Wednesday 27 May 2015

How to overcome the Challenges faced by the College Graduates


It requires great effort and time to get Graduated from an institution right? Does the effort ends here? On Graduating from a collage we reach an important milestone of life, a transition phase where we need to make an important career decision by choosing the right career option from the available set of opportunities.
Now again a question arises what to do next?
As we all know that the job market is highly competitive, dynamic and is already flooded with experienced workforce and in order to survive this pressure we need to be more focused, flexible and prepared to face the challenges that are upcoming with every new opportunity and career choices we make.
For a fresh candidate there exist a lot of troubles that are unique and cannot be avoided. While pursuing the degree all our focus is centred towards our academic performance and by the time we adjust to the environment in our higher education, it’s time to enter the new phase that is the transition phase where we need to shift our focus to an entirely new arena and that is our career. After entering this stage we find that we are not so much prepared to face the hurdles that consistently pop up with every new attempt or choice we make.
The best way to face the challenges is to be more flexible and alert. It is very essential for the beginner to be a quick learner and to adapt to the new situation that demands more attention and a disciplined lifestyle.
The first and foremost challenge faced by the candidate in job market is getting hired by an organization. Although we had always expected this event to happen while in our collage days and were guided by our college in this regard however college cannot prepare us for everything.
In order to be successful we cannot only rely upon our existing knowledge. Hence we have to ensure that we are flexible enough to adapt to the new demanding situation and learn from every new challenge we take and every people we meet in our career and personal life.
Many college graduates do complain about their low preparation in certain areas like:
Balancing Career with Personal life
Achieving the perfect work-life balance is really a big deal for a collage pass-out. As most of the college graduates move to distant places to begin their career, it is observed that their day-to-day work takes toll on their personal life and it becomes nearly impossible to manage both ends in an efficient way.
As we enter the career growth phase both personal life as well as our professional life demands more attention and finding a balance between both becomes a challenging task.
The best possible ways to handle this challenging situation are as follows:
  • Set your priorities: In order to appropriately prioritize various tasks, step back and assess where you are investing most of your time and energy. Focus on things that rank higher in the priority list or are more essential than the rest and discard certain things that are not needed or can be postponed.
  • "Do not try to please everybody": Learn to say "No". Many in early days of their career develop a fear of losing their career growth or family life and as a result they end up trying to please everyone whether a boss or someone in personal life.
  • Schedule your day-to-day activities: This is the best way to manage multiple things in life. Plan your tasks and try doing one thing at a time. You can always manage some time to do those activities that are essential or you like doing them. For example, telecommunicating with family or friends, playing volleyball, etc. can help release stress.
Budgeting/Financial Planning
In collage days students learn to plan the daily expenses, manage with insufficient resources, save pocket money, pay tuition fees, room rent, food etc. Although students learn the basics about budgeting during their on-going education process especially when they stay away from home but most of the students, however, find it difficult to manage all their expenses with ease. Once they move out of their home or collage to start their career at various places then the process becomes even more difficult as they realize that the fund available is not sufficient enough to manage the preliminary expenses that mount up at every step with every new attempt they make.
The expenses are tremendous which includes cost of living such as food, shelter, transportation, etc. Not only the expenses heap up but also the student loan comes due during this period. As a result many of the graduates decide to alter their career plan to overcome this pressure.
The best way to handle this situation is to take guidelines from parents about managing resources as they can help you make better planning with the available resources, it is also quite essential to keep good relations with your collage seniors as they can guide you better in terms of overcoming career hurdles and other challenges associated with starting your career. While reviewing their experiences and comparing it with your present situation, you can manage your fund in more efficient manner.

Dealing with people
This seems to be one of the most difficult tasks to a collage graduate. Dealing with friends, relatives, teachers are a bit different as compared to dealing with people at workplace. In professional life you may face people who are difficult to deal with.
Difficult people come in every variety and no workplace is without them. The best way to handle different people at workplace is to observe them and try to get clues by the way things happen. As we grow up in our career we come across various personalities and learn to deal with them efficiently with progression in time.
As a beginner it is absolutely fine to commit small mistakes or to lack answers to questions at workplace so there is nothing to worry about. The only thing that creates a difference is to have zeal to gain more knowledge and it is also necessary to learn from every small mistake that you commit.
Remember being a beginner what matters more to your boss is your professionalism at workplace, your punctuality, your zeal to learn and your interpersonal skills which develops as we interact with various people at workplace be it our peers or boss.
It is also very important to understand your boss and find out your organisation's policies and devote some time in finding out measures to improve your performance.

