreams really are. They are conditioned by the family, the society or the peer group into wanting something they actually may not want. Everybody wants to be an engineer, a doctor, an MBA or something in the field of computers these days. Furthermore, it is considered okay to shift focus rapidly, which means, if you cannot be one thing with the least effort put in then it is okay to quickly go on to the next thing. This leads to wastage of efforts, energy, time and money, loss of motivation leading to frustration, a feeling of helplessness and is de-moralizing. The first mistake  The most common mistake made while setting your goals is to look at what others are doing instead of

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focusing on your own interests, strengths and capabilities. A surprising number of young people set the same goals as their peers and friends. It is as if a collective decision is being made. How can you set a goal of a job, decide to join a particular course, take admission in a particular college, agree to shift to another city or work in a particular field just because someone else is doing so? Your goals have to be specific only and only to your interests, like and dislikes. Your friends and peers have chosen according to their desires and you have to choose as per yours and yours alone. This is not the place to follow the group. What is it that YOU would enjoy doing most? What is it that will fill your heart with a light and a longing? What is it that will make you want to dedicate your life to it? What work will not feel like work to you? What work will make you want to get out of bed every morning with a happy jump? What will send you skipping to the moon every working day and bring you back smiling? The Second mistake  The second most common mistake is setting your goals as per someone else’s capabilities. Just because a friend is aiming for admission in a particular institution doesn’t mean you should also follow the lead and kill yourself trying for it even though somewhere inside you know you are not capable or suited for it. Maybe you are made for something different. You as an individual have your own unique set of skills, abilities, interests and creative energy. There should be no feeling of inferiority if you are not aiming for the popular and the topmost institutions with their eventual vigours if you feel it is not what you really want and that it will make you miserable in the long run. People who are doing the job they love and enjoy and are doing it sincerely, to the best of their capabilities, are eventually as successful and happy as the ones who came out of the premier institutions, if not more. Setting your targets on the basis of someone else’s capabilities is an invitation for possible failure and disappointment in the future. Do you not know what your own capabilities are? Set a target that is a little higher than what you think is your limit so that you work and stretch yourself towards it. When you achieve it,

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set another one further higher up and this way you achieve personal excellence by surpassing the limitations you have imposed on yourself step by step. The satisfaction thus achieved will give you a tremendous boost and encourage you to set your next target too a little bit higher and thus with each successive target, you will touch the peaks of personal growth and attain enormous sense of pride. Once you do decide on your major goals in life, you have to break them down into medium and short term goals. What do you want to achieve this year? In the next two years? Five years? The further in time you go, the more loosely visualized your goal will be. There should be a loosely held image of what it will be like in 10 years because of the circumstantial uncertainties of life. Yet, there should at least be a directional path laid out to show you the way, to point your endeavors at. The immediate goals should nevertheless be laid out in detail and planning done accordingly.

Establishing priorities Priorities are an excellent decision making tool. When faced with multiple choice situations involving several parameters, making a choice without a clear sense of priorities is not only very difficult but can also lead to wrong and poor choices made. Everything would be so much simpler if there were not multiple parameters of success in life. But, since there are, they must be dealt with. A fully successful image is made up of several parameters like money, designation, brand name of the company you work for, the city you live in etc. Often it becomes very confusing and mind numbing trying to balance these out into the best equation possible. It would be best to understand this with an example— Let’s say we have a candidate Ashok who has three job offers. • The first has the highest salary offer but requires him to

move to a city far away from his home town and family which will result in completely changed living conditions and food choices.

• The second job offers him less salary and the lowest entry

level designation but is in a very big and prestigious company with good growth prospects.

• The third offer has sufficient pay packet, a good designation

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but the company is quite ordinary and unknown. It is in his hometown. Now, this is a possible real life scenario. How should Ashok decide which job offer to accept? This is where personal priorities come into play. Here are the different possible scenarios in Ashok’s life and the decisions made accordingly – • Ashok, for some personal or family related reasons needs to

earn money quickly and for that he is ready to do anything required of him. Nothing else holds priority over his earnings at this stage in his life. It could be anything—death of the family bread earner, bank loans, need to augment family income or anything else. Maybe, Ashok wants to be financially independent. In this condition the first job offer is the most sensible choice.

• On the other hand, maybe Ashok has no obligations to earn

money quickly, but can plan his career with a long term view. He understands that work experience with a big name will look good on his resume and he will get good jobs in future if he needs to change for any reason. Even if he doesn’t change, this company can give him a good career. Money and designation will come in plenty with time. The obvious choice here is the second job offer.

• The third job offer is ideal if Ashok needs to or wants to stay

with his family and does not prefer to leave and go. Money, designation and company are not his priorities as long as they are sufficiently okay. His first priority is staying in his own hometown for whatever reasons.

This way, we see how priorities in life can affect our decision making and help us to make the correct ones. This case scene was simple but even in the most complicated ones; a well developed sense of priorities can help you make the right decision. Making right decisions help you stay on the path that is ideal for your growth and takes you straight to your dreams. So, do take out the time to organize your personal priorities. It can take some time to delve, analyse and get it right. Do not hurry. Come back to the thought again and again and keep at it till you come to some clear ideas that you feel most comfortable with.

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Time management Time is a resource that we all have in equal measure regardless of the fact whether we are winners or losers. The thing about time is that it is finite, non-renewable and ever-advancing. It just doesn’t stop, whether you use it or not. You cannot store it for future use. This is why optimum utilization of this precious resource is a must. Your time and where it goes should be in your conscious control and you absolutely have to have a complete idea where it is being spent, in what activities and in what proportions. Time, its constraints and the issues related to it are the primary causes of stress. Everybody wants to achieve the maximum possible and maybe more in the shortest time possible. Also work expectations and pressures can sometimes be unrealistic and thus cause stress. Consequently, everybody wants to have free time to just be, the possibilities of which are becoming more and more elusive in this competitive world. Anybody who is in the race with an aim to win simply cannot afford to waste time. This, however, does not mean that you should be working on your development every single moment since rest, enjoyment and recreation are equally important too. People who do not switch themselves off now and then to rejuvenate themselves tend to burn out very quickly and fall far behind in the long term. Whereas the ones who are constantly on the entertainment track do not achieve much too. Therefore a sensible balance between the two is required. So, how does one go about it? What are the tools of time management? There are many books that you can read up on the subject if you had the time. There are several tools of time management that can give you an in-depth look into the subject. There are also many theories and tips to be found on the subject but basically it all boils down to three basic concepts without which all your efforts will be haphazard and non-productive. They are— Visualization, Planning and Pockets of time. Visualization  What tasks do you want done? What do you want done today, tomorrow, within this week, at the end of this month, by the year end, in the next five years, next ten years and by the time you are 45 years old? What do you want done in these time scales? You should have sharp, crystal clear ideas

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of the things you want done in the immediate time period, semiformed ideas of task accomplishments in the medium zone time period and some semi-gelled ideas of what you will have achieved in the longer time period. The latter because life does not always go as per our plans and we do take unexpected turns along the way but our general direction should still be towards our initial intentions. Unless you know what you want to achieve and what you want to do with your time, how will you plan it? How will you know whether you are on the right track or lagging behind? How will you know you if have reached where you wanted to or not and whether you are a success or a failure? Therefore, visualization of your goals of the short term, medium term and long term is important. You can monitor your progress and decide if your time is being spent well. It can also help you in identifying whether the goals you set for yourself were accurate, under-ambitious or over-ambitious. • If you are able to complete your tasks without feeling too

free or feeling too stressed out and are happy, you have set correct and accurate goals.

• If you constantly feel there should be something more and

so much more can be done, then you have probably not set your goals high enough for your capabilities. This means that you are not utilizing your potential fully and can do more. Re-plan accordingly.

• If you are constantly running from one activity to another,

are stressed out and hardly have time for a breather, you have set goals that are demanding too much of you. Adjust accordingly and re-plan.

Planning  For good time management you have to have a clear view of your goals and the skills required to reach them so that proper planning can be done. Without planning, you will just run around and it will seem as if you are doing a lot but the result will be nothing. Unless your efforts and hard work progress in some organized manner, achieving your goals will seem an impossible task. The major long term goals have to be broken into smaller medium and short term goals which facilitate proper planning. Let’s understand this with an example— Say you are in the final year of college and your major goal at the end of the year is to ace the selection process and get the best

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job in the campus placement drive. For this you know that you have to do well in your final exams, score very good grades and you also have to have optimum levels of general knowledge and language and communication skills. To achieve all this you have a time period of only a few months. How are you going to do it? You will have to chalk out detailed time tables for daily reference, weekly reference and monthly reference. Some activities like academic studies, reading newspapers and magazines, listening to the news etc., will have daily time slots, activities like sports, going shopping and visiting the library can have weekly time slots while going to see a film or having a day out with friends can be a monthly activity. This way you know whether you are on schedule, whether you are reaching your short and medium term goals and if due to some reason you go off schedule, you will know how to change, adjust, fiddle around a bit with your time table and come back on track by making up for lost time. Remember, the things most likely to get done are the ones that have been scheduled. Make sure to make a time table that isn’t too tight. It should be doable and flexible. For example, it will be strenuous if you set a goal of finishing at least three books per month on top of the entire daily reading load you already have or if now you decide to join a computer course along side or you decide to train for a marathon! Overloading the day and keeping it tightly packed will leave you exhausted. This also greatly increases the possibility of wanting to drop out of the schedule and just give up the whole thing. Then years later you may sit and regret the decision which seemed inevitable at the time. But, throughout this planning, have a clear understanding of your capabilities and plan accordingly. Don’t have a certain kind of time table just because someone else has it. Make your own as per your convenience but remember to be a little strict with yourself because you surely are more capable than you think you are——try it! Pockets of Time  This is a magical tool of time management. It results in time found and tasks achieved where nothing previously seemed possible. These are hidden, unrealized pockets of 5-20 minutes throughout the day which normally go waste and can total up to 2-3 whole hours everyday! Learning the art of utilizing small pockets of time is like finding a treasure trove of the supremely invaluable resource called time.

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Here is how it is done You are waiting for breakfast or lunch or dinner to be served and there are 10 minutes or so before it happens ... or You are waiting for a friend to arrive and he is 15 minutes late … or You finished what ever it was that you were doing and are waiting for your favourite program on TV to start in 5 minutes … or You spend 20 minutes twice everyday on the bus or train … or You take a half hour every evening over a leisurely cup of evening tea … or You are waiting for your turn in a queue at the bank or the post office. What do you do in these few minutes? How do you spend them? Do you even have a clear concept of how long just 5 minutes are and what can be accomplished in them? Do you realize that so many tasks for which we always bemoan that “I just don’t have the time for this” can very easily be dealt with in these 5-20 minutes? It’s just that we don’t even pay any attention to these ‘in-between’ minutes and let them go waste. They are not even registered in our internal ‘time radars’ and just slip away un-noticed. Now, if you put your mind to it, you can come up with several similar instances where you have a few minutes which are not being utilized but should be. In these pockets of time, you can read a page or two of a book or magazine if you always have one nearby, you can catch up on the news, if you have a computer with internet you can clear out your mail or check out a site or two, you can fold up your clothes, you can settle your wardrobe, polish your shoes, organize your desk, tidy your room or do any of the scores of such small chores that otherwise you never seem to find the time for. If you are in a bus or a train you can read. At the bank or in a queue somewhere, you can do some mental tasks like plan your next day, mentally revise what you read that day, have a small extempore in your mind, attempt to describe your surroundings at that time in English if you are trying to improve your language or pick up a conversation with a friendly stranger and gain confidence in yourself.

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Do it yourself Conduct a small experiment right now as you read this. Take a watch or a clock with a second’s hand. Now, sit absolutely still and do absolutely nothing till the second’s hand travels a complete rotation and thus completes a whole minute. Remember, it is important that you do absolutely nothing except stare ahead. Even thinking of anything other than the time is not allowed. Better still, ask someone to give you a ‘start’ and ‘stop’ command at the beginning and end of a minute and in the meantime make sure you cannot see the watch or clock. • How did it feel? • Did it feel like a reasonably long period of time? • When you could not see the watch or clock, did you

find the minute interminably long?—Did you think at least once that maybe your helper has overshot the minute mark?

• Now in retrospect, do you think a little something

could have been done in that period of time?

• Now suppose two or five or ten or twenty such min-

utes are put together. Do you now see what a long span of time they are?

• What tasks do you now see yourself completing in

these minutes?

• How does the concept of wasting all these minutes

feel now?

• Mentally add up all such wasted minutes in your

day. How many hours do they come to? Are you surprised? Amazed?

If you need more convincing, repeat the above exercise with a helper and extend it for 5 minutes. Just sit idle for 5 whole minutes and watch time pass by. It will change your views on time forever. It will change your life!

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There really are unlimited number of ways in which these few minutes can be put to good use instead of just letting them pass by. If you master the knack of using these pockets of time, you will notice that you are doing more and more in what will seem as lesser and lesser time. It’s almost magical. So much more is accomplished with ease and the sense of achievement at the end of the day is empowering.

Stress management and Work-Life balance— Stress is a state of being where one feels overwhelmed with work and life issues and trapped as if there is no way out. It may happen because too many things demand your attention and there isn’t enough time to attend to all of them, it may happen because you feel the results are not in accordance to your inputs and expectations or it may happen because you are simply not happy in your situation. Stress can also be a result of being under-skilled or because of a sense of underachievement in life professionally or financially. Lack of satisfaction in your job too can lead to stress. Stress can ruin a life and suck the joy and peace out of it. It also affects one’s productivity at work place and relationships in personal spheres. What one needs to understand is that ultimately nothing related to profession is worth undergoing this kind of stress. Nothing materialistic is worth ruining a life for. It is okay to try your best at something and yet if not achieved, to change your focus towards another goal. Changing of goals is not a defeat of any kind, but a sign of intelligence that you are not wasting your resources anymore on something that is apparently in-achievable for you and instead are focusing them towards something new and more suited to you. This mindset can be a big help in keeping stress at bay. Although fresh-out-of-college and young professionals are not yet trapped with the issues of work-life balance and harmful levels of stress of the intensity senior professionals tend to be dealing with, nevertheless, they do have their own variety of problems in this area. They are under the major stress of establishing a career of choice in this extremely competitive environment, keep up with the new emerging technology on an almost daily basis, be adaptive to the information overload, be innovative and creative at work and generally be smart and alert at all times to stay ahead of the competition. To this add the entertainment

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must-do’s and the play hard mentality that has become a sort of compulsion to prove that you are living the best of the latest life style available out there. Every activity indulged in has to make a statement to the peer group. Money or the lack of it is a big source of stress. Young people are very competitive about money. Who has the most to spend and throw around? Who can indulge in the best brands, the latest styles and entertainment and food for friends? The ‘I want and I want it now!’ culture is stressing out the whole generation. Instant gratification is the norm and when not fulfilled, the person feels like a failure. Under the modern life style precepts, it has become necessary to have every single moment of the day slotted towards an activity related either to work or play. There is hardly any time to just sit and be and recharge. This has a negative effect on productivity professionally and on happiness on the personal front. It also leads to early burn-outs and many people express a desire to just fall of the grid and since they cannot because of financial needs, things only get worse. The know-all, work-hard and play-hard culture within the environment of competitiveness creates stress and the concept of work-life balance helps deal with it. It is good to have a preawareness of these issues and thus consciously work towards avoiding the stress right from the beginning. Stress can lead to major medical problems physically and psychologically. The onset of these health related problems is being observed at younger and younger ages now and is an indication of rising stress at a progressively younger age. Many of these cause permanent or near permanent damage to the body and mind and have a deep impact on life style. Thus stress is best avoided or intelligently dealt with. A lot of stress can automatically be avoided by having clear priorities, proper planning and time management. All of these have been discussed earlier. Clear priorities help you to focus your efforts in the right directions. Proper planning results in maximum output with minimum input. Time management makes sure you do not find yourself hassled all the time. These concepts put together prevent you from having unrealistic expectations from yourself and thus avoid the possible stress. But, the more important tool of avoiding stress and having a pleasant work-life balance is making time for such activities that you enjoy and which leave you feeling refreshed. Such activities

