Placements & Interviews: what actually matters and what does not.

Randomed by Rituraj / at 5:06 PM / /

This winter was the time that was the reason for a lot that preceded the previous 3 winters. The fruit of 3 years of senseless mugging. The season of placements and job interviews. As ashamed as I am of saying this, it is just as true, that this is what my last three years of existence was meant for. However, I am drifting off topic.

I sat for the placement and interviews for a job in Infosys and Wipro. Although the interviews themselves were not on the more intense side I still got to learn some things from them. Well, I also got a job out of them but I consider that just as a side product.
The interview was in three stages - a written test followed by personal interviews by technical and HR recruiters.

It was the first time that I had given so much importance to my appearance. I was wearing formals and I was taking utmost care to make it look as formal as I could - tucking the shirt in just the right amount, keeping the pant at the right level, keeping the shoes parallel to each other while walking and so on. Why, you ask? Well, because I was afraid. Afraid that I might not get recruited due to the fact that the person taking my interview found my attire too gaudy.
But the charade does not end here. I was even worried by the sequence of documents that I had arranged in my folder - marksheets, certificates etc. Should I keep my CV on top? But what if he wants to see the marksheet first? If he has to look harder for what he wants then he might be annoyed by the fact that I did not take enough care! There were countless other things which upon mentioning here will not bode well for my reputation.

After clearing the written test I was waiting for my turn outside the interview room. Senseless thoughts started running rampant in my mind again. I even acted on some.

When it was my turn for the interview all I did was speak clearly and confidently. For the questions that I could not answer I simply said so. The puzzles that were given to me for solving, although I could not solve all of them, I tried to solve them, panic striken at first but with a cool mind later.
What appealed to him was not the color of my shirt or the way I had arranged my documents but what I answered in the interview. For all I know, he might even have recruited me if I had attended the interview in casuals! What matters is your brain and your power to use it. Rest of the factors can be neglected.

Absolute is power.