How to crack interviews/written ?

[choudharyneelam]

it wud b appreciated if members can forward/attach sum gud sample CV's. this wud surely help everyBUDDY out here, to catch gud points nd add more worthiness to their own CV. me too hav'nt updated my CV for past 8-10 yrs... may b, i'll also take a leaf out to add to my CV, wch its still running on window 2000. :p:D

in addition to it, objective should be one's own only....:D....as i've seen many copying the same.....even same thing i experinced when a lady (Ph. D.) copied my complete resume (except educational qualification) :D) including my own stated objective to apply for teaching.....hehehehe....Ph.D. karke itna bhi khud nahin soch paayi.....i feel pity for such degree holders....hehe

[brahmtewatia]

in addition to it, objective should be one's own only....:D....as i've seen many copying the same.....even same thing i experinced when a lady (Ph. D.) copied my complete resume (except educational qualification) :D) including my own stated objective to apply for teaching.....hehehehe....Ph.D. karke itna bhi khud nahin soch paayi.....i feel pity for such degree holders....hehe

neelam, d'u remember when drona was teaching the archery lesson to kaurawas nd pandawas. there was a sparrow tht he hung on a tree nd asked all... wat d'u see?

sum said branches of tree, sum said i can see leaves, another one said i can see a crow on other branch :p ultimately, drona asked arjun... my son wat d'u see?

arjun replied... i can see only the eye of the sparrow. idea behind this story is... that a person/member will take only those lines or points wch he thinks can suit his CV best... btw have u gone thru the new thread on editorial section... its talking abt communication skills... yr. CV might help other members who are not effective communicators to revise their CV accordingly.

[choudharyneelam]

neelam, d'u remember when drona was teaching the archery lesson to kaurawas nd pandawas. there was a sparrow tht he hung on a tree nd asked all... wat d'u see?

sum said branches of tree, sum said i can see leaves, another one said i can see a crow on other branch :p ultimately, drona asked arjun... my son wat d'u see?

arjun replied... i can see only the eye of the sparrow. idea behind this story is... that a person/member will take only those lines or points wch he thinks can suit his CV best... btw have u gone thru the new thread on editorial section... its talking abt communication skills... yr. CV might help other members who are not effective communicators to revise their CV accordingly.

very right Sir!!.....but the most pathetic situation what i find was that.....that lady failed in the interview when she was questioned about the (copied) objective and then again she approached me asking for another objective (with explanation this time)....now such cases are hopeless....but still i never miss to help anybody if its possible at my part as i know even the same written statements are carried with different thoughts in different hands.

[anilsinghd]

it wud b appreciated if members can forward/attach sum gud sample CV's. this wud surely help everyBUDDY out here, to catch gud points nd add more worthiness to their own CV. me too hav'nt updated my CV for past 8-10 yrs... may b, i'll also take a leaf out to add to my CV, wch its still running on window 2000. :p:D

Short and concise worked for me.


========
Now things that i made up in the CV were :

1. My positions of Responsibility : Look that I mentioned class 10th and 12th thingy's so nobody can go back and verify that.
2. My interests in history and national and international politics ( well that was a logical make up because I was preparing for Civils for about 7 months before I sat in campus interviews so I would have answered all questions on these topics ).
=========

[choudharyneelam]

Short and concise worked for me.


========
Now things that i made up in the CV were :

1. My positions of Responsibility : Look that I mentioned class 10th and 12th thingy's so nobody can go back and verify that.
2. My interests in history and national and international politics ( well that was a logical make up because I was preparing for Civils for about 7 months before I sat in campus interviews so I would have answered all questions on these topics ).
=========

Good Work!!

and the most eye-catching is the academic record....i never ever dreamt like that.....hehehehe.....anyways, sab log ek jaise nahin hote and that's why i'm different :D.....itni padhai (not of my interest area :D)

but seriously it will give us an idea to present the information in an attractive outlook

Thanks and looking for others' great achievements and records (except mine, not meant to be disclosed :D)

Regards
Neelam

[brahmtewatia]

short and concise worked for me.