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are recreational and recharge you with life. They fill you with enthusiasm, relax you and make you ready to face another day of work. It could be anything—a sport you play, long walks, dancing, listening to music, playing an instrument, reading, watching films, photography, writing, playing and spending time with family, hanging out with friends, learning something new, long drives, daydreaming, a hobby or anything at all from countless other possibilities. It is important to remember to find time to indulge in these and to consider that time as an investment rather than a waste. A few moments spent in a recreational activity can keep you in good working order for a long time leading to success. Poor health is a strange factor which is both—a result of stress and a cause of stress. Bad health will come in the way of your efforts and an average health will slowly decline coming to notice quite late when the modern day life style diseases start showing up and then cause you stress. Promise yourself to maintain top level health with exercise and good eating habits from youth itself. Corporate life can deteriorate health rapidly and when it is time to enjoy the fruits of a life lived in hard work, it usually is also time to fall prey to life style and age related diseases. Read, study and learn about these and how to avoid them and take good care of your body. This way you will be able to work hard and play hard enjoyably. Nothing is more precious than family. Family life is a major force in our lives. Having good relationships, nurturing them and giving them time and attention makes for a happy and fulfilled life. In extreme situations, it is always advisable to choose family over profession. Having relationships that are fulfilling, balanced, understanding and loving will tide you over any of the worst stressful situations. How to maintain such relationships and family bonds is a vast topic in itself and needs a separate volume to deal with it, therefore, here it suffices to say that family and friends can be excellent cushions for stressful times but on the other hand can also be causes of stress if not prioritized and handled with care. So, do think carefully and work towards your relationships accordingly. A lot has been written on stress and related issues and there are plenty of volumes that can be consulted if one is dealing with a serious condition of it. This book endeavors to give you only the starter points and the basic understanding of the topic as a young individual. Therefore, these stress reducing points can be summarized as–

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•

• •

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

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clear answers to the question—What do you want? Base your goals on these. Plan your short term, medium term and long term routines well and follow them. Remember to keep them flexible and receptive to any emergencies or major interferences. Adopt principles of time management and make them your habits, your tools. Slot in recreational time in your routine and just enjoy yourself as often as possible. Take care that enjoyment is not at the cost of work and work is not at the cost of enjoyment. Strive towards a balance that feels good to you. Maintain excellent health. A healthy body is often the greatest wealth. It helps you to work hard and also enjoy your free time in the best way. Give consideration and value to family, friends and other relationships. Share your problems and share others problems too. Remember, people will always remember how you made them feel and value you accordingly. Meet interesting people of all ages and talk to them, read good books and internalize the various interesting concepts in them to be in touch with all the varied aspects of life. Take very good care of your spiritual life. A person who is well grounded spiritually finds it easier to deal with stress and live a calm and peaceful life. Learn and practice relaxation techniques especially if you feel you are prone to taking undue tension over things. Learn about deep breathing, meditation, visualization and other such techniques. To fail at something does not mean you are a failure, it just means that you have not succeeded yet and need to try harder. Do not take failure in anything as an indication of failure for ever. Don’t make it your personal definition. Try harder and more sincerely and if yet you don’t succeed, go on to another alternative goal. There is no value in putting yourself through stress because of it. There are many other things that can be accomplished in life. Learn to make peace with this idea. To be competitive is good but to only a certain extent. If you find yourself carrying too much tension in the name of

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competition, it is advisable to let it go. Competition should be within a healthy range where you are not overwhelmed by it. When you let competition rule you, you are actually behaving from a state of ego which forces you to see a setback as a defeat or as an insult. Learn to recognize it and evaluate its worth in the larger picture of life.

Constantly upgrading yourself The journey of personal growth is never ending. Whenever we think that we have reached, we have arrived, almost immediately there is something more, something newer to learn. There is always scope for improvement since human potential is limitless. Of course, this does not mean that you take this to the point of extreme stress, just that you need to be sure that you are not lagging behind and harming yourself professionally and have not left any potential unexplored. Once you have mastered something, don’t stop there. Surpass yourself and see what it does to your self-esteem! It is said that change is the only constant and this is quite true. Nothing is static. What worked yesterday has probably become obsolete today. Everything keeps changing at different paces. Newer technologies come in, newer concepts, newer methodologies and newer systems. New knowledge is created in every field in real time. If you don’t keep up with these changes and upgrade yourself on a regular basis, you will be left behind. There are instances of people becoming redundant and losing their jobs or not getting promotions and good postings or not landing good jobs only because they were stagnant in their skills and knowledge content. The idea is to always have something more to offer a prospective employer, to have a USP (unique selling proposition), to have an upper hand over the other hopeful candidates. The employer should feel that he is getting a better deal if he employs you over all the others. If you constantly upgrade yourself, you stay on top of the competition. But there is no need to fear. This is a great time for learning. The learning possibilities are astonishingly quick and easy with the internet, the connectivity and the media. What is required of you is to be on a lookout for new stuff happening in your field and also the meaningfully related ones. The phrases ‘keep your eyes and ears open’ and ‘keep your radars switched on’ work well here.

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Be alert to any changes, any advances and any shifts in your field of work. There can be many ways of doing this— • Identify your trade journals. Every field has informative

journals or newsletters released on a regular basis. Make sure to subscribe to them and read them.

• Make sure to read your company newsletters and circulars.

There usually is news about latest happenings in them.

• Apply for any new methodology training programs. • Re-educate and re-train yourself as and when required. Learn

new skills even if you have to do it in your own capacity.

• Maintain a network of friendly people all over the industry

who can knowingly or unknowingly keep you updated on the latest happenings.

• Be a part of the unofficial grapevine in your work place.

This is crucial as not being a part of this can leave you isolated and ignorant to important bits and pieces of news. Office grapevines are great sources of information.

• Be an active part of social groups because a lot of informa-

tion leaks happen here specially of the otherwise confidential kind.

• If there are any organizations, clubs, associations or any

such sort of groups in your field, be a member of it.

• Of course, the need to be in the constant news loop cannot

be emphasized enough.

Emotional Stability A person is considered to be emotionally stable when he acts and reacts to various situations in daily life in a balanced, reasonable and calm manner regardless of the fact that those situations are fair or unfair, known or unknown, mundane or new, harmless or potentially dangerous. When a person maintains his cool and is not easily shaken he is considered stable. He does not panic at every little thing, at any change from the routine and does not feel lost easily when his familiar environment is modified in any way. His confidence and grounding is not easily shaken and he adapts very quickly to anything new. Such a person does not think that the world is out to get him, everybody is against him and that he has to fight the entire world. He is not manic.

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Emotionally healthy people have high efficiency, are able to manage stress better and make good leaders. They are able to dedicate themselves better to their jobs since they are not mentally dealing with any un-necessary issues. Such a person is confident, has faith in himself and in his capabilities. He is ready to face the world. He is in a state of balance and acts rationally. He can handle stress and does not behave in an erratic manner under it. For this reason such people are preferred as employees. This is why you have to mind your manners at all times and behave during the selection procedures so as to appear as an emotionally grounded person. Emotional health is a vital part of overall health and adds to the feeling of well-being. It also contributes towards social health and relationships. It permits a person to keep a command over thoughts, actions, reactions, anger, frustration and any negativity. Workplace relationships are delicate and require high maintenance. Emotional volatility leads to conflicts and bad business. Impulsive behaviour, emotional outbursts and things said thoughtlessly disrupts the office environment and may lead to termination of services. A person with good emotional health is happy and contributes well in others lives, in the work place and in the society in general. It is attained through inner conviction of one’s goodness and abilities. It reflects the inner balance and a well developed sense of internal security. It neutralizes the environmental upheavals and changes and helps face pressures with poise. Emotional stability is all about attitude. A positive attitude towards life, its blessings and its trials leads to the kind of grounding that gives you this firm, stable platform to stand on. Since emotional stability is an easily observed element of personality, it is necessary to develop it. Start working on your mental attitude and decide resolutely to develop a can-do and die-hard spirit. Have more faith in yourself and in the general goodness of humanity.

Health So much can be said about health and yet does anything really need be said? Everyone knows that health is our biggest wealth and everything else fades in importance in front of it. Maintaining world class health is not difficult and needs just a few established habits with a long term view. Health is just not an absence of disease. It is a complete package which includes physical, mental and social well being. All

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three interact and work together to give you an overall feeling of well being. They impact each other. A healthy body promotes a healthy mind and a healthy mind helps maintain a healthy body. Both together keep you in good social disposition. Good health helps keep you in good spirits, in good humor. It becomes easier to absorb the extremes of corporate life, work to your optimum and grow well. With no daily aches and pains, no health concerns occupying the mind, you will be able to concentrate better on the other agendas. There will be a happy spring in your step and you will find yourself facing life with zeal and enthusiasm and thoroughly enjoying it. We have already read about mental and social well being and in this section we will talk about physical health. When studying in college, while preparing for competitions, and finally when running your race with an aim to win, good and sound physical health helps in absorbing the rigors of the ordeal. If you are not in top physical form, how will you put in the hours and the sheer hard work required? You need strength, stamina and capacity to work hard. Long hours, late nights, irregular and unhealthy eating and other such occurrences are common place in these years. All these do not seem too bad at this age because youthfulness is on your side. But, internally, a foundation for bad health gets laid now and shows its effect later on. Therefore, it is advisable to keep a few things in mind during the youthful years to enjoy good health throughout life. So, how is this achieved? Most people assume that since health problems of all sorts are so rampant and so commonly observed in the society around us, maintaining good health must be a difficult task otherwise so many millions would not be so ill. But this is not so. Barring genetic, congenital and systemic illnesses, most others are easily avoidable by taking just a few steps right from young age. People make the mistake of beginning to make attempts in this area after they have fallen sick and then trying to rectify it or reverse the condition. If a few sensible steps are taken from young age itself, a majority of such life-style conditions can be completely avoided. These steps are: • Food  Food is a very basic ingredient of health and it is not

difficult to learn about the basic principles of nutrition. One good book or just an hour or two at the internet can give you good foundation knowledge in the area. Learn about the various nutrients, their importance and how to use them for

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your benefit. Learn about the importance of eating various foodstuffs like fruits and vegetables and whole grains. Learn about cleanliness and hygiene. Learn about good and bad fats. Learn about the importance of eating simple, wholesome home cooked food rather than street food most times. Learn about the benefits of drinking clean water instead of soft drinks and beverages all the time. Learn everything about the simple concepts of nutrition and how to utilize them according to your needs and physical condition. • Exercise Good wholesome food should be combined with exercise for best results. You do not have to be a sports person or a body builder to exercise regularly. Everybody needs exercise to stay optimally healthy. There are actually hundreds of activities that can be done to get physical exercise. Find some that interest you and which you would enjoy doing. Develop some routines and follow them diligently. Do exercise as a preferred activity and not as something forced upon you. Enjoy it. Once you start enjoying it, you may take it to higher levels and even if you don’t, make sure you do at least the maintenance level exercises. Exercise keeps you not only physically fit but also mentally alert. It prevents many diseases, boosts your immune system, helps you sleep better and delays aging. Join clubs, make groups, find a partner or do it alone. Whichever way, just make sure you do it. • Sleep  Sleep deprivation is a very common phenomenon now-a-days. People are conditioning themselves to get by on lesser and lesser sleep. The average number of hours of sleep has fallen drastically. This is because of many reasons like heavy workloads, long commutes, party culture, attractive entertainment options and other distractions. In the long run, this too has an impact on health and contributes to the onset of lifestyle diseases which are occurring at lower and lower ages. Try and get refreshing, continuous sleep of a good number of hours at least a few nights a week if not every night. Try not to create a sleep debt. Body and mind, both, rejuvenate and repair themselves during sleep and thus proper sleep is essential. • Preventive measures and Alternative treatments—For simple problems try and not go in for medication easily. Try alternative systems like naturopathy, ayurved, homoeopathy, massages, yoga etc. Learn to use food as a healing system. Stay away from chemical products as much as possible.

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A Myth buster Many people believe that a polished and attractive personality is something a person is born with or gets it from growing up in an equally polished environment and thus is limited to only such people. Although this is true to a certain extent, it does not in any way exclude the possibility of anyone else developing it by diligence. Further, many believe that a good personality needs money. In reality, money has nothing to do with personality as it is about you as a person that matters and not what you look like externally. Attractive physical appearance has only so much effect and there is much more that defines an individuals overall personality. Physical attractiveness is a gift by birth but true character is internal and can be developed. There are millions of people who are not physically attractive and yet have truly magnetic personalities. Attractive appearance and a good personality are just not the same thing. What is required is a good body image. Whatever you have been blessed with, maintain it optimally with the help of good food, exercise and world class health. So, do not despair if you are not physically attractive as you can still go ahead and develop the best personality there is. After that, what matters are your inner attributes. What kind of person are you internally. You should be kind and considerate and with compassion for all. You should not be self-centered. You should be willing to listen to others and to help them, make others feel important and valued too. Be open to others points of view and be appreciative of their circumstances. A polished personality is also about how you present yourself, how you carry yourself and how you relate to others. Are you quick in finding mistakes and laughing at others but not on knowledge? Can you take a jibe made at yourself in a calm manner? Can you deal with unpleasant people pleasantly without adding fuel to fire? Do you have that poise that differentiates boors from cultivated people? Can you assess situations accurately and how to deal with them? Do you have patience with people and are you forgiving? There are literally hundreds of big and small character attributes that are the basic blocks of it and building a polished personality is a lifetime endeavor. It is attainable by absolutely everybody regardless of their birth circumstances.

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Chapter

9

Manners, Etiquettes and OLQ’s

“The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do.” “True strength is keeping everything together when everyone expects you to fall apart.” “Courage does not always roar. Sometimes it’s the small voice that says at the end of the day - —I’ll try again tomorrow.”

Your academics, general knowledge and all other skills may be spectacular, but do you have the social skills requisite to be successful in the workplace? Your educational degrees hold little importance if you are not a well mannered person. You are obligated to know how to conduct yourself in an agreeable manner in every situation—at home, in college, during interviews and other selection procedures and finally in the workplace. Good professional etiquette indicates to potential employers that you are a mature, balanced and courteous adult who can represent their company with civility, decency and with finesse. Not being well versed in proper etiquettes, decorum and deportment could damage your image, prevent you from getting a job and jeopardize personal and business relationships. Some mannerisms are universal. Wherever you go in the world, whatever setting you are in i.e., personal or official, whatever social situation you are in i.e., formal or informal, a certain set of behaviour is expected and appreciated. This includes kind-

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ness, consideration towards others, honesty, cleanliness, timeliness, respect for others, gratitude, social graces and other such virtues. However, with the changing times, as the work place becomes more and more global and competitive, the need for understanding work place etiquettes is becoming essential for success and to move forward in the world. The globalization of businesses has vastly improved etiquettes at work. Every work place has its own complex behavioural dynamics but the basic social rules which make people comfortable with each other remain valid always and at all places. An organization where people are treated well and treat each other well tend to be more successful than others. With increasing competition, productivity demands, resultoriented appraisals and expanding work culture, people are spending more and more time in their work places. This makes it essential to create a pleasant office atmosphere with minimum personality clashes which can happen only when everyone behaves well, knows their limits and hold respect for others. When people collectively relate to each other in proper protocol and with consideration and compassion, the result is smooth functioning and a happy work place. Very often it happens that you behave or react in a certain way in a situation and much later realize your mistake and wish you had not done so. In a corporate atmosphere, you may even have to pay a heavy price for the mistake as it may negatively affect your career. If you are still looking for a job, a behavioural faux-pas during selections may result in your not getting that job. In case you are working, such faux-pas may end up reflecting negatively in your annual assessments and confidential reports. Therefore, it will serve you well to know that workplace relationships too demand maintenance. Consequently, it is important that you make these accepted patterns of behaviour as integral to your personality as possible so that you react in situations smoothly and come across as a well-mannered, well-behaved and a polished person. But the fact to consider is that behavioural etiquettes are not something that you can forcefully display when needed or learn in a day or two. They have to be cultivated and nurtured within oneself over a long period of time. You have to keep them in mind and practice them all the time so that they begin to come forth as natural responses. In the beginning remembering a few basic

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principles and applying them will serve you well and take you places. As you grow, in life and in your profession, you can keep adding to your repertoire and cultivate a beautiful polished personality.

