Monday, February 14, 2005
Vital Behaviourial Attribute of a successful Interview.
In the context of the NASEOH meet, I have already documented a certain gap that I found between the rest of the core participants and myself. I have thought bout it in my leisure time during the weekend...what is it that makes these guys different from me? Where is this gap? I should admit that for some reason I found it necessary to myself to bridge this gap .The reason being I for some reason found an enigmatic divide in the intellectual evolution of these guys and myself. EQ-yes that's the word I was looking for!
And so , a train of thoughts got initiated in my mind to start the process of the identification of this gap as a certain precursor to my wanting to bridge it. It is imperative therefore that I start comparing and judging the vital few factors that make them different from me. When I say there's a gap let me make myself clear : it's not that I am demeaning myself or eulogizing the competence of these fellows. It’s just that it seems a compelling thing to do... the idea of me being able to justify my belongingness to this group...as is with me in so many other occasions.
Why, you would ask me, that I should put my efforts into such an unproductive thing. These guys mean nothing to me, there is no intersection anyhow, and we have lived our lives without the knowledge of each other, and shall peacefully continue to do so in future, for all we care.
The justification for this effort is to justify the worth of it in the immediate context. The impression of theirs on me in that first meeting is the same that a panel of interviewers would have in almost the same amount of time if not less. So do I fall into the same league?
What is it that the panel of interviewers in any interview (for say a Bschool) will look for that will make him select a person and not the other.what indications is he looking for to gauge my competency or know me, when it is a well documented fact in any literature worth its salt, that u cannot ever know a person, even if u have lived with him/her for a lifetime. What is that single most important factor that will influence an interviewer to differentiate between two people of similar backgrounds and profile? It is in this immediate context that such a study of this group became imperative.
So, coming back to the topic of analysing the group, I was frankly impressed by their attitudes. Big deal u may say, that is general knowledge-Explain what is attitude?
Hmm, good point. So lets take it from a different angle- "myself". I know in comparison with these guys that I have done well enough for myself in my life. Decent acads (nothing high flying), a decent engineering course in comp sc, a suitable position of authority in my technical and managerial role in my workplace...and the profile of this group is well...from fresh grads to a comparable work profile. I mean nothing that suggests I should feel inferior to. But then there lies the catch ...all of us wanting to clear an interview, have been thru the same average educational background and pretty much comparable extra curriculars etc. Every one has an interest, so if u excel in one, the other might be good in a totally different field.
Given that you have identified these interests or cultivated them enough, and given that you have a reasonable level of communication skills, everyone lands up on the same line of average again! So what is the differentiating point then?
I pondered and came to the conclusion that the fault lies in comparing the present profiles here.
Just as every recent happening is shaped by some historical events, same way the historical sequence of events in ones life goes into the shaping of a personality. Admittedly there are some random and serendipity factors involved but these are beyond our control and scope of analysis.
For example, and it may not be the best example, but just assuming that other factors are considered constant, a student in a primary class who is encouraged to experiment in ,say, to use building blocks to create a perfect cuboid.his failures on this experiments, when he ends up with creatinb incompatible blocks jutting out of the frame are considered to be part of his learning’s and he is encouraged to try again (lets call that a blue stamp). In another class a student who fails in a single attempt is reprimanded and told to be a slow learner in understanding structures (lets call this a black stamp). He is nevertheless given another chance to make the structure and each failure is counted against him. After a struggle, which involves maybe the same number of attempts as the first student, he has finished his task successfully, but in the bargain the first student comes up feeling good about his accomplishment, while the second although he has accomplished the same task, has a baggage of negative emotional points earned by all the reprimands.
Thus both the students have made same amount of errors in learning the concept, both have accomplished the same task but the emotional growth of the first student has been much more in the experience than the second (who arguable has had a negative effect on his persona).
The differentiator is the number of blue stamps against the black of the second. In other words this differentiator is your "Self Worth".
So if I look at my present state of being with the other participants of the NASOH gathering, there is not much to differentiate us. And I realize that this "self-worth" is the least common denominator among all the particaipants at the gathering. And this is what differentiates me from the rest. And this is what differentiates a Success in an interview from a failure. None of us know everything under the sun, nor are we demi-gods. Just that, some see it objectively while the others view it with a baggage of black stamps and make it their albatross on the neck!
