Here are some simple tips to keep in mind before, during and after a Telephone Interview

Prepare well for the interview. Make sure that you are relaxed and completely focused towards giving your 100% to the upcoming interview call. Keep your phone free during the expected time of the interview call. Take out enough free time to take the interview call and make sure there are going to be no disturbances or interruptions while you are talking. Keep a copy of your resume and all other related documents in front of you.

• Make sure to keep a pen and notepad in close reach in case you need to jot down points during the course of your conversation. 
• Keep your phone fully charged so that your phone does not go low on battery, thus leading to breaks in the conversation.
• Practice those listening skills and make sure to be a good listener. Do not interrupt the interviewer. Wait for the interviewer to complete what they are saying, listen well and then answer the questions confidently. 
• Speak clearly so that you are fully understood.
• Be enthusiastic and alert.
• Refrain from using unprofessional caller tunes.
• If you are taking the call at home, try to find a quiet area whether there are no background noises that can distract you.

Here are some simple tips to keep in mind before, during and after a Telephone Interview

Prepare well for the interview. Make sure that you are relaxed and completely focused towards giving your 100% to the upcoming interview call. Keep your phone free during the expected time of the interview call. Take out enough free time to take the interview call and make sure there are going to be no disturbances or interruptions while you are talking. Keep a copy of your resume and all other related documents in front of you.

• Make sure to keep a pen and notepad in close reach in case you need to jot down points during the course of your conversation. 
• Keep your phone fully charged so that your phone does not go low on battery, thus leading to breaks in the conversation.
• Practice those listening skills and make sure to be a good listener. Do not interrupt the interviewer. Wait for the interviewer to complete what they are saying, listen well and then answer the questions confidently. 
• Speak clearly so that you are fully understood.
• Be enthusiastic and alert.
• Refrain from using unprofessional caller tunes.
• If you are taking the call at home, try to find a quiet area whether there are no background noises that can distract you.

Stories of 20 entrepreneurs from small towns in India

Vinod Khutal 
Grew up abreast Indore and advised architecture, afire belief computer science. An ad by bold developer Gameloft on Naukri.com led him to a job in their Hyderabad office, area he eventually became a bold designer. In 2009, he founded Twist Mobile, with apps such as Age Effect. He angry up with VServ to use their app-wrapper technology for ads anchored in apps. Success belief included acceptable the aboriginal Asian aggregation with 10 actor downloads on Noki’s Ovi store. “Today’s analgesic app is tomorrow’s delete,” says Khutal, who has now angled out into Android and iPhone apps

Sriram Subramanya 
grew up in Pondicherry and started plan in the auto accessory business, with postings in Chennai and Bangalore and training in Germany. He after confused into the desktop publishing business, brief from book designs to agenda content. Sriram’s wife had to advertise her jewellery at one date to armamentarium the advance of the company, Integra. A bound focus on quality, attention and business ability helped abound the aggregation into one of the world’s Top 10 in publishing BPO. The aggregation as well won the Gender Inclusivity Award from NASSCOM

Rohit Bhatt 
grew up in Udupi, Karnataka, and advised computer science. He started off with a Japanese aggregation authoritative Mac products. Exposure to Japanese passion, determination, pride and superior aggressive him aswell to bang out on his own, in the breadth of Indian accent computing. Rohit was aswell aggressive by Taiwanese companies who started off with arrangement accomplishment again angled out with their own brands such as HTC and Acer. His company, Robosoft, aswell spawned artefact companies Global Delight (utility apps such as Camera Plus) and 99 Amateur (such as Wordsworth and ‘Dhoom 3’ games).

Sanjay Vijaykumar,
 Sijo Kuruvilla George and Pranav Suresh were engineering acceptance in Trivandrum, and started off their aboriginal business by affairs SIM agenda bales for students. Their aggregation MobME began with adaptable agreeable for cine and TV promotion. Investment aswell came from affluent Keralites in India and overseas. But their better abstraction was to amplify their success via Startup Village: to actualize an addition hub like YCombinator and ultimately actualize a ‘Silicon Coast’ – which eventually begin abutment from the government and clandestine sector. As a result, Kerala has become the aboriginal accompaniment in India with an official apprentice entrepreneurship policy.

