Tips To Ace CAT Personal Interview - Check Here!
Tips To Ace Personal Interview - Do you get jittery when it comes to facing the judge's panel? Although the personal interview of MBA colleges differs a bit in terms of the external job interview. Yet it is most likely for candidates to have apprehensive thoughts.
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What if I couldn’t crack the interview? What will I say if I do not know the answers to some questions? How should I ace my CAT personal interview? Are there any tips to ace it? Well yes, we at Careers360 will provide you with tips to an ace personal interview in this article. What a personal interview is? What questions can be asked? What to avoid during personal interview etc, will be there in this article along with the tips to an ace personal interview. These tips can also be used by candidates during a job interview. As the MBA admissions in India are on peak time, candidates who are to face the admission process of B-schools can also use these tips to ace personal interview rounds.
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What is a Personal Interview?
With context to admission or jobs, a Personal Interview is a one on one real-time interaction between a personally called interviewee and another personal / group of personnel called interviewer or panel. Personal Interview is a major tool used by institutes (at time of admissions) / organizations (at time of job placements) to gauge the abilities of an individual. In a personal interview not only the verbal responses are noted by the interviewer or panel, but also implied behaviour is carefully monitored.
What is asked in the PI?
Interviewers are curious to know everything about the interviewee. In a personal interview, there will be questions about your personality, your work style, work experience, psychological behaviour towards things and work interest. Always remember to bring out the positive side even if the interviewer has asked a negative question. While there are some questions that do not have any right or wrong answers, make sure to be specific about them and try to answer in a dominating manner.
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Major Things To Be Kept In Mind For Personal Interview
Do not speak wrong if you are not familiar with the topic asked by the interviewer
Speak only the actual algorithms. Do not try to bluff to look intelligent
Avoid slang/jargon
Be in a formal dress code
Show your presence of mind
Be prepared
Tips To Ace Personal Interview
Now that you know what a Personal Interview is and what you should not do. Let us now move onto the tips to ace Personal Interview.
Do your research
Do not be empty-handed
Know the basic etiquettes
Learn behavioural interview techniques
Dress for success
Demonstrate confidence
Be an active listener
Use illustrations
Ask questions
Stay calm and motivated
Let's look at the detailed tips to crack Personal Interview one by one carefully:
Do your Research For Personal Interview
Learn about the institute or company in which you are about to give the Personal Interview. Take your time to research the institute or company. Doing good research will allow you to stay confident on this aspect and you will be ready to answer all related questions. Read the “About Us” section on the website of the institute or company. If you know people who have studied at the same institute or worked for the same company, go and ask out their opinion about the institute or company. Do not go unprepared.
Do not go empty-handed
Do not land up without any certified documents or original certificated. Going empty handed may leave the interviewers thinking about exact qualification. Make sure to take the following listed documents.
For Admission Personal Interview- Take class 10 and 12 certificates. In case of postgraduate admission take a Bachelor's degree as well.
For Job Personal Interview- Take certificates, a Few copies of your resume/CV, any additional educational certification.
Basic Documents- Some passport-size photographs, a pen, notepad/papers.
Know the Basic Etiquettes
Due to agitated state of mind, candidates make minor blunders and end up losing points. Candidates remain unaware of the basic etiquettes. Take your time and prepare yourself. Some of the basic etiquettes that candidates must follow are-
Be on time and don’t be late
Do not use a cell phone during the personal interview
Pay attention to what the interviewer is communicating
Talk only about what is necessary. Do not over-talk
Do not badmouth any institute or organization
Maintain a proper body posture
Learn behavioral interview techniques
Apart from the basic interview question, candidates need to prepare themselves for some behaviour based questions as the Personal Interview also judges what is implicit. Behavioural interviews are aimed at judging candidates on how well they have handled their past situations. The best way to prepare for this is to make a list of your strengths and weaknesses and then try thinking of situations where you think you have applied them.
Quick Links-
Top MBA Personal Interview Questions for Admission
How to crack GD/WAT PI rounds of top B-schools
Dress for success
Be in formal attire and look confident. It is said that a well-dressed person is half prepared. Although, there is no proper dress code defined for the interviewee, do not try to be creative with the dress code. Wear a formal dress code. Do not wear heavy perfume. Avoid doing too much makeup if you are not interviewing for a creative company or fashion institute.