Managing Performance
The ultimate test of management is performance. The young managers find this as the toughest part in their career especially the beginners who have just joined an organization. Performance management is a crucial part in career which needs to be taken care. If managed in a proper way then it can create our success stories and promise high career growth.
Now-a-days organizations take effective measures to manage the input of the workforce in order to ensure better performance and as a reason training programmes are organised by various companies from time to time. More emphasis is put in training the beginners to develop a better understanding of the management and their expectation from the position and to improve their performance.
One should understand that performance management is not a one-sided process and the training programmes alone cannot develop a person. Hence apart from the training sessions the beginners should also invest some time in setting goals, thoroughly observing the system they are associated with and should focus on the problem that is persisting. It is also very essential to discuss critical matters with peers and boss or with team members before reaching a conclusion.

Problem Solving
Before proceeding to solve a problem it is important to find answers to some questions like:
Is there any problem? What is the problem all about?  Is it a problem or an opportunity?
In order to solve a problem it is necessary to identify the problem then thinking about various methods to solve it.
It is very important to develop problem solving skills since it helps us to get rid of the troubles that have occurred or that might occur in near future which means problem can not only be solved after it has occurred but also it can be solved pro-actively.
In our career we face lot of problems small or big and they demand our attention. But in order to be successful in solving a problem we need to first of all identify the right problem that really needs our attention else we may end up putting too much effort to a problem that not even exists.
Every problem needs a solution hence to be successful in identifying and solving a problem we need to first of all recognise it followed by defining it and then search for alternative solution. This in turn requires effective decision making. Once we have selected a satisfactory solution from the available set of alternatives then it is time to act upon it.
The process does not end here. After having implemented the solution we have to again evaluate the same to ensure that the problem has been solved in a right manner and the solution has really worked well.
Managing Change
Change management is a vital factor in both organizational as well as individual perspective. Although change is a constant process and we are quite familiar with it, however we are not so much prepared for it every-time. Change can be both favourable and unfavourable. It might lead to a situation which is more complex or it might be rewarding and blissful. However most of us find it inevitable and sometimes shocking.
Being a beginner it is not possible to predict the changes that might occur in future as a result we sometimes feel annoyed and stressful and find it difficult to welcome the change. Whether we like it or not but as soon we join an organization we start experiencing major changes occurring in our personal as well as professional sphere, some changes are rapid while others are slow. We find it difficult enough to adjust to those changes in a successful way.
While working in an organization we meet many people, get new assignments, etc. and at the same time we have to manage other aspects related to our personal matters. Although we learn adjusting to all these changes with progression in time but sometimes it becomes very difficult to adjust to the changes that are rapidly taking place without even getting notified.
The best ways to face the changes are:
  • First of all accept the idea of change
  • To admit the fact that the knowledge we posses is not sufficient enough and we need to work upon it by putting more effort in our projects and constantly learning from every small events occurring in workplace.
  • Open your mind to change and be flexible.
  • Belief that the changes are rewarding.
  • Belief that you can adjust to the change.
Team work
Sometimes questions about team-work are asked to college pass-outs at the time of interview. Some face difficulty in answering them while others come-up with satisfactory response and get selected by the firm. What next? The real difficulty is faced when tasks are assigned with a deadline but we should also understand that when managed properly, teamwork is a better way to work!
Teamwork is vital for success of an individual and a company as a whole. It is a bonding that encourages growth, increases knowledge and makes a person trustworthy. While working in a team we not only get a platform to showcase our skills and uniqueness but also learn many things from the other members working in the team. Being in a team we get associated with people with whom we can share our thoughts, discuss problems and come up with solutions more easily.
In order to obtain quality output every member in a team are assigned task according to their skills and interests and every team demand equal contribution from each members.
Every member in a team posses different qualities and do differ in their opinion and method of working hence we should  be competitive as well as flexible enough and should never hesitate to praise the effort put by other members. Getting appreciated for the effort motivates a team member to work even harder and come up with better solutions.
Decision making
Each and every day we face multiple situations where we have to come-up with a decision, as a result we have already learned the basics of making decision by time we start our career. However making decision is not as easy as it used to be in our school or college days and we realise this as soon as we enter our career phase.
Decision making is a regular process which involves lot of thinking and analysing skills which develops with time but the problem is, we cannot wait or postpone our decisions for future. Effective decision making is very important in all stages of our career and personal life.
In our workplace it is very important to recognise problems and opportunities and for this we have to observe the events and analyse the situation persisting and then set goals.
The decision making is considered effective only when it is backed with a solution that is effective, acceptable and can be implemented in the defined timeframe and budget.
Following are the steps involved in decision making:
  • Setting goals
  • Identifying a problem or an opportunity
  • Gathering information: To come up with an effective decision we have to study the existing situation and gather information.
  • Identifying an alternative: We can use the gathered information in a creative way to identify the options available.
  • Evaluate alternatives: In this phase we have to define the criteria to evaluate the alternatives depending upon the problem and then compare each and rank them.
  • Select the best suited alternative: After evaluating the available alternatives choose the one that is preferred over other or that ranks higher.
  • Take action: This is one of the most important phases in decision making since it is the implementation of the decision that generates result.
  • Review the decision made: Decision making process is not complete till we test the outcome with the set goals. If the objective is met or problem is solved successfully then the decision is considered as the right one else the steps are repeated.