So if it's a historical chain of events that shapes us our self worth, what do we do about it? The point is to realize that each of these has been contributed these black stamps by someone else, and has been accepted by us at that point of time due to our vulnerability in that situation. Now we can continue to keep tagging its useless weight with us all our lives or to chuck it now.The point when this realization occurs is the point of inflex in your sequence of events that shape your future. The moment you raise your head to make eye contact with the blue-stamped, a part of the black stamp weight slides off your shoulder. The day you learn to stand straight, the baggage of black stamps will have gone. And that is when you leave a stamp of impression on the interviewer in that crucial 15-20 minutes.
A part of my baggage slipped when I interacted in this group.
And that’s why I record this here - for its significance in my pursuit of improving myself.
PS: If you can’t make your junk self-worth improve, at least fake one! Because it shows in your actions and your answers and your "I-Dont-Know"s !
And so , a train of thoughts got initiated in my mind to start the process of the identification of this gap as a certain precursor to my wanting to bridge it. It is imperative therefore that I start comparing and judging the vital few factors that make them different from me. When I say there's a gap let me make myself clear : it's not that I am demeaning myself or eulogizing the competence of these fellows. It’s just that it seems a compelling thing to do... the idea of me being able to justify my belongingness to this group...as is with me in so many other occasions.
Why, you would ask me, that I should put my efforts into such an unproductive thing. These guys mean nothing to me, there is no intersection anyhow, and we have lived our lives without the knowledge of each other, and shall peacefully continue to do so in future, for all we care.
The justification for this effort is to justify the worth of it in the immediate context. The impression of theirs on me in that first meeting is the same that a panel of interviewers would have in almost the same amount of time if not less. So do I fall into the same league?
What is it that the panel of interviewers in any interview (for say a Bschool) will look for that will make him select a person and not the other.what indications is he looking for to gauge my competency or know me, when it is a well documented fact in any literature worth its salt, that u cannot ever know a person, even if u have lived with him/her for a lifetime. What is that single most important factor that will influence an interviewer to differentiate between two people of similar backgrounds and profile? It is in this immediate context that such a study of this group became imperative.
So, coming back to the topic of analysing the group, I was frankly impressed by their attitudes. Big deal u may say, that is general knowledge-Explain what is attitude?
Hmm, good point. So lets take it from a different angle- "myself". I know in comparison with these guys that I have done well enough for myself in my life. Decent acads (nothing high flying), a decent engineering course in comp sc, a suitable position of authority in my technical and managerial role in my workplace...and the profile of this group is well...from fresh grads to a comparable work profile. I mean nothing that suggests I should feel inferior to. But then there lies the catch ...all of us wanting to clear an interview, have been thru the same average educational background and pretty much comparable extra curriculars etc. Every one has an interest, so if u excel in one, the other might be good in a totally different field.
Given that you have identified these interests or cultivated them enough, and given that you have a reasonable level of communication skills, everyone lands up on the same line of average again! So what is the differentiating point then?
I pondered and came to the conclusion that the fault lies in comparing the present profiles here.
Just as every recent happening is shaped by some historical events, same way the historical sequence of events in ones life goes into the shaping of a personality. Admittedly there are some random and serendipity factors involved but these are beyond our control and scope of analysis.
For example, and it may not be the best example, but just assuming that other factors are considered constant, a student in a primary class who is encouraged to experiment in ,say, to use building blocks to create a perfect cuboid.his failures on this experiments, when he ends up with creatinb incompatible blocks jutting out of the frame are considered to be part of his learning’s and he is encouraged to try again (lets call that a blue stamp). In another class a student who fails in a single attempt is reprimanded and told to be a slow learner in understanding structures (lets call this a black stamp). He is nevertheless given another chance to make the structure and each failure is counted against him. After a struggle, which involves maybe the same number of attempts as the first student, he has finished his task successfully, but in the bargain the first student comes up feeling good about his accomplishment, while the second although he has accomplished the same task, has a baggage of negative emotional points earned by all the reprimands.
Thus both the students have made same amount of errors in learning the concept, both have accomplished the same task but the emotional growth of the first student has been much more in the experience than the second (who arguable has had a negative effect on his persona).
The differentiator is the number of blue stamps against the black of the second. In other words this differentiator is your "Self Worth".
So if I look at my present state of being with the other participants of the NASOH gathering, there is not much to differentiate us. And I realize that this "self-worth" is the least common denominator among all the particaipants at the gathering. And this is what differentiates me from the rest. And this is what differentiates a Success in an interview from a failure. None of us know everything under the sun, nor are we demi-gods. Just that, some see it objectively while the others view it with a baggage of black stamps and make it their albatross on the neck!
