A primer on interview preparation -1

Last September, as BITSoM students were preparing for BITSoM 's first ever summer internship process, I put down some thoughts on preparing for interviews distilled over many years on both sides of the table. I shared this with a senior HR head who felt it would be useful not only for students, but for others too. Encouraged, I shared with our students and am now sharing this with my network. The mail text follows below:

I write this mail to distil some experience that may be useful to you in preparing for interviews. I have been on both sides of the table, and am trying to put together some tips that can be of use, and can be put to practice in twenty four hours or less.

 The interview is an unstructured situation. The resume is a way to structure/control this situation-You can be certain that you will be asked questions around things you have put on your resume- experiences, achievements etc. If your response to the first level question is good, then the interviewer will go deeper, and check for depth of understanding. There may be associated questions with terms you have used and claims you have made.

 Let me take a simple example:

 Let us say you worked in pharmaceutical sales, and increased city sales by some percentage (let us say 10%).

 The first level of preparation is: What are you going to say when asked about this: What was the problem, how did you go about it, what did you achieve.

Remember, in your response, you are trying to highlight some strengths of relevance to the interviewer e.g I analysed sales across the market, compared stores serviced relative to competition, and found that there were areas where prescriptions were low and retail sales were falling. I looked at salespeople servicing those areas, and found that many of them were new. I accompanied some of them to the market, and realised that they were not well versed with many products. I initiated and designed a comprehensive product training module for new salespeople, with the result…

 You are demonstrating analysis, the ability to make connections, initiative etc

 Now look at your first answer above and ask: What follow up questions are possible

 e/g How are prescriptions and retail sales linked-are they handled by the same sales people?

How do you go about designing an effective product training module.

What challenges do new salespeople face?

How would you benchmark stores serviced relative to competition.

 Essentially, this is like a mindmap with your first answer as level 1, and questions from your first answer as level 2- I would generally advise preparing upto level 3, but even if you go upto level 2 for every project/job stint/achievement on your CV, you will be better off than most.

 The second aspect of associated questioning is related to the sector that you were associated with.

Sample questions:

 How has covid affected the pharmaceutical industry in India? What has changed and why?

What is the size of the pharmaceutical industry in India? Who are the largest players?

Can you think of any recent regulations that have impacted the pharmaceutical industry?

 These are related to your general awareness and interest, in areas you have worked in.

 Another aspect of resume based preparation that trips up many, is related to words used within your resume.

Eg I designed and implemented a strategy to increase sponsorships for our cultural festival by 30 per cent.

 You must be prepared to answer: what is strategy, also what was strategic about what you did- Be prepared to explain words that feature in your resume simply and clearly. This applies equally well to mergers and acquisitions (what is the difference), Enhanced supply chain effectiveness- what is a supply chain, what is an effectiveness metric for a supply chain .

 Essentially if you have used a business term in your resume text, can you explain it clearly and simply, ideally with an example.

If your resume speaks about expertise in a sector, make sure you are up to date on the current state of the sector, size, recent developments etc

 Final aspect on resume: let us say: I led a team which reduced employee attrition by 30percent. If you were a member of a four person committee which coordinated the effort, ‘led’ is misleading. A good interviewer will want to know how you led, what the team composition and role was, and any exaggeration in the headline can be quickly exposed.

 Essentially, make your achievements interesting and action oriented-but do not overstate to the point that you yourself cannot justify the claims.

 Other aspects of general awareness:

 Economic events:                                                                          

Awareness of GDP and inflation, how is the economy doing, awareness around recent economic events (Good idea for someone to prepare a primer and share) (Economic Times)

Global events which have impacted business in the last three months.

 If you prepare well around your resume, and are well versed on the behavioural questions, you are already well on the way to being prepared. An attitude to depth is fundamental for most interviewers, and shallowness around things you have done can make for a difficult interview.

All the best!