Pointers for candidates going through a   job selection procedure 1. The most important but the least known fact is that candi-

dates are often evaluated from the moment they enter the company premises. Do not wait to enter the GD venue or the Interview room to start behaving. This is a mistake most candidates make. You may not realize it but observers could be casually roaming around the reception area, the waiting area, the lifts etc. One may even be disguised as a candidate and may be mingling with all the other candidates seeing, observing silently. In fact, he may strike up a conversation or a debate with you and evaluate you there and then. How you behave towards the doorman, the receptionist, the liftman etc. and how you interact with the other candidates while in the waiting area could be under observation, evaluation and be a major consideration in your final selection. This is fast becoming a common practice for jobs that need high levels of personal finesse, have a high client dealings quotient and are sensitive positions.

2. Keep to the area where you have been asked to wait, don’t

wander around the office space and the areas you are not supposed to be in. Refrain from striking up a conversation with the office members at their work stations.

3. If you need drinking water or want to use the washroom

facilities, inquire about them nicely, don’t yell across the room and ask for it.

4. Talk to the receptionist, the contact person or whoever is

in charge of the proceedings with utmost politeness. Do not ask again and again as to how much longer you have to wait, do not complain that someone was here later but got a chance first because there may be a legitimate reason for it and generally do not harangue the person in any way. Take care to not make a nuisance of yourself in any way.

5. When in the waiting area, be cordial and complimentary with

all the other candidates there. Interact with them, talk and

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discuss in an easy manner but maintain a reasonable distance. Do not reveal much about yourself and also do not attempt to dig for details from others. Try not to come across as un-necessarily inquisitive such that someone takes offence. 6. Never speak negatively about any other candidate or candi-

dates. If you happen to know of a negative aspect of another candidate, remember it is not your place to speak about it during the selection process and that this is neither the place nor the time for it. If that candidate has done some illegal act or has been in any kind of trouble, then just drop a well worded remark about it and if the selectors wish to pursue the fact, they will do it in their own capacity and as per their own policies. Apart from this, you should not speak derogatively about any other candidate especially if they are strangers to you. If you do so, you might actually end up losing your chances of selection by coming across as a tell-tale and a trouble maker.

7. Be careful not to get into any heated arguments or raise

your voice. If other candidates get into an argument, wait for a while to see if they resolve it by themselves. If in a few minutes they don’t and the argument begins to take an ugly turn, intervene calmly, try and separate them but under no circumstances take sides and join in. If you cannot help solve the situation, then just stay away and under no circumstance appear as if you are enjoying the spectacle. Stay neutral.

8. Keep your cell phone on silent mode and talk into it in a low

voice if necessary. It is extremely rude and bad social etiquette to converse loudly into your phone in a formal place specially if it is private call.

9. Do not finger, disturb, remove or displace any piece of furni-

ture, cushions, items, objects d’art, flower arrangements or any other such things in the waiting area.

10. If you have picked up a newspaper or a magazine or any

other reading material placed in the waiting area, keep it back in a proper condition when you are done with it. Newspapers when left open, crumpled or folded up with inner pages out are bad manners and so are magazines left open and left placed face down just anywhere.

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Pointers of general behaviour for young professionals 1. Maintain the dress protocol of your office. It wouldn’t do

to wear jeans and T-shirts where you are required to be in coat and tie and vice versa.

2. On joining a new work place, be alert and familiarize your-

self quickly with the premises and the people. Don’t prove yourself to be ‘slow’ by being perpetually lost.

3. Later, make other new employees feel welcome and help

them familiarize themselves around the place. Remember your discomfort when you were new and try to make it better for others.

4. When you go over to somebody else’s work station for a

discussion, do not peep into their papers or their computer screens.

5. Offices now-a-days have multi-cultural work forces. Be cul-

turally sensitive by learning about different cultures.

6. Try and understand the work and social culture of the office

quickly and till that time keep a low profile, don’t participate in gossip and don’t take sides. You may later regret something said at this time.

7. T  here always is office politics. Avoid it till the time you have

laid out your roots and have an understanding of the various unofficial groups, camps, the undercurrents between them. Choose and decide the ones you are to be a part of and then too only if you wish to be a part of it all. Don’t get sucked in if you don’t want to. Learn to say ‘No’.

8. Be cordial, friendly and complimentary to your colleagues.

Cultivate mutual respect.

9. Do not over-react to any situation. Find out all the details

of any undesirable event, think and then react. Don’t be impulsive and avoid getting into conflicts.

10. Do not get into other peoples conflicts. Avoid taking sides

till the time you are directly affected.

11. Refrain from indulging in any negative practices like rumor

mongering, back-stabbing, taking credit for someone else’s work, shirking responsibility and such like.

12. Work hard and be honest. Do your best always. Accept your

mistakes.

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Manners, Etiquettes and OLQ’s    193 13. Don’t be a whiner who is always complaining. Your behav-

iour should be mature and professional.

14. Do not misuse office property and keep your work station

neat.

15. Office stationery often becomes a reason for dispute if bor-

rowed or taken without permission. Always ask before taking and always return borrowed items.

16. Use the shared areas like the office kitchen, the photocopier

area, the lunch room etc., with respect and consideration.

17. Show respect for others time by showing up for a meeting

on time, not keeping them waiting to see you and by not interrupting too often.

18. If someone you wish to speak to is already talking on the

telephone, wait for him to finish before you start speaking.

19. Office parties can be tricky. You don’t have to be as formal

as in the office but it also does not mean that you let go completely. Avoid drinking too much, don’t try to get too close to anyone and don’t let your guard down or crib about anyone.

20. Keep a non-obtrusive ring tone and message tone in your

cell phone. Switch it to silent mode during meetings and when you are visiting your Boss’s cabin.

21. During telephone conversations, keep your volume down.

If you speak too loudly, you not only disturb others but may even unwittingly give out confidential or sensitive information.

22. Always reach your office on time and do not look to leave

early.

23. Maintain office decorum. Avoid speaking out of turn or too

much.

Etiquettes for formal situations However good you may be in your job, never underestimate the importance of interpersonal skills. No matter how hard you work or how brilliant your ideas are or what level of expertise you hold, if you cannot connect with the people around you, your professional life will suffer. Good interpersonal skills always serve in

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reducing conflicts. How your colleagues, seniors and juniors perceive you, has a vital impact on things as minor as your day-to-day happiness in the office and as major as the future of your career. Working in an office will continuously put you in situations where dynamics of formal behaviour will come into play. You will have to deal with not only your colleagues but also with clients, business associates, delegates, visiting officials and a whole variety of other people. If you are aware that your interpersonal skills are up to the standards, it will fill you with confidence and that will reflect positively in your behaviour which will be fruitful and productive for your company. Given here are some basic and simple pointers: 1. Learn the art of introductions. Always introduce people to

each other if you happen to be the mutual connection who knows them but they are strangers to each other. There are certain simple rules to introducing people to each other in the right manner:

• Always introduce the guest or the outsider first regard-

less of position and gender of both.

• If the two people are from the same organization, intro-

duce the lady first.

• If they are of the same gender, introduce the senior per-

son first.

• Make sure you have the names and designations correct.

In case of any doubts, clarify politely but under no circumstances make wrong introductions.

2. Practice how to give a proper, strong business like hand-

shake. Handshakes are of many types and each conveys a lot of information about you to a person who know how to read them. They will definitely try to use that information to their benefit during business deals or when interacting with you. (Read more about handshakes in the chapter— Body Language.)

3. Exchanging of business cards has a proper protocol. Always

offer your cards face up and right reading side towards the receiver. Take hold of the other people’s card respectfully. Do not stuff it straight away into your pocket or briefcase,

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give it a look and speak out the name. Compliment if there is something unusual about the card. 4. It is considered rude to ask too many personal questions.

Facts about a colleague’s personal life and family are none of your business. Wait for a friendship to develop or for the person to tell it all of his own free will. Do not go about telling your own personal details too.

5. Do not use first names unless you are superior in designa-

tion or you have been invited by a person to do so. Some companies maintain a first name policy throughout the ranks, in such a case you have to use first names.

6. The people with whom you work reflect your own attitude.

If you are suspicious, unfriendly and condescending, you will find these traits echoed all about you. But if you are on your best behaviour, you will bring out the best in the people with whom you are going to spend most of your working hours.

7. Special attentions are required for meetings and confer-

ences. It is very rude to be late or not attend at all without prior intimation. During the meeting, don’t be noisy, tap your pen and shuffle your papers around. Pay attention, don’t interrupt a speaker without an agenda and don’t distract people.

8. Maintain confidentiality of all office matters but always

keep your Boss informed. Never be caught on the wrong foot for with-holding information.

9. All work places have informal groups of people. As soon as

you join your job, be careful of not becoming a part of any. Stay neutral in the beginning and study the groups and its members and choose to become a part of the group you most identify with. This way you will avoid getting connected with people who are wrong for you.

10. No one is immune to meeting decidedly offensive and abu-

sive people. The trick is not falling to their levels and meeting them there. You must maintain your standards and deal with them with polished finesse and put them in their place. If this person has an established reputation, then you can also ignore him as everybody knows what he is like and nobody will pay attention to what he is saying.

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Dining Etiquettes Popularization of fast food and the accompanying easy table manners have left most people with seriously inadequate knowledge of dining etiquettes. Thus, it has become imperative to brush up on formal dining artistry. Nowadays, formal sit-down dinners are becoming less and less frequent but there still are occasions when you have to attend a business lunch or a dinner at a swanky restaurant or in the corporate dining hall where you will be required to display flawless table etiquette. Due to the lack of time, more and more deals and interviews are happening over a meal. Behaving boorishly on that one important business meal due to the lack of adequate table manners, could have drastic and unwanted results. An important business deal may get dropped or you may not get that much coveted job. Table sophistication becomes an indispensable quality at such high pressure times. There is more to table manners than just eating with your mouth closed without making a noise and not speaking with food inside your mouth. A surprising amount of attention goes into proper behaviour during a formal meal but picking these up is not difficult at all. You just need an attitudinal shift and a willingness to learn along with a sharp sense of observation.

At a Buffet Dinners are mostly buffets now, but they too require a set of mannerisms so as not to appear uncultured and unrefined. Remember these in the case of a buffet meal— • Do not rush for food. • Offer plates and cutlery to seniors, guests, clients and any

accompanying ladies first before taking one yourself.

• Make sure your guests, clients or seniors have served them-

selves before you serve yourself.

• Move patiently with the food line. Do not jostle for food. Try-

ing to jump line is very juvenile and bad manners too.

• You shall project a very negative image if you pile your plate

high with food. Serve yourself decent quantities and opt for seconds instead.

• Move away from the serving area after you finish serving

yourself to clear up the space for others.

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Manners, Etiquettes and OLQ’s    197 • Practice at home and make sure you know how to hold a

heavy plate in one hand and eat with just the other one.

• It is bad form to leave a lot of food uneaten on your plate.

•

•

• •

• • •

Don’t be wasteful. Serve as per your needs and go for seconds if you need more. When you go back for seconds, serve yourself with the clean hand so as not to mess up the serving spoon with your soiled hand. Practice eating neatly. Your fingers should not get too messed up with food, only the first digits of your fingers should come in contact with food. Do not lick your fingers. As in a buffet you will not get a finger-bowl, wipe your fingers clean with a napkin and not by pouring water over them from a glass of drinking water. Please do not wash your hands in the plate or in the bins kept for placing used plates. Serve yourself dessert after the others and only a little at a time. Keep your used plate in the discard bin and not leave it lying about here and there. Pace your eating so that you are not left the last one standing with a plate.

At a formal Sit-down meal On occasion, you may find yourself at a sit-down meal. It may be as informal as grabbing a bite at a corner café with a business associate or it could be as formal as a full-fledged business lunch or a celebratory dinner with full service or it could be a high profile working lunch in the corporate dining hall. Informal meals are not too difficult to tackle and a repertoire of very basic etiquettes will see you through. It is the formal or the semi-formal meals you need to prepare well for. Here are some starter points which you can learn and build more sophisticated ones later, to ultimately reach a high level of finesse as you advance in life and profession. • Arrive in time. In case you are going to be unavoidably late,

call and inform the host or whoever is in charge. Also mention your expected time of arrival.

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198    I’m Not Afraid of GDPI! • Turn off your cell phone and pagers. Don’t keep pulling your

phone out to check when at the table.

• Wait for guests/seniors/ladies/ to be seated before taking

a seat. Ladies here should take the offer of a chair pulled back from the gentlemen.

• Sit upright. Your back should neither slouch nor take the

use of the backrest. Keep your elbows off the table.

• Don’t keep bags, briefcase, files or any other un-necessary

accessories on the table.

• On sitting, take the napkin, unfold it and spread it on your

lap.

• If food-ordering decisions need to be taken, offer the choice

to your guests or seniors.

• If you are the guest and are required to order, do not order

the most expensive items. Take care to order those foods which are easy to tackle and not messy to eat.

• If you are the host and the guest requests you to order,

inquire about his preferences, specially regarding vegetarian or non-vegetarian food and maybe also about the level of spiciness.

• Wait for your turn to serve yourself and serve modest

amounts. Serving bowls are always received from the right hand side and passed on to the left after serving oneself.

• Do not begin eating till everyone has been served. Even then,

wait for the host to start which is a signal for the meal to begin.

• If you need anything that is out of reach, politely ask for it

to be passed to you. Never reach out or stretch out for it.

• Learn and practice beforehand the proper use of cutlery.

Laid out cutlery is usually used outside-in. In European ways, you hold the fork in the left hand and knife in the right and food is forked into the mouth with the left hand itself. In American ways, the food is cut by holding the fork in the left but forked in by changing it to the right, but whenever the fork is being used like a spoon to eat rice, noodles etc., it is always held in the right hand unless you are left-handed.

• Your spoons, fork and knife should not make loud clattering

sounds on your plate.

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Manners, Etiquettes and OLQ’s    199 • As a general rule, anything served in a plate is eaten with

a fork and anything served in a bowl is consumed with a spoon. So, this means you need to know how to eat rice, vegetables and many other food items with a fork.

• Indian food is eaten with hands. For formal situations, a

combined system of western and Indian style of eating has developed. In this you eat your rotis rolled up and held in the hand and vegetables, dals and curries with a spoon.