..........

[brahmtewatia]

very right Sir!!.....but the most pathetic situation what i find was that.....that lady failed in the interview when she was questioned about the (copied) objective and then again she approached me asking for another objective (with explanation this time)....now such cases are hopeless....but still i never miss to help anybody if its possible at my part as i know even the same written statements are carried with different thoughts in different hands.

appreciate yr. reply neelam, as i overluked the consequence(s)

moral : pls. use yr kidneys while copying :D

[sunillathwal]

Very useful and important tips and thanx guys for sharing your experiences.

i have a small query regarding the communication gap.. (not confined to interviews only).
How to minimize it??

i'll take an example:
Every Wednesday we have a seminar by a student or professor on some common research topic which is followed by the questionnaires!! here this communication gap problem is common..
1. i had some doubt/query... In response , speaker will start explaining something entirely different!!
On my part: i can think over my question carefully (to make sure it is a question indeed :D), speak slowly and in a lucid way.. but still there is some communication gap (believe me it happens and many times)... Even others in audience will get the question properly but somehow speaker will goof-up and then others will also start speaking and at same time!!
i find it very embarrassing situation for the speaker and 'me' as the person responsible for this situation!!:o

Any tip to better the scene or tip to get rid-off this guilty conscience.

2. how many times i can repeat the question without appearing rude: i do it Two times at max. If after two attempts m unable to convey the right dialogue then i'll say "ok sir, fine... i got u.." which obviously i didn't!! and hence the very purpose of attending the seminar is washed-away!!!

So Any tips here??

3. When i m the speaker.. same problem, i do "ususal needful" things to give presentaion in a nice manner.
But still.. there is some gap. i respond to a query... Audience: "no, i asked blah... blah.." means i was on wrong track :o.
should i assume that other person didn't put the question in a proper way?? other possibilty: i was impatient and i didn't listen the question carefully??

I can't be right in both cases: as an audience and as then as a speaker!!

what to do??

P.S. By "I", i don't mean sunil.. its a general case AND some of the speakers are very very experienced and learned.. i mean nervousness or stage anxiety can not be the only factor here!!!

[mkm_jat]

Ram Ram Sunil n All others,

Whatever questions you have put here, are very common in seminars, lectures, etc. Experienced guys please share your experience in such situations? How do u manage it?

I feel this kind of situations appear in interviews also. Sometime interviewer will ask something, but candidate understands it other way and replies for the questions he understood. So how should we prepare to avoid such situation while giving and attending seminars, and also during interviews?

Thanks and regards,
Manoj

[choudharyneelam]

I agree that sometimes such things happen, but that depends on the clarity of your thoughts.....how well u can interpret anything

.....sometimes such situation arise when the other person get to know your loose-point....this way you can be distracted easily by that person and he/she overpowers u just to win his impression

confidence factor is very important here
clarity in the expression of opinions/thoughts is another important consideration

talking about interview session.....then i just prefer to ask politely by saying.....Ankit/Vijeta, i didn't get u exactly at this point.....could u pls clarify it a little again.....and they immediately do the same .....still if u don't get them, then that gap is arising only at your part which need to be analysed on your own, or by discussing the exact situation with the right person

rest, m looking forward for other responses regarding the same

[vikasgulia]

Haven't had the opprotunity to go through full thread..some of the infromation.am giving ahead...might be redundant (esp about the book that i am refering to)

1) All you Guys out there: Seniors or juniors!, (Disclaimer: Guys : here is a word being used in an inclusive manner and refers to both the genders, feminists please excuse if they say why do not i try to use gals in inclusive manner instead) you can refer to the masterpiece on Interviewing skils, it answers your all questions in lucid, no verbose, no nonsense manner in 10 minutes flat; 10 Minute Guide to Job Interviews (10 Minute Guides) by Dana Morgan (Best Selling series across globe)

2) A sample resume (ofcourse mine): i spent 4 days when i prepared the draft initially..not the latest one though...

