Dressing Up for the Interviews

Dressing Up for the Interviews

It’s the most important part of an Interview. 

People spend a lot of times in preparing for the interviews, they try to read as much as they can, but still there are few persons who are not able to cross the benchmark. Dressing sense might be one of the reasons.

As someone has truly said, - “There is no second chance to make the first impression”

So, let me share my experience in this matter.

Guys

·         Use a light coloured shirt. White shirts have never been out of fashion. If white is not your taste then you can try very light blue, or too much light pink, in any case the colour of the shirt should be near to the white.

·         Chose a trouser in which you are most comfortable with. It shouldn’t be too loose or too tight. Fabric should be soft. Its colour has to be dark but must matching with the colour of the shirt.

·         Right fitting of the dress is also a must.

·         Never ever wear a brand new dress for an interview. In case you have to wear, try to get it washed and thoroughly pressed before use.

·         Shoes must be well polished and there is no other scope than formal black or formal brown, nothing else. As far as possible, try to wear the shoes which don’t have laces.

·         Tie: Most candidates are often confused, whether or not to wear a tie? The simple answer is yes, if you are comfortable. Otherwise except in the interviews, generally no one wears the tie kind of stuff in a PSU Bank.

·         Senior officers of the bank, who seldom come out of the AC offices, do like the ties and they wear a tie themselves, so please wear a tie in the interview, if you have a practice of wearing the ties.

·         If you have not been comfortable with the ties, then its better not to wear any. Because, If you would feel un-easy after it then its better to leave the same in your drawer only.

·         Needless to mention that a clean shave is a must. And if you maintain mustaches then it must be neatly trimmed. Haircut must not be like an army man; rather it should be having a normal look, neither too short, nor too long.

Girls

·         Don’t wear a saree for an interview, if you are not in practice of wearing any.

·         A formal Suit should be fine. It must be looking simple, sober and presentable.

·         Colour should be according to your choice; in any case ladies are not needed to be guided about this.

·         No high heels, no jeans (unless you are sure that you look too gorgeous in that), and even then, maintain a kind of sober and simple feeling.

·         No lipstick at all.

·         You must look fresh; hence no heavy makeup would be advisable.

·         Leave your fancy and big ladies kind of bags at home, Carry a small wallet only.

Any bags or folders, you are carrying are not needed inside the interview room, still it creates an impression if you enter with a black or blue/brown coloured plastic file consisting of your certificates etc. (although no one would ask you to show your file inside the room). Simply leave anything not specified above in the conference room (it’s the place where you are asked to sit generally before an interview) and collect it afterwards.

And above all, while you are inside the premises of the bank, do remember that you are a guest of the bank, whatever problems or anxieties you are having must be forgotten before entering the premises. Keep a natural (only natural) smile on your face.

Do’s and Don’t s of a Group Discussion

Do’s and Don’t s of a Group Discussion

Do’s

·         Prepare well from atleast 15 days prior to the actual date. (How to prepare – has been discussed in another topic over here only)

·         You get around 3 to 4 minutes after your team members are finalized, you know who is going to be with you in your GD, try to interact with few of them in those 3 or 4 minutes till the observer enters the room.

·         When the choices of the topics are offered by the observer, please support your claim to chose a particular topic with a brief stand in favour of the topic.

·         Before the start of the discussion, you get another 2 minutes to think on the topic and you are supplied with a blank paper, write a few lines you can recall, which are relevant to the topic chosen by your group. Try to accommodate around 4 to 5 points in favour or against the topic as per your choice.

·         Please start with the discussion if you are fully familiar with the topic chosen by the group.

·         As everyone is supposed to speak within 10 or 15 minutes of timeframe, your conversation should be to the point and must include any examples if you can recall.

·         Before starting the discussion, please do wish all the fellow team members and  after you are over, do say thanks to all, for listening to you.

·         If any member has said something you agree with, you can surely show the same.

·         Be involved in the discussion for whole 15 minutes, doesn’t matters whoever is speaking, Observer must get a feeling that you are not only interested in speaking yourself but in listening too. So, do remember to be a good listener.

Don’t’s

·         Don’t start the discussion if your knowledge about the topic is having some loopholes. Wait; listen to one or two persons and then after being clear about the topic, you can share your views.

·         Don’t repeat what other persons have already said, If the repetition is needed then please quote the name of the participant who has pointed out those points. (If you don’t know the name simply address him as ‘my friend’.

·         Don’t interfere anyone while he or she is speaking, In case of an urgency, you can interrupt in between but before proceeding, do apologize to him to her for the interruption, give your clarification and again, ask him or her to continue.

·         Don’t try to dominate the group by deciding who should be next to be speaking.

·         Don’t make your presentation too lengthy.

·         Don’t let any of the participants get a feeling that you are not interested in listening whatever is being said.

·         Don’t become a complete listener only. Give a nod when needed and oppose when needed. But never ever forget that politeness is a must.

·         Don’t start without drawing the attention of all the participants. (It can be said –Hello, friends, I would like to share my views on the topic, as you are aware that Mr. XYZ has said that…………..