So if it's a historical chain of events that shapes us our self worth, what do we do about it? The point is to realize that each of these has been contributed these black stamps by someone else, and has been accepted by us at that point of time due to our vulnerability in that situation. Now we can continue to keep tagging its useless weight with us all our lives or to chuck it now.The point when this realization occurs is the point of inflex in your sequence of events that shape your future. The moment you raise your head to make eye contact with the blue-stamped, a part of the black stamp weight slides off your shoulder. The day you learn to stand straight, the baggage of black stamps will have gone. And that is when you leave a stamp of impression on the interviewer in that crucial 15-20 minutes.
A part of my baggage slipped when I interacted in this group.
And that’s why I record this here - for its significance in my pursuit of improving myself.
PS: If you can’t make your junk self-worth improve, at least fake one! Because it shows in your actions and your answers and your "I-Dont-Know"s !
The NASEOH xpereince
Hi Guys,
Now this is pure blabber..please bear with me :
Those Present:PG,Wayne,supervsh,Puneet,Simba,Geetu,Ashish,Aditya and me.
I went to NASEOH to share some of the previledges of education with guys there who havent been as lucky.
Once there, I heard out the Interview Exps of PG,Vishy and Simba.Had the rummy choclates of Geetu (thanks to Puneet for that extra one I could smuggle when he was struggling with the lid ).Worked my poor little grey cells to understand that lamp story ...(good one though).
But overall , I must frankly admit,coming from a rather non descript corner of the country ,my outlook to life was what I found has been so challenged.Here were a group of ppl discussing intimately about Bschools I've reverred (someone saying Ahd hostels are holes!) and considering thier own preferences for a bschool etc.We in bubaneswar always thought about how lucky we would be to get admitted in an IIM.We never came to think of it in the terms of our own expectations from it...U know , we are the ones investing time and money and therefore have to evaluate these schools as a client does for a product he buys...this is the 'potato-theory' espounded by someone in MDI(or was it Sp jain GD/PI ?) thread turned on its head!
So you see, from considering ourselves as potato and the Bschools as the client , I have suddenly in one short experience ,got a perpective from the other end as well.This is the kind of postitive energy that was rubbed onto me by the gathering.This is the gap in thinking that became apparent...and it would take more than one meet to bridge this gap .And I do hope i am intelectually equipped to be able to actually contribute value to the future discussions...
And all this while I just chit chatted for an hour ,without any productive contributions to the NASEOH work.
Though I had gone there to benefit someone else, I came back as the one most benefited.The awesome choclates only made the experience so much sweeter.
Regards
Prasun.
Now this is pure blabber..please bear with me :
Those Present:PG,Wayne,supervsh,Puneet,Simba,Geetu,Ashish,Aditya and me.
I went to NASEOH to share some of the previledges of education with guys there who havent been as lucky.
Once there, I heard out the Interview Exps of PG,Vishy and Simba.Had the rummy choclates of Geetu (thanks to Puneet for that extra one I could smuggle when he was struggling with the lid ).Worked my poor little grey cells to understand that lamp story ...(good one though).
But overall , I must frankly admit,coming from a rather non descript corner of the country ,my outlook to life was what I found has been so challenged.Here were a group of ppl discussing intimately about Bschools I've reverred (someone saying Ahd hostels are holes!) and considering thier own preferences for a bschool etc.We in bubaneswar always thought about how lucky we would be to get admitted in an IIM.We never came to think of it in the terms of our own expectations from it...U know , we are the ones investing time and money and therefore have to evaluate these schools as a client does for a product he buys...this is the 'potato-theory' espounded by someone in MDI(or was it Sp jain GD/PI ?) thread turned on its head!
So you see, from considering ourselves as potato and the Bschools as the client , I have suddenly in one short experience ,got a perpective from the other end as well.This is the kind of postitive energy that was rubbed onto me by the gathering.This is the gap in thinking that became apparent...and it would take more than one meet to bridge this gap .And I do hope i am intelectually equipped to be able to actually contribute value to the future discussions...
And all this while I just chit chatted for an hour ,without any productive contributions to the NASEOH work.
Though I had gone there to benefit someone else, I came back as the one most benefited.The awesome choclates only made the experience so much sweeter.
Regards
Prasun.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5 License.
