HR Round- Ease your tension........

When December knocks the calender, what I can possibly think of is, lots and lots of hoildays and festivals. However, this December is special to me because my dear students are being tested to step into the world of responsibilty, discipline and professionalism.  An offer letter from a reputed company judges their dignity  and  boosts self confidence.  That is why, I decided to share my experiences with you all-  to guide you for the Interview.

There are five type of HR questions.

Type 1

1.       Tell us about yourself

2.       What is your most memorable moment / embarassing moment in your life?

3.       What are your hobbies?

4.       What are your strengths and weaknesses?

5.       What are your favourite subjects?

6.       What motivates you / or demotivates you?

7.       What is your opinion on success?

8.       Who is your role model / ideal person?

9.       What is that one thing you want to change  in yourself?

10.   What is that onething that makes you feel that you are unique?

These questions are to check the basic communication skills, confidence, how well the candidate know about himself, about their personality which includes traits like transperency, loyalty, honesty, creativity and their clarity of thought! These are all personal questions ... please do spend time and get to know yourself.

According to me, the first impression is the last impression. You won’t get a second chance to make the first impression. Therefore, your answer has to be  impressive. For eg, the answer to the  introductory question must consist of your name, your father’s name and occupation(optional) and your acedemic details. Then, choose from any of the sub headings like your project work, strengths, achievements,  interests and hobbies!!! Please remember to select only one from the above mentioned list.

Type 2 ( JOB ORIENTED QUESTIONS)

1.       What motivated you to choose this job / career?

2.       What are your goals?

3.       Are you a goal oriented person?

4.       How did you plan to achieve your goals?

5.       What is your recent accomplishments?

6.       Where can we see you after 5 years or may be 10 years?

The objective of these questions is to check the clarity of the “goals and career objectives” of the candidate.

Note:  1.While the candidate is answering any of the above questions, the Interview Board would always countercheck or would be keen to know how much he is interested or focused to secure a job in their orgainsation and to understand if he or she is planning to build a long term of strong association with them!

Hence the candidate, while answering the above questions should convey a clear message that he is very focused towards the new opportunity. He/she should also make the board understand through their answers that he/she is very keen in sharpening their skills and improving their knowledge and want to grow in the orgainsation.

2. Also to check his planning and Execution

3. The above questions are  asked to test the analytical skills towards his goals.  How realistic or practically it can be worked out to achieve the goals.

Type 3

1.       Did you have any conflict with anybody?

2.       What was your worst situation and how did you handle it?

3.       What was the biggest problems that you handled so far? Were you successful?

4.       Can you handle pressure?

These are to check the candidate’s skills in ,

1.       Adaptabilty to a situation

2.       Leadership qualities in Issue resloving

3.       Candidate’s personality in terms of people’s management!

In case if the candidate has mentioned that they are adaptable and flexible in their strength column…..then they have to support it with reasonable examples, Here conflict means  general misunderstandings  or any problem which deals with Interpersonal skills. So please remember to quote only work realted scenarios and not family issues.

Type 4

1.       What motivated you to do this project?

2.       Why should I hire you?

3.       How would you prove yourself right now that incase we dn’t hire you, the company would at loss?

These are targetted to know the ,

1.       True attitude and convincing skills.

2.        

For this question, one has to market his talents in a very professional way by highlighting the acdemic details, soft skills and adaptablity.

Type 5

1.       Are you willing to relocate?

2.       Are you willing to 24/7 if business demands?

3.       Are you willing to work at night shifts?

4.       Are you willing to travel?

The above mentioned questions are to check the flexibility of the candidate. It is also an indication that the candidate is being considered in the selection list.

IMPORTANT QUESTION

                WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THE COMPANY?

                 This question is to check if the candidate has done his basic home work about knowing the organisation before going for the Interview.

So my dear………..show your go getter attitude, win the race and join the gang of professionals!

