Jaya Drona, who topped the 2005-06 batch of IIMC, works as a copy editor cum correspondent with The Times Of India, Delhi
Hey everybody,
Go through this if you have some time. However, I'm not sure if it is of any help really but you could atleast have a good laugh over my interview blunders (they are in bold for your convenience)! And, not repeat them, of course! Good luck.
Getting through an interview isn't rocket science! Any interview is a fairly simple exercise aimed at knowing you better and the more hype you give it, the more complex you will make it for yourself.
Considering you have all cleared your written examinations, you don't need to prove that you are 'really good' anymore. That stands proved, the next step now is facing the interview. Here are a few things that you could think about/take care of before you appear for your interview.
Remember what you wrote in your entrance test. Some times, the things that you haven't written correctly or have made a mistake in are flung at you during the course of an interview. It becomes important that you now have the answers to those questions, which you couldn't answer/answered wrong in your written examination. For instance, if you didn't know the full form of PTI while taking the test, you should know it now. Also, there are questions that we don't know answers to and tend to forget all about them once the test is over. Avoid that!
While preparing for the IIMC interview, it is important to remember that you have a lot of competition. Thousands from allover the country apply and hundreds make it to round two. You are amongst the hundreds now and this count will further go down to some fifty odd students finally (in EJ in Delhi). You need to be very sure why you want to be a journalist and you need to prepare a mental list that helps you during the interview. Interviewers can ask you: Why journalism? Why IIMC? Why English journalism? Why not advertising and PR? Have you applied for another course in IIMC? Have you applied elsewhere? What do you like writing on? What are you interested in? Which city are you from? Tell us about your city? Have you worked before? If yes, where?
Now, another point – if you have worked before with a media organisation, remember to carry samples of your work. Even if you did an internship and had some of your articles published, take them to the interview. You should be able to talk about the articles you have written in the past. For instance: If you had written an article on the Priyadarshini Mattoo murder case two years back, you should know what judgment was passed, what punishment was given among other things. Plus, you should also know what is the progress on the other similar cases. In this case, it would be the Jessica Lall case (verdict passed) and more recently the Katara murder case.
You should have backgrounders to all your interests. If you are interested in writing on women empowerment, you better keep two or three ideas in mind on related articles.
A panel does IIMC interviews, and it comprises various professors and the head of department, English Journalism. Remember to maintain eye contact and not engage yourself in a long conversation with just one interviewer.
Many of you must be thinking what should you prepare before the interview. I'd say, don't overdo the preparation bit just before the interview. Keep reading all the newspapers and follow news items close to your heart minutely. That's all you can do! And that's all that is needed too. Written examination is one thing, now you need to be tested on your aptitude and attitude. This may sound clichéd, but don't try to blind the panel with your knowledge. You may know a lot but they may not need to hear it all. They will ask you to tell them more if they want to hear you out on a particular subject.
Try and be positive about yourself. Some thing that is said may put you in a mood to rant or go on about your political philosophy and ideology but keep that short and sweet. You are entitled to your opinion at the end of the day and interviewers are to there own. Don't give your political views a vent in this interview. Rather, be open to listening to new perspectives and seeing the good points in others philosophies too. If you support a particular political or religious group, keep your opinion objective. Don't try to make others listen to you. That could make the others and you uneasy.
I wish to write more but I may write unnecessary things. I'd suggest you guys ask any questions you have. That way, you'll get your answers faster and you won't have to read through a 1,000 words!
Getting through an interview isn't rocket science! Any interview is a fairly simple exercise aimed at knowing you better and the more hype you give it, the more complex you will make it for yourself.
Considering you have all cleared your written examinations, you don't need to prove that you are 'really good' anymore. That stands proved, the next step now is facing the interview. Here are a few things that you could think about/take care of before you appear for your interview.
Remember what you wrote in your entrance test. Some times, the things that you haven't written correctly or have made a mistake in are flung at you during the course of an interview. It becomes important that you now have the answers to those questions, which you couldn't answer/answered wrong in your written examination. For instance, if you didn't know the full form of PTI while taking the test, you should know it now. Also, there are questions that we don't know answers to and tend to forget all about them once the test is over. Avoid that!