Monday 20 April 2015

How To Master The Most Common Interview Questions

In order to excel in an interview with the top employers, the job seekers need to anticipate the probable questions that might be asked by the hiring manager during the interview process. Sometimes the interviewers do challenge the interviewee with questions that require lots of thought or sometimes just common sense work well to come up with the most appealing responses.
 
The interviewee should not only focus on the conventional questions that are generally asked in most of the interviews rather they should also prepare for and expect some challenging questions since this questions gives them an opportunity to reveal their thought process, their knowledge and skills and help them communicate their abilities to tackle any challenging situations and convince the employer that if given a chance, they can perform well in the job.
 
One has to be very alert while giving answers to the queries asked by the interviewer and should ensure that the answers are to the point and satisfying. Many hiring managers today are complaining that the candidates posses a very little knowledge about the company they are interviewing for. Hence it is very essential for the candidates to have some preparation prior to the interview by preparing a set of questions that are commonly asked, this not only helps them to answer the questions well but also creates good impression in the mind of the interviewer and shows your willingness to work in the organization.
 
The first and foremost step for getting yourself prepared for an interview is going through the company website and doing certain amount of research to find out from the available data, some important facts about the company like, their management structure, their offerings, competitors etc. Before attending the interview the interviewee should be well aware of the job description, the position for which interview is held, determine company's expectations from the candidate for the particular role. One should prepare by identifying skillset that the employers are looking for. The most successful interview responses focus on the hiring manager’s requirements and framing answers to meet their expectations.

While preparing for an interview it is also very important to highlight the key factors that you want people to know about you. The interviewer gives priority to those candidates who are positive and one who are able to hold confidence even while answering the most tricky questions. Hence in order to stay positive and to hold confidence throughout the on-going process the candidate need to stay calm and avoid getting edgy. Most of the interviewers give the candidates an opportunity to express themselves so it is very essential for the candidate to understand this fact and take some clues while interacting with the employer and give response in an effective manner.
 
Before facing the real interview one should never try to memorize the answers to the anticipated questions rather they should be honest and take some time and find out their strengths, weaknesses, special achievements, success stories, failures, etc. then ask some questions to themselves like:
  • Why am I suitable for this position?
  • What are my expectations from this job?
  • What is special about me or what differentiates me from others?  
  • Have I ever volunteered to solve a problem?
Finding answer to such questions helps to get a better understanding of yourself, your strengths, weaknesses, goals, etc. which helps you to articulate your response in an impressive manner and rank high than many other qualified candidates appearing for the interview.

Following are some of the common interview questions that are faced by the candidates all over the world:

1. Describe yourself?
2. What are your strengths and weaknesses?
3. Why do you want to work in our company?
4. What is your dream job?
5. What was your biggest failure yet?
6. Where do you see yourself 5/10 years from now?
7. Why should I hire you?
8. What are your salary expectations?
9. What are your career goals?
10.What are your hobbies?
11.Do you have any questions for us?
12.Who is your role model?
13.What would you do if you get a more lucrative job offer while working with us?
14.What are your expectations from this job?
15.Tell something about our company?
16.What motivates you?
17.Will you work in holidays or weekends?
18.What are your biggest accomplishments?
19.What makes you unique from other candidates?
20.What elements of your job interest you the most and least?
 