Unsolicited advice about resume: DO NOT COPY (no copyrights though :D), just look at the structure and use the structure.. how it is organised..in case you think that it is effective.

3) Never claim anything in your interview or resume..which is not validated in very next sentence..Everyone is hardworking and looks for challenges ..the oft-repeated words..but do you have it in you to substantiate with hard figures??..if yes..do speak out the specifics in very next sentence.

4) Abolutely no benefit of using cryptic words (especialy the ones memorised directly from dictionary), unless they fit in the situation and drive home the point.

[choudharyneelam]

10 Minute Guide to Job Interviews (10 Minute Guides) by Dana Morgan (Best Selling series across globe)

2) A sample resume (ofcourse mine): i spent 4 days when i prepared the draft initially..not the latest one though...

Unsolicited advice about resume: DO NOT COPY (no copyrights though :D), just look at the structure and use the structure.. how it is organised..in case you think that it is effective.

Thanks for the reference of such good books.....Teksons book shop or Book Mart jaisi jagah se aur bhi acchi books mil jaati hain....dear, just add-up your valuable suggestions and personal experiences.....har kisi ko book reading ki habit nahin hoti.....(though i can go for the same and even have better books as reference by siblings, but not everybody is interested in it)....so make a little more effort by writing your worthful views here

Your sample resume is nicely structured and i've seem something similar like that of some technicals.....and don't worry, atleast m not a copy-cat :D

If anybody having something different then don't wait, just drop it here.....the present two added resume styles (anil's and vikas's) will surely be of some help or provide new idea

[vikasgulia]

Thanks for the reference of such good books.....Teksons book shop or Book Mart jaisi jagah se aur bhi acchi books mil jaati hain....dear, just add-up your valuable suggestions and personal experiences.....har kisi ko book reading ki habit nahin hoti.....(though i can go for the same and even have better books as reference by siblings, but not everybody is interested in it)....so make a little more effort by writing your worthful views here

Your sample resume is nicely structured and i've seem something similar like that of some technicals.....and don't worry, atleast m not a copy-cat :D

If anybody having something different then don't wait, just drop it here.....the present two added resume styles (anil's and vikas's) will surely be of some help or provide new idea

I never read the shelf selp help books myself which have those run of the mill styles..e.g..do this...you know the same heckneyed phrases..e.g: key to success is comunications skills..always make eye contact...etc etc..probabaly everyone knows it what matters is how convincing/imphatic you are in telling this...the book referenced by me is a very convincing..as it looks for the rationale behind everything in interviewing..

Why i refered this book was ..because it looks in the psychology of interviewer about why h/she is asking a particular question..e.g..A typical question is ..Tell us about your strengths & weeknesses? If you say that I am a fitness freak.and likes to jog out might not help but a better version could be that I am jogger who always tries to the extend the last leap..this shows your grit...

The book has such enormous examples..I myself picked up this book whne one my college senior told me the rationale to go for it...

Also, har kisi ko padhane ki aadat nahin hoti. ke liye .fare enough..in fact, that's why i mentioned beforehand..it is a ten minute guide..no nonsense..no verbose...

Besides,..i did share my two piece of experiences about following KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) in speaking and susbtantiating whatever you say in next sentence..


Baaki to swatantra baharat ke saare nagrik swatantra hain..koi bhi kuchh bhi salah de sakta hai..aur haan manane ya na maanane mein bhi swatantrta hai.. just kidding..happy interviewing guys..

[anilsinghd]

i have a small query regarding the communication gap.. (not confined to interviews only).
How to minimize it??

1. i had some doubt/query... In response , speaker will start explaining something entirely different!!2. how many times i can repeat the question without appearing rude: So Any tips here??