• Always spoon-up the soup away from you and sip it from

the side of the spoon, not the front, unless it has chunky pieces, in which case open your mouth and eat it. Never slurp and never try to spoon up the dregs.

• While eating, don’t move your hands about too much, don’t

make gestures with a fork or spoon in it and don’t point at someone with your fork or spoon especially with food speared on. Put your cutlery down on your plate if you need to use your hands to make a point.

• Never leave a spoon in a bowl or a cup when you are finished

with it. Always put it in the saucer or the plate underneath.

• If you need to leave the table for a few minutes in between

the meal, excuse yourself and leave quietly. Leave your napkin on the chair as an indication to the waiter that you will be back and your dishes should thus not be removed.

• Close your plate at the end of a meal by laying down your

cutlery face down from the centre of the plate at 6 o’clock position. If you are just putting down your cutlery and plan to resume eating, then lay it open-faced diagonal to the plate.

• Finger bowls are bowls of warm water with slices of lemon

in them. They are not for drinking as digestives but to wash and clean your fingers. Never dunk your entire hand in them, just the tips of your fingers and that too only one hand at a time. Use the lemon slices as cleansers and then gently tap-dry your hands on the napkin. Don’t ever wash your lips with the finger bowl water! Just wipe your mouth clean. If you feel you need moisture to clean your mouth, use the part of the napkin that got moistened after you wiped your wet hands on it.

• At the end of the meal, never refold the napkin but don’t

crumple it too. Leave it roughly folded on the left hand side of your plate.

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200    I’m Not Afraid of GDPI! • During the meal, keep the conversation going on pleasant

things or on business affairs. Do not let the conversation taper off especially if you are the host. Pay full attention to the people you are dining with.

• If you feel a cough, a burp, a yawn or a sneeze coming on,

use your napkin to cover your mouth or nose immediately.

• Don’t blow on your food to cool it. Wait a bit. • Don’t eat very large bites. Don’t stuff your mouth with large

mouthfuls of food.

• Don’t play with your food. • Don’t make fun of any food item new to you or if you don’t

understand it.

• Pace your eating with others so that you don’t finish too

early and are not left half-way either.

• If you let something fall on the floor, e.g., the napkin or cut-

lery, don’t pick it up, ask the waiter for a fresh one.

• On finishing, don’t push away your plates and don’t stack

up the utensils.

• If you are the guest, don’t offer to pay the bill. • If you are the guest, always compliment the food for its

taste and quality and thank your host graciously.

• Please don’t lick your fingers. • Don’t scrape last scraps of food off from the plate. • Picking teeth on the table is unacceptable. • Applying or touching up your make-up on the table is also

unacceptable.

• Never comb or fix your hair near the food area.

There are so many other points but if you are able to remember and tackle the above basic ones, you will do ok. As you grow more at ease with these, more confident, you will find yourself automatically observing and picking up more as you go along.

Telephone etiquettes Although several different means of communication like the email, fax, SMS and instant messaging are used on a wide scale today, the telephone maintains the number one position as the

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most common and extensively used means of communication in personal as well as in business life. Today, a telephone conversation is as important as the actual face-to-face conversation and hence, one needs to be very careful while making as well as answering calls on a telephone. Customer service and customer handling are big business and telephony has become a major part of it. Customers, clients, business associates etc. are mostly dealt with on the phone in these busy times specially now that businesses are globally spread out. Good or bad telephony can make a difference in the bottom line and thus the employees need to be well trained in telephone etiquette. Personal relations within the work place or outside of it are increasingly being maintained on telephones. With the advent and popularization of cell phones, people are available 24/7 and more and more business and personal affairs are being conducted on the phone. Various roles are played on the phone while talking to people of different categories and a quick switchover is a real time skill need. For this, a deeply ingrained sense of etiquette system is required. Although personal phone calls do not have any strict protocol to be followed, there are some basics that one needs to remember during an official telephone conversation. In a telephone conversation, two parties are involved—the caller and the receiver. Some etiquettes are common for both but there are a few that are role specific:

If you are the caller • Do not play the ‘Guess who?’ game. The burden of intro-

duction falls on the caller. The receiver should not need to ask—Who is calling? If you have initiated the call, it is your duty to introduce yourself, name the place from where you are calling and state what it is you are calling about.

• Make sure you are calling at the appropriate time. Avoid

calling before and after office hours. Give 10-15 minutes after office hours begin to allow the person to settle down and start the day. Refrain from calling at the end of the work day unless crucial. If possible, take the lunch hour into consideration too.

• Before placing the call, be sure of who you want to talk to, in

which department and what exactly you want to say. Mak-

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ing a call unprepared results in wasted time and may also irritate the call receiver. • Be mentally prepared to be put on hold or to be told that

the person you want to talk to is not available. Shouting and demanding an explanation is not going to take you anywhere.

• Leave a short message for the person if unavailable and

state clearly whether you will be calling back or you expect a call from him.

• The duty of closing the call is also of the caller. So, if you are

finished with the conversation, thank or wish the receiver and close the call without keeping the other person un-necessarily on the line wondering if you want to say something else too or not.

If you are the receiver • Never open with a “Yes?” After the initial greeting, respond

according to what the caller has to say.

• If the call is for you, proceed with the conversation. If for

some reason you cannot talk at that time, politely say so and promise to call back.

• If you need just a little time to find out whatever informa-

tion the caller has asked for, then first explain this to the caller, tell him you are going to put him on hold for this many minutes and then be sure to go back within the time limit promised. It is very rude and irritating to be put on hold for an indefinite period of time.

• If you need more time to respond to the query, explain and

assure to call back within a certain time period.

• Always call back whenever you have promised to. If you

have not been able to find out the relevant information, call, explain the situation and ask for more time.

• If the call is not for you or you think someone else can help

the caller better, explain to the caller that you are connecting him to the right person. The third person should be told who is on line so that the caller need not introduce himself all over again.

• If the call is not for you and the required person is unavail-

able, say so and offer to take a message. Make sure you note

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down the name and number correctly. Do not forget to pass on the message. • Most companies have a preferred way of responding to

callers for the receptionists, front desk executives and the telephone operators. They are put through suitable training.

• It is the caller’s privilege to close the call. Don’t hang up

first.

General telephone etiquettes • Speak clearly in a well modulated voice that is neither too

soft nor too loud, the entire office need not hear your conversation.

• Allow the other person to finish before starting to speak.

Crossed conversations waste a lot of time in way of repetitions.

• Pay full attention to the conversation on the phone and stop

what ever you were doing at the time.

• Avoid personal calls during office hours. • If you call a person on the landline and it is busy, don’t

immediately call on the cell phone. The person will obviously not be able to attend that too.

• Keep the talk as to the point as possible with just the

basic pleasantries. It is not desirable to prolong the official calls too long even if the person on the other side is known to you.

• Do not talk with food or drink in your mouth.

Cell phone etiquettes The advent and popularization of cell phones is a big boon to the field of communication. It is beneficial and comforting to know that connectivity and information, business or personal, is available immediately. However, cell phones can become a nuisance if not used with proper thought. People now take others and their availability 24/7 for granted with such a handy tool making it possible. However, others time and personal space should not be un-necessarily invaded. People who use their phone thought-

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lessly in public places are called ‘cell phone bores’. Given below are some basic shots at being cell phone savvy. • If you are carrying your cell phone to the GD and interview

• •

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

venue, either switch it off or keep it on silent mode. Under no circumstances should it ring out during the GD or the interview. In the case of receiving a call during the selection procedures, refrain from answering it. Maintain a simple and a neutral sounding ring tone. Very loud and flashy ring tones will be annoying in the office atmosphere. If you are expected to be contactable by people related to your work during office hours on your cell phone, your caller tune should be simple and neutral. Keep your tone civil and speak softly into your cell phone when in office or in public places. Nobody wants to hear of your conversation about how the meeting went, what time you are reaching where, what you bought the other day, what you had for dinner yesterday or any other such trivia from your life. Your cell phone does not have to go everywhere with you. Theatres, movie halls, conference rooms, temples, restaurants etc are places where you can leave your cell phones behind with a firm notion that you are not going to answer any calls anyways. Check on your missed calls later and call back. Avoid multitasking. Do not eat, attempt listening to others, work on the computer all at the same time when on the phone. Your life and the lives of the people around you are much more important than your phone call. Therefore do not text, call or attend calls while driving. Texting or checking up on news or cricket updates when in company gives a signal that the person or people who are with you are not important enough or the events around you are boring you. This is impolite and spoils relationships. Each person is surrounded with a personal space which provides a feeling of calm and safety and the invasion of which is uncomfortable. In a public place if you absolutely

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have to attend a call, make sure you are a few feet away from the nearest person and keep your volume down and conversation to the minimum.

Officer Like Qualities What is the image that comes to mind when we say the word “Officer”? We think of a person who is impeccably dressed, has polished manners, conducts himself impressively, carries himself with confidence, interacts with others in an appropriate way and seems to do it all with a sense of great ease and grace. He is comfortable with himself and knows how to deal with the world. Everybody likes to be around such people and are attracted towards their presence. They come across as reliable and desirable people. In these global times, when companies are to be represented by its employees in the world, to its valued clients, business partners, associate companies and suchlike, it is understandable that they seek very personable and presentable people to be the face of their company. The person representing the company carries the burden of building the image of the company. If this person is officer like, smart, with an impressive external as well as internal personality, he carries this burden well and he is in turn treated well by the company. One must keep in mind here that everything is not done just for professional gain. Everything does not have to lead to something related to work life. This is a life lesson. The personality so developed will be yours for your whole life, in all its aspects; it will help you in every sphere of life and bring you great satisfaction. So, are such people born this way or can such a personality be cultivated? Does one have to be financially rich to train to be officer like or does money have nothing to do with it? Do we have to go to a special place to learn to be like this or can we help ourselves? The good news is that all this is achievable by every single one of us, requires no investment in terms of money and we don’t need to go anywhere. It is inside of us from where such a personality can sprout forth. Anyone can ‘work’ on himself, learn, improve and manifest such a personality. Such a personality has nothing to do with height, build, skin colour, race, social background or religious beliefs. It is about knowing oneself and having a deportment that is forceful or kind, as the need may be.

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Identification of the qualities which are the construction blocks of such a personality and then learning them and practicing them to the extent that they become an integral part of your daily behaviour is the way to do it. Although there are scores of small facets that go into it, listed below are some to start with – • Politeness  The very first aspect we note about an officer

like person is his politeness. It is a joy interacting with such a person. He will be polite to all people, above or lower than him in status. The most attractive and wonderful thing about him is that his polite behaviour is not reserved for only those people who are above him or important to him. The fact that he will be polite to everyone, including those beneath him, is what makes him stand out from the crowd. Politeness is a social grace. It exhibits the upbringing and the emotional grooming of the person. It shows that the person has a regard for all human beings and that his manners are impeccable. But, one fact to consider will always be that some aspects of politeness differ from country to country and culture to culture though the very basics of treating everyone with respect and regard remain the same all over.

• Knowledge—  An empty or an inadequately filled brain can

never impress others, however good with words or good looking you may be otherwise. Cultivate a knowledgeable brain, know your facts and always be on top of the latest news. If you talk a lot of sense and say it well, people will stop and listen to you, pay attention and this will make it easier for you to achieve what you set out to. Knowledge truly is power. It is better to be more knowledgeable than good looking because knowledge is what ultimately matters. It will be of no use if you are well dressed, good looking, have a good voice and communication skills if as soon as you open your mouth to say something, you appear a fool because you don’t know what you are saying! Knowledge is the one thing you can get by on even if you do not have an impressive physical personality. An officer like person is expected to be so.

• Diplomacy—  Tact is a quality of extreme importance and

value. At its heart, tact and diplomacy are the skills of being sensitive to the feelings and opinions of other people.

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Those who possess it are naturally able to sense what is really going on in the minds of others, and then respond with a certain delicacy of feeling that influences people well. Learn how to be more tactful and diplomatic to build and maintain interpersonal relationships that affect job performance. Knowing how to choose the best words, emotional tone, and non-verbal communication will ensure your message is delivered appropriately and effectively. Practice how to be tactful and diplomatic without compromising your position or diminishing your authority in even the most difficult situations. You will be amazed at how communicating with tact and diplomacy can help regain your enthusiasm to work with people. Developing skills to do and say the right thing can do wonders to rebuild relationships that can impact your image and your career in a positive manner. • Sense of Honour and Integrity  Honour and Integrity is

doing the right thing even when you know no one is looking. This means that you are never dishonest, you are never sneaky, you don’t cheat and look to take unfair advantage even if you are sure you will be able to get away with it. You have to prove yourself to be trustworthy and a person of your word, your promise. People you deal with should find you utterly dependable. It is an inviolable and unshakeable image that has to be cultivated and for this all dealings should be above the table and transparent. Remember, integrity is difficult to gain, challenging to maintain but very easy to lose.

• Conduct and Deportment  should be such that it is

respectful towards all. Behaviour towards others in accordance to gender, age, position and mutual relationship is a must. An officer like person will also always be socially responsible, never harm people below him and keep the interests of the people of the lower levels in mind. A person should earn the respect of his subordinates and not demand it as his right by virtue of position.

• Leadership qualities  A good leader is the one who can

bring out the best of the others and let them feel good about it without taking any undue credit. You don’t have to be a designated leader and in any situation. If you can rise and fill the position, take the team forward, make an impression, you will be noticed. Take it upon yourself, anywhere

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where the need arises, to take charge of the situation and carry all the people with you for the collective good of the team or the organization. • Initiative  —Always be first and ready to take on tasks

within your area of expertise. Take the initiative to offer ideas and solutions if there is a snag or problem at work and you know you can try handling it. Don’t wait to be asked in an attempt to feel ‘important’. Earn your image by being knowledgeable, capable and helpful. Show the energy and the drive to go beyond the call of duty and set an example for others which they can follow.

• Sense of Justice—  A person who is officer like will have

high morals in attitude and action and will dispense fair justice in daily dealings. Justice has primarily to do with conduct in relation to others, especially with regard to the rights of others. Sound judgment paired with intention of fair play can help you achieve this easily. People will develop faith and confidence in you.

• Loyalty—  Faithfulness towards the organization, its prin-

ciples, objectives and aims at work and towards friends and family in personal life is the most important character trait in anybody. A sense of loyalty should be high in your priorities. This gives you a reliable and a dependable character. It gives you integrity. It gives you pride. It puts you in touch with the worthiness inside of you and gives you a sense of belongingness with what you are associated with. Remember, nobody likes traitors!

• Sense of Humour—  A sense of humor simply put is the

ability to be amused. A sense of humor is an important part of human relationships and plays a vital role in human interactions. A person of cheerful disposition is always welcome everywhere. Such a person is liked by all and thus finds it easy to influence others. The ability to laugh can dispel tension and help people make good decisions. Humour is one of the greatest assets a person can have. Working to build your sense of humour will help you out a lot in life, including the ability to defuse difficult situations and in reducing your stress levels. People with a balanced sense of humour are happier and healthier and that manifests in their deportment, in how they carry themselves through the ups and downs of life. Part of having a good sense of

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humour is the ability to take a step back and view one’s own life through a comical filter. The ability to see humour in one’s own faults and missteps is an important part of enjoying life and growing from mistakes. Learn to laugh at yourself more than you laugh at others. This is in no way a complete list of what gives you an attractive personality. There are so many aspects, most of which you probably already have or know of, that go into giving you a strong character. Always maintaining your poise, being courteous, being immaculate in your manners and dealings, maintaining good health, dressing as per the occasion and keeping in check your emotions will contribute to your OLQ levels.