Deepak Dhadotti 
grew up in Belgium in an agronomical family, advised engineering and again abutting the UK company, Moog, in the breadth of servo-controls. He traveled abundantly in Asia and Europe, architecture abysmal acquaintance – and aswell causing anguish to his parents that he may ally a adopted woman. They abiding a alliance for him with a bounded bride, and he confused aback to India eventually. Deepak started Servo Controls India with his brother, bagging orders from HAL and again the animate and ability industry. Tie-ups with Russian companies and the Tata accumulation accept as well accurate lucrative.

Dilafrose Qazi 
grew up in Kashmir, and aesthetic her business abilities while belief in a government college. She stared part-time courses for women, and eventually set up the SSM Academy of Engineering, the aboriginal clandestine engineering academy in all of Kashmir. She ploughed on ahead, admitting accepting her brother and bedmate kidnapped and getting attacked by militants. Qazi even opened a sister academy in Haryana for Kashmiris, allowance ensure that the next bearing would accept sources of livelihood.

Nand Kishore Chaudhary 
grew up in Churu, Marwar, and started off his carpeting business with weavers from the ‘chamar’ caste, admired as untouchables. Today, Jaipur Rugs is India’s better exporter of hand-knotted carpets. The aggregation connects alloyed articles anon to all-around markets, and employs a ambit of weavers, including affiliated women. A focus on bounded admittance and all-around trends led the aggregation to be profiled as a case abstraction by the backward abundant Prof. C.K. Prahalad


C.V. Jacob
 grew up in Kolencherry, Kerala, with his ancestor alive in the architecture industry. He started off in the adhesive industry, if a cruise to Japan apparent him to oleo resins, or abounding aroma extracts. Jacob alternate to India, best up ability from the Central Food Technology Research Institute in Mysore, and started the close Synthite. He after on set up collective ventures in Europe and a branch in China, and his close is now the world’s better aggregation in oleo resins.

Parakramsinh Jadeja grew up in Rajkot and excelled in cricket and chess as a student. He mastered lathe technology in school and eventually got into computerised numerical control (CNC) machines. Partnership with Siemens and exposure to machine tool fairs in Paris led him to master the tool business based out of India as Jyoti CNC, and the acquisition of a French company turned out to be a win-win situation. As the largest manufacturer of machine tools in India, Jyoti CNC is planning an IPO.

Jagjit Singh Kapoor’s parents were displaced from Pakistan during the Partition, and he grew up in Doraha, Punjab. He started off in the wine business but then moved into beekeeping and exporting of honey products. A trip to the UK to chase a non-paying customer ended up opening his eyes to a whole new world of quality, processing and technology. Today, Kashmir Apiaries is the largest exporter of honey from India, and Singh started the National Bee Board to increase awareness and networking for beekeepers.

Mukhtarul Amin grew up in Kanpur and left college to work in the family’s leather business. He tapped into the offshoring trend and partnered with European companies, importing their technology. Superhouse Group is now India’s largest leather exporter. Amin also gave back to society by starting schools and an engineering college to educate the next generation.

Vivek Deshpande and Kirit Joshi met as engineering students in Nagpur, and started off by selling study materials for students as VK Publishers. They then set up a workshop for office furniture, where exposure to Canadian and German companies led them to launch Spacewood, a trend-setter in modular kitchen components.

Bahadur Ali grew up in Rajnandgaon in Madhya Pradesh. His father died at an early age, and he got into the poultry business. That also led him into the poultry feed business and soya bean processing, thus opening up the larger ‘protein’ market for his company, the India Broiler Group, with a turnover of Rs 2,200 crores.

Chandubhai Virani and his brothers started selling chips in a local cinema in Rajkot, and today their company Balaji Wafers has a 65% market share in five states, holding out against local and MNC competitors. They first tried the fertiliser business and then running a hostel, before settling on chips and snacks. Adherence to quality helped them get early customers, followed by importing Japanese machines and taking loans to grow their factory.

Sandeep Kapoor grew up in Jodhpur, and worked in his grandfather’s photo studio. Later he joined ITC, getting exposure to Russia and China in the perfume business. He realised the potential of this sector in India, and returned to start Perfume Station. With a wide range of pricing and open minded customer care, he first expanded in Tier 2 and 3 cities before moving into the metros.

