The
top MBA Colleges in Greater Noida, Delhi NCR offer the best academic curriculum
to their PGDM and MBA students, unique in both content and form. The definition
of the scope and ambit of the design of academic curriculum includes the
syllabi of text books in many MBA Colleges. But for business schools like Ishan
Institute of Management & Technology it takes on an all-encompassing and
all-pervasive approach that integrates business films, general knowledge, communication,
power dressing and a lot more with a singular objective of enabling students to
cross the line successfully and get placed with a corporate enterprise of their
merit. To this extent the top MBA colleges in Greater Noida, Delhi NCR develop
and follow a blue print for placement preparation. This placement preparation
is a process that aims to develop and process the academic knowledge gained in
the lecture sessions into the capability to brand and sell oneself during an
interview.
Developing the Right Perspective
for a Job Interview
Many
people may actually wonder about the title of the post of this blog. It makes
enormous good sense to assert that a job interview is very different from an academic
interview. The basic point is for students and people running the show in
placement cells of different business schools to understand that a job
interview amounts to selection in a team and thus academic merit is not the
only factor to be considered. The interviewer is a part of a team himself and
has a job to offer the best possible value addition to a specific team from a
department or function. The point is to understand the psyche of the
interviewer and get into the “behind the screens” mode as much as possible.
Once inside the interview room it is more like a game of chess or rather a mind
game. We take a look at some of the best practices from job interviews.
How to Deal with Historical
Questions?
Historical
questions are also called behavioural questions. Questions like “tell me how
you addressed this issue when you were working in that position 2 or 3 years
ago...” are examples of historical questions. These questions are not very
effective in scanning the problem solving skills of a candidate. Yet there is a
better way to use historical questions. An intelligent interviewer would follow
the above given example with straighter one that focuses on the present times.
Candidates should while answering the first example of historical questions e prepared
to answer the follow-up question on how he would adapt the solution to the
problem in the context of the present time.
How to Deal with Problem Solving
Questions?
As
said above any interviewee should expect a follow up question to a historical
question. The follow-up question may be more pin-pointed forcing the candidate
to offer a working plan of the idea he has to offer. In many cases depending
upon the level in the corporate hierarchy for which the interview is being
undertaken the interviewer may also offer a pen and a piece of paper. For
example almost all Japanese companies ask their hires and employees to present
the solution to a problem on a piece of A4 size paper. If a candidate offers an
algorithm or a process flowchart, it makes the job of the interviewer easier.
The interviewer should concentrate on each step in the process flowchart and
deduct marks for missing out on steps like data collection, knowing the work
culture, structure and authority protocol, consulting clients and distributors,
identifying KRAs (key result areas).
How to Deal with Questions that are
Futuristic?
There
are questions that are futuristic and hence require the candidate to prove that
he has got a sense of anticipation and vision for the future. Developing a
vision for how a function like data analytics, marketing, business development
or accounting shall change over the next couple of years is a difficult task.
Developing a vision for how an industry is going to play out in terms of
growth, organic and inorganic growth routes, recessionary pressures, government
policy changes in the pipeline, etc is even tougher. At Ishan Institute of
Management & Technology, the top MBA College in Greater Noida we ask
students to think in terms of an industry and observe it as much as possible
during the two years of the MBA course. A vision takes time to develop. It is
about looking at the big picture. We expect an interviewer to ask questions
like forecasting major trends that are likely to emerge in 2-3 years,
developing a plan for the first 100 days (following the 100 hundred day rule in
Silicon Valley) and outlining goals for the first 3 months. To answer these
type of questions a candidate must absorb knowledge like sponge by
concentrating on lecture sessions, solving industry or function specific case
studies, staying updated on company specific details by reading blogs,
e-magazines, articles and business news portals.
How to Deal with Questions on
Adaptability, Learning and Innovation?
The
next level of questions in terms of difficulty level relate to adaptability,
learning and process innovation. It is crucial to have answers to questions on
these 3 metrics. Business environment is always and everywhere a dynamic one.
It is not easy to keep balance while standing on ball that is rotating and
revolving all the time. It calls for skills of adaptability, learning and
process innovation to stay ahead of competition. At Ishan, one of the top MBA
and PGDM Colleges in Delhi NCR we prepare students to face these questions. The
answers to each of these questions have to be pin-pointed and objective. That
is to say that beating around the bushes is no solution to this kind of
questions.
These
were a few insights on how to handle a variety of questions for job hiring
interviews. At Ishan, the first graduate business school of Greater Noida, we
have a very proactive multi-layered placement cell that engages in
collaboration with faculty members to groom students for job interviews.