In the interview process series I would be discussing the various rounds of interviews that normally recruiters to BPOs follow. The rounds could vary according to company, but the purpose of each of these rounds would remain the same. Hence the discussion would be more generic than being specific.
In the first of my multi part series on the interview process, I would be discussing on the first round interview that is more often than not the same in almost all companies. We call it the PI round or, the Personal Introduction round.
What is this round and what is the purpose of this round?
As the name itself suggests this round is about introducing yourself to the interviewer. One may wonder as to why is this round so important and necessary when everything about myself is mentioned in my CV. You might have mentioned everything about yourself in the CV, but there are much more to it that it appears in the CV. When the interviewer asks you about you and your family and your work experience and educational qualifications, he is looking for things beyond what is written in your CV. This round is basically, an analysis of your temperament, attitude and approach towards things. When you talk about your family or, your colleagues in your organization, I am looking for cues to check how good a team player are you and how well do you gel with others. I am also looking for answers to questions like, are you understanding enough and how comfortable are you in a team?
In addition to this, the interviewer is also looking for information from you. Information that you have not mentioned in your CV. What is this information? At times you miss out on lot of things that you might well have been handling in your previous organization, in terms of responsibilities. You might also want to elaborate on the kind of role that you were into in your organization, the kind of process that you were working for, how simple or, how difficult it was and so on. These are information that helps the interviewer in deciding if you fit the bill.
Last but the most important, the interviewer is looking for answers. Answers to questions that he would have framed after scrutinizing and analyzing your CV. These questions are based on “misses” in your CV that go unnoticed. A break in employment, a contradicting depiction of your responsibilities, all these are some of these misses. The interviewer would be looking for genuine and appropriate responses to his questions so that he can consider you for the employment.
The PI round is more or, less the same for any levels of recruitments, entry level or, middle management. Preparing for this round can be a later discussion.