Political Correctness Have you ever come across statements like – “Be careful of your dealings with Biharis or Punjabis or Marwadis”. “You can’t go on that trip, you are a girl”. “They are American, they wouldn’t care”. Well, the above sentences are all politically incorrect because they are generalizing people of a category which may be unfair and taking for granted some characteristics which may not apply to all. Anybody from anywhere can be untrustworthy and not all Americans are uncaring and of course now-a-days, girls can do most anything. You may also have come across words like – Chairperson instead of Chairman Postal worker instead of Postman Senior citizens instead of old people Differently abled instead of handicapped The words above are a result of political correctness as:

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210    I’m Not Afraid of GDPI! • a woman could be chairing a board hence Chairperson and

not Chairman

• it could be a woman working in a post office • it is considered rude to call old people old, so senior citizens

is a politer way of speaking.

• it is insensitive to call handicapped people so and because

they often have other capabilities, they are differently abled.

Similarly, we have visually impaired people instead of blinds and so on. This is a way to be kind, polite and not hurt sentiments. The primary goal of Political Correctness is to avoid or suppress behaviour that may be offensive. We now live in environments where diverse groups of people cooperate, collaborate and co-exist. It is in our interest that we work productively with our focus on improving our work relationships, not on demeaning, insulting or manipulating each other. Misunderstandings that lead to breakdowns in work relationships are counter-productive. They are bad for business. They can also be personally harmful. It is important to clearly say what you mean to say. Your choice of words should be helpful to the process of improving workplace relations and productivity and not vice versa. Respect is the key word here. Respect builds trust which allows for deeper understanding. You may not always know exactly what to say, but if your choice of words is guided by a spirit of respect, you will most likely avoid offending anyone’s sensibilities. Respect is a nice value to have in all other aspects of your life, but it is essential to your success at work. The basic premise behind being politically correct or tolerant in the workplace is treating others the way you would want to be treated. If you treat others with respect and caring, your overall professional experience will be much more positive. The rules of Political Correctness in the workplace are about consideration for the feelings of our colleagues. By following them, we demonstrate that we care about the people with whom we work. Being politically correct is a fine art and there is little science to it. It’s easy to say something in a way that makes someone uncomfortable without intention and actually meaning any harm. If you suspect someone intends to be rude with you,

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it’s easy to read unkindness and antagonism in their choice of words. If, on the other hand, you are working together in an environment of mutual respect, small matters of phrasing and word selection are easily overlooked or gently corrected. This requires a high level of trust and an easy sense of humor. Political correctness does not just mean watching what you say. In its best sense, being politically correct means learning about others and respecting the differences that make each of us unique. In the workplace, there are steps you can take to make sure you are not only following the ‘PC rules,’ but are also making your life richer. More often than not, politically incorrect ideas are formed by stereotyping which affects our thinking. Stereotyping can create negative images and can be damaging. What is required is to evaluate your thinking and see if you have any preconceived notions about people of certain categories. Everybody naturally gravitates towards others who are similar but so much can be learned and gained by reaching out to others who are unlike you. Make an effort to get to know a few people who are of a different ethnicity, a different religion, or from a different country. You’ll be surprised by how much you learn, and how much you’ll find that you have in common. Being part of a workplace can give you a tremendous opportunity to learn about new cultures. You can build relationships with others who are different than you, and talk honestly about your differences. Ask questions respectfully to learn more about differing norms and values, and to find out how others want to be treated. If you approach your learning with respect and sincerity, those around you will see that you are open to and appreciative of differences. A professional environment is a big change, particularly for those who are straight out of college. The way and the freedom with which you interacted at college level is very different from the way in which you have to behave as a professional. You cannot be casual anymore and you cannot just say anything that comes to your mind without weighing it first and contemplating as to what inferences can be taken out of it. Being careful about stuff that you say outside the office is important as it can travel to the office and become crucial there. Many people run into serious trouble at work by telling a joke they thought was innocent. This is because what seems harmless to you could be hurtful to another. A work place needs to be a safe and productive place

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for every employee. Jokes about minorities, women, gay people, individuals with disabilities, senior citizens or jokes that are rude have no place in such an environment. In this day and age, who we are and where we are from determines how we interpret things like the news and current events. If you feel the need to speak your opinion about politics or current events at work, make sure you do so in a way that demonstrates to others that you are tolerant to differing opinions and that your interpretations are not tainted by your background and ignorance. As you go ahead in your work and career, you will meet many people; come across many schools of thought and many more such politically correct or incorrect phrases. Be alert and pick them up, remember them and use them to your advantage. Remember, you can never be too polite. Politeness is a virtue that is always appreciated and never goes to waste. Political correctness has become an essential part of politeness and should be practiced liberally to sound polished in these sensitive times.

A note on People Skills This is like a coming together and culmination of everything else and all your skills. To have very good people skills first you have to be very sure and grounded yourself. Your emotional health should be good and that can be only when you are mentally at ease and comfortable with yourself. You have to be happy and satisfied with yourself and how you are taking your life forward, only then can you relate with other people in peace. Whatever you want to achieve, wherever you want to go in life, you will have to deal with, interact and collaborate with other people in the process. The success you achieve will be influenced by the kind of relationships you build. You have to be able to influence people, build trustful bridges, make friends and maximize the potential of each relationship. For this to happen you have to respect people, treat them with compassion and value them above material things. Be the kind of person that people like to be around with. Be genial, amicable, tolerant, encouraging and open minded. Be patient with people who are slower and with lesser skills. There is no greatness in taking pride on being better skilled and treating others with disdain. Do not indulge in a feeling of superiority.

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Develop cultural intelligence and show interest in others lives without being overly inquisitive. Learn to let go of others mistakes once they are genuinely regretful. Learn to trust and thus teach to trust by example. Try to bring out the best in other people. You don’t particularly need a designated title to be an encourager, a leader and motivator. Be ready to change and re-learn all the time. Remember, people change. So, your image and idea about them too should be open to change. By giving people second chances, you make them feel worthy, good about themselves and win friends for life.

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Chapter

10

Body Language

“If you have no imagination, you have no wings ... and if you have no wings, how will you fly?” “Pearls are not found laying around on the beach ... you must dive for them.”

Understanding Body language At the most basic level, communication is of two types—verbal and non-verbal. Verbal communication consists of everything we say or write, it involves words and language. Non-verbal communication on the other hand has nothing to do with words but is through the signals we send consciously or sub-consciously via our body posture, gestures and facial expressions etc. This is called body language. We generally believe that the person with whom we are communicating is receiving only what we are saying with our words. We assume that all that the person understands about us is through what we say in words, what we tell them directly. But this is not true. Unknown to us, our body language, our voice quality, the pitch and the pace of our speech, our expressions, the look in our eyes etc. also give out vital clues to our true state of mind. If the person with whom we are communicating has the skill of picking up these indirect clues and signals and can interpret them, he or she can easily know more about us than we intend and wish to reveal. Broadly speaking, when we interact with someone, a whopping 80% of our communication is non-verbal. This means that a major-

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ity of the understanding that a person has of us is via our body language. Now, if we are not aware of what our body is saying to the observer and what signals it is giving out, chances are that we are giving out an idea that we consciously and actually do not want to give and our body is revealing a state of mind that we do not want to willingly reveal. For example, in the interview room, your body language might communicate that you are very nervous when actually you don’t want the interviewers to know this. This is why for successful communications, negotiations and relationship building of any kind in personal as well as in professional life, it is very important to have an understanding of the science of body language. It can give you an edge over other people and prevent them from having an edge over you. Also, in certain cases, it can put you at par with a good, strong communicator and thus keep the interaction balanced, avoiding a disadvantaged position.

How body language helps •  You can control what your body is signaling and what infor-

mation it is giving out and thus avoid undesirable information being sent out. This way you can minimize negative, contradictory and unwanted signals. Your body then cannot unwittingly go against you and sabotage your efforts. So many times it happens that what a person is speaking in words and what his body is portraying are contradictory. For example, supposing a person swears to be speaking the truth but his face is flushed and he cannot make eye contact, we know he is actually lying. It is his body that gave him away. Similarly, during an interview, you may be trying your best but your sweaty palms, fidgety hands and tapping feet tell the interviewer that you are in reality very nervous.

•  You can use the knowledge to your benefit via controlled

and intentional positive signaling. Imagine a situation where you actually feel differently inside but want to project yourself differently outside. At such times, you can use the knowledge of body language to signal exactly the way you want to be perceived and build the desired image in the mind of the observer. For example, during a job selection procedure, you may be nervous and not so confident inside but by standing straight, speaking firm, maintaining eye contact and smiling you can portray confidence.

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To illustrate this, let’s imagine a scene— You are in an interview room with three interviewers and at least one of them seems very strict and unfriendly. You have taken some feedback from the candidates who were interviewed before you and have come to know that they were put through a mild stress interview. (Refer to the chapter on Interviews) Now you are nervous. You are sitting stiffly in attention, you are unable to make eye contact, your face is flushed and there are beads of sweat on your forehead. Your hands are probably shaking or maybe you have fidgety feet. One of the interviewers very kindly says to you “Are you nervous? There is no need to be.” You shake your head a bit and without making eye contact, staring at the floor answer “N… n… no, I am o…o… okay ...” You say this in a low volume; you are sweating even more profusely now and are probably more nervous than before. Now think carefully about what was communicated to the selectors here – •  Verbally you said that you are not nervous. •  Non-verbally your body said that you are. Everything was

wrong and if not all of these symptoms, you were exhibiting at least a few of these –

Your head was bent towards the floor. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

You did not make eye contact. Your hands and/or legs were fidgety. You were sweating. Your voice had no volume and was shaking. Your face was flushed

The question here is—Which communication do you suppose the selectors are going to pay more attention to? Which one are they going to believe? What you are telling them in words that— no, you are not nervous or what your body language is telling them that—yes, you are very nervous? What do you honestly think? What impression will the selectors get? They will obviously believe your body language and disregard what you are saying in words. Our body language always gives away our true state of mind. Just as you know that a person not making eye contact is telling a lie, the selectors too will know the true state you are in. Body language does not lie, unless you have complete control over it and make your body communicate exactly what you want it to say and use the capability for your benefit.

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Body Language    217 •  This knowledge helps the other way round too. If you have

the knowledge and the skills of interpreting body language, you can read the non-verbal communication of the other person and know of his or her state of mind. You can pick up the subtle non-verbal clues and know if they are responding positively or not. If you feel a positive response showing through it will add to your confidence levels and you can continue doing what you were doing. You can maybe take your performance a step further too. Conversely, if you feel they are responding negatively, you will perceive the need to quickly change your behaviour and performance to somehow create a more positive effect.

As you grow and mature in your profession, you will interact with more and more people. If you are a keen observer, a quality that is a vital requirement in the field of body language, you will soon learn that most people have a set of some very typical bodily signals for certain situations and states of mind. Most people are quite unaware of such typicality in their behaviour and thus it is very easy to read them. But this happens only when you interact with someone on a regular basis and have a level of familiarity with them. The problem during a job selection procedure is that you will be meeting the selectors for the first time. There is not much that you will know of their typical signaling. Moreover, they may be smart enough to control their signals. Therefore, at such times, the best you can do is to be aware of your own body signals and have complete control over them. At least this way you will project your best and increase your chances of selection. The science of body language is a vast subject. It is learned throughout life as you interact with more and more people. Many instructional volumes can be found in bookstores and on the internet. But here we shall concentrate only on those few pointers that will be of help during selection procedures. So, let’s study a few of them.

Head movement When we are talking to somebody, for a great majority of the time the other person’s visual attention is focused on our head. Certain movements are quite universal and easily understood like the up and down nodding movement for yes and sideways

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for no. Besides such universal movements, everybody has certain very individual ways of moving their head while speaking. But here we will talk about the way some candidates tend to move their heads during interviews. The best of course would be to be natural. The head should be held high and straight to feel and show confidence. A little forward tilt will show interest. A little movement as you speak is natural and expected. But when a candidate is not feeling very confident there are some typical ways the head is held. They are— •  The Hang  The candidate is too scared and nervous to

even look up. He just sits there with his head bent downwards looking at the floor. This is very common during the group discussion when the candidate has nothing to contribute. Ideally, even if you feel very nervous or do not know anything, still try to sit straight and maintain a lifted head position. Lean your head forward towards the other speakers and pay attention. This will give you a feeling of alertness and maybe you will be able understand or remember something and then say it.

•  The Immovable  The candidate is frozen with fear and

just cannot move his head. He continues to stare at one point and speaks. He may or may not be making any eye contact with anyone. Often this candidate is staring at a point at a distance towards the ceiling, the far wall or on the floor. Although he is making an effort to speak and answer, there is internal panic which is being controlled with great effort. If upon insistence the candidate is made to shift his gaze and look straight and ahead, he may lose the carefully held together confidence completely and lose his performance. If you think this is the category you fall in, practice to be able to break this habit.

•  The Shaker  This candidate seems to have lost all control

over his head. The head is very busy and shakes continuously and probably in all directions. Sub-consciously this candidate is working very hard to keep his focus by connecting the movement to the task at hand. As long as he keeps shaking his head, he can continue speaking. He will typically move his head mostly while speaking only, though some may move it during listening also. The more serious it gets, the more vigorously he shakes it. If you suspect you

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have this problem, ask the people around you, your friends and family to point it out when you do it. Then immediately at that time, think about what you were feeling. After a few times, a pattern will emerge. You will recognize the feelings that trigger such a response in you. The next time when you feel you are facing the same triggers, be aware and be prepared. Try and control your head movement. In a few attempts you will be able to do so and the issue will have been dealt with successfully.

Our windows—The Eyes Most of our formal communication takes place on a one-to-one and in a face-to-face manner. Much before the other person speaks and communicates something to us about himself; we have already seen him over and made some conclusions about him based on his appearance and body language. Similarly, even he has made some conclusions about us through his visual observations. Therefore, it is through our eyes that we observe and make our first impressions. This means our eyes not only express but are also the main observational and input devices for body language. Your eyes are the most expressive parts of your body. They are the portals from where your internal psychological state is revealed and is read by others. A good observer can make out from the look in your eyes how you are feeling. Your eyes can accurately reveal what you do not want to reveal if left uncontrolled. During the selection procedure if you are afraid, nervous or if you are panicking, the selectors will be able to see this in your eyes along with your other body language. Therefore, it is of great importance to learn how to control the look, the expression in your eyes. Not only during a selection procedure, but also in so many other situations in life, it becomes important to control our eye expressions since so many times it happens that we do not wish our internal state be known to the other person, but our eyes expose them. Let’s see how the language of our eyes can be improved for selection procedures and also for good professional life: •  Get a full and a good nights sleep before the important day

so that your eyes are fresh, rested and clear. The eyes then

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will have an alert quality to them. They will be clear, bright and attentive. •  Do not indulge in any intoxicating substances like alcohol

or drugs before the big day. This will ensure that your eyes are not glazed over, red and unfocused. Even your brain will be sharper this way.

•  Keep the look in your eyes soft and friendly. Do not stare

wide-eyed.

•  During the GD, maintain eye contact with all your group

members. Remember not to look towards the selectors for support during the discussion as already mentioned in the chapter on GD’s.

•  During the interview, look straight ahead and establish eye

contact. Do not look here and there to avoid eye contact.

•  In case there are more than one interviewers, look at that

particular one who asked the question when you answer it. If the answer is long, then mid-way, you can shift your gaze to others also.

•  It happens often that we find one interviewer more sympa-

thetic than the others and because of this we tend to answer all questions looking at only him, neglecting all others even if one of the others had asked the question. This is incorrect. Distribute your gaze as evenly as possible between all the selectors.