Let us discuss few of them.
 
''Tell me about yourself?''
 
Most of the candidate might have faced this question in almost every interview that they have attended. It gives the candidate a good opportunity to communicate their strong points to the employer and change course of the interview to their favour. The best way to answer to this question is to discuss your interests, strengths, academic and professional background and relate them to the job and convince them that how your background can prove beneficial for the position. One should understand that the interviewer is least bothered about your life events and stories that are not related to the job. Hence, avoid describing in detail about any life event be it personal or professional, unless asked rather it is better to be precise and quote only those important aspects that are relevant to the job and which showcase your knowledge and skills in an effective manner to the employer.
 
"What are your strengths and weaknesses?"
 
Knowing your strengths and weaknesses helps you to make important decisions in both personal as well as professional life. The interviewer asks this question to get a better understanding of you. When it comes to talking about your strengths it is quite easy and the list might be lengthy but when it comes to weaknesses it becomes quite challenging and the candidates tries to make them as less as possible. One needs to be honest while answering to this question especially when it comes to discussing about strengths and also have some preparation prior to the interview by listing of your strengths and of course the weaknesses too. While discussing about your weaknesses never try to be too tricky by using the responses which are overused or quite commonly used. For example:
  • "I care too much about my work"
  • "I work very hard sometimes"
This approach only makes them think that you might be hiding something! Hence the best way to discuss about your weakness is just say about those which you have worked upon and improved over a period.
 
"Where do you see yourself 5/10 years from now?"
 
It is not possible for any candidate to give a perfect answer to this question. Even the hiring manager knows this fact then what makes them ask this question? The reason is, the hiring manager wants to asses you better by finding answers to their questions like: 'Is this job close to your career goal? Will you stay in this company for a long duration? What is your long-term career plan? Why do you want this job?'
Interviewer always gives preference to those candidates who have done some self-assessment and can define their career goal and long-term planning. Candidates whose career objective show a sense of commitment towards the job and their readiness to take more challenging tasks with progression in time are preferred over other candidates.
 
"What was your biggest failure yet?"

Most candidates hates this question in an interview as this demands a discussion about negative experiences. Most companies now-a-days are asking these type of questions as behavioural questions gives a better picture about the candidate's work ethics, future performance and their ability to deal with challenging situations in professional life ahead. The best way to answer this question is to discuss about a life event that was really challenging and would be very difficult for anyone to handle and also make sure that you talk about your learning from that failure and how you improved thereafter. For experienced professionals it would be better to talk about an event related to their professional career that they have faced in their past rather than personal.
 
This question reveals a lot about the candidate to the employer and it also gives employer a good chance to extract evidence of a flaw and reject you. On the other hand if handled with care this question can prove to be an advantage to the candidate and result in selection for the position since through these questions employer want to learn, how you handle complex situations? What have you learnt from the particular failure? Are you self-aware of the failure?
 
"Why should I hire you"
 
This question can have many forms such as :
  • Why do you think you are fit for this position?
  • Why do you want to work in this organisation?
By asking this question the hiring manager gives the candidate an open invitation to sell themselves, their worth and showcase the skills and knowledge that they posses. The employer just wants to know if given a chance to work in the company, how you would justify their decision. Hence in order to make an impressive attempt make sure that you have done your homework well in advance by going through the company website, detail job description, the company's expectation from the candidate for this particular role, the skills those are required for the position, etc.
 
 
 
 

Monday 13 April 2015

Whom to select as the best job references

If you are a  job-seeker than it is very likely that many a times either in the interview or during the process of filling the online application forms for applying to the desired jobs you have faced this question where you have to name a couple of references either professional or sometimes personal to the prospective employers. References are mostly asked during the final stages of an interview and if you want to maximise your chances of getting hired then you need to put some thought and select your professional references carefully.

Applying to a job is not an easy process whether you are a beginner or an experienced professional, it demands lot of time and attention be it writing resume, polishing up the cover letter, attending interviews, etc. and sometimes we are so much indulged in this process that we take no notice of a very prominent area that is choosing the right persons as references for our jobs.
 
