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DOs and DON'Ts for PI
Personal Interview should be approached as a conversation to be enjoyed, not as a question & answer ordeal. It may be about your hobbies - your recent cross-country trip. This doesn't mean that the interviewers are not serious. It just means that you are being sized up as a person and a future professional in all your dimensions. Try to be witty, charming and natural. Don't try to put on. The interviewers will be able to see your masks through. You should do your SWOT(Strength Weekness Opportunity Threat) analysis before going for the interview.
DOs
DOs
- Knock the door, ask for permission to get in, if they don't respond, get in, after all you have the ticket inviting you for the PI. When you get in the room, ask for permission to sit. If the panel acts all busy and doesn't reply, sit and make yourself comfortable, DON'T stand like a watchman waiting for them to give permission.
- Enter the interview room with confidence and enthusiasm.
- Be cool, confident and as natural as possible. Interviewers have a knack for knowing when someone is pretending to be something they are not.
- Watch your body language carefully. Never touch your interviewers except for when you give them a handshake. You should not invade their personal space.
- Maintain eye contact with the panel.
- Make a good impression. You have to stand out from the thousands of other candidates.
- End the interview on a good note. Even if you had a great interview, your last moments with the interviewers is the memory which will linger in their minds once the interview ends. Make sure to leave the room on a positive note.
- Whatever you say, be clear, concise and logical. You should demonstrate your ability to explain ideas to others in a way that is comprehensible.
- Define your goals well. Your goals should be fairly measurable and realistic.
- Refresh your general knowledge before going for the interview. Interviewers may test your conversational skills and general wisdom by asking you questions on various topics.
- Know exactly your strengths and weaknesses, and illustrate examples of each. Also propose remedies for correcting your weaknesses.
- Prepare well about your academic and job experience. They may want to know why you think that you are qualified for entering their school. They may be interested in knowing how serious you actually are about your studies and career.
- Show composure under pressure. Think before you speak and reply with well thought-out and meaningful responses.
- Be active and attentive during the whole process. Show energy through your body language and tone of voice. Sit up straight, lean forward slightly.
- Make sure that you don't offend your interviewers. Be careful not to make any opinionated statements which may offend a person there(especially when dealing with sensitive topics such as religion).
- Relying only on your qualifications or exam scores alone don't do the selling for you. No matter how qualified you are, you have to show them that you are qualified.
- Don't use poor language. Give due respect to the interviewers.
- Don't be ambiguous. Unclear objectives will not get you anywhere. Be specific and list something measurable which you can achieve or attempt.
- Don't lie about anything. You may find yourself in a trap you can't get out if you do so. It is advisable to be honest.
- Don't miss to listen what the interviewers say. If you spend too much time thinking in your head, you might not realize that they have asked you a question and that you weren't listening.
- Don't worry if you are soft-spoken. It does not imply that you are weak. Make sure you exude a sense of strength and authority while still being soft-spoken.
- Don't be stressed mentally if you find you have become stuck on answering a question. It may throw you off for the rest of the interview. Just breathe and keep on going.
- Don't pose negative body gestures like touching the nose, leaning back on the chair, knocking the table with a pen etc.
- Don't display low self confidence with shaky voice and trembling hands.