·         Don’t get dominated and don’t try to dominate the group, I repeat.

·         In case before you got to speak, all of your points have already been covered by the other participants, still don’t sit by just saying that  -“As whatever I had to say has already been covered, I have nothing more to say”. Never do that. Repeat the points and do mention the person who has said that point and add something to it or give reasons to substantiate the same.

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What is a GD

What is a group discussion

A GD can be understood on the basis of the following points

·         A group of candidates who have seldom met each other is formed.

·         The observer provides around a few topics to the group (not you alone) and gives a couple of minutes to the group (not you alone) to think which topic would be discussed.

·         Group (not only you alone) decides which topic would be the most comfortable for all of them to discuss.

·         Then starts the real game, everyone is supposed to speak and put his/her points across the table, one by one

·         There is no one to decide who would speak first and who would be the next and so on.

·         Hence it is very important that you do get a chance to speak.

·         Getting a chance to speak doesn’t means that one should interrupt someone already speaking and start sharing his or her own views.

·         The observer must get a feeling that you are behaving like an active member of the team and you are not only encouraging others to speak but you have some unique points of your own too to be shared with the team.

·         After everyone has put his or her point across the table, the first member, who started the discussion is supposed to summarize the outcome of the discussion within a few lines with the consensus of the majority.

·         In the meanwhile the observer continuously keeps an eye on each one of you, How do you stand, how do you sit, how do you react, how good are your communication skills, how polite and how precise you are, how effective has been the participation of yourself in the net outcome of the discussion are the major areas on which you are awarded the marks.

·         On a general trend, around 50% of the guys are shortlisted after any GD. Exceptions are everywhere.

How to prepare for the GD

How to prepare for the GD

Well it is the matter which we are going to discuss over here in this post.

First of all as you are supposed to speak in front of stranger team members, please prepare well (not on the topics but on the public speaking skills).

The most important thing to be kept in mind is that you have already proved your academic worthiness as you have got a call for GD after clearing the written examination, so, in the written, it was your mind which was supposed to the scrutiny by the bank, and now at GD, its your personality which is going to be screened.

The very first step is to start practicing on discussing the various topics (anything including about movies or outing or cooking) with the people you are comfortable with.

·         Start with a mirror practice. Anyone who can speak in front of a mirror for at least 5 minutes, looking in his or her own eyes is generally able to speak in public very well.

·         Once you have attained a comfort level with the mirror test, please do request your close friends to help you in this preparation by playing a role of the fellow teammates of your GD (Coaching institutions are not recommended here because everyone else over there would be your competitor and hence you might get dominated by the other candidates, which might bring your confidence level further down)

·         When you have attained a comfort level with the discussions with your close friends about the silly topics like movies or recopies or outfits, then it’s the time to think for the topics which might be offered to you  in the actual GD

·         Those topics may be anything ongoing in current Indian or International scenario, generally the Indian.

·         Once again start with the mirror test. And speak about any concurrent topic of national importance for around 2 minutes in front of the mirror looking at your own eyes, and then repeat the process with your friends.

·         While preparing  for the current topics of importance, please follow the standard material like that of the newspaper “The Hindu” of that of “Pratiyogita Darpan” or “Yojana” etc.

Keep in mind that its “How you speak and handle the ongoing conversation and interruptions” and its not about what do you speak.

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Group Discussion in SBI and other PSU banks

Group Discussion in SBI and the other banks

The most sought after thing for preparation is the GD part as soon as a candidate has cleared the banking examination written portion.
Have you ever tried to talk to your inner sense and to find out what does the Banks wants to judge by putting you among the team of 8-12 strangers?

Is the bank interested to know whether you are having any knowledge about the topic assigned?

Is the bank interested to know what are the facts and figures you have provided to support your logic?

NO, the answer is a big NO…..

Well, before coming to the above thing, I should brief about the concept of the GD for those who are not aware of it or for those who have misconceptions regarding this thing.

A group of 8-10 candidates is made and they are given 3 to 4 topics to choose from. And they are supposed to discuss the chosen topic among themselves for about 10 or 15 minutes.

GD is simply aimed to identify 2 things in you

First: The leadership skills

Second: Teamwork

How well you can be as a team-member is the main aim of GD. No matter whatever the topic assigned or allotted to you is, only thing which has a prime importance is the fact that how good are your communication skills or how comfortable you are when it comes to the phenomenon of public speaking.

GD itself has its Do’s and Don’t’s apart from the public speaking itself.

But here in the first post I would discuss about the main objective of GD only.

Simply ask yourself one simple question – Can you speak at an extempore? Especially when there are other members of the team who can and who will interrupt you in between? 


How do you manage to complete your voice without being interrupted? 
How logical you are in your thoughts and what percentage of the team-members really listens to you when you are speaking.
What are your body movements? How often do you use your eyes and hands in the communication?

And the most important thing is that, it all should look like natural and not like a fake one.

Well, if you have read till this point of time and if you think that it’s all your cup of tea then please read the next post.