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Interview FAQs


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Publishing-in-support-of,

EDUCREATION PUBLISHING

RZ 94, Sector - 6, Dwarka, New Delhi - 110075 Shubham Vihar, Mangla, Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh - 495001

Website: www.educreation.in __________________________________________________

© Copyright, Author

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, magnetic, optical, chemical, manual, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written consent of its writer.

ISBN: 978-1-61813-525-4

Price: ` 260.00

The opinions/ contents expressed in this book are solely of the author and do not represent the opinions/ standings/ thoughts of Educreation.

Printed in India


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INTERVIEW FAQS Interview Tips &practise questions

By

Bonnie Baabu

EDUCREATION PUBLISHING (Since 2011)

www.educreation.in


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About the Author

Bonnie is an HR professional as well

as an author-blogger. His key areas

of professional interests include

developing & implementing Talent

Development programmes and

assisting in leadership-hiring

campaigns. He is also a certified

behavioural coach. Bonnie’s books - Finding jobs and Interview

FAQs - were solely designed as a guide to assist

graduates and experienced job seekers during their

job-search period. He is the founder & consulting partner of an

HR firm named HIRE42 and also the founder of

www.goboochi.com, a global recruitment through

data solution company. He is passionate about technology disruptions

within the HR sector.

P


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Dedication

To mom & dad for their continued support and love, To my three superwomen - K Artittaya Thiangwong,

Somruethai Srimoung & Thanis Huang, thank you

for being an integral part of the global Talent

Acquisition team. You three have moved mountains

and achieved amazing results. Without you three

this team would have been incomplete. Thank you for being such wonderful people who

could make the impossible possible.

P


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Interview FAQ's

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Resume - How Best to Create The ‘Wow’ Factor?

W This chapter on resume highlights the importance

on how to use your resume as your calling card.

Today, everyone knows how to draft a simple

resume. However, they still struggle to present their

skills and abilities in the best possible manner.

Resumes should be used as a powerful tool to

get you your desired opportunity. There are many

websites, today, that provide an online resume

drafting experience. Irrespective of how you draft

your resume, you still need to create an effective

document that will create a „Wow‟ factor amongst

recruiters. In other words, your resume should be

relevant to the job vacancy you are applying for.

The below chapters explain how to best use a

resume format to your advantage and how to use

added tools available at hand to create that one

simple but powerful resume profile.

1


Bonnie Baabu

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Hint:

Definition:

Résumé: A short document describing your

education, work history etc., that you give an

employer when you are applying for a job

: A list of achievements

: A short description of things that has happened

<Definition derived from merriam-webster.com>

First point of contact to the job world

Consider your resume as your most important

tool, especially while applying for a job vacancy.

People will recognize you initially through your

resume. In fact, resumes are the first point of

contact that you would share with a recruiter.

WHY YOU NEED A STELLAR RESUME?

Resumes need to be considered as the first point of

contact between a candidate and his/her recruiter.

Most companies irrespective of their size use

an Applicant Tracking System (ATS). This system

enables them to receive, segregate and shortlist

potential candidates very early during application

acceptance stage.

These systems are built and designed to

identify only those candidates‟ resumes that closely

match the advertised job competency requirements.

If you are a candidate and you have failed to

identify the job competencies from the job


Interview FAQ's

~ 3 ~

description and later submitted a generic resume,

then your chances of landing that potential

interview is long gone, and even worse you might

find yourself being – “Slotted in the unqualified for

this vacancy list by the ATS system”.

NOTE:

When an Applicant Tracking System identifies your

resume as unqualified, repeated resume submissions

to the same job will yield no results. This system

will automatically discard and mark your

application as a duplicate or unqualified profile.

This will further limit your ability to qualify for this

open vacancy even though you are professionally

suitable for this role. Candidate profiling features

are in-built in most of the present day ATS systems.

Hint:

It is of utmost importance to match your first

resume submission with that of the posted vacancy

description.

HOW DOES AN ATS WORK?

ATS systems automatically identify candidate

profiles and slot them via the process of key word

matches. In the event of a human intervention, let‟s

say by a recruiter, they too would use the help of

key word match algorithms to identify and match

key words from a potential candidate‟s resume. This

process will be followed for all the candidates who

have applied for this particular job application.


Bonnie Baabu

~ 4 ~

Remember:

A poorly drafted resume can be simply damaging or

a door closer for an otherwise potentially qualified

candidate.

CAN I OUTSMART AN ATS SYSTEM?

The whole key word process is computerized, and

you may have a tough time trying to beat this

system to re-enter the application stage once again.

However, if a candidate can identify the exact key

words from the job description and input the same

in their resume, then there is a greater chance that

this candidate will qualify in the event of a key

word match scenario.

WHAT YOUR RESUME SHOULD

DEMONSTRATE?

That you are employable.

You have the right qualifications, skill sets and

education.

You can do a role effectively and successfully.

You are motivated individual and a go-getter.

You have the right attitude and approach to fit

into a professional environment.

Hint:

It doesn't matter how qualified you are, or how

much experience you have – if your resume is

poorly presented or badly written, you're going to


Interview FAQ's

~ 5 ~

have trouble getting the job you want – or even

worse you will find it hard to even to get an

interview.

TYPES OF RESUME FILE TYPES

There are multitudes of resume file types out there

in today‟s market.

Candidates choose word, pdf and in some

cases, they also use video resumes to display

profiles that have an aspect of design element in

them.

The choice of which file type you should use is

a decision that is completely left unto you.

However, to be on the safe side of this process, we

suggest that you stick with the most accepted

resume formats such as pdf or word files.