Not many employers ask about personal references. Potential employers might request you two or more references either personal or professional or sometimes both! Generally personal references are asked to candidates who have low work experience or are university pass-outs and have not yet held any sort of paid position. Personal references may include professors, academic counsellors and advisors, university guides, tutors etc. but avoid mentioning parents, relatives or friends as personal references. It is quite easy to pick some of the persons as personal references but when we are asked about professional references it becomes a bit difficult particularly when we are not prepared to answer those questions. The best professional references you can have are those people who are interested in you and your career developments. They can be your current or previous company bosses or some renowned personalities whom you have come in contact with and served in your career for a certain period and the ones who have appreciated you for your performance in the job and admired you for your effort in one or the other way.
 
It is generally considered as an advantage if you are asked about job references by the hiring manager especially during the personal interview round since many a times it means that you are already finalised for the position. It is also advantageous if it is asked by the company during preliminary stages like filling the job application forms through portals or via telephone, email, etc. but usually the hiring manager get to this phase only after reviewing your profile thoroughly, getting a brief idea about how you would perform at the particular job and once it is found that your credentials are suitable for the position they may ask you to name some of the references and interact with them so as to develop a better understanding of you. One should understand that if right persons are chosen as references by the job seeker than it can not only guarantee you the desired job but also help you create good impression in the mind of the employer.

Most of the prospective employer, not very often bother about the references whom you have named or mentioned in the resume rather they already take it in a positive manner, that means naming alone can sometime be fruitful. But one should also be careful in choosing the right person as the reference since, the employer may contact them before offering you the job.

Always choose references who can assure your strong points, confirm the positions that suits you the most, say something good about your skills, etc.
 
References are mostly used by the top employers to judge the candidates better by knowing their strengths, work ethics, crisis handling and also their relations with the references by the way they answer to the questions asked. Hence it is very important to name the right persons before the employers as references and is also essential to keep good relations with them by staying in touch via meetings (professional or personal), occasional emails or phone calls, social media and updating them about your current career and life events.
 
 
 



 

Friday 10 April 2015

Does Traditional Recruiting Methods really work?



Employers all over the world are facing a common overarching problem that is talent shortage and are not able to find an ideal solution for it. Most of the companies still are practising the age old traditional recruiting methods which have had helped them once upon a time to pick the right manpower for their vacant positions.
 
In today's competitive job market it would be very difficult for the companies to find the right manpower for various positions held if they stick to the traditional recruiting methods alone.
 


The amount of time, effort and cost involved when a company go through the process of selecting the right manpower who are, technically sound, skilled and at the same time reliable, are just enormous. In spite of spending so many resources in the recruitment processes the companies still end up making the wrong hiring decisions, resulting in substantial financial and productivity losses of the firm.
 


Another big mistake that companies make is focussing more on cost rather than on the process of selecting the right talent. Of course recruitment process involves huge cost whether the process is carried by the company itself or external agencies are involved in the process thus before taking a step further the company should develop a suitable framework to bring a solution to the multiple problems that arise during the process of hiring and managing staff. In order to achieve the best hiring results the company should first determine their purpose for hiring and find answers to the questions like: Are you properly utilizing the skills and talents of your current employees? Do you know what needs to be done right now? Can your business growth support a new talent? After finding proper answer to these questions the company can then proceed further with their recruitment process which would be far more effective and will ensure better utilization of resources like time, cost etc.



Another big question is: How to get the right manpower from the large pool available? Although there is no perfect answer to this question but the recruitment process can be a great help if it is designed in a proper manner. Thus the organisations should make innovative strategies to optimise the recruitment model which can be done by involving an expert team, redesigning the existing framework based on the parameters like current market dynamics, company's current position, budget, etc. and the result of primary research work conducted by the company on a regular basis.
 



The new model build should not only be helpful in attracting new talents but also it should be efficient enough in identifying the existing talent in the organisation, utilize the available workforce in a better way by providing them with new responsibilities based on their performance history, providing training from time to time, evaluating their performance and giving rewards based on the performance. It should ensure that the workforce whether existing or new should be able to grow with the organization, serve the organization in a better way and bring long term value to it.


 


Friday 3 April 2015

Personal Branding

Why personal branding?
Many of us already have the answer for this question and know how important it is to build a personal brand and how it helps us to advance in our career. People take numerous measures to build their brand in minds of people by taking active participation in digital world such as social media, personal websites etc. but unfortunately many of us end up believing that social media alone can build our personal brand successfully among the mass and deliver the right information to the audience.
 