Smile- it is your birth right and maintain a calm composure during the Interview……..ALL THE BEST :)

MY JOURNEY TO “GITAM”………

We came to this city of destiny Vizag in 2007. I was coming from Mumbai, therefore I was mentally prepared that I will have different experience in this small town!!!!!

Then, my job hunt started from Dwarkanagar to MVP colony. Though I could impress the employers, but I didn’t find the “Mumbai pay” here! After a few days, I reconciled myself and not to search Mumbai in “Vizag” in terms of everything.

And the change in my attitude helped me to get into a B.School, as a faculty for communication skill subject for the first year students. My first day in the class…..

Can’t forget!!!!!!!

First of all, I was really nervous as they were taller than me!!! and passing comments in Telugu, (Thank god, I didn’t understand) But students are students after all…………. So I won their hearts and continued teaching rather communicating with them effectively.

And my Mumbai friends started teasing by calling Professor in Pink!!!!! Life was going on smoothly and I was brimming with happiness! VINDYA ON CLOUD 9”

Once in our Naval party, I was bragging to people that I am a trainer and take classes for MBA students! One intelligent officer asked me whether I was teaching in “Gitam college”, and there.......I had a mild heart attack and came to mother earth also realized that I need to achieve more!!!!  So my journey began but in full swing now! I left the job in the B.school and looking for good opportunities. In the meanwhile, I got an offer to work as a camp in charge for a summer camp project for children up to 15 years at Yoga village. It was a huge success. However, my heart said, “go girl ………….find your real happiness and that was an official entry in “Gitam college”!

True prayers are always answered, so I got an opportunity to interview the BBA students for a Mock session. I felt like flying in the sky with my Dream man (MS Dhoni) Yet, human mind is never satisfied so as i!

And finally……..I got the CHANCE to come to Gitam to teach!!! And that too for Engineering students. Wow……….. my first class was ECE branch. As expected, Students were very obedient and intelligent too! I needed an ice breaker to tune them to jump on the bandwagon of my kind of teaching. I played the “signature game”, nobody came to take sign from me!!!! and I felt that “yes! Lot of tuning is required” However, I got the feeling that they enjoyed my session at the end! Teachers are Psychologist at times…………hahahaha!

And the next day, another big day for me as I went to EIE class………ooohhh! They all looked at me as though a queen has entered their kingdom! The enthralling welcome by clapping and whistling!!!!!!!! And I was completely flattened also skipped heartbeats and confessed to them that “UNFORTUNATELY I AM MARRIED”…….It is one of my memorable experinence.The journey continued with Mechanical engineering students totally challenging me with their questions. I had a wonderful time with the all of them. At present, I take class for all the students irrespective of their streams. I have become a popular face in “Gitam” now. And I feel that I am one among them. I am their guide, teacher; friend , special friend for some of them, counselor and the list goes on! I proudly say that Gitam is like my second “Home” now! And my dream came true!!!! Hope this journey will continue year after year till we leave vizag officially!

BEAUTIFUL STRANGERS!!!!

Hey all, being a Navy person’s wife, I am bound to travel to different parts of the country. The Navy bases are placed in all developed towns or cities, unlike most stations of the Indian Army, where one will have to look for the map to locate the destination. I would like to share with you all my experiences with strangers I met and how they judged me!!!!!!

In 1993, I was a newly wed lady and Goa was our first posting. When you hear the name “GOA” everyone thinks that the life out there is “JAZZY”! Yes………however my experience was entirely different. One weekend my husband told me that we would go out for dinner at a beach shack (In Goa, one can find lots of Restaurants on the beach). We went to “seagull”, which popularly was known as “JOHN’S”, as the owner is more famous than the Seagull. My mind was placid and assured as we headed towards “John’s”. After gulping Pepsi for a while, it was time for us to order dinner………and the glossy menu card was placed in front of me.  I literally fixed my gaze at it with lot of curiosity and a watering mouth to decide my dish for the evening. But………… gosh! There was no vegetarian dish at all!!!!!! Being a god fearing Tamil Brahmin, I felt as if I had come to an alien land. To make amends, my warrior hubby asked the steward to make any vegetarian dish. But he was smarter than us and educated me that “Madam, take out the fish from the curry and it will become ‘veg curry’, so that you can eat it with rice!” Wow!!!!!!!  For a second I was wondering whether I was in India as there seemed to be no such concept as Vegetarian. So this was my experience with a person who could not differentiate between veg and Non veg, and revisit it every time I have a hunger pang. But now……..things have changed in this regard, and John’s offers one of the best veg cuisines in the locality!!!!!!

