A personal interview is a meeting organized by a recruiter in which he evaluates a potential employee for prospective employment. However, this meeting should be considered a two-way process between the candidate and the interviewer. The interviewer looks to find out how well the candidate could do the job and fit in with their organization and team, and the candidate aims to show that they are the best person for the job and the organization.
A personal interviewer is expected to know more about your working background and personal experiences. An interviewer will also judge you by looking at your past work history and your past success and failure stories. That’s why it’s essential to talk about all the points that cover your past success in your job, which has greatly molded you for the job you’re applying for.
There are different types of personal interviews for different purposes. Let’s take a quick look at them all.
There are two types of personal interview:
A personal interview for a job focuses on your skill set, whether you are the right candidate for the organization, whether or not you have clear communication skills, and how well you fit in with the team.
An interview for admission focuses on shortlisting the right student for the limited number of seats for the selected stream. The admission panel observes the student’s body language, communication skills, your ability to learn.
In this article, we will focus on personal interview tips for jobs.
Job interviews are usually face-to-face meetings; however, in recent times, telephone interviews and Skype interviews have become more commonplace, especially after uncertain times of pandemics.
Interviews last approximately 25-30 mins, although telephonic interviews may be slightly shorter. But it all depends upon the nature of conversation two parties get into, i.e., mostly the profile you have applied to. Depending on the type of job you have applied for and the seniority of the role, the interview panel may vary between one to four rounds and may be followed by an assessment task. Usually, the more senior the position, the wider the panel’s composition.
Personal interviews are a means of two-way communication between the recruiter and the candidate in which a meaningful conversation leads to a productive understanding and contract between the two.
Now, if you are still wondering what the above technical definition of personal interview meaning? How to face personal interviews? Why do companies conduct them? And most importantly, how to crack them, we are here to resolve your doubts.
Read all of the below steps to know how to crack an interview carefully. After reading this article, there won’t be any doubt. You can surely crack all the interviews easily without hesitation or anxiety. Here are some tips for a personal interview you can apply to your next job:
The purpose of your CV is to show your interviewer why you are the best person for this job. Your CV is the first to the interviewer representing your candidature. This is the first impression for you to get the job. And remember – The First Impression is the Last Impression. If a person is inattentive in making their CV, they have many chances to lose the job in the CV Screening round. Making CVs well is also important because it reflects you as a tentative employee for the company.
Make sure to include these pointers while drafting your CV –
Thinking about what you would have looked for in an ideal candidate if you were an interviewer is the second step for cracking interviews. This is one of the most useful personal interview tips. Try to understand the specific need of the job. Carefully go through the Job Description, and you can showcase the qualities needed to fulfil the qualifications.
For example, if you are going for a marketing job, you can highlight your travel hobby, but if you are going for operations, you should not highlight it. Depending on the different job requirements, you can change your CV and make it even more effective by emphasizing the pointers relevant to the employee during the PI round.
Some questions are very common in job interviews, which are asked in almost every personal interview. Including these questions in your interview preparation can help you excel during the interview.
Some of the commonly asked questions during a personal interview round are:
These are frequently asked questions you may encounter in almost any job and for any job position you applied for. An interviewer may ask these questions directly or directly. Also, be prepared for follow-up questions.
The fourth way to crack an interview is to run the entire interview process several times in mind before you present yourself. By doing this, the mind becomes clear about many things.
The most important part of this is to visualize you interacting with the interviewer. By doing this, such questions often come to mind whose answers you might not have prepared. Sit and prepare yourself more with patience.
Practicing beforehand will make you comfortable and calm which will help you in the final interview. Walking through the interview process will give you an idea about the personal interview questions and you will be able to tackle them easily. Having interview experience beforehand will make you less likely to make a mistake. This will increase your chances of getting hired eventually.
There are two ways to communicate, verbally and non-verbally. Verbal communication, i.e., what you speak, or write, whereas non-verbal communication includes the tone you speak, your way of sitting, eye contact, and even your dressing sense. Remember, at least 70% of our communication is non-verbal.
Hence, while interacting with the interviewer, you have to pay attention to a few things:
| Do’s | Dont’s |
| Make a great first impression | Don’t be late |
| Do your research about the job position | Don’t make false statements |
| Know your strengths and weaknesses | Don’t interrupt the interviewer |
| Smile during the interview | Don’t speak badly about your previous job |
| Look confidently into the eyes of the interviewer | Do not make random guesses if you don’t know the answer |
| Prepare questions to ask in advance | Don’t dress inappropriately |
| Keep your hair looking presentable | Don’t slouch. Maintain an upright posture |
There is nothing to panic about or feel nervous about during interviews. The basic objective of the interview is to interact with the shortlisted candidates to know how well they fit the job description. Similarly, as you are looking for a good job of interest with a good salary, the interviewer is also looking for the right candidate who will be perfect for the job and will settle well in their organizational family.
In a personal interview, not only you but also the interviewer is being introspected. The interview is a good way to understand each other and to know if both are benefiting equally.
Cracking the interview is also a skill that can be acquired with little practice. Without proper interview practice, you cannot build confidence and may even fail in the final interview.
There are several steps you can take before your final interview that will help you make a good impression in front of the interviewers. Make sure you have done enough homework about yourself and the company before you sit for the final interview. Because most of the questions in personal interviews are related to your job role and your understanding of this. Also, remember to smile and be confident.
Don’t be afraid of questions you don’t know the answer to. Remember you can always learn new things and it is your ability to learn that takes you forward in life and makes you successful. Recruiters highly value this attitude because they are looking for candidates who can always take on new responsibilities with an open mind, not someone who thinks they know everything.
In a personal interview, the interviewer observes the interviewee’s potential and learns about their skills and past work experiences. The interviewer also learns about your personal details such as your life and career goals, your motivations, strengths, and weaknesses. The interviewer can take the interview in person or through video calling. Either way, you should appear presentable and confident enough to answer all questions positively.
The two kinds of the personal interview include:
1. Personal Interview for a job
2. Personal interview for college admissions
The objective of both interviews is to evaluate the candidate on the basis of their potential. And whether they are the right candidates for the job or college. The more candidates demonstrate their skills like communication skills and self-confidence.
The five toughest questions asked in a personal interview are:
1. What are your strengths?
2. What are your weaknesses?
3. Why we should hire you?
4. Why are you the most suitable candidate compared to others?
5. Why you left your previous job?
These are some of the toughest questions in an interview for which a candidate should be prepared in advance.
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