•  This is also true for any kind of public speaking. Engage

the attention of all the members of your audience by making eye contact with all of them throughout your presentation.

•  An action as simple as blinking your eye can reveal a lot

about your state of mind. Some candidates over-blink when nervous and some forget to blink at all and stare with terror filled eyes. Both, of course, are wrong and undesirable. Both are also easily avoidable by working hard on your development and preparing yourself so well that you are full of confidence.

If you have followed all the advice given in all the previous chapters and have prepared yourself well for this day, then there is no reason for being nervous and underconfident. These feelings will show in your eyes. Have complete faith in yourself and

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your preparation and let that confidence shine through from your eyes. Just this in itself will impress your selectors and pull their favourable attention towards you.

Using your hands Our hands can talk too. Sometimes our hand gestures can be enough and no words are required to communicate. Hand gestures attract the attention of our listeners towards us and keep their attention focused on us. They add depth and value to the meaning of what we are saying and aid better and deeper understanding of it. Our listeners also tend to retain what we have said for a longer period of time if it is said accompanied with meaningful hand gestures. They help create a stronger impact of our words. Hand gestures are varied and innumerable. Some are universal while others have local meanings attached to them. Further, certain hand gestures can have different interpretations in different cultures. You will come across all these different kinds as you grow professionally and broaden your horizons. Till then all that you need to learn are the basics, how they speak for you knowingly or unknowingly and how to use them for your benefit during job selection procedures and within the office environment. Like the body language of any other part of our body, the signals of our hands can be voluntary or involuntary. The voluntary gestures are those that we consciously choose to make to add meaning to our spoken words or use them instead of any words at all. It is very difficult to have a conversation without moving our hands around at all. In fact, when some people do have a conversation with no hand movements, it appears very strange. Therefore, the correct knowledge of various gestures and how to use them effectively and judiciously is important.

Voluntary hand movements These are the movements that we purposefully choose to make to add meaning to our speech. Therefore, they usually match our content and are congruent. They help in explaining what we are saying and can help in putting across those ideas that are not easily said in words. Since these movements are made consciously and under control, things can rarely go wrong. Sometimes though, it may happen that we understand the meaning of

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a movement incorrectly and use it so. If this happens again and again, try to identify it and correct it. If you want to know what your hand movements look like, observe yourself in a mirror or have a friend film you during a conversation. This way you will be able to observe and judge how efficiently your hand gestures are working for you and identify how to improve them if they are not. You will also be able to pick the ones you want to avoid in the future because they are either overdone, repetitive, over-expressive, meaningless, un-necessary or confusing. Cleaning up your hand language will improve your communication and make it more impressive.

Involuntary hand movements The very term ‘involuntary’ suggests that these movements are not under your control and are happening subconsciously. This does not mean that all of these will be wrong. Some may be right and in keeping with what you are saying or what you want to communicate but the trouble happens when they are not. It does happen often that they are not congruent to what we are trying to express and give out information that we wish to keep hidden. Such hand gestures can go against our efforts, make it difficult to perform and even bring about negative results and happen usually when you are nervous. It is these movements that we need to study as they can hamper your efforts for selection. Your involuntary hand movements can be any of the following – •  The Hands That Refuse To Move  The candidate is so

nervous that his hands are locked. This may be accompanied with a locked unmoving head and a fixed terrified gaze. Imagine this picture. It is apparent to the observer that the candidate is completely shell shocked and just too nervous to perform. If you know that you are such a candidate either by self-knowledge, intuition or by a past experience, you then recognize the need to get out of this crippling fear. Think; think about what is the worst that will happen if your answers are wrong or if you don’t know the answers? You will not get selected. Nothing worse than that can happen. If you are going to be so nervous each time, you will anyways continue to be rejected each time. So, consider how this nervousness is helping you? In no way at all! If you find yourself being nervous again and again, it means there is either something lacking in your preparation or you just do

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not have the faith in yourself. You therefore need to step up your preparations or build more faith. Talk to yourself, talk to others, do anything that is required, but find a way out of this fear. Belief in oneself is the crucial cement that holds together the bricks of hard work while building a successful career. •  The Fidgety Hands  These hands just cannot stop mov-

ing. They will twitch, they will tap or they will twist all the time. If there is a handkerchief or a pen, then these hands will twist and turn them continuously. They will drop the pen and pick it up and then drop it again. They will scratch countless imaginary itches all over the body, straighten the spectacles if you wear any or pat your hair continuously. They will open and close and re-open the portfolio on your lap, arrange and re-arrange your clothes and generally be busy all the time although needlessly. The only one thing that they will not do is to help you in your fruitful communication with meaningful gestures. It is an understood fact that this too is because of lack of confidence and nervousness working overtime.

•  The Allover Hands  These hands are in overdrive and

will move all over the place. These movements need a lot of free space, are highly exaggerated and unpleasant to look at. This kind of hand movement does not usually happen because of nervousness but because it is the natural and normal way of speaking for this person. If this applies to you, you are probably aware of it as it surely has been pointed out to you a few times. A lot of conscious hard work is required to be rid of this habit. The best way of course will be to have someone film you discreetly and then watch your own video. You too will find the exaggerated movements quite unsightly. Initially you will have to be conscious of it and try to restrain yourself. If you are unable to, then practice talking while holding something that requires both hands to hold like a big football or a basketball. This way you will be forced to keep both hands down and as soon as you impulsively move one hand, the ball will fall which is unacceptable. Over a period of time, you will find yourself dropping the ball fewer and fewer times. After a few days, when you feel confident that you have got your hands under control, try talking without the ball. If you find you have

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reduced your movements considerably, it’s okay and if you feel more improvement is required, bring out the ball again. You can keep coming back to this exercise whenever you feel you are losing a grip on your hands while talking. Once you are confident that you are rid of the habit, keep it in your mind anyways otherwise you might slip back into it. Continuous and diligent practice is the only way.

The Restless Legs Most candidates simply don’t know what to do with their legs when sitting down in a formal situation. Legs are no problem if you are sitting with a table in front, under which they get out of sight. But, if the table is of clear glass or if you have been made to sit away from a table and your legs are exposed to full view, then it can be frustrating how to manage them. You may become so mentally occupied in the proceedings, the questions and answers and the discussions, trying to keep all other aspects of body language positive that you may end up neglecting your legs completely even though your leg signals too speak of your state of mind. The ideal leg positions are different for boys and girls.

Girls Whatever you may be dressed in, salwar suits, sarees or power suits, keep your knees together or only a inch or two apart and adopt any of these following positions – •  Gently sling one leg over the other at the knees. Quietly and

quickly adjust to the most comfortable position, adjust your suit or your saree pleats and settle down. Do not swing or shake your legs or your feet too much as this is very casual behaviour and not formal.

•  Alternatively, put your knees together and tuck your feet in

a bit under the chair. The feet may be crossed at the ankles or side by side. You can shift your feet around a bit during the interview.

•  If you are wearing a fitted skirt, put both your knees and

feet together and angle your lower legs to one side. This is a western style of sitting and most suited for skirts.

•  Avoid sitting in the masculine style.

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Boys Boys are so habitual to sitting spread out and laid-back that they find it very difficult to sit in a formal position for a length of time. They are so used to lounging about on chairs that it is difficult for them to sit still on a straight backed chair in a formal setting. When they have to, they don’t know how to best arrange their legs. Here are a few pointers— • Sit back on the chair with your back in full contact with the

•

•

• • •

backrest of the chair. This means sit straight and full and not on the edge. Cross your legs one over the other at the knees and do not shake them. Make sure one knee is over the other and not the calf of one leg over the knee of the other leg as this is an informal position. Alternatively, plant your feet squarely on the ground just in front of the chair hip-width apart, feet straight and pointing ahead. Take care that your knees are only hip width apart and not splayed out in a casual manner. Make sure your trousers are not riding too high up your legs. It is okay to change positions and lean forward while interacting. Avoid sitting in a feminine style.

The above descriptions are on how to sit during an interview, the GD or in any other formal situation as a professional. Once in the beginning if you sit properly and know that at least that part of your body language is taken care of, you can be mentally free from that area to concentrate on other things. Here are a few leg movements that should be avoided by both genders. • Do not shake or jiggle your legs and feet too much as this

shows impatience and gives the impression that you wish to be out of that situation as quickly as possible.

• Do not change your leg positions too rapidly as this too

shows nervousness and as if you are not comfortable in the situation.

• Constant tapping of the foot can be distracting and also can

irritate a selector if he happens to be short on patience.

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The Magic of a Smile Smiling is magical. It is an instant tension breaker and it brightens the atmosphere. When we smile at a person we elicit a similar response and the person has to smile back. A smile creates a friendly atmosphere and helps you relax. This makes you less nervous and adds to your confidence. So, have an ever ready smile to flash and use this as a social tool. Smiles are of two kinds—the genuine one and the fake one. The genuine is that which is seen when we are truly amused and pleased. This one reaches the eyes and the eyes have a shine, a twinkle to them. The very quality of the facial expression changes and gives a softer, friendly and welcoming look. This puts the other person at ease albeit in a slightly subordinate position. People tend to reveal more-than-intended with such persons as it is disarming. You can be such a person during the selection procedure only if you are supremely confident of yourself and your skills. But, if you are the other person here, smile in return, relax and have a good interaction. But, be alert of not speaking more than you need to. The ‘fake smile’ on the other hand stays on the lips only and does not extend to the eyes. The eyes remain inert and unexpressive. Some people however practice the art of including the crinkling of the eyes with a fake smile but it is very difficult to switch on the shine and the twinkle. The absence of the shine is a giveaway that the smile is a fake. So, here are a few things that you need to learn to improve your smile signals and their perception too: • Learn to differentiate the two kinds of smile. Study the

people around you discreetly, preferably people in position of some power operating in a formal atmosphere like your professors if you are in college or your senior colleagues if you are working. Observe how and when they use the different smiles and also how they react to the same of others. After some patient and quiet observing, you will find a pattern emerging as to how real and fake smiles are used in social interactions and also for power play.

• Genuine smiles come naturally but fake smiles need a

lot of practice or they tend to look like a grimace. Learn to make your fake smiles look pleasant and learn to use them.

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Body Language    227 • To be able to differentiate between the two is important

because during formal or business interactions sometimes people use well practiced fake smiles to put the other person at ease and outwit them. Even during interviews with the help of fixed smiling faces, interviewers do not let the candidate know if he is doing well or not. This way the candidate gets no indication if things are going wrong so that he may change his manner of response. Thus, if you can make out if the pleasure on their face is fake or real, you can perform accordingly.

The Hows of Handshakes In a formal setting, handshakes are the only bodily contact. Handshakes are the only occasion where we can use our sense of touch to evaluate a person. Handshakes have evolved over the years and now are used primarily in a business setting on arrival and departure or on coming to a business agreement. It is not an Indian concept where a Namaste is the traditional greeting on meeting and parting, but has rapidly gained popularity with westernization and the coming of large multinational corporate businesses. Handshakes are quite unavoidable now. Therefore, the knowledge of their dynamics is valuable.

Etiquettes of shaking hands • It is the privilege of the senior person to choose if he wishes

to shake hands or not. Do not offer your hand to shake if you are lower on the corporate ladder and thus force him to take your hand. He may resent it and hold it against you. You may even lose impression this way.

• If you offer your hand out of turn to a reluctant senior, he

may ignore it or decide not to take it, leaving you standing there with an extended hand, looking very foolish. Always wait for a senior to offer his hand first and then be sure to take it so that he is not left looking foolish.

• In the case of ladies, whether senior or junior, it is their

privilege to shake hands or not. So, gentlemen should never extend an uninvited hand towards them forcing them into a handshake. Always wait for the lady to give out her hand first and then be sure to take it.

• Like seniors and ladies, guests too have the privilege of

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initiating a hand shake. Especially in a business setting, the guest or the invitee should be allowed to make the first move unless of course the host is a lady. • It thus goes without saying now that when you go in for an

interview; do not extend your hand until the interviewer does so. In this situation, this applies to girls too as you are not yet a colleague and it will be considered very forward and assuming.

• Wet, slimy, sweaty, grubby or clammy hands make unpleas-

ant handshakes. If you have a tendency towards sweaty hands or if you are sweaty because you are nervous, make sure to have clean handkerchiefs in your pockets to wipe with. Get into the habit of quickly wiping them un-noticed just before you offer your hand for a shake.

• A proper, formal handshake should last just a second or

two. The hands are pumped ideally between 3 to 5 times only and that too a little. Do not keep holding on to the others hand if you feel they are trying to pull away and do not pump too hard and too long. Some people have the tendency of pumping the hand several inches up and down and almost 8 to 10 times. This is not acceptable unless both people are well known to each other, are excited to meet and both are willing and participating equally in this excessive pumping.

• When shaking someone’s hand, be alert and make eye con-

tact. If you are being introduced, listen to the name carefully and remember it. If for some reason, you did not catch the name of the person the first time, politely ask for it to be repeated again instead of guessing and mentioning it incorrectly.

Types of Handshakes To the one who does not know, it may seem very strange that there are many kinds of handshakes. But it’s true and also the fact that each of them reveal a lot about the kind of person you are and about your state of mind. For those people who are good in reading body language, a handshake is a good opportunity to learn a lot about you and they can thus deal with you accordingly for their benefit. Study of handshakes is very interesting. Given below is the description of the various handshakes that we com-

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monly come across in our daily dealings. Study them carefully so that you may use the knowledge for benefit. The Delicate Lady handshake  Usually practiced by ladies, this looks ridiculous on men. Here, only the fingers are presented very softly and there is a very faint grip in return by the thumb from below, if at all. The fingers are hanging and facing downwards but are not necessarily limp, they can be firm too. This is how a lady of the aristocratic class in the western world presented her hand before the advent of modern times. The hand was usually kissed by the men. Now a days, it is used by choice only by those women who hold very high positions, wield a lot of power and command a lot of respect. This obviously does not make a good business handshake for common people, specially men. Even women should refrain from using it. A man using this is sending a signal that he is weak without much self respect. The Dead Fish  This is a full hand offered but it is completely limp. There is no grip in return. There is no power in it and it is almost as if the hand is useless. The owner of such a hand shake is considered to have no confidence what-so-ever and feels overpowered and defeated already. The other person can take advantage of him as he is not going to put up any resistance to an unfair business deal. Thus, this kind of handshake should be avoided completely. The Finger Grab  In this, the other person takes hold of just the fingers of the hand offered. This may happen sometimes because the physical distance is too much between the two people. If not, then it signifies that this person does not hold much interest in you, does not consider you important. If you don’t want to give this impression to the person you are meeting then quickly but gently cover his hand with your left hand making it into a double hand handshake and correcting the power balance. On the other hand, remember not to return anyone else’s handshake this way if the person and the meeting are important to you. The Bone Cruncher  Some people are power hungry and like to dominate from the very start. They will take your hand and crush it hard making it very painful. This is an act of intimidation. This is usually accompanied with a hard stare directly