Whether you are a student, a young professional, an entrepreneur, a successful employee or a businessman, personal branding is very important for everyone to help create the right impression in minds of people and ensures a steady growth in our career and emerge as a leader.

One should always remember while in a process of creating a brand that it is a never-ending process which once started continues and demands more attention. Personal branding is a top-down approach which starts with identifying one's qualities, strengths, needs etc. It is a a creative process by which one can effectively present their offerings to the selected audience who shall also be benefited and help people to locate the major facts and details about you. Thus it is a self-positioning approach which, not only helps people to understand us better but also creates new opportunities in our career.

Now-a-days even the hiring managers do check the social media and try to find answers to the questions like who you are, what you have to offer etc. So before creating an account in social media like Facebook, LinkedIn etc. one should be clear about the intension, purpose, objective, the audience whom they want to serve or share information with etc. 

A personal brand is an on-going process which needs active participation and constant learning and updating knowledge and sharing the same with others especially if you have an active online presence. It is an asset which not only help us grow as a person and excel in our career but also helping others draw benefits while establishing relationship with you both personally and professionally. It is what you want people to associate with you whenever they think about you.

Personal branding is just like a trademark which associates your name with certain distinguishing qualities which you posses and which differentiates you with the rest.

Developing a personal brand is not an easy process but with advancement in time one gets accustomed to it and the process becomes much more easy. It requires hard work and noble intensions to help people around us grow with our initiatives and efforts, especially if you are working or leading a team, it is very essential to communicate the right things to the team since communication plays a vital role in team management and overall development. Once you have successfully established your personal brand people start recognising you, appreciate your ideas and decisions and in a span of time even accept you as a leader.





 

Wednesday 1 April 2015

Current job scenario in India

As per general survey conducted, the current unemployment rate in India has been reduced slightly as compared to previous years and is around 4.8 percent, which states that recruitment activities across various sectors in our economy are gradually picking up and is also expected to rise further in the upcoming years for various reasons.

The general economic slowdown that existed for a certain span was caused due to number of reasons mainly, the US recession that existed between end of 2007 to mid of 2009 have shown its impact in various sectors such as banking, finance, real estate, etc. which were affected badly in US and soon the impact was felt in other parts of the world too which resulted in global crisis and affected the job market in a severe manner such as reduction in manpower, reduction in salary structure and employee benefits etc.
The job market then experienced an oversupply of skilled manpower causing increase in unemployment in various part of India and other nations.

At present, the job market in India as a whole is showing improvement and the new Government is focused towards various ways to enhance the development process and is taking measures to promote growth in various sectors such as manufacturing, IT, construction, automobiles, aviation, etc. People are looking forward towards development and implementation of new policies and reforms which shall boost the economic condition, improve the living standard of people, create new employment opportunities by bringing new projects and encouraging foreign investments in various sectors.

Another important initiative taken by the Government is PM's Make in India campaign which is designed to transform India into a global manufacturing hub and base of economic growth in Asia and the world will not only encourage production and new investments but also will increase demand in the job market and hence create new job opportunities for a huge mass in various sectors in India.

Apart from this there is also a rising concern among the employers for skill gap since positions are left vacant in top companies due to lack of skilled manpower, therefore the Companies / Government should also focus on skill development of manpower by investing more on training programs and hence increase productivity.




 

Sunday 22 March 2015

Challenges faced by transformational leaders

The interconnected economies today demands new and innovative ways to approach to a particular problem. This in turn requires lot of out-of-the-box thinking and inclusion of such ideas that are not already common.

Today's transforming world emphasizes more on providing all, a platform to succeed. This it turn requires political, economic, social and technological reform to ensure that more people come forward and exchange new ideas and help in decision making to ensure a better standard of living of the people and overall success of a nation.

People should be made more responsive to the global concern by encouraging their active participation in decision making, this in turn requires good leaders who shall look beyond the immediate horizon, motivate people, inspire them and help come up with new ideas and improve their job performance. Apart from making decisions leaders should be able to recognise the impact of the decisions to ensure a successful outcome.

There are several challenges that are faced by the transformational leaders in day-to-day life such as identifying change that is most needed, creating long term vision and taking necessary steps needed to implement the changes this in turn requires lot of people who are self-motivated, have strong will power to participate and succeed, are open to new ideas and changes and are ready to follow the foot-steps of the leaders.

