MY INTERVIEW EXPERIENCES

My very first interview with Department of Tribal Welfare, Govt of AP was unexpectedly amazing. I was put at ease by all the panel members out of whom one was IRMA alumni (PRM-27). There were a few things which came to attention of the panel at first sight from the placement brochure and resume:

Most of the times your graduation background is important to interviewer, generally not the college/ university of graduation. But in my case I derived an advantage of being a student of Banaras Hindu University since my interviewer was also an agri- graduate. So this can happen that belonging to a good, reputed institution may do half of your work. (After seeing this they generally don’t ask question from academics etc.) But this was very special. Don’t take it for granted.

Be ready for the questions from your MTS/OTS, not only in terms of work that you have done but also how do you see the organization. For instance mine MTS was in a CSR division. I was asked about the relevance of work organization is doing, whether CSR is a socially acceptable way to exploit people, what if the main organization due to which CSR created was not present in the area then do you think the economy would have been better in that area & if yes how? Etc-etc....

Generally hobbies & interests are written just for the sake of writing in CVs. These are one of the most neglected areas but be very careful in quoting your interests in resume. A good time of mine interview is spent on the interests I mentioned in the CV. Just for a case in point I have written: ‘Reading short stories in Hindi literature especially by Munshi Premchand.’ I was asked not only about to summarise one of the stories of my choice but also that what issues I found central to the stories of author. The can also ask you about the other authors of Hindi literature and one or two books written by them. So be alert in making your hobbies very specific, it’ll attract very particular questions also (like in mine case).

In the end of the interview, if panel asks you to question something from them, always ask a question. This shows that you are genuinely interested in the organization. But ask the questions that have to do something with the operations, working with the organization and that too simple one. You can also ask about the geographical spread of organization. For instance ‘Why BASIX is not working in UP while has good presence in all other neighbouring states?’ Don’t go for too technical questions and your compensation etc. Negotiation for salary is a completely different thing, keep that apart.

I hope that some of my experiences will help you to tackle your interview beautifully. The key message is: Just be yourself and everything will fall in place.

ALL THE BEST!!!!!

Neha Shankar