3. When i m the speaker..

I feel this kind of situations appear in interviews also. Sometime interviewer will ask something, but candidate understands it other way and replies for the questions he understood. So how should we prepare to avoid such situation while giving and attending seminars, and also during interviews?

Thanks and regards,
Manoj

Valid questions Sunil ji. Have faced this a lot many times myself in lecture halls , presentation rooms.

I guess there aint a quick fix or a general solution.

Yes , one can try a lot to concentrate but also realise at the same time taht the person asking might have certain ego attached to things ( Happened with me in one of my Majot Project Presentations : One of the profs sitting had very lil knowledge of Cryptography and seemed hell bent to proving to all how good he was? He brought me down to such a level that I had to refrain from ansering anything to him. He was himself confused about space and time complexities and was asking me stupid things as to have I implemented the algo while I was talking about RSA which every other guy who studies a basic course on Cryptography does implement.
I was consoled by my mentor at the end to forget all the nuisance that happened.

I have been on other side of things as well. At times have done a stress test of a few presenters :D :D.

Apart from that the only thing u can do is to ask politely once more ( Already suggested by Neelam).




A couple of times repetition is good.

When you are the speaker well I would say do an analysis as to what possible questions can be asked and be prepared for those answers with examples ( I used to attach the slides at the end for Q n A s as a reference for myself. People understand numbers , graphs , pictures , concrete things more easily than abstract ideas.

[brahmtewatia]

2) A sample resume (ofcourse mine): i spent 4 days when i prepared the draft initially..not the latest one though...

dear vikas,

one of the biggest academic credentials tht i have in my cv is the certificate tht i received from CBSE for my outstanding academic performance in English subject (class XII)... for being among the top 0.1% of the successful candidates candidates tht appeared in tht year CBSE examination. pls. take this advise in rightful spirit as i try to correct covering letter in yr. CV

the end lines of the covering letter reads...

thanking you,
yours faithfully
vikas gulia.

d'u know the person to whom you are writing this letter or forwarding yr. CV? ... if not, then pls. remove the word "yours faithfully".
reason: how can u b faithful to a person whom u've n'vr seen or met in yr. life?
if i can remember the words of my ungrezi teacher precisely (well its been now decades gone :p since i left my school)... she always advised to use "yours truly" especialy in business letters nd in letters like these... where u're writing to an unknown person... remember this is not a hard nd fast rule... but my afforesaid reasoning will surely help you judge the correct usage of word(s).

hope this correction might be useful to others as well, who r carrying forward the same mistake.

regards...

[sunitahooda]

Manne na deekhta yo Simple Resume that was made in 4 hours....mail kar dey nai plz....promise not to copy cuz my skills are different than yours

Haven't had the opprotunity to go through full thread..some of the infromation.am giving ahead...might be redundant (esp about the book that i am refering to)

1) All you Guys out there: Seniors or juniors!, (Disclaimer: Guys : here is a word being used in an inclusive manner and refers to both the genders, feminists please excuse if they say why do not i try to use gals in inclusive manner instead) you can refer to the masterpiece on Interviewing skils, it answers your all questions in lucid, no verbose, no nonsense manner in 10 minutes flat; 10 Minute Guide to Job Interviews (10 Minute Guides) by Dana Morgan (Best Selling series across globe)

2) A sample resume (ofcourse mine): i spent 4 days when i prepared the draft initially..not the latest one though...

Unsolicited advice about resume: DO NOT COPY (no copyrights though :D), just look at the structure and use the structure.. how it is organised..in case you think that it is effective.

3) Never claim anything in your interview or resume..which is not validated in very next sentence..Everyone is hardworking and looks for challenges ..the oft-repeated words..but do you have it in you to substantiate with hard figures??..if yes..do speak out the specifics in very next sentence.

4) Abolutely no benefit of using cryptic words (especialy the ones memorised directly from dictionary), unless they fit in the situation and drive home the point.