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in your eyes. The initial pain and the deep stare un-nerves the other and a deal is usually made in the favour of the bone cruncher. Beware of them. Even if you felt quite helpless during the handshake, quickly gather your wits and don’t let him take advantage in the deal. The Vice  There are some people who have control issues. They want to control everyone and be the boss. They will hold your hand tightly in a vice like grip and just won’t let go till they see it in your expression that you have submitted to them. The trick is letting your hand go limp as then it won’t hurt and look into his eyes and keep smiling. This way he will understand that you will not be dominated. The Away Thrust  Sometimes people don’t want their private space invaded and when they shake your hand they will firmly push your hand back making it bend uncomfortably at the elbow. These people are either very insecure and are scared of letting you come too close (a physical manifestation of a mental state) or are too particular about their own private space and dislike closeness of any kind. They literally push you away to maintain a distance they feel comfortable operating in. If you are smart enough, you can take advantage of this insecurity. The In Pull  This is another painful one. The person begins by gripping your hand very firmly and pulling it hard towards himself. Sometimes the pull can be strong enough to be painful. There are two states of mind behind this kind of handshake— either this person is very insecure masquerading as strong and feels comfortable in his own territory only, therefore the symbolic pull towards him into his personal space or this is another control freak. He is trying to put you off balance and thus create dominance for himself. You can easily assess which one of these two he is by the look in his eyes and the pitch of his voice. The insecure person’s eyes will be a bit anxious and his voice will have a high pitch whereas the power hungry ones eyes will be penetrating and voice will be controlled. The Endless Pump  Active eagerness is the explanation. When a person is very eager to establish a business relationship with you and wants to impress upon you his sincerity, he will hold your hand and pump it up and down many times. After a while, he will stop but may keep holding your hand to start pumping it again. Ideally, three to five pumps are the norm but seven pumps

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is the maximum. But, an eager ‘pumper’ will be at it endlessly till you diplomatically claim your hand back. Double Hander  This is the ‘politicians’ handshake. He will shake with one hand and use the other hand to cover it or hold your wrist or anywhere on the entire arm right up to the shoulders. His manner will be very reassuring and friendly. His entire body language will be engaging including a disarming smile and good eye contact. Beware of such a person specially if you are meeting him for the first time and he tries to be so intimate and encroaches completely into your personal space. His intentions are probably not good; he will first put you completely at ease and then proceed to take advantage of you. He may be very friendly and if you succumb to his charms, you will find it difficult and embarrassing to say no to what he wants and this way he will have taken advantage of you. Upper Hand  This is the ultimate power handshake and quite literally having the ‘upper hand’. In this, when the hand is put out for a shake, the palm faces downwards forcing the other person to take the submissive position of palms up which is considered the ‘asking for’ or the ‘begging’ position. This too is a dominant shake and is tricky to handle. A little maneuvering is required to turn it into an equal status handshake. Take the hand and then with the help of the other hand turn it into a straight one. If your other hand is occupied, hold the offered hand, take a step forward with the left leg and then shift the right leg and you will be able to easily turn the hand over and now you will have the upper hand. This needs practice to do it very smoothly. The ‘begging’ hand  As explained in the previous handshake, this is a submissive offer of hand. The palm is facing upwards permitting the other person to have the ‘upper’ hand. This can be effectively used when you want to give the power over to the other person for some reasons for your benefit. But if you are doing this without conscious effort, it shows that you have no sense of your own powers and are giving it away very easily. Try and feel more confident of yourself. The Best Business Handshake  When there is no power play between the two parties about to do business and they are meeting on an equal ground, with open minds and no need for any domination, a clean handshake with no hidden meanings

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is used. The arm is partially outstretched, the palm is perpendicular to the ground and the grip is pleasantly firm, neither too tight nor too limp. The two parties look each other in the eyes, exchange introductions if required or simply pleasantries. Even ladies should use this handshake in these modern times to form favourable impressions.

Body Language simplified for the Interview By the end of the interview, the selectors are not going to remember you by the details in your biodata but by the impression you made on them directly through your answers and speech and indirectly through your non-verbal communication. So, let’s summarize how to make the best impression in an interview with body language to win the race. • Enter the room with your head held high. Walk to the chair

in a smart and easy gait, do not shuffle.

• Shake hands only if offered and in the least offensive man-

ner. Make eye contact.

• When you sit, adjust yourself swiftly in the correct and

comfortable position in which you know you can sit without fidgeting for 15-20 minutes.

• Use controlled head gestures while speaking. • Keep an interested and animated facial expression. • Maintain eye contact with all the people in the room. • Use hands to help you speak effectively. • Listen carefully and deliver your speech well. • Exit smartly without turning back again and again.

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Chapter

11

Good Communication Made Easy

“If you don’t go after what you want, you’ll never have it. If you don’t ask, the answer is always no. If you don’t step forward, you’re always in the same place.” “Too many people are not living their dreams because they are living their fears.” “You have to do your own believing … nobody else can do your believing for you.”

You already know what communication is. You understand that it is a process by which the ideas in one’s mind are made known and understood to another. We communicate right from birth in some way or the other and continue doing so till our last breath. We communicate almost continuously during our waking hours voluntarily or inadvertently. We are social beings and to be allowed to communicate is a necessity. Although some people are less social than others, but total isolation is not desired by anyone. You also already know that good and effective communication is that in which the idea understood by the other person is the same as the original idea that the communicator wanted to express. There should be no difference, no distortion between the transmitted and the received ideas. If there is a difference then a miscommunication has occurred. If the difference is very large or the received idea is completely different to the original message, we say that a breakdown in communication has taken place. Communication is an all-pervasive part of our life i.e., it is

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involved in all aspects of our life, personal and professional. One would suppose that since we are communicating in some way or the other all the time, we should ideally be perfect at it from so much of practice. But strangely it is not so. Most people still find it very difficult to communicate in different situations with different people. Good communication is an art that has to be worked at and perfected. Before we study how to improve our communication skills, we will first have to study a little about the types of communication and the various elements of interpersonal communication.

Types of Communication There are mainly two types of communication—verbal and non-verbal and they both happen simultaneously if the people involved are facing each other. Non-verbal communication is all about body language and it has been detailed in the chapter on body language. Here we shall concern ourselves with verbal communication only. Verbal communication is concerned with languages and words. You know at least one language which you speak since childhood and it is called your mother tongue. You may also know some other languages in varying degrees of perfection. But we all know that English has become the global business language and is rapidly invading all areas of our lives. To be a success in the corporate world you need to be proficient in English to begin with. This involves good vocabulary, proper grammar, well placed technical terms and innovative use of words. Good command over this language will always be a positive factor in your professional growth and a skill that will take you to higher places. If we further break down verbal communication into smaller units, we will find that this too is of two types—written language and spoken language. One may think that language is just simply language in any form, and its written and spoken forms will not be much different to each other, but in reality it is not so. When the same idea is written about, it is very different from the way it is spoken aloud. Let’s see what these differences are.

Difference between written and spoken language • Written language is more formal than spoken language.

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Good Communication Made Easy    235 • Written language has to be specific to carry the precise

meaning of the idea to be communicated whereas, spoken language may or may not be so specific.

• Written language is more structured, has several rules and

regulations governing it and the how-to’s and the how-notto’s are binding. In spoken language the structure is not so rigid and mandatory.

• Personalization possibilities are limited in written lan-

guage but in spoken form, personalization is encouraged and expected.

• Due to so many rules and bindings, written form is not so

free flowing whereas the absence of too many limitations allows spoken language to flow more freely.

• Understandably spoken language is more flexible than

written language.

• Written language has to make sense completely through

just words as the communicator and the receiver are usually not in front of each other. Therefore, the choice of words and their usage has to be perfect and very well chosen whereas in spoken form, since body language helps by playing a huge role, the choice of words and their usage can be very different from those in the written form for the expression of the same idea.

Written (verbal) communication Written business communication is a constant feature of any workday. There are many kinds of written business communications like letters, applications, forms, tenders, memos, reports etc. Here, at this stage you need to concern yourself mainly with only three and they are—the application letter, the biodata and any forms to be filled. For biodata and application letters refer to the chapter on writing a biodata in the first part of this book. Some companies require you to fill in one or multiple forms at the time of applying for the job or at the time of joining if you have been recruited. Forms, of whatever kind, need to be filled out very carefully and with complete attention. A badly or untidily filled in form reflects badly on you. Here are some pointers for a well filled out form:

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236    I’m Not Afraid of GDPI! • First check the form for completeness. If more than one page,

note the number of pages and make sure none are missing.

• If it is a photocopy, check its quality. Make sure it does not

have any very light and barely legible areas or areas so dark that nothing can be read or written on it. Ask for another copy if possible.

• It is very important to read any instructions given carefully.

For example, the colour of the pen to be used to fill in may be specified or instructions might be to fill in with capital letters only. Do not ignore any such instructions.

• Before beginning to fill in, once go over all the areas to be

filled in and understand exactly what is being asked for. If you don’t understand the first time, read it again instead of rushing in for clarifications for every little thing. Sometimes on reading it a few times, things become understood on their own. If still there is any doubt, go ahead and clarify it.

• Find yourself a quiet place and proceed to fill in the form

precisely as per the instructions given.

• If you feel that you may not get it right the first time itself

and that you have time to spare, then fill in with a pencil first so that mistakes can be easily erased and rectified.

• Write neatly and clearly in good handwriting. Be careful

not too make too many mistakes since use of too much whitener looks unsightly and gives an impression of work done sloppily.

• Check to make sure you have filled in all the mandatory

fields.

• After you have finished, check and recheck the complete-

ness and the accuracy of the information filled in.

• Carefully attach any documents asked for.

Spoken (verbal) communication As already discussed above, spoken communication is easier, less structured and more fluid because body language accompanies it. Our facial expressions, hand gestures, body positioning, eye expressions and all the other ways that our body ‘talks’ helps in communicating if we have adequate control over it. (Refer to the

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chapter on body language) There is an exception to this though and that is when the conversation is telephonic. Efficiency of our spoken communication depends on several elements. These are vocabulary, grammar, syntax and creative use of words etc. These have already been discussed in the chapter on pre-preparation. The concept of jargon has been dealt with in the chapter on group discussions. But, all these put together take care of only one aspect of spoken communication and that is—the content. What you are saying, what words you choose to say it with, how good is your grammar, how fluent you are and general control over the language etc. But apart from all this, there is one more aspect of spoken communication which is equally important as the content and that is your voice. The quality of your voice, how you speak, the inflections, the intonations, the accent etc. can make a lot of difference in how well you are understood by your listener and how effective your communication will be. Good voice quality will help you in capturing your audience. Moreover, this is of particular importance in telephonic conversations where the other body language elements are absent and your voice quality is the only element helping you. You must have come across some very good orators. When they open their mouth and start speaking, it is spell binding. You are so mesmerized by them that you wish to hear them speak forever. You also tend to easily believe everything that they say because they spin a grand magical web with their words and the effectiveness with which they say them. Then you must have also met some such people who can change their way of speaking completely as per the situation—sometimes comforting, sometimes commanding, sometimes as smooth as velvet and sometimes authoritative. What is it about these people that is so different? What gives them this quality? Also, has it ever happened with you that in a public place your attention was attracted towards a stranger just because you heard the way he spoke? The manner and quality of this stranger’s speech could have been either—very nice or very bad, but the fact that it attracted your attention means that the quality of our speech has that effect on others—it attracts attention. This attention could be positive or negative depending on the quality of our voice. Therefore, note that the quality of your voice will definitely have a bearing on your group discussion and interview. An attractive voice and a good delivery will pull the attention of the

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selectors towards you in the group discussion when all the other group members too will be speaking. Also, during the interview, a voice and a manner of speaking that is not attractive can put off the selectors. Your nervousness and lack of confidence will show through as a shaky voice. Your voice will also have a very low volume that will barely be audible and you will be asked to repeat your answers or responses. Once or twice, the selectors may ask you to repeat but if you continue to speak hesitantly, they will give up on you.

Understanding good speech Our speech is a very independent entity. It does not depend on our physical looks, our grooming, our knowledge levels, our qualifications or where we come from. A good voice is a gift by birth. A good voice has depth, a timbre to it. It is not shrill and is clear to hear. It is strong and pleasant on the ears. This does not mean that those who are not blessed with a good voice cannot improve their speech. In fact, even those who have a good voice need to learn the elements of good speech. There are two concepts underlying good speech—voice quality and delivery. Ideally, both should be studied and developed. Although this is a study that should be done in practical, by actually speaking in front of others who are knowledgeable about it and being corrected, it is still of some use to read a little of the dynamics and to try and improve upon them. Improving your voice 1. Go to a quiet place, close your eyes and say something natu-

rally. Concentrate and try to note if there are vibrations felt in your nasal area. If so, you have a tendency to speak with a nasal touch. This nasally voice is undesirable. To rectify this, you will need to do the following exercise: • Fix your focus on your stomach muscles because that is

from where the power behind a good voice comes.

• Lightly keep your hand on your abdomen and speak to

remind yourself to use the stomach muscles while speaking. This of course cannot be done in public areas.

• Practice speaking with the use of your stomach muscles

and feel a similar vibration and tension there as you initially felt in your nasal area.

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Good Communication Made Easy    239 • Do this consciously for a few days till you feel the change

becoming a part of your way of speaking.

• Alternatively, in private or in front of helpful people,

speak by tightly pressing and closing your nose completely with your fingers. You will be forced to speak without the help of your nose and with time and practice you can lose the nasal touch in your voice.

2. Pay attention to your breathing. If you have a shrill and

nasal voice, chances are that your breathing is shallow and quick. Learn some breathing exercises. Learn to breathe using your diaphragm and stomach muscles. Your stomach should rise outwards at the in-breath and fall in at the outbreath. Take deep breaths consciously every few minutes which will help expand your lungs to their full capacity and also give you staying power. Gradually, your breathing will be deeper, easier and more controlled all by itself. You will feel calmer, incredibly energized and more focused on the tasks at hand. This corrected way of breathing will also have an effect on the quality of your voice and how well you are able to control it, modulate it.

3. Your voice quality also deteriorates when you speak too rap-

idly as a habit. There are several reasons for this to happen; maybe you are accustomed to struggling to get a word in and thus you speak fast, maybe you have a tendency to long winded speech and use a lot of words where only a few would have sufficed and thus have to speak rapidly to get it all in, maybe you want to be done speaking before you get out of breath or maybe this just is how you learnt to speak and it is your natural style. Whatever the reason maybe, the fact remains that you need to change this. You need to pace yourself and maintain a speed of comfortable number of words per minute. (Read more about this under Delivery.)

Improving your delivery Some time or the other, you must have appreciated and wondered at a dialogue that was beautifully delivered in a film. Even in real life, there probably is someone in your environs, whose way of speaking you simply love to hear, want to emulate but just don’t know what is it about his or her delivery that makes it so special. You don’t know what exactly is it that you need to

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pick up to be able to speak like that. Having no knowledge of the dynamics of a good verbal delivery, makes it difficult to analyse what needs changing in your own delivery. A good delivery can make a whole lot of difference to your speech. Sometimes, it can be the winning factor and get you selected, especially where the job is people oriented and involves a lot of speaking and convincing. A good delivery can make you stand out in a crowd of applicants. It can outweigh other factors like short height, not-so-good looks, a little shabby grooming etc., if it is coupled with a good knowledge base and good communication skills. So, what are the dynamics of a good delivery? • Pace  Indians are well known for very rapid delivery. We

speak faster than most anybody else on the planet on a regular and daily basis. We can go up to 180-200 words per minute! Internationally the average is 100-140 words per minute. A crucial aspect of good communication is that the other person should understand exactly what we are saying without us having to repeat it or explain it again. Therefore, when communicating with people who you are meeting for the first time, like in a group discussion or interview, where neither are you familiar with their way of speaking nor are they familiar with yours, it is advisable to keep your pace slow and within a reasonable range. Excitement, eagerness and nervousness can make you take off with your words at a super speed which may diminish the effectiveness of the entire communication process. So, breathe, choose your words well and speak slower and with clarity.

• Pitch  Pitch refers to the vibrational frequency at which

you speak. Excitement, eagerness or nervousness can also have an effect on the pitch of your voice. It may become shrill or squeaky.