Few years later we moved to Cochin (kochi), the beautiful city surrounded by greenery, famous for condiments and heavy rains, with lots of movie halls and “veg” restaurants. Life was happy as I could converse in Malayalam as well. I used to tell my naval community friends that it was like was living in heaven. One day, I went to the Vegetable market and was bargaining in Malayalam. I was utterly shocked when the vendor got angry with me, and replied rudely in Hindi that he would not come down to my price. I was taken aback by his reaction and was aghast to hear what he said to his fellow vendor in malayalam “These North Indians learn our language and trying to show off to us!” Then he sternly insisted that I do not irritate him by talking in Malayalam. I was really surprised! However, I tried to tell him that I was a South Indian and I knew Malayalam. But the stubborn vendor kept giving me a blank look. I will never forget this stranger with a strong opinion.

Subsequently we moved to the city of destiny, Vizag, in 1998. We stayed in Vizag only for a year as during Kargil battle my husband had to move to Mumbai in mid 1999. Vizag exposed me to a different experience. As we were in the waiting roster for a naval house, we had to put up at a hired house. After a lot of thought, we took a house on hire in Sriharipuram, which was close to the Naval area. It was a MIG colony mostly consisting of god fearing people and we had a Brahmin family as our neighbor (who incidentally never spoke to me for a very long time). My husband was a young officer then, and had to do a lot of night duties and he hardly stayed at home!!!!! Besides that, his ship sailed left, right and centre keeping me puzzled with life in this small town. The only bright spark in my life was my daughter who was 4 years old then. Me and my daughter explored the markets and tried to make the most of life at home. Surprisingly nobody in the colony was warm with us, or for that matter even spoke to us. We were left alone like accused people. As for the cold treatment from my neighbor, I was totally confused as to what was going on in their great mind!!!!!!!

In the meanwhile, my in-laws came from Mumbai to stay with us for a few months. And when my mother-in-law befriended the Brahmin family, we learnt that all the people in the neighborhood thought that my hubby and me were leading a live-in relationship and were not officially married. This was so because he was seen only occasionally, that too coming and leaving at odd hours at times. Therefore they concluded that “SOMETHING WAS FISHY IN OUR HOUSE” and that is why they kept a distance with us……….heights of suspicion!!! I realized how people formed an opinion just like that! My mother-in-law became my savior and helped my neighbors to come out of this web of confusion. This town had all “judges” around and they branded anyone so easily! However, when they came to know that we were a legally wedded couple they became good friends and even allowed their daughters to speak to me! In this whole episode, my hubby was the only one who was unaffected and merrily sailing for the “INDIAN NAVY”.

Thereafter we stayed in Mumbai for a long time! It is a concrete jungle. We could see snazzy buildings and glittering malls! People mend their own business, no time to make an opinion on others! Typical people with lot of energy. ………to earn and enjoy!!!!                

I had the opportunity to meet many small and big time celebrities because of my job. I came to know their fake attitudes and selfish nature. Actually, most of them are arrogant and I learnt one thing from them, “ANY PUBLICITY IS GOOD PUBLICITY”. So here, I branded them, and formed my own opinion.

Recently, I had been to Singapore………I was so… so……happy. The warmth of the people is commendable. They were very friendly, trustworthy and approachable. Once I had traveled in a taxi all alone at around 10pm in this foreign country without any fear. While on the way, I was talking to my husband in Tamil on the phone. When I finished the call, the driver asked me in Tamil whether I was an Indian. I felt very happy. It is a great feeling to meet a fellow Indian in a place away from your country. I told him proudly that “yes” I am an Indian. We exchanged pleasantries and he told me   “JAIHIND” when I got down from his taxi. It was superb……I am proud to be an Indian.