Srikumar Misra grew up in Bhubaneshwar, studied engineering in Pune, and joined Tata Tea as part of the mergers & acquisitions team, criss-crossing the world in a jet-setting lifestyle. But the startup bug bit him, and he joined TiE London to interact with entrepreneurs. He returned to Orissa to set up a dairy company, Milk Mantra, plunging into the world of cows, distributors and packaging.

Muruganantham grew up in Coimbatore, with little material wealth but lots of nature and practical wisdom. In the face of criticism from his own family for acting like a ‘mad man,’ he developed a machine to make low-cost sanitary napkins. In the sustainable business model of his company, Jayashree Industries, machines are given to women entrepreneurs who make and sell the napkins to others. Interest in the machines has been received from other parts of Asia and Africa as well.

Chandrasekhar Sankurathri, a fisheries expert from Andhra Pradesh who became a well known researcher in Canada, lost his parents when he was a child – and his wife and children to the terrorist bombing of Air India’s Kanishka aircraft en route from Canada to the UK. Deep soul searching led him to come back to Kakinada and set up the Srikiran Institute of Ophthalmology (with inputs from Aravind Eye Hospital) and Sarada Vidayalam School. He eventually converted his deep sense of anguish and loss into a force for successful social enterprise.

Vibhor Agrawal grew up in Meerut, studied in IIT Bombay and IIM Bangalore, worked abroad and then returned to scale up the family’s engineering business, MultiMax. He has kept a keen eye on the cycles of the product business: growth, commodification and decay.

Abhijit Barooah grew up in Guwahati, studied in IIT Delhi and went to the US for graduate school. He returned to set up Premier Cryogenics, succeeding in a volatile part of India thanks to his business acumen and choice of customers like Oil India. India has never been in a better position for entrepreneurship than where it is today and young people must definitely take advantage of this, urges Barooah.

Each chapter in the book ends with advice for aspiring entrepreneurs. Learn how to dream, then make it come true. Create your own destiny; you have just one life. Creation gives the best fulfillment and gratification. Do not get distracted by comforts and easy money. To best understand the value of money, earn it with your own sweat. Startup life is full of ups and downs – learn to love a challenge.

Do not be blinded just by passion alone, keep an eye on the reality of the business. Always be in the self-learning mode, and think global as well as local. Be ready to learn as well as unlearn. Look for inspiration in all that is happening around you.

Do not underestimate the challenges of doing business in India – red-tapism, corruption,chalta-hai attitudes, non-paying corporate customers, slow and erratic government decision-making. But do not give in to corruption or bribery, they will only suck away your time, energy and reputation. Every place in India has its ups and downs, learn how to find the balance.

Act responsibly because the future of this country is on your shoulders. Employ, encourage and empower women – look at how countries like China are also progressing because of how many women are in the workforce.

Some of the advice differs from one entrepreneur to another, of course. Some say it is best to start up in college itself when energy and risk-taking behaviour is at its peak. Others say it is best to first work for a few years before taking the plunge, and build a base of experience and financial resources.

Common Interview Questions

 Can you tell me a little about yourself?

 How did you hear about the position?

 What do you know about the company?

Why do you want this job?

 Why should we hire you?

 What are your greatest professional strengths?

 What do you consider to be your weaknesses?

 What is your greatest professional achievement?

 Tell me about a challenge or conflict you've faced at work,  and how you dealt with it.

 Where do you see yourself in five years?

 What's your dream job?

 What other companies are you interviewing with?

Why are you leaving your current job?

 Why were you fired?

What are you looking for in a new position?

 What type of work environment do you prefer?

 What's your management style?

 What's a time you exercised leadership?

 What's a time you disagreed with a decision that was made  at work?

 How would your boss and co-workers describe you?

 Why was there a gap in your employment?

 Can you explain why you changed career paths?

 How do you deal with pressure or stressful situations?

 What are your salary requirements?

Interview preparation

For you, as the interviewee, you want to find out more about the job and whether it is right for you and convince the interviewer that you’re the right person for the job. Be clear about your objectives for the interview and prepare well in advance with all the answers you think you’ll be asked on the day.

Good preparation and planning are keys to success in most things.