[dkumars]

dear vikas,

one of the biggest academic credentials tht i have in my cv is the certificate tht i received from CBSE for my outstanding academic performance in English subject (class XII)... for being among the top 0.1% of the successful candidates candidates tht appeared in tht year CBSE examination. pls. take this advise in rightful spirit as i try to correct covering letter in yr. CV

the end lines of the covering letter reads...

thanking you,
yours faithfully
vikas gulia.

d'u know the person to whom you are writing this letter or forwarding yr. CV? ... if not, then pls. remove the word "yours faithfully".
reason: how can u b faithful to a person whom u've n'vr seen or met in yr. life?
if i can remember the words of my ungrezi teacher precisely (well its been now decades gone :p since i left my school)... she always advised to use "yours truly" especialy in business letters nd in letters like these... where u're writing to an unknown person... remember this is not a hard nd fast rule... but my afforesaid reasoning will surely help you judge the correct usage of word(s).

hope this correction might be useful to others as well, who r carrying forward the same mistake.

regards...

Thanks bhaisaahb ... This is new for me as well

[choudharyneelam]

the end lines of the covering letter reads...

thanking you,
yours faithfully
vikas gulia.

d'u know the person to whom you are writing this letter or forwarding yr. CV? ... if not, then pls. remove the word "yours faithfully".
reason: how can u b faithful to a person whom u've n'vr seen or met in yr. life?
if i can remember the words of my ungrezi teacher precisely (well its been now decades gone :p since i left my school)... she always advised to use "yours truly" especialy in business letters nd in letters like these... where u're writing to an unknown person... remember this is not a hard nd fast rule... but my afforesaid reasoning will surely help you judge the correct usage of word(s).

very good point u focussed, which i missed to highlight

addressing skills should also be good

[vikasgulia]

dear vikas,

one of the biggest academic credentials tht i have in my cv is the certificate tht i received from CBSE for my outstanding academic performance in English subject (class XII)... for being among the top 0.1% of the successful candidates candidates tht appeared in tht year CBSE examination. pls. take this advise in rightful spirit as i try to correct covering letter in yr. CV

the end lines of the covering letter reads...

thanking you,
yours faithfully
vikas gulia.

d'u know the person to whom you are writing this letter or forwarding yr. CV? ... if not, then pls. remove the word "yours faithfully".
reason: how can u b faithful to a person whom u've n'vr seen or met in yr. life?
if i can remember the words of my ungrezi teacher precisely (well its been now decades gone :p since i left my school)... she always advised to use "yours truly" especialy in business letters nd in letters like these... where u're writing to an unknown person... remember this is not a hard nd fast rule... but my afforesaid reasoning will surely help you judge the correct usage of word(s).

hope this correction might be useful to others as well, who r carrying forward the same mistake.

regards...

Manne na deekhta yo Simple Resume that was made in 4 hours....mail kar dey nai plz....promise not to copy cuz my skills are different than yours

Thanks Tewatia sir..I take everything in a constructive manner..as this is my profession..consulting......approaching things on logical level..and carrying out constructive discussions..facilating solutioning..Consultants do not provide solution,,,,they just facilitate..

1) I think there is a slight contradiction from Oxford dictionary on this. Here is an abstract from http://www.askoxford.com/betterwriti...iting/?view=uk

"If you are writing to someone whose name and title you do not know (obviously you would not have met them), use the greeting Dear Sir or Madam, and the ending Yours faithfully, signing yourself with your initials and surname."

As i mentioned while attaching my resume..this is not an updated one a run through version...this is a resume which my company sends to client before they engage us for a consulting assignment..in functional conuslting the clients are too fussy and need strong eveidences that the person has a knowldge in holistic business functions apart from his core area/....The first part of resume is a synopsis and nota covering letter..I removed the address part and instead titled it as SYNOPSIS ...the below greetings (faithfully stuff) might have lingered on..:D


2) And yes, lady Sunita ji..i think you missed that i mentioned 4 days and not 4 hours...not beacuse of strucure but it needed enough introspection and analysis before i could come up with valid data points....

