How To Prepare For Personal Interviews

What is a Personal Interview?

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 work history and 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 moulded you for the job you’re applying for.

Types of Personal Interviews

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:

1. Personal Interview for Jobs:

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.

2. Personal Interview for College Admission:

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.

What happens in a Personal Interview?

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:

1) Be Careful While Creating Your Resume

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 –

1. Your CV should look professional. Use a template if confused.
2. Use bullet points instead of big paragraphs; these motivate the interviewer to read CV more.
3. Ensure there are no spelling mistakes.
4. Try to highlight points related to the job.
5. Use a customized resume. Don’t use the same resume for all job positions and companies.
6. Write a strong job objective.

2) Think from the Recruiter’s Perspective

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.

3) Prepare Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs):

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:

1. Tell me about yourself?
2. What’s your current job and role?
3. Why do you want to join this company?
4. Why did you leave your recent job?
5. What are your weaknesses/strengths?
6. Why should we choose you over other candidates?
7. What’s your biggest achievement so far?
8. Do you want to ask any questions? (Asked at the end of the interview)

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.

4) Run the Entire Interview Process Several Times in Mind

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.

5) Also Focus on Non-Verbal Communication

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:

1. Seeing that you are genuinely interested in this job. You can dress up well and reach the venue from time to time.
2. Your voice should not be dull. It is very important to show enthusiasm and confidence.
3. A light smile is important when you meet for the first time, and you should keep a friendly gesture even during the interview.
4. Your enthusiasm for the job will be clear from your preparation, so do your homework well and go for an interview. Specially, you should have a good knowledge of the company, and current developments related to your field.

Do’s and Dont’s of Personal Interviews

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

Few Quick Personal Interviews Tips

1. Instead of answering a question with incorrect knowledge about the topic, simply reply that you do not know the answer. Be humble and state that you are not aware of the facts but you will give your best to find out.
2. To answer the most frequently asked question – ‘Tell me something about yourself’. Talk briefly about your family, education, career goals, hobbies, and interests, educational background, and future plans.
3. To answer the interview question– ‘Where do you see yourself five years from now?’ Talk about skills development, and increased responsibility while highlighting your goals as achievements.
4. Be polite in an interview. Sometimes interviewers make you go through a stress interview to check your patience and stress management.
5. During the interview, try to drive the interview towards your areas of strength. This will help you establish yourself in the room with self-confidence among the interviewers.
6. Don’t lose composure and stay calm. There may be moments when you don’t know the correct answer to the question asked. Only by being calm, you can tackle such situations.
7. Maintain an upright body posture and positive body language. This is an important aspect of non-verbal communication during a personal interview.
8. Be thorough with your CV so that you can answer questions from your resume.

Ace Your Personal Interview

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.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are some useful resources:

• 50+ Incredible Small Business Ideas For 2023 And Beyond
• Maximize Your Money Potential with Personal Financial Planning
• Understanding the Difference between CV and Resume
• You Must Know These Interview Etiquette Tips