Interview preparation

Spending time preparing for the interview will increase your confidence, enable you to tailor your questions and show the employer that you are keen and know your stuff:

• Write down the location, time and name of interviewer and take them with you for reference. You’d be surprised to know how many people miss the interview, turn up late or arrive at the wrong location because they have not properly noted the details. Make sure you have a detailed map and turn up early. If you plan to arrive on time, then you will plan to arrive late.
• Do your homework on the organisation – this will help when it comes to asking questions and framing your answers. At the very least, look at the website and try and find useful material such as annual reports, newsletters and brochures.
• Wider research via the internet or the university/local library will also be a useful way of accessing the relevant news articles and trade journals to get an idea of the current key issues facing the sector.
• Network – use your contacts to see if they know anything about the company and the person who will be interviewing you.
• Practice interviews – make the most of the careers service at the university – they will more than likely run interview workshops and share interview tips. Or ask your friends to run practice interviews and make sure they ask you challenging questions.
• Study the section on personal qualities and core competencies carefully – how can you use the interview to demonstrate that you possess the appropriate skills?
• Familiarise yourself with your CV, application form and covering letter – don’t risk getting caught out by questions about your background or experience.
• Invest time to strengthen a known weakness; remember to be average is easy, to be above average takes some effort.

Answering difficult interview questions

Try to anticipate the less obvious questions you may be asked about your skills and achievements and reinforce your replies by giving tangible examples.

If you need a moment to think about your response, do not be afraid to respond with ‘that’s a very interesting question, I would like a moment to think about that’, or ask the question to be repeated.

Answer questions as directly as possible, don’t be tempted to waffle. Techniques, such as the STAR technique can help you with this.

The idea is to try and impart as much information as you can about what you have done and how you can contribute, so make sure that you have quantifiable evidence to back up your answers.

Making an impression

It is often said that the interviewer makes up their mind within 30 seconds of you walking through the door and then spends the rest of the interview justifying that decision. Behavioural psychologists call it the ‘halo (or horns) effect’.
The person interviewing you will be looking for qualities that demonstrate your ability to do a good job, but they also want to find out if you hold similar values to them, so:

• Dress code: Make sure that your appearance is clean, smart and business-like, even if the company has a dress down policy.
•  Be alert: Smile and try to relax as soon as possible.
•  Maintain eye contact throughout the process, but break your gaze away when starting to formulate your answer. It shows you’re thinking carefully.
•  Listen carefully to the information you are given and the questions you are asked and nod to show that you’re listening. Show interest in what the interviewer is saying and try not to fidget.
•  Don’t criticise former employers or colleagues as this will reflect badly on you.
• Don’t interrupt or argue with the interviewer.
• Try to avoid any irritating mannerisms, such as playing with a pen, tapping on the desk, chewing gum, swinging about in your chair and so on.

10 tips for a successful job interview

10 tips for a successful job interview. These rules and tips will help job-seekers to maximize potential employment opportunities… and receive job offers you deserve.

1. Speak clearly and enthusiastically about your experiences and skills. Be professional, but don’t be afraid to let your personality shine through. Be yourself. Don’t be afraid of short pauses. You may need a few seconds to formulate an answer. (Learn how to better answer interview questions by using our Job Interview Database.)
2. Be positive. Employers do not want to hear a litany of excuses or bad feelings about a negative experience. If you are asked about a low grade, a sudden job change, or a weakness in your background, don’t be defensive. Focus instead on the facts (briefly) and emphasize what you learned from the experience.
3. Be prepared to market your skills and experiences as they relate to the job described. Work at positioning yourself in the mind of the employer as a person with a particular set of skills and attributes. Employers have problems that need to be solved by employees with particular skills; work to describe your qualifications appropriately.
4. Research information about the company before the interview. Some important information to look for includes what activities are carried out by the employer, how financially stable the employer is, and what types of jobs exist with the employer. Researching an employer during the job search can help determine more about that organization and your potential place in it. Know how you can help the company and prepare questions to ask the interviewer about the company.
5. Arrive early for the interview. Plan to arrive for your interview 10-15 minutes before the appointed time. Arriving too early confuses the employer and creates an awkward situation. By the same token, arriving late creates a bad first impression and may doom your chances. Ask for directions when making arrangements for the interview.
6. Carry a portfolio, notepad or at the very least, a manila file folder labeled with the employer’s name.
7. Bring extra resumes and a list of questions you need answered. You may refer to your list of questions to be sure you’ve gathered the information you need to make a decision. Do not be preoccupied with taking notes during the interview.
8. In many career fields, the lunch or dinner included during the interview day encompasses not only employer hospitality, but also a significant part of the interview process. Brush up on your etiquette and carry your share of the conversation during the meal. Often social skills are part of the hiring decision.
9. After the interview, take time to write down the names and titles (check spelling) of all your interviewers, your impressions, remaining questions and information learned. If you are interviewing regularly, this process will help you keep employers and circumstances clearly defined.
10. Follow up the interview with a thank-you letter. Employers regard this gesture as evidence of your attention to detail, as well as an indication of your interest in the position.

