‘Most students fail at the interview stage'

While today's students are performing well in academics they are failing to perform well during interviews and that is proving to be an obstacle for them, said Mr K.M. Padmanabhan, Director, Prerana Educational Media Pvt Ltd, while addressing students of JNN Institute of Engineering.

Mr Padmanabhan emphasised that a person needs to think out of the box to be successful in this competitive world and create a good first impression as that is a lasting one that an interviewer forms. “Everyone should create a lasting impression by focusing on their accomplishments,” he said. The lecture was organised as part of the BL Club lecture series sponsored by Tata Photon Plus.

Every student is intelligent and industrious, he said, but due to a lack of self-interest and pre-preparation they fail miserably at various levels of an interview. One can become successful with systematic and meticulous planning, he added.

Guiding students on how they can bring themselves up to date, he said one should always be aware of current affairs, an interest which is lacking in today's student fraternity. The newspaper reading habit, especially, he said, is drastically coming down. He also gave the students a clear insight of what a corporate demands from the fresh graduate. Self-confidence, self-discipline and initiative all play a major role in every individual's life.

The most common, but critical, question of an interview session, he said, is when the interviewer asks, “Tell me something about yourself.” He explained that this one question was enough for an interviewer to decide whether he wants to employ the candidate or not. “Therefore, have a clear idea on how to answer this question,” he emphasised

During the session he interacted with engineering and MBA students and gave tips on to how face an interview and come out with flying colours. Dr Vemuri Lakshminarayana, Principal, addressed the students and said that everyone should be ready to take on challenges and face situations boldly. In this session, the HOD, Prof V. Murugan, and Mr A. Suresh Kumar, Training and Placement Officer, were also present.