• Pause  A pause that is well placed in mid speech can

express more than words can and create amazing depth in the content. A well made pause of the right length of time creates dramatic effect, attracts attention and adds meaning to the spoken words. The word spoken right after the pause may not be a big word, a special word, it may be just a simple everyday word, but can convey a larger and deeper meaning if a pause is effectively used before it. An effective

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Good Communication Made Easy    241

pause is of 1-2 seconds and in this duration, eye contact should be maintained. • Power  A powerful voice is that which commands respect

even when spoken softly. There is a depth and weight to it. It is rich and effective. Most people confuse power with volume but they are wrong. Even a shrill, squeaky or weak voice can have volume. Volume can be raised by shouting or making an effort to speak with raised volume. Power is the throw quality of a voice. It fills up the room without effort. Use the power in your voice to back a good delivery.

• Volume  Volume has to do with loudness or the lack of

it. Some people speak so softly as a habit that you have to strain your ears to hear them and some speak so loud all the time that you wish you there was a button you could use to turn them down a bit. Keep a check on the adequacy of your volume for every situation. Best is to be clearly heard without straining and also without hurting the ears.

• Modulation  Have you ever come across anyone who goes

on and on in one tone, a monotone? It appears as if he is droning on and you probably lost all interest in what he was saying and stopped concentrating after the initial few moments. This is because he did not modulate his voice and was monotonous. The ups and downs in the voice, its pace and tone create moods, meanings and feelings in your speech. It attracts interest and holds the attention of the listener by making your speech interesting.

• Emphasis  Emphasis on some words or phrases brings

about a contrast from the other words and creates a deeper meaning. It attracts the attention to those key words or phrases and promotes better understanding.

• Tone  Tone gives emotion to what you are saying. Most

times the meaning of the words that we are saying and the emotion we wish to express are the same and complement each other but sometimes they are different. This difference comes about by using a tone that does not match the words. For example, we may be telling someone we believe them but our tone clearly shows that we are only being polite by not saying “I disbelieve you” openly and that we do not actually believe them.

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242    I’m Not Afraid of GDPI! • Accent  Make people from different states of the country

speak the same passage from a book in English and each will sound different. People from different countries too will sound different. This is because everybody has a different manner of pronunciation which is influenced by their local language or mother tongue. This is called Mother Tongue Influence (MTI). If these influences are very strong, they can make you quite incomprehensible to others even though you are speaking the common language English. If you are aware that your spoken language has a strong local accent, you have to try and clean it up with the help of Accent Neutralization. You have to pay attention to syllable stress and the way the basic consonant sounds are uttered. Listen to people who speak well, pay attention to the way they pronounce their words, observe their mouth movements and emulate them. This is a very practical oriented task. Record yourself at regular intervals to assess the progress you are making.

• Choice of words  Language skills, good vocabulary and

the imaginative use of words will help you to say much with few words. If you have these skills, you will not have to make long speeches to get your idea across which can be boring and tedious to the listeners. With the use of a few well chosen and effective words, you will be able to make yourself understood smartly and keep your receivers attentive and interested in what you are saying.

A good delivery engages the listener completely. If the content of your speech is up to the mark and relevant to the occassion, your accompanying body language matches on all levels and the voice is well modulated with a comfortably understood accent, your delivery will be superb and the attention of the listener will not waver. His engagement to your speech will be complete and the end result of your communication will be exactly as desired.

The elements of communication In the most minimal model of communication there are six elements and they are– • The Sender This is the person who is going to communi-

cate.

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Good Communication Made Easy    243 • The Idea Or the message in the sender’s mind that he

wants to communicate.

• Encoding How the sender decides to express the idea,

what channel of expression he chooses to use.

• Receiver The person who is being communicated to. • Decoding How the receiver understands the idea. • Feedback The response that the receiver gives to the

sender.

All these put together make one instance of communication. Ideally for good communication all elements are important but still think and say, which according to you is the most important one? Purposeful consideration of which element has the maximum positive impact on the success of communication? When asked this question, most people answer with either one of the following four: • Sender  This is the person on whom the burden of commu-

nication is, it is him who has the message, it is him who has to express it therefore he is the most important element.

• Idea  Many people vote for the idea as the most important

element as this is the content that has to be expressed and understood by the two parties involved. The content has to be correct and meaningful to both.

• Encoding  A lot of people vote for encoding because only

correct encoding can ensure that the transmitted idea is received without distortion.

• Feedback Yet another group of people vote for feedback

as the most important element because it is through feedback that the sender gets to know what the receiver understood and how accurate it is in comparison to the original message.

Well, as mentioned earlier, all elements hold their own importance in the process of communication but none of the above is the most important one. A successful instance of communication is not based on any of the above choices. If any of these had been the most important then so many instances of miscommunication would not take place. But they do. As a sender if we are sure of the idea and have encoded it as we deemed fit, then there

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should be no possibility of miscommunication. Yet, all around us we see some serious miscommunication taking place every day with everybody. Almost everyone has a story to tell about when he or she was grossly misunderstood or how some incident of breakdown of communication affected them or how they had to suffer a great loss because of it. So, what is the most important element of communication? It is the receiver! The burden of communicating may be on the sender but the bigger burden is having an idea that is receiver appropriate and using a transmitting code or channel that is receiver friendly. If you analyse carefully, you will find that the entire process of communication including the original message, the encoding, and the choice of the transmitting channel is in accordance to the receiver. Let’s see how. • The idea or message  The idea we choose to transmit con-

forms to the receiver. This means that we always carefully match the message to the receiver. Would you ask your 3 year old niece or your grandfather to go and watch cartoons on TV with friends? Would a general manager of a company ask the sales department for the sales report or will he ask the HRD department for it? Would the counselor of a college inform the final year students of an upcoming campus recruitment drive or would he tell it to the first year students? Will you take your math problem to a biology teacher? The answer is clear in each question. We always transmit a message in accordance to our listener, our receiver. Our message has to be meaningful and suitable to the listener.

• The encoding  Consider how you speak to a two year old

child, an elder in the family and your friend. Do you speak to all of them in the same way since you as the sender are the same in each case? Even if the message is the same in each case, do you not say it differently? For example, suppose you have to express the idea that ‘you are going’, will you not say it in a distinctly differently manner to each of them? Take another example- in the office; do you not speak about the same issue in a different manner with your friendly colleagues and with the vice president of the company? Or, when you are discussing a client proposal with your colleagues, you talk in an easy manner amongst yourselves but when the very same proposal has to be presented before the clients; you pitch it with charts, graphs, audio

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Good Communication Made Easy    245

and video aids and photographs etc. all the while using your best ‘professional’ speech. If you find yourself agreeing to all these examples, it confirms that you indeed are expressing yourself and your idea in accordance to the receiver. We are now in agreement on the fact that the receiver is the most important element of successful communication and if we encode accordingly, choose the channel appropriately, then we can automatically and confidently expect the decoding and the feedback to be accurate. Yet, sometimes we experience an inaccurate feedback despite all the preceding considerations. Why does that happen? This happens, when the encoding and choice of channel turn out to be incorrect and not in accordance to the receiver in spite of our best efforts. Let’s see how and why this happens— • You may have misjudged the level and the ability of the

receiver. The grasping capabilities of the receiver are lower than expected. Thus, the message is not understood.

• Language issues. Maybe wrong language is being used

or the level and quality of the language is incorrect and unsuitable.

• Wrong channel. Channels could be many—written, spoken,

drawings, diagrams, graphs, symbols, body gestures etc. The choice of the channel to express the idea could be incorrect as per the understanding power of the receiver. For example, the receiver does not know how to read or decipher data in a graph.

• Cultural influences. Sometimes it happens that some

sounds, symbols or gestures may mean something totally different in another culture than what you wish to express and is thus misunderstood by the receiver.

• There may be disturbances and distractions because of

which the receiver could not receive the message in entirety. These could also create distortions.

• The receiver may not be listening effectively.

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Putting the ‘knowing’ to work The next logical question here is that how do we put this very useful bit of knowledge to use? How do we benefit from this? You do remember that the aim behind reading and learning all this is to get the job and to win the race. For readers who are already working, the aim is to be more professional, better prepared and to advance further in their fields. Since communication is a large and integral part of landing a job and growing in it, this knowledge that the best communication is that which has the receiver as the main consideration definitely has benefits. If every time you remember to keep your receivers to be more important than you during any interaction, you will always communicate to their liking and be appreciated for it. This is particularly meaningful during the job selection procedures. Consider—why are you trying to improve your general knowledge, your language skills, your communication skills and your personality? Why are you training yourself to be able to perform better in group discussions, interviews or any other selection procedure? Why will you groom smartly and mind your manners and your body language over there? You are taking all these pains and going through all these efforts, spending time, energy and money because you want to be able to present yourself and communicate in accordance to your receivers i.e., the selectors. You know that at the time of selections, the selectors are your receivers and that they have a pre-conceived idea, an image in their mind as to how the new recruit has to be, what skills and abilities he has to have. You are trying to conform to that image in their mind. And if you succeed in presenting and communicating exactly or at least a nearly exact image, you know your chances of winning the race are very strong. Every industry, every field of profession and every job profile has a certain set of requirements from you as a professional of that field. When you decide to run a race in a particular field, you understand what those requirements are or soon learn about them. If you have the determination to win, you have to put in the hard work with honesty and sincerity to develop those qualities. Since you realize that the competition is tough, you need to go beyond those requirements and develop such an attractive and well rounded personality that the recruiters cannot stop themselves from making an offer of employment to you.

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Good Communication Made Easy    247

Effective listening Till now you have been learning how to be a good sender. But communication is a two way process. Therefore you also require to learn the technique of how to be a good receiver i.e., a good listener because only when you listen well, you accurately catch what the other is communicating and respond suitably. Good listening is an art in itself. You don’t just hear the words and decipher their literal meaning. You catch and mix in all the subtle and not-so-subtle inflections and the intonations of the speakers’ voice to decipher the emotions behind the words which could give them a completely different meaning. You also mix in what your eyes are ‘hearing’ i.e., the visual signals sent across via body language and only after you have taken everything into consideration, you draw an inference and ‘hear’ accurately. This is called effective listening. For example: A manager comes into the office and says “tomorrow onwards all staff members will attend an exercise session of one hour in the new company gym.” One member responds with a loud “Sure, yoohoo!” his face is lit up, his eyes are shining and he raised his arm in a whoop! gesture. One other member looks alarmed, mumbles a barely audible ‘if we must’ and is looking around in panic. Although both have responded in an affirmative, you know that the first person is thrilled with the idea whereas the second person is unhappy with the announcement by the quality of their voice and body language. Effective listening is also a tool that can prevent miscommunication or breakdowns in communication. Further, when you are listening well, with the use of all your faculties, you will receive both the implicit and the explicit inferences of the transmitted message. This means that you will not only hear what is being said clearly in words but you will also hear what is not being said but is being implied. These hidden meanings or messages are sometimes of more value that the clearly said ones, especially in a business environment. Good listening results in accurate responses made. If what we heard was wrong or incomplete or heard ineffectively, we might answer in ways that we may regret later. We may make commitments that are harmful to us or we may end up with undesirable results. No one wants any of this to happen. Therefore, learning to practice good listening is essential.

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Effective listening made easy There is a simple logical procedure that makes listening well easy. Basically, all it requires is alertness and complete mental presence. Be completely focused on the communicator and take in all the verbal and non-verbal signals being sent. There are four essential elements here: • Input  This is the receiving part. You are ‘hearing’ to what

is being said and also are attentive to all the other cues being sent out. This is akin to data gathering.

• Comprehension  Putting all the input together and syn-

thesizing the content to make sense in the context and to understand what was communicated. Simply said, it is the ‘understanding’ phase.

• Combining  There always are other contents from the

past that relate to the present content. This means that what is being said now will make more sense when some information from some previous experience is combined with it and then inferences are drawn, a complete picture is made. Here is an example to explain this—Ashok is a fresh graduate from a medium sized town and is appearing for an interview in which he feels he has done very well. The body language and the tone of the interviewers are very positive and the final question asked is “are you willing to relocate?” Ashok is in a quandary now because he feels sure he is going to get this job offer but he does not wish to relocate to a very big city based on the data in his memory of the terrifying experiences related by his elder brother of tiny rooms, long commutes, indifferent people and utter loneliness of a large and strange place combined with an unaccustomed-to fast pace of life. But, he does not want to decline also. He has to put all this together and somehow make the best sense and inference out of it all to have a winning position that is also of acceptable conditions which in this case would be to have the job offer but somehow avoid going to a very large and seemingly scary city. On the spot he has to listen, comprehend the deeper inferences, match it up to previous data and come up with a suitable response.

• Responding  Once the previous three steps have been

completed successfully, this is not difficult. Now you have

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ready in your mind the response you want to make and the only thing left is to actually make it. For responding you will have to choose the correct mode, words, tone and body language. (Ashok’s response for the above situation could be to look straight into the eyes of the interviewer and say with a strong confident voice that yes, he is willing to relocate but he humbly requests not to be sent to any metro class city initially. He should be sent to a smaller city where he can learn to adjust and then once he has, soon he will be ready to go anywhere.)

Aides to effective listening Certain considerations help in improving our listening skills. Since we do realize that ineffective listening can have harmful results, we should strive to construct such conditions that there are no barriers to profitable listening. These favourable conditions can be: • Be completely present. Focus on the communication

taking place. At the time, do not be distracted with other thoughts going around in your mind. Any other unrelated stuff can be dealt with at another time. At this instant, be completely present.

• Tune out to distractions. Sometimes it happens that the

conditions are not ideal for communication and there might be environmental distractions like noise, traffic, loud music, bad smells, peripheral activity, heat, cold etc. Repeatedly your mind will tend to travel towards the distraction but you have to have enough control over it and enough focus on the proceedings that you completely tune out whatever is not right and concentrate.

• Do not be busy preparing responses immaturely. So

many times it happens that we listen to only the initial part of whatever is being said and mentally start preparing what we are going to say next. We are then so busy thinking up our response that as a result we don’t listen to the latter part of the communication properly. As a result, either our prepared response does not make good sense anymore or we miss out on something very important.

• Do not harbour preconceived ideas. Sometimes we have

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already formed an idea, an image of what the subject of communication is all about. The speaker may be trying to say something new, offbeat or radically different, but we only ‘hear’ what we have already thought of what he is going to say. This can be very frustrating to the speaker and he will keep repeating which in turn will irritate the listener. Here the speaker is making his best efforts to be heard but the listener is actually just not listening. • Do not assume what the speaker will say. If you have

already made an assumption of what he will say, you won’t hear what he actually is saying. The notion that you have formed in your mind will prevent you from active listening. Keep a very open and clear mind whenever in a listening position.

• Try and take cultural differences into account. Cer-

tain, words, phrases, expressions and gestures can mean different things in different cultures. A common example for this is the bewilderment of westerners when they come across Indians nodding their head sideways for both ‘yes’ and ‘no’. For them ‘yes’ is very clearly an up and down movement of the head but for us it is both ways.

• Do not let personal feelings come in the way. If this is

not a personal and private conversation, if it is a business communication, keep your personal feelings about the subject out of the equation. If there is much of such interference, what you hear will be contaminated and could be very different to what the speaker was trying to say.

• If your hearing was incomplete or insufficient for some

reason, request the speaker to repeat instead of wildly inferring as the differences between the intended message and the inferred message can be vast. In serious business, guesswork should be diligently avoided.

• Be on a lookout for any very clever use of words or phrases,

subtle change in meanings brought about by sophisticated phrasing as these can later come back as serious differences in the explicit and implicit implication and thrust of the communicated message.

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