What Employers Expect during an Interview

What Employers Expect during an Interview

by The Skill Labs – 17 January 2019

An interview is basically a conversation with a purpose: to determine whether or not an applicant’s skill set and qualifications are a fit for the position available. Your CV and cover letter are the preliminary tools that get you to the face-to-face interview. Once you have reached the interview room, the game begins. An employer will ask you all possible questions, observe your each and every action & move, mark your behavior and attitude to determine whether you are a right fit in their organization or not.

The result of the entire interview exercise ends with determining three things before they make a hiring decision:

Can you do the job?

Every question or evaluation parameter is to evaluate your hard skills and soft skills. The question relating to the technical aspects determine your hard job skills, which helps them determine how effectively will you be able to perform your primary duties if given the job. Your overall Appearance, Behaviour and Attitude along with the way you respond back to each question helps them determine your Soft Skill Index. Specifically, for front-ending jobs e.g. Sales, Marketing, PR, etc Soft Skill play a highly important role along with the hard job skills.

Are you motivated enough to do the job?

This is where your Interest and Determination counts. When at work, you will face a lot of tough situations. A self-motivated person finds it easy to navigate their moods during such tough and pressured situation. They do not lose their interest on the job / assignment even under harsh circumstances and are determined to walk through it to finish the assignment. Such Interest and Determination are very dear to employers as they wish to have stability on ground during such situations. It is proven that with such interest and determination a single man can carve a path through the hill. Employers like candidate who demonstrate such interest and determination during an interview.

Are you a good fit in the organization?

You may have a skill to do the job, you may be successful in demonstrating interest and determination, still that may not be enough for an employer to offer you a job. The single biggest aspect that the employers are looking for today is a Culture Fit. This is a test of your Ethics & Values. They really need to match with the core values of the organization, for you and the employer have a mutual win-win. 90% of satisfaction at work is only a result of the culture fit, hence it is recommended to study the organization core values well in advance, speak to a few associated friends & contacts to understand the company culture, determine if you are comfortable with the company’s values and culture and share the same yourself. If the access to information is limited, ask the interviewer more on this at the time of your interview. Take the job only when this fits for both of you.