While hiring fresh graduates, employers prefer candidates that have thought through their decision to apply. As Mandeep Singh Baweja, Managing Director, CPA Global – India, opines, “You should join an organisation if you feel that it aligns with what you want to do in life, it aligns with your own career plan, and what your passion is.”
“You need to be honest about what you want to do and where your passion lies. It’s very important to do some research and homework before you apply for a job,” he says.
His advice to someone who is about to embark on their first job hunting experience? “Try and do some research to understand what is the culture of the organization, do they invest in training, do they invest in helping people build their skills and knowledge?”
As far as his company – CPA Global – is concerned, passion, domain knowledge, client centricity and attention to detail are some of the important attributes they seek in a candidate. “When we are hiring young talent, domain knowledge is something which is extremely important for us. But over and above domain knowledge, passion is something we really look for. Client centricity is another thing: your ability to think on behalf of client and customer is again something that we definitely look for. And attention to detail,” he states.
Being in a hurry to discuss salary and designation could go against you during an interview. “I think it’s very important not to focus on compensation and titles, because that is what a lot of people focus on these days,” observes Baweja. His answer reinforces the findings of My First Job Survey where almost a fifth of the respondents—19%—listed excessive focus on salary among their top interview mistakes.
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No doubt, pay and designation are important but too much focus on compensation may ruin your chances of getting hired. It’s best to wait until the right moment to discuss these things—which is either when the interviewers themselves bring up the subject, or during the HR round.
Looking for more tips on what to do and not do in your job interview? Check this infographic.