Do not experiment with a new resume format

during a submission stage, unless the job vacancy or

the recruiter explicitly states the same in their job

description. For example: You would have come

across few job descriptions where recruiters request

candidates to send in their resumes in a word file

followed with a video file of their design-oriented

work. Hence, in this case, the candidate will give an

outline of his/her design experience in their word

file, and later their video file will complete the

description of their profile work. This is commonly

seen for design-related jobs where a candidate‟s

design work needs to be considered for the

shortlisting process.


Bonnie Baabu

~ 6 ~

Our general advice is to use word of pdf

formats. Most candidates generally use pdf files for

resume submissions.

Hint:

The most annoying format of resume is the one that

doesn’t download or open for a recruiter.

REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD

RECONSIDER YOUR RESUME FILE TYPE?

Certain applicant tracking systems accept only

certain file types of certain sizes. Hence, if you

want to make a successful submission then it is

best to follow the above guidelines.

Few recruiters request only for „WORD‟

formats since they use software to parse

candidate resume information into their in-

house recruitment systems.

Following an instruction stated in the job

description or by a recruiter only shows that you

have taken this job application stage seriously

and not just spamming organizations with your

profile.

Take away!

Candidates, sometimes, send in pdf formats even

though recruiters had clearly insisted on a word

formatted resume.

Why? Candidates feel that pdf formats are more

secure during a file submission stage and the degree

of plagiarism can be controlled or reduced through

this method.


Interview FAQ's

~ 7 ~

Our response, today, we find different software

online that can easily convert a pdf to a word file or

vice versa. Hence, when a recruiter has clearly

outlined the file format during resume submission –

it is wise to follow the recruiters‟ instructions and

get your foot one step into the shortlisting process.

The common resume pitfall: Candidates are so

caught up with presentation skills that they spend a

greater part of their resume preparation time in

formatting their resumes. Thus, they end up

producing a highly complex resume file with many

tables, columns and sub-columns. The data itself

seems to be lost among all the other complexities

found on this page.

Remember:

It is best to concentrate on the data more and less

on the design aspect of a resume. As mentioned

before, keep it simple, effective and concise.

FOUR COMMON RESUME TYPES USED

Four common resume types that are used by

candidates are mentioned below, we will highlight

the importance of each resume type and how best

you can use the same for your advantage:

1. Chronological Resume Format

Chronological resumes are best suited for

candidates who have a long and steady work

history. This type of resume shows your recent

experience followed by your jobs before that. This

is best for the candidates who are searching for jobs

in the same field of work. Chronological resumes


Bonnie Baabu

~ 8 ~

mirror the corporate ladder – indicates how you

have progressed throughout your career.

Seasoned Professionals: Chronological resumes

work best for seasoned professionals who are

climbing up the corporate ladder within the same

field. Start by listing out your work experience,

beginning with your most recent position you hold

and continue with previous jobs held by you.

List your professional experience first and then

follow through with your educational background.

NOTE; However, if a professional is keen to

change his respective area of work, then it is best to

switch to the functional resume format.

2. Functional resume format

A functional resume highlights key skills and

downplays work experience. Emphasis is given

towards what you can do? What you have achieved?

Rather than focusing on names, dates and locations.

In this type of resume, candidates usually highlight

their skills while providing a brief work history

back ground.

Career changers: Best used by candidates who

seek to change their career should use this format.

3. Combination Resume Format

Combination resumes are similar to functional

resume formats in that they focus more on skills

and qualifications than it does on education or work

experience. Combination resumes will begin with

a job objective and/or a summary of qualifications

that will include particular skills for the job being

applied to. Although the combination style focuses


Interview FAQ's

~ 9 ~

more on skills, it still leaves plenty of room to

provide details on your past work experience. If you

had an impressive set of accomplishments and

job duties in previous positions, then this style is

the perfect choice for you.

Students, New Graduates and Entry-Level Job

Seekers: This allows job seekers to emphasize their

skills rather than their short-lived employment

history.

Workers with a Steady, Consistent Employment

History: The addition of a qualifications summary

pinpoints the top credentials for the job objective so

employers readily see it's a good match.

4. Infographic Resume Format

Infographic resumes are graphic visual

representations of a traditional resume. The data

presented within an infographic resume

environment can contain a combination of text and

images allowing viewers to quickly grasp the

essential insights in the data. Hence, making this

alternative a more attractive option over your

traditional resume formats.

This type of resume is best used by

professionals who need to show a graphic

illustration of their work performed. This type of

resumes best highlights a person‟s creativity and

their ability to best explain a situation or solutions

in a creative manner. Hence, most commonly used

by designers and any other professionals associated

with the creative side of business.


Bonnie Baabu

~ 10 ~

Hint:

Resume formats need to be kept simple and easy

to read.

Concentrate on the data rather than the design

aspect of your resume.

Keep them in simple word or pdf formats.

In case, a certain format has been requested in

the job description or by a recruiter, then ensure

to follow the requested guidelines.

MANAGING YOUR RESUME

INFORMATION FLOW

To prepare a resume, it is important for

candidates to gather data from various sources.

The three key stages involved during the data

gathering stage are listed below:

1. Gathering the right information-

A candidate keen to apply for an advertised

vacancy can gather industry keywords via

researching through various mediums such as -

company website, current vacancy or job

description, or identify similar vacancies

posted by similar client groups. Identify the

most common key words in all these job

descriptions, identify which data is critical and

those that can be eliminated.

2. Editing and sorting the collected

information -


Interview FAQ's

~ 11 ~

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