CASE STUDY 6:

EMPLOYMENT INTERVIEW OF R P SINHA.

Question 1:

Do you find Mr. Sinha’s responses to various questions effective? Give reasons for your

view on each answer given by Mr. Sinha.

Answer:

Except for the greeting part at the beginning of interview, the responses to interview

questions given by Mr Sinha were ineffective to large extent. Moreover, the responses

were consistently breaching the laws of ideal job interview. To analyze the answers,

let’s take individual responses to the respective questions.

Q. You are Mr. R P Sinha?

Mr. Sinha replied saying “This is how I am called”. The statement sounded arrogant and

overconfident. The simple “yes” was sufficed to maintain good first impression but

instead, Mr Sinha projected negative aspect of his personality.

Q. You have passed MBA with first division?

Mr. Sinha’s “Yes” was to the point. However, as the question was open question, Mr

Sinha, could have added few of his strengths developed during course which are

relevant to job/company requirement. This would have boosted his chances of getting

selected.

Q. Why do you want to work in our organization?

The answer, “It is just like that. Also, it has good reputation” by Mr Sinha sounds lame,

irresponsible and careless. These are the qualities, which should not be projected in any

interview as organization would see them as negative aspects of personality. Instead,

Mr Sinha had a golden opportunity to prove the interview committee that, how he is

suitable fit for the position, his enthusiasm, abilities and capabilities will be value adds

to organization.

Q. This job is considered to be quite stressful. Do you think you can manage the stress

involved?

The answer, “I think there is too much talk about stress these days. Sir, would you tell

clearly what you mean by stress?” comes across as overconfident and reply. Also, saying

that, “I am very strong for any stress” without giving any example of managing stress in

personal/professional life makes Mr. Sinha look fake or naïve about stress. Moreover,

the response to this question is a classic example of “How not to take the control of

interview” as interviewer would have got the negative feeling about the Mr Sinha.

Q. What are your strengths?

Mr Sinha responded saying “Sir, who am I to talk boastfully about my strengths. You

should tell me my strengths”. Alternatively, the answer could have been, listing

strengths that compliments with the job description and makes him strong contender

for the position. He could have given instances from MBA course, prior experience or

academic projects where his strengths helped him or his project team to achieve the

goals.

Q. What are your weaknesses?

The reply “I become angry very fast” from Mr Sinha is direct confession for being unfit

for working in team. Also, the corrective measures are missing to justify how he is

overcoming it. Ideally, Mr Sinha could have mentioned one of his strength that can be

looked as weakness and actions he is taking to subdue the effect. This way, he could

have emphasized on the fact that though he has weakness but it has minimal effect on

achieving team/job/organization goals.

Q. Do you want to ask us any questions?

The closure question of interview was handled well by Mr Sinha. The query, “What are

future chances for one who starts as a management trainee?” shows that Mr Sinha is

looking forward to seek opportunity to work and grow into the organization.

Finally, when Chairperson thanked Mr Sinha, he promptly, said “You are welcome” in

excitement which leaves an impression that Mr Sinha is not grateful for interview

opportunity. This should have been avoided. A simple “Thank You for the interview

opportunity” statement followed by handshake would have left positive impression for

Mr Sinha at closure time. To conclude, Mr Sinha followed the rules of greeting, body

language, posture and pacing body movements during Introductory Phase. However, his

replies to the questions during Middle Phase were disastrous leading to negative first

impression which was hard to recover by Concluding Phase of interview.

Question 2:

Rewrite the responses that you consider most effective to the above questions in a job

interview.

Answer:

Following are the alternate responses that could have proved more effective during

interview

Q. You are Mr. R P Sinha?

Yes, Madam. My Name is Mr. R P Sinha

Q. You have passed MBA with first division?

Yes, Madam. I hold MBA degree with first division. Information Systems was my favorite

subject and hence I am inclined to establish my career in Software Industry. I have

developed logical ability, analytical and programming skills during the course which I

believe would be value add to your organization.

Q. Why do you want to work in our organization?

I can see my skill sets would benefit you in this particular position. Because they would

benefit you, I would also benefit personally, professionally, and financially from that.

Moreover, your esteemed organization is a great platform for fresh graduate to learn,

grow and contribute. Another reason I want to join this company is that I like the

culture. It fits me. I like what I’ve been reading about the company, and it seems like a

great fit for my personality and values and who I want to be working for.

Q. This job is considered to be quite stressful. Do you think you can manage the stress

involved?

I find that I work better under pressure, and I enjoy working in an environment that is

challenging.

Q. What are your strengths?

My strengths include strong fundamental knowledge, a good academic MIS project

exposure in leading software organization. I pride on my ability to work in team and

individually with less supervision equally and effectively. My strong communication and

interpersonal skills always aids me to delegate tasks efficiently and in time.

Q. What are your weaknesses?

Sometimes, I get impatient with teammates who are not as organized as I am.

Q. Do you want to ask us any questions?

I would like to thank you for providing me with an opportunity to participate in the

interview. It would be great if you could let me know the typical career path for a

Management Trainee.

Question 3:

Mr. Sinha has observed the norm of respectful behavior and polite conversation. But, do

you think there is something gone wrong in his case? Account for your general

impression of Mr. Sinha’s performance at the interview.

Answer:

Following are the parameters on which Mr Sinha’s interview performance can be

analyzed.

Introductory Phase:

Mr Sinha greeted the interview panel and took the seat when intimated. This shows that

he was keen on leaving good first impression. He also sat down at the edge of the chair

and leaned forward to indicate his body posture as attentive and active towards

interviewer. He purposefully avoided keeping the documents on lap and instead

carefully placed it on the table. This shows that Mr Sinha was promptly sending positive

signs, appearing relaxed and confident.

Middle Phase:

Mr Sinha did not look for opportunity to get more information about the organization.

The responses given were most casual and lacked preparation on Mr Sinha’s part. As a

result, when asked about the strengths and weaknesses, he gave an impression of

controlling the interview arrogantly which should have been avoided ideally. Moreover,

when asked about working with the organization and managing stress, Mr Sinha was

being pretentious and inhuman in saying that he is too strong for any kind of stress.

This shows that the responses given by Mr Sinha were nowhere related to the job

performance or company objectives which every employer will look for. Further, the

answers were not precise and supported by examples. Hence, Mr Sinha failed to present

himself as well phrased and effective.

Closing Phase:

Finally when Mr Sinha was given chance to ask question to the interviewer, he aptly

asked for career growth in this job role. This projected his keen interest in seeking

opportunity to work and grow with the organization. However, Mr Sinha made an

irreversible blunder of saying, “You are welcome”, when interviewer thanked him.

Though, the reply lasted for a fraction of second, but it gave an ungrateful or ‘taken for

granted’ impression on Mr Sinha’s part. A simple “Thank you for your opportunity”

would have served the purpose.

Overall, from employers’ perspective, Mr Sinha appeared as a strong candidate at the

beginning of the interview. Then, due to his unpreparedness, casual attitude and

irresponsible behavior, he kept on sliding to ‘not a good to hire’ zone.