Interview Mantra

A simple checklist that helps you avoid goof ups at Interviews.

1. Check your Appointment

Reading the Interview Invitation email for appointment details, is one thing that we overlook in the excitement of doing an Interview. As a result of which, we get to see some unpleasant surprises such as “The interview was scheduled at 10 AM not 12 AM.. Heck..!”, “I drove to the wrong office building, its the one in the new city and not the old city!”.

Going late to an interview could be embarrassing and may prove expensive too, so do not assume things. Go through your interview invitation email meticulously.

2. Compile your Interview Kit

   • Your Resume – 2 hard copies and optionally a soft copy in a CD or a Thumb Drive.
   • 4 Passport sized Photographs that represent the Professional you- to paste it on the appointment letter if you are lucky.
   • Interview Invitation Letter printout – watch out, they may not let you in without a copy of this.
   • Recent work Presentation or document – to show off.
   • Cookies and an energy bar – to keep you alive while they make you wait for hours without intimation.
   • Visiting Cards – to grow your network with other guys who appear for the same job posting, if not fetch you a job.
   • Google Map directions to the venue printout – to reduce your stress in finding out their location.
     N95- A Swine flu protection mask – if the recruiter insists a face mask!.

I call it “The Interview Kit”: set of all necessary things that you need to carry usually for an Interview.

Interview Kit comprises of:

3. Groom yourself

   • Get a haircut if you have enough time and hair.
   • Shave your beard (n/a for women!).
   • Wax your hands (n/a for men!!).
   • Do not forget to shine your shoes.

Who said that first impressions do not work? Of course they do. Try to look your best at the interview. Wash and Iron your favorite formal dress and keep it ready the night before.

4. Revise some theory

In a recent interview that I flopped, the biggest mistake that I had committed was not to revise theory that I already knew. I felt I knew answer to every question being asked, but was not able to recollect. I sounded like a mad professor trying to recollect his previous birth. To avoid such kind of embarrassment, you might want to revise theory that you know well. But do NOT read new stuff, it may further confuse and frighten you too.

5. Research about the company

   • What the purpose and mission of the Company is.
   • Who their Clients are.
   • What they are up to these days.
   • Who the CEO/Founder/Vice President is.

Spend some time on the website of the Recruiter Company. Note down important things that could be asked or could be useful for discussion, such as:

6. Relax and Rejuvenate

Getting adequate sleep the night before, is really essential. You may be asked to wait in the lobby before they call you for the interview. You do not want to doze off without your own knowledge.

Strictly avoid alcohol and oily foods. Needless to say, you do not want to focus on where the restroom is, while doing the interview.

About the Author:  Sridhar Jammalamadaka is the Editor of Interview Mantra. He's a typically non-typical Software Engineer from Pune, India. He likes entrepreneurship, web technologies and Micro Controller programming. He enjoys playing cricket and piano (but rarely does these activities). Through this website, he wishes to gather a large community of aspiring engineers, entrepreneurs and professionals from all parts of the globe. You can connect with him on Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/sridhar.j