The most challenging task among all, of transformational leaders is to transform the followers into future leaders by clarifying their vision and help them identifying the problems that are existing; and also the ones that might pop up in future and taking necessary steps to channelize the activities that are required to implement the change with success.

  

Friday 20 March 2015

What matters more at work place? Emotional Quotient or Intelligence Quotient

Has emotion anything to do at work place?
IQ alone cannot ensure a successful career and well being of an individual or organization as a whole.

To ensure a better career and an efficient workforce management with high productivity there exist another parameter which play a vital role to ensure overall success that is emotional intelligence.

Emotion play an important role in one's life, these are complex state of feelings that results in psychological changes that influences one's behaviour. When people attend to their feelings, they may be directed away from a problem that exists, to a new one of greater immediate importance.
For example, if an employee is having some personal problem he may be directed away from his day-to-day work-related problems and towards the troubles that is surrounding him in personal front.

The sort of troubles that people identify and the way in which they frame them will probably be more related to internal emotional experiences than will be the problems addressed by others.
It is found that individuals with positive attitude towards life construct better interpersonal experiences and are more creative and flexible in arriving at better alternatives to problems.

Emotions can be used to motivate persistence at more challenging tasks.

The way in which people appraises or communicates emotions or uses them to guide thinking and behaviour or solve the real life problems vary largely. The effective regulation of emotion is very important in self and others since it helps to understand people in a better manner, improves job performance and generates leadership skills in an individual.

From organisation perspective it is very important to identify problems and conflicts at the root level else in near future it will create discomfort in the workplace and will result in poor performance of the workforce which in turn will result in low productivity, high attrition rate, etc. Hence not IQ alone can solve this problem, it requires constructive utilization of the vital information that is available and creative thinking to remove the root causes that creates conflicts between individuals in an organization and in turn interferes with their performance or team work.





 

Tuesday 17 March 2015

Top Interview Mistakes

1. Not being yourself
In an interview it is very important to stay focussed and alert throughout the interview process. Try not to stretch the weak areas and avoid too much customization of your answers based on the interviewer's approach. It is a good attempt to analyse the interviewer and answer the questions but beware of committing mistakes since the interviewer may not reveal every aspect that is important for the winning candidate to possess.
Try to give an accurate portrayal of your interests and skill set so that the interviewer gets the right person during the process.

2. No preparation
It is very important to have preliminary preparation before walking into an interviewer's office, especially for the established brands. Try to learn as much as possible before attending an interview this not only helps you to answer to the questions of the interview in a satisfactory manner but also shows your willingness to work in the company. The hiring manager expects that you have at least went through some literatures about the company.

Example (From a real interview process for a leading brand)

Hiring Manager  :  "Hello Mr. Abc"
Candidate  : "Good Morning Sir"
Hiring Manager  :  "Good Morning. Mr. Abc. So have you went through our company website?"
Candidate  :  "Yes Sir. I went through your website and I think your brand is doing great in the market and the products posses every quality to bid the competitors"
Hiring Manager  :  "Ok. Can you name some of our products and competitors?"
Candidate  :  "Oh. Missed this out Sir."

3. Lack of confidence/over confident
The interviewer should be convinced that you are willing to do the job. Being too much nervous creates negative impression and the interviewer feels you are not prepared and may not fit to the position. On the other hand being overconfident will make them feel that you wont fit into the team. So it is very important to maintain a balance and behave in a professional manner so as to showcase your skills and qualities in a right manner.

4. Talking too little/too much
Both the extremes can create a negative impression even if you are saying all good things about yourself. Saying too little in an interview will not allow you to showcase your skills in the desired manner and the hiring manager may wonder if you are hiding something; if your responses are too lengthy, can lead to a monologue and  people may tune you out.

 5. Criticise your current employer
Beware since the interviewer might be thinking while listening to your answers, what it would be working with you. You might not be satisfied with the current employer and would do anything to get rid of the management who had been rude to you. The hiring manager may ask you many questions related to your current or previous employer and try to judge you by your answers, in such case try not to lose your mind or start blaming your current employer/boss because nobody wants to work with a person who unceasingly criticises others. This will only make them feel that this might be your regular way of thinking and may be repeated if you are absorbed!