I shall narrate a personal experience: Business Standard conducted a test in IIMC to recruit students. I took the test and got through to the next level, which was the interview stage. I had not attempted many questions in test but hadn't bothered to find out the answers once I had made it to round two. During the interview I realised it was a mistake and an ugly one. The interviewers had my answer sheet in their hands! They alluded to all the questions I hadn't answered and tried to find out if I knew the answers then – days after the test and in round two. I didn't and I thought I had messed up. However, that wasn't the only mistake I made in my BS interview. I made another, rather big one too. The interview was scheduled around the budget time and budget-related news was making it to the front pages of both the main papers and financial dailies.Minutes before the interview, I was asking a co-interviewee why a rail budget is prepared separately before the financial budget. Nobody around knew the answer and on my turn, I went in. To my horror, that was the second question I was asked. I was blank – I told the interviewers, you have to read this to believe this, I actually told them – "Sir, I was trying to find out the answer to this question just before I walked in for the interview. But the person who I asked didn't know the answer." One of them asked me, "We should then consider this the fault of everybody who is sitting outside, then?" I had spoken in all earnestness and all the interviewers broke into laughter. I tried to tell them that I had genuinely tried to find that out and I guess it was only my honesty that worked for me in this interview. I had messed up my interview royally otherwise!
While preparing for the IIMC interview, it is important to remember that you have a lot of competition. Thousands from allover the country apply and hundreds make it to round two. You are amongst the hundreds now and this count will further go down to some fifty odd students finally (in EJ in Delhi). You need to be very sure why you want to be a journalist and you need to prepare a mental list that helps you during the interview. Interviewers can ask you: Why journalism? Why IIMC? Why English journalism? Why not advertising and PR? Have you applied for another course in IIMC? Have you applied elsewhere? What do you like writing on? What are you interested in? Which city are you from? Tell us about your city? Have you worked before? If yes, where?
Now, another point – if you have worked before with a media organisation, remember to carry samples of your work. Even if you did an internship and had some of your articles published, take them to the interview. You should be able to talk about the articles you have written in the past. For instance: If you had written an article on the Priyadarshini Mattoo murder case two years back, you should know what judgment was passed, what punishment was given among other things. Plus, you should also know what is the progress on the other similar cases. In this case, it would be the Jessica Lall case (verdict passed) and more recently the Katara murder case.
You should have backgrounders to all your interests. If you are interested in writing on women empowerment, you better keep two or three ideas in mind on related articles.
A panel does IIMC interviews, and it comprises various professors and the head of department, English Journalism. Remember to maintain eye contact and not engage yourself in a long conversation with just one interviewer.
Many of you must be thinking what should you prepare before the interview. I'd say, don't overdo the preparation bit just before the interview. Keep reading all the newspapers and follow news items close to your heart minutely. That's all you can do! And that's all that is needed too. Written examination is one thing, now you need to be tested on your aptitude and attitude. This may sound clichéd, but don't try to blind the panel with your knowledge. You may know a lot but they may not need to hear it all. They will ask you to tell them more if they want to hear you out on a particular subject.
Can share another IIMC interview experience, this could be useful for you guys too: Remember, it is okay to not know answers to some questions. Yes, it is absolutely fine! I belong to Kanpur and there were a lot of questions about my city in my interview. They asked me about Duncans Kanpur, the closed BIC and NTC mills, the leather industry, the changes in the city, the impact of the rapidly growing education industry, et al. I knew that Duncans had been closed down for some time but I didn't know that it had resumed work just a week before my interview at IIMC. When asked about Duncans, I confidently said that it had closed down. However, I was then told that it had resumed work. This was a piece of information that I wasn't aware of and thanked the interviewer for informing me. It was a shame on my part that I didn't know about it but honesty worked again! I recommend honesty big-time in interviews.
Try and be positive about yourself. Some thing that is said may put you in a mood to rant or go on about your political philosophy and ideology but keep that short and sweet. You are entitled to your opinion at the end of the day and interviewers are to there own. Don't give your political views a vent in this interview. Rather, be open to listening to new perspectives and seeing the good points in others philosophies too. If you support a particular political or religious group, keep your opinion objective. Don't try to make others listen to you. That could make the others and you uneasy.
I wish to write more but I may write unnecessary things. I'd suggest you guys ask any questions you have. That way, you'll get your answers faster and you won't have to read through a 1,000 words!
Jaya Drona
1 comment:
Thanx alot, i have my interview tomorrow and i was looking for some good questions and experiences, i thak you for ur help.
Regards- Anshul Tewari
try visiting: www.anshulsden.wordpress.com
www.youthkiawaaz.blogspot.com
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