Know How to Give Great Answers to Common Job Interview Questions

What's your greatest weakness? It's an obnoxious question but you'll hear it on the majority of job interviews in your life, and there are many others where it came from. (There's plenty of debate on how to answer this question. I've always found the best strategy is to pick a skill you are actually bad at that sounds relevant to the job but really isn't. Then you come across as honest but your weakness won't hurt you.) You have to answer the questions if you want to get the job, so there are two things you want to do: understand the motivation behind the questions and prepare your answers in advance. Understanding the motivation is generally as simple as putting yourself in the company's shoes. Why would they want to know your greatest weakness? Probably more to know how you respond to a question that asks you to be vulnerable than to actually find out where you can improve. They may also ask because they want to know if you can realistically gauge your abilities accurately. Once you consider the motivation behind these common questions it'll be easier to tailor the answers you want to give. You don't want to script them out and memorize them in advance, of course, but developing a list of sound bites can help you go in prepared while still being able to provide natural responses.

Learn to Read Body Language for a More Successful Interview

Learning to read body language is helpful in a lot of situations, but understanding the cues you send out and reading cues from others can be immensely helpful in a job interview. It's especially important that you come of as pleasant and charming right off the bat because many decisions are made on the basis of a first impression. The most important thing is to avoid negative body language. For the most part you just want to avoid nervous ticks like touching your face and letting your leg become restless. You also don't want to slouch or sit to rigidly. Basically, your goal is to appear comfortable but professional. If you can do that, you'll be in good shape.

You may think you’re prepared for an interview as you’ve got the answers to any questions asked about your skills, past work experiences and other hypothetical situations, but it’s not just what you actually say in an interview that matters: your body talks, too.
Conducting an interview with bad body language is bad form, so here are some tips on what is appropriate interview body language.

EYE CONTACT

Shakespeare once said that “the eyes are the window to your soul,” which can obviously make direct eye contact feel uncomfortable and overly intimate. However, as awkward as you may feel staring into your interviewer’s eyes, it’s important to maintain eye contact throughout your interview.

If there’s more than one person at the meeting, make sure to have eye contact with whoever is talking as they ask you questions, and then give each person some uninterrupted eye contact time as you answer. Hold eye contact for too long though, and it may begin to feel a bit aggressive, so you need to figure out the sweet spot of when to break eye contact and how to do so without looking shifty.

FIRM HANDSHAKE

One of the first things you’ll do in most interviews is shake hands with the person or people there to conduct the interview. This is an important part of making a good impression so you want to be sure your grip is firm and strong, but not too strong, since nobody wants to feel like you’re trying to break their hand. If you’re nervous, your hand may also be sweaty so try to discretely wipe your hand before you walk into the room so you’re not shoving your clammy hand into your interviewer’s.

HAND GESTURES

If you use hand gestures when you talk to make a point, feel free to do so in your interview. That being said, you shouldn’t be using hand gestures so much that it looks like you’re playing charades. Keep it natural, and when you don’t need your hands, keep them open and palms up on the table or on your knees. You don’t want to cross your arms or lean your face against one because that makes you seem more defensive and bored, and avoid cracking your knuckles, too, because gross.

GOOD POSTURE

 Sit up straight and make sure you’re touching the back of your chair to portray confidence and so you don’t slouch. However, you don’t want to sit back too far or it’ll make you seem overly relaxed and casual. Having good posture will also help you sit still for your interview and give you an air of professionalism and maturity. Additionally, you’ll want to angle your body towards whoever is speaking and make sure you lean in so your interviewer recognizes you’re interested and engaged.

