Interview

Here is what I would like to tell the adolescents appearing for an interview; in other words, they need to understand the nature of an interview:

“Why do you apply for a job?” 

“You want to get a job, don’t you?”

“In life, in order to obtain something that you want, you must sacrifice.”

“You want to get a job, so you are here for the interview; therefore, you should be able to answer the questions being asked.”

Think of the interview as the seller and the buyer. The seller wants his item to be sold; in other words, he wants his item to be bought. The buyer will only buy the item if it is acceptable to him.  

If you are offered a job, a wage must be paid.  If you possess a qualified education, you will be paid for it; or if you have certain skills, you will also be paid accordingly.  If you possess both – education as well as skills – you will be paid more.  With qualified education, knowledge and skills, your expected salary can be demanded. 

From the interviewer’s side, the demanded salary can be accepted unless your qualifications meet his needs.  It means, you must possess the required knowledge & skills with qualified education so as to be suitable to take up the position that you have applied for.  Hence, before appearing for the interview, I would like to suggest - when demanding for your expected salary, you must not forget the qualifications, knowledge and skills that you really possess!

Let me relate an interview that took place during the Year 2010.  I was in the interview panel together with a doctor (interviewer) who cannot tolerate any mistakes.

This doctor asked a candidate: “Why did you apply for this job?”

The candidate replied: “I want to get an experience”.

The interviewer then asked: “Once you get the experience, what will you do?  You want an experience; so we will give you the experience but we will not give you any salary; will that be acceptable to you?”

To some candidates, the interviewer said: “If we give you the work experience that you want, what will you give us in return?”

The candidates were unable to reply!

When a candidate replied: “I want to get some knowledge”; he asked sarcastically: “what kind of knowledge?’

I liked the questions that the interviewer (doctor) had asked the applicants and being still in my pioneer days, I smiled.

According to the above-mentioned interview, I would like to suggest neither to answer: “I want to get an experience nor I want to get some knowledge”

Please note that if an applicant gives these answers, he/she is not worth for sale.  In other words, he/she will not be paid a salary equivalent to his/her qualifications, knowledge and skills.  Moreover, the interviewer is likely to ask the applicant to refund for the knowledge that will be given for his/her answer – I want to get some knowledge”.

Thus, if the interviewer asks: “Why do you apply for this job?”  The applicant should be able to elaborate his/her knowledge, his/her skills and his/her experiences according to the requirements as mentioned in the vacancy post.  

In addition, he/she can say: “if I were selected for this post, I will try my best to perform my duties & responsibilities to the utmost satisfaction of my superiors.  I believe that with the experiences gained, I will be able to upgrade myself to a much better & higher position”   

If the interviewer asks: “What is your expected salary?” I would like to suggest you to find out (to investigate) from reliable sources or persons for the salary paid to an employee at a similar post.  This will give you an idea when answering the expected salary.  Please note that the expected salary meets your qualifications, your knowledge, your skills and your experiences!  If you want more salary, you must have more knowledge or skills or experiences.

I would like to relate an incident.  A foreigner of a business firm wanted an employee so I sent him one suitable candidate.  According to the candidate’s salary at her previous company which was about seven to eight lakhs.  Being a newly established foreign company, I suggested him to pay ten lakhs for her monthly salary.  

The candidate when called for the interview demanded US$ 1,500.  The foreigner then asked her why she demanded that amount.  The candidate’s answer was that she needed some money to continue studying Master of Business Administration.  

This foreigner, the newly appointed Chief Executive Officer of a newly established Company could not understand; hence he called me – “since this candidate has asked for more salary, I want to know if I have to include her education allowances in her salary”

I was unable to answer him.

You can demand for more salary but you must bear in mind that you should also have the qualifications, knowledge, experiences and skills that are worthy of the demanded salary.

In spite of the several interviews that you have appeared and if you are still without a job, you need to examine yourself – why and how you had answered the questions at the interviews – 

I wish you all the best in your future interviews.