A Good Job Interview Part 2- "Role of Projects"

Here is the second most important part of any technical interview. Your Projects.

Before moving any further, there is some homework that needs to be done before one appear in placement process like proper attire, proper Apti-GD practice etc. But the most important of them all is "Going through the Company's profile."

While going through the company's profile the few things that must be noted are

i) Company's field of work
ii) Recent Innovations
iii) Job Profile

CTC, locations are optional and entirely depend on your comfort.

Now, coming back to the topic. Whenever the interviewer asks you to describe your project. You describe it according to the requirement. For example, if the company's field of work is Web Development, and you have done the project in the same field. That's Bingo!! The only thing left to work upon is framing your answer.

But what if your project has no relation to the company. That requires some preparation. We will be dealing with both the cases one by one.

We hope you know that you must have a complete and thorough knowledge of your project.

Case 1:- When your project matches the company's job profile.

As I told you, its a Bingo Case. It only depends on whether you have complete knowledge of your project or not. Also framing your answer cleverly is a big advantage in such cases. Whenever you are asked "Tell me about your projects."

Here is how you must answer.
1. "I have done a couple/few projects out of which XYZ (the project matching company's profile) is my favourite."
2. The problem statement of your project.
3. Your role . (If you had multiple roles in the project, say the one that matches the job profile)
4. What issues you faced during the project?
5. How you handled those issues?
6. Final Result of the project
7. What did you learn?
8. How did that project made your ambition stronger for the job field?


Case 2:- When your project doesn't match the company's profile.

What if you have a Core technical profile and you have applied for the post of an Analytic? Well here is how you frame your answer.

1. "I have done a couple/few projects out of which XYZ (the project matching company's profile) is my favourite."
2. The problem statement of your project.
3. Your role . (If you had any technical role, make up a role that you were incharge of the documentation or whatever is the company's area of interest)
4. What did you learn about analytic from that project?
5. What special situation arose during the project that made you realize that you have to make a career in the field?


Well, go on make up your answer for this question and post any queries you have. :)

A Good Job Interview - PART-1 "Technical Companies"

Off-campus season is on!
And the most important aspect of any placement procedure is-- "The Personal Interview." Every thing that the recruiters have to know is in that personal interview. You unknowingly provide the answers to all the questions such as:-

"Are you confident in your boots?"
"Do you seriously want to join this company?"
"Are you joining the company for your interest or for money?"

and many others..

So, how to tackle these questions?

Before I begin, this article is purely my view. Some of the stuffs that I had mentioned has been taught to me. Some have been learned by me during interviews and others are just basic opinions on the matter.

Lets start by answering the first and foremost question of any job interview.

Tell me about yourself.

First of all, its not a question. Its just a request to tell your life story.

So, how do you tell a story?
You start from the beginning, cover all the incidents in chronological order and then come to a conclusion. And that's the proper way.

This is how the points must be mentioned.

1. Name and Location
2. 10th and 12th educational history in brief.
3. Whatever you are doing right now
4. What special did you do during your graduation and post graduation course.
5. Conclusion to why are you sitting there in front of the interviewer.
6. Hobbies and where do you see yourself in the next 10-15 years, just to make the convo interesting.

Here is my introduction.

"My name is Kishan Jhunjhun wala. I am 21 years old from Bihar. I did my 10th and 12th from CBSE board from St. Karens Secondary School, Patna

I am currently pursuing engineering in the Mechanical Department from Birla Institute Of Technology, Patna. "

These are the first 3 points covered.

About point 4. See in this part you have to mention your projects. As it is a technical interview, try to impress the interviewer as much as possible with your project. Mention all the things that you learn during the project, whatever you contributed, and some outstanding achievement you had during the same. And yes you can lie about the achievement, but be ready for the questions that might be put forward. Tailor your story so that it bring you to point 5.

"In 2015, my team and I fabricated an ATV vehicle. It was our first project and we learnt a lot about automobiles, sponsorship, time management, work allocation etc. We implemented our learning the next year, when we fabricated a Formula One car, being the best in Bihar, and 34th all across the country, at SUPRA SAEINDIA 2016. Since it was the first time that we had participated in such a grand event ,we felt proud that  we were able to leave 213 teams behind us. I was the head of suspension and sponsorship team and I remember working for a continuous 40 hours to complete the suspension. It all paid off when the judges at SUPRA SAEINDIA said that it was one of the best suspension they have ever seen.
I have also organized various events in my college like Parliamentary Debate, Virtual Placements Scenarios, Automobile Quizzes, Industrial Problem Statement etc. 
These things always pulled me towards automobiles. I had a deep interest in the sector from my first project in 2014, but it grew stronger as I kept on organizing events in that sector. And that's why I am sitting here at this interview."

About hobbies. Just make it interesting and nothing else. This is mine.

"In my free time, I like to make short movies, work as a freelancer for photo editing, video making. I worked as the Cinematographer cum Editor in my college movie “Smiling Tears”, which gained laurels at various theatres in Patna. You can catch my movies at various channels, “BlackmindWhiteThoughts”, “Estudentcell” “jjwkishanofficial” are a few of them.  I work as a freelancer for startups like Beginyourstartup.com, estudencell.in.  I also spend time in teaching underprivileged children, once a week. We have an NGO “Nav Umeed” and we have organised various events such as Dramas, Health Camps, Distributing winter wears etc. Working in all these fields taught me to be a team man and so on..............................................
 
I would be covering the rest of the questions in my later blog. Keep on working on your introduction first and we will cover the rest.