In-Person Interview

If you survived the initial phone interview, the next step is probably an in-person interview. Every company has their own way of conducting these interviews. Some prefer to have "panel-like" interviews, while others prefer one-to-one interviews. Expect to interview with three to four technical people (most likely the people you will end up working with) and maybe a group manager. The entire interviewing process can take anywhere between 2 to 6 hours. If the interview overlaps with lunch hours, the company will usually arrange for lunch. Expect a wide variety of questions that range from common personal questions to very challenging technical questions relevant to the job you are applying for. Remember that the whole point of this exercise is for the interviewers to determine if you have the skills to do the job you are interviewing for, and if you are someone they would like to work with.

Tip 1 # Self-awareness is of paramount importance. To be self-aware, you need to introspect on your qualities, good and bad, and what motivates your actions etc.

Tip 2 # your friends and family know you well, so utilize their inputs to learn about yourself.

Tip 3 # an important preparation tactic is to guess what kind of questions may be asked of you, given your particular profile, thinking of how you would respond to the same, and then guessing what further questions may be asked from your responses. Developing multiple lines of questioning from each answer will help you prepare for most of the eventualities. But this is best done with someone else helping you sound out your ideas, not in isolation.

Tip 4 # writing down your responses to probable questions allows you to check how your ideas appear in black and white.

Tip 5 # A serious simulated interview will go a long way in preparing you mentally for the actual one.

Tip 6 # A very important point is to remember to photocopy the interview form and preserve the copy to recollect what exactly one had written in the form at the time of the interview.