Be confident
Be confident in how you look, speak and behave. Never let the interviewer feel that you are losing confidence through your answers. Remember that non-verbal communication is equally important and helps you portray yourself in a good manner. To look and stay confident maintain a positive body posture. Think positive during the interview. Your mood is reflected in your voice and hence is considered a factor of how confident you are.
Be an active listener
Do not force the interviewer to feel that you are losing interest and are being non-attentive to his questions. Listen to what he says and not hear what he says. Remember that “Listening is active” and “hearing is passive”. Hence, be attentive and an active listener.
Use illustrations
If the interviewer asks you any questions, try giving the answer along with some examples. Make sure to showcase the positive aspects of the question. Do not exaggerate the examples as they make sound confusing and a part of storytelling. Prepare some illustrations in advance and imagine a situation. Make it sound like a real situation and above all speak it with confidence.
Ask questions
As already known that a Personal Interview is conducted as interpersonal communication. Henceforth, the candidates also have the option to ask question/s from the interviewer with regard to the institute or company. Do not hesitate in asking something that you think can be relevant and support your decision to join that organization or institute. Take complete advantage of the opportunity.
Stay calm and motivated
In the case of nervousness, try using the washroom and make yourself at ease. Remember that it all shows on its face. Hence, be confident and remain calm. Prepare yourself in advance to see the after-effects. Take some deep breaths for freshening your mind and enchant that your personal interview will be successful.
CAT Personal Interview
Now that CAT 2022 result has been declared, candidates must prepare themselves for the CAT PI round. The best way to ace CAT Personal Interview is to follow all the tips above and be thorough with your research on CAT Personal Interview questions. Preparing for answers beforehand and being prepared for how you will react in a particular scenario will increase your confidence.
Quick links
CAT 2022: When and how to start preparation
How to prepare for CAT without coaching
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Questions related to CAT
In which academic diversity / category (engineer / non-engineer / weird) does the FOOD Technology course belongs in CAT exam ?
Hi CAT is a national level management aptitude test through which one can take admission for MBA courses . Food Technology course can be 3 years i.e BSc ( Bachelor of Science) which will be under non engineer category and can be 4 years Btech course which will be in Engineering category. for details about cat exam refer to the link :
previous year question paper of cat
Before the main exam, solving CAT question papers from past years and taking CAT practise exams might help you feel comfortable with the test. Additionally, this practise aids in building self-confidence, which is one of the most crucial traits required to ace the CAT. Candidates can quickly identify their areas of strength and weakness. On November 27, 2022, an online version of CAT 2022 is anticipated.
Link to download Sample Question paper:
https://bschool.careers360.com/articles/cat-question-papers
I got 300 marks in neet can I get seat in b cat? my caste is general
Hello aspirant,
The NEET Cutoff varies every year and it depends on various factors like Difficulty level of the paper, previous year Cutoff trends, number of aspirants appeared, etc
Further, Looking at the previous year NEET Cutoff the Cutoff for b category students was like around 50th percentile. But it can vary this year as it bound to change every year.
further, To know more about the NEET Cutoff, you can follow the below mentioned link to know more about this : https://medicine.careers360.com/articles/neet-cut-off
Also, to know more about your admissions chances in other colleges you can check the following NEET College predictor tool : https://medicine.careers360.com/neet-college-predictor
I hope that this will help.
my obcA cat certificate issue date 26/5/2015 any problem.
Hello!
obcA? You mean Other Backward Classes?
I am a SC category student and have my caste certificate of SC caste but dont have caste validity. In Maharashtra it is compulsory to produce caste validity at the time of admission for SC students through CET exam, I wanted to know is caste validity also compulsory for admission through CAT ?
Hi,
CAT (Common Admission Test) is a two hours exam (tow hours forty minutes for PWD candidates). To be eligible for the exam, one should have 50% as final year aggregate percentage for bachelor's degree from a recognized college/university.
The documents required are:
1. Class X, XII and graduation mark-sheets.
2. Address proof like Adhar, Bank passbook etc.
3. A valid cast and PWD certificate (if applicable).
As you are a SC candidate, a valid SC cast certificate is required to be verified during counseling and interview. If failed, you will be considered as General/Unreserved.
Properties of a valid cast certificate:
(a) Name of your caste/tribe.
(b) Whether you belong to Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe.
(c) District and the State or Union Territory of your ordinary residence
(d) The appropriate Government of India schedule under which your caste/tribe is approved by it as Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe.
A caste certificate once issued is valid for many years. Therefore, you can use the certificate if it satisfies all of the above criteria.
I hope it helps.
Thank you!