It is nice to reminiscence and cherish my experiences with these “beautiful strangers”!

COCKPIT OR COFFIN

An “AVIATOR”, when we hear this word, our mind becomes placid and the person we can think of is perhaps “TOMCRUISE” in a clean shaven look with a RAYBAN glass. Wow!!!!! What a style!!!!! Flying is a great experience, “Landing and Taking off” is an eye-catching moment, and anyone would love to watch!

These Aviators are paying their life as a hidden cost for this glamorous profession.

      “Life is a beautiful accident, everything is destined!” 

Therefore we have to accept the things as it comes! It is easier said than done!

Accepting or Adjusting???? When we are ready to accept something, we are almost prepared to compromise!

As an Aviator’s wife I have seen many accidents in my life especially air crashes. When we hear about any mishaps, our heart beats faster for their family. “Family” is the most ignorant ones about these accidents and unprepared of the future. Life changes for them in a minute. “Single Parenting” which is the hardest task and the lady needs to do it, once she loses her husband. A human being is highly stressed when they lose their spouse a survey says! And for those ladies life becomes like an ocean with challenging tides as Tsunami.

I can pretty well describe the moment when these kinds of accidents happen everyone in the colony visit their house to convey the condolences and even talk to the children to see his/her father as a “Hero” or “A star”…..it is true these people are the Real Heroes and stars!

But in day today life, these ladies are able to sail through only because of their unshakable confidence. Any person learns “Life skills” during tough times. And I salute these ladies who are marching with head high at the same time feeling bad about those ill-fated aircrafts.

Life is a like an ice cream enjoy before it melts. Help people as much as we can. Be positive always. We don’t know what is in store for us, so we must live in present.

MOTHERHOOD IS NOT 2 MINUTES MAGGI....

Mother’s love is unconditional and never expects anything in return, as we are aware of this definition for a perfect mother. But super mom is in the look out! As our youngistans prefer their mothers to be like “HORLICKS, HAMAM AND SANTOOR SOAP” moms always smiley and immaculate. Super mom is a lady who is in great demand…but what are the parameters???     

It is harder for the working mother to acquire this title because she has the guilt of not being at home 24/7. So…what about the stay at home mothers? Yes, they have more involvement and do contribute more than the working moms. However, these days everything comes with a package.

I did a small survey….i learnt that these are the qualities which are required to be a “super mom”….

1.Should be a good cook not only traditional dishes but also burger, pizza and all the junk stuff.

2.Should know to speak English better than their teacher. (even if you speak they may not agree and one has to be modest and take it in your stride)

3. Must know driving, because a mother will be on call at anytime either to drop them or pick them up.

4. One should have enough social awareness so as to converse with their friends.

5. Generosity is tested at Mc.donalds, Pizza hut and KFC, and this is the real test of how you are letting them make their choice without any apprehension.

6.Kids are more adaptable!!! They get calls at odd hours and as a mother one must feel proud that the child has a lot of energy stored to answer the calls at any time!!!

7.Friends are their priority, if mothers understand and decide not to intrude..wow….that gives them a wild card entry for this title.

8.An important one, must ensure that the child has not got a title as “geek” or “nerd” by their friends. Therefore one has to restrict their study timings and let them be with their peers…

9.All their friends must say that “you” are the coolest mom, that makes them more happy than a better grade in their surprise test!

When I used to give hard time to my mother, my mother used to tell me “wait till you have children of your own, then you will know the real plight”. But now…it is all out of question to utter these words to this generation kids as they don’t connect a life without a phone, cable TV, Malls and Inox..their life style is entirely different. These kids are “super and smart kids”, I may not get qualified in the super mom’s race……however I am still trying…..:)