PLANTED FEET

While it may be your go-to foot arrangement, don’t cross your legs during an interview as it’s obvious and distracting when you change from one leg being crossed to the other (which, inevitably, you’d end up doing). Instead, either plant both your feet on the ground or if need be, cross your legs at the ankles. This will also help you not move too much during your interview, which can portray boredom and impatience — not things that will help you land the job.

SMILE AND NOD

When the interviewer or other people present are speaking, it’s important to be engaged and to convey your engagement and the easiest and best way to do so is by smiling and nodding. You don’t need a toothy grin across your face the whole time — a pleasant, friendly smile will do. Also, don’t nod throughout the entire time another person is speaking; you’re not a bobble head. Actually listen to what your interviewer is saying and choose when to nod, when to make a quick comment to show you’re following them, and when to just sit there and smile.

If you’ve got the interview, you’re one step closer to landing the job — so don’t let your body language bring you down during the interview. Keep these tips in mind and your body language will be interview-appropriate and professional.

Dress Well for the Interview

Dressing for the interview doesn't necessarily mean putting on crisply-ironed formalwear. Depending on the company, they may prefer you came in your everyday attire or just wore something that shows you can look nice without overdoing it. If you're not sure what you should wear to an interview, just call the company and ask to speak with the human resources department. Let them know you're coming in for an interview and that you want to know the expected dress code. In most cases, they'll be happy to help you out. If you have to go in uninformed, however, business casual is generally a good bet. While nobody really knows what business casual actually is, you'll generally be safe in a nice pair of pants and a button down shirt or sweater. Your goal is really to show that you're capable of grooming yourself and looking presentable. If your clothing fits, is well-ironed, and isn't something you'd wear around the house you're probably in good shape. For some extra assistance, the Dress Code Guide can help you figure out the proper attire.

Tips to dress for absolute impact
The adapted account accouterments depends on the industry in which you’ll be interviewing, as able-bodied as the geographic area and time of year.
Spend time on the Internet researching the company, industry and competitors to actuate acceptable account outfits.
Still not sure? Call the company’s HR administration and ask what they acclaim you wear.
When in doubt, err on the ancillary of getting hardly over dressed, rather than appearance up searching too casual.
Don’t accept an adapted outfit? Go to a ample administration abundance like Strongroom or Macy’s and ask for advice from a claimed client or appoint a claimed stylist.
Ensure that your clothes are bankrupt and pressed.
Avoid cutting aroma or cologne.
Wear architecture and adornment that are adapted to the job/company/industry.
Your clothes can access your affairs for landing a job
If a man wore a aphotic accouterments to a job account in California (or any balmy climate) in August for a position as a architecture worker, the hiring administrator ability anticipate the man had absent his mind. Why? The accouterments is inappropriate not just for the position and industry, but aswell for the area and time of year.

What if a woman wore a fleet blow suit, pulled her hair into a low ponytail, wore little makeup, no adornment and collapsed shoes to a job account as a accouterments stylist? It’s ambiguous she would be offered the job. The hiring administrator would apparently be searching for anyone who projects an angel of adroitness and wears clothing, architecture and accessories that are fashion-forward.

Learn to Make Even Your Irrelevant Experience Seem Relevant

I've never gotten a job because my previous work experience was particularly relevant, but rather because I learned how to spin my past experience to make it seem relevant. This doesn't mean I lied, but instead concentrated on tasks in previous positions that were applicable to the job I wanted to get. If your current job is much different from the one you want, think about anything and everything you've done at your current job that's out of the ordinary. Often times you'll find examples of things that relate to the job you want because you were always excited to do that kind of work if it presented itself where you are now. If not, you can always start creating relevant experience now so you can use it when you're on your interview. For example, if you work in a non-creative field but want to become a designer you would have plenty of opportunities. If you make lots of graphs and flow charts, finds ways to make them more attractive. If your company is having an outing, ask to design the flyer. When I worked in customer support, I used to create posters about inside jokes in the office or images based on funny things customers said. Sometimes I'd show these at interviews if I needed to demonstrate my Photoshop skills. As silly as that sounds, it not only demonstrated my capabilities but also showed how close I was with my team. When you put yourself into you work, you'll find that your seemingly irrelevant experience can easily be tailored to most of the jobs you'll apply for. You may have to start lower than you'd like, but if you work hard you'll work your way up pretty quickly.