Thanks guys for all your views...let us see if i get a chance to have a look upon this thread..again...in next few days..

[brahmtewatia]

the end lines of the covering letter reads...

thanking you,
yours faithfully
vikas gulia.

d'u know the person to whom you are writing this letter or forwarding yr. CV? ... if not, then pls. remove the word "yours faithfully".
reason: how can u b faithful to a person whom u've n'vr seen or met in yr. life?
if i can remember the words of my ungrezi teacher precisely (well its been now decades gone :p since i left my school)... she always advised to use "yours truly" especialy in business letters nd in letters like these... where u're writing to an unknown person... remember this is not a hard nd fast rule... but my afforesaid reasoning will surely help you judge the correct usage of word(s).

Thanks Tewatia sir..I take everything in a constructive manner..as this is my profession..consulting......approaching things on logical level..and carrying out constructive discussions..facilating solutioning..Consultants do not provide solution,,,,they just facilitate..

1) I think there is a slight contradiction from Oxford dictionary on this. Here is an abstract from http://www.askoxford.com/betterwriti...iting/?view=uk

"If you are writing to someone whose name and title you do not know (obviously you would not have met them), use the greeting Dear Sir or Madam, and the ending Yours faithfully, signing yourself with your initials and surname."

As i mentioned while attaching my resume..this is not an updated one a run through version...this is a resume which my company sends to client before they engage us for a consulting assignment..in functional conuslting the clients are too fussy and need strong eveidences that the person has a knowldge in holistic business functions apart from his core area/....The first part of resume is a synopsis and nota covering letter..I removed the address part and instead titled it as SYNOPSIS ...the below greetings (faithfully stuff) might have lingered on..:D

dear vikas,

in abv. perspective, let me try to reason further by giving an analogy of our preachers (or so called preachers) these days.

i hope everyBUDDY must hv heard the name(s) of baba ramdev, bapu asaram ji maharaj, sudhanshu ji maharaj, neelima devi etc etc... (the list goes on). as u might hv seen tht different ppl follow different preachers, as per their liking or as per their preaching skills... also it goes w/o mentioning... as per individual's psyche, an individuals level of realization and/or personal discernment. all hv their own unique style nd charishma, hence their own ardent, at times DIE HARD fan following. ever tried speaking sumthin' bad abt any of these preachers in front of their followers ???... the music tht follows can b btr explained by an individual who has an experience of facing sucha situation. :D

now cumin' to the subject, the oxford link tht u hv given is sumthin' like a DICTUM, more simply a SAYING RULE... cos no one can deny the ruling of oxford dictionary. after going thru yr. link the only wish tht came to mind was tht of havin' the facility of internet in my gud 'ol school days, so tht i cud hv reasoned the same thing with my ungrezi teacher. anyhow the sense of reasoning is vry strong in this animal called "homo sapiens"... tht obviously includes me as well. :D ... i dont hv my ungrezi teacher to help me out today... so here goes my reasoning...

as said earlier by me... remember this is not a hard nd fast rule, different situation(s) can call for the usage of different phrases... so in my quest to go deep into the fact finding mission :D to justify my teacher's ruling... i also explored the following link : -
http://www.askoxford.com/betterwriti...rases/?view=uk
but was vry much surprised, not to see anywhere "yours truly" being mentioned by "oxford help-desk". in my opinion, this phrase "yours truly" is widely used in different styles of letter writing, most prominently in business letters. (i only wish if oxford wud hv mentioned sumwhere, to use "yours truly")... in the absence, of the missing links, i guess its prudent on part of my reasoning to get better of me/oxford help-desk. hence i've all the reasons to follow nd stick by wat my ungrezi teacher tought me... rest is individual understanding, how to conceive the idea or for tht matter follow the THUMB RULE(S) (pls. refer abv quoted analogy)