Be Smart In Your Answers For Interview Questions

Be Smart In Your Answers For Interview Questions

There are just too many books and training tools available that teach people the right things to say in any interview. After a while, all their responses start sounding the same, and interviewers don’t feel like, I’m actually getting to know the real person

Assertive Style Of Communication

Assertive Style Of Communication

A way of communicating our feelings, thoughts, and beliefs in an open, honest manner without violating the rights of others. It is an alternative to being aggressive where we abuse other people’s rights, and passive where we abuse our own rights

Looking for a job

Looking For A Job Where You Can Find Yourself

I won’t be able to get a job because I don’t have any job experience, that is not true

Cover Letter

The Importance Of Cover Letter

Cover Letter is the first thing that employer check

Leadership vs Management

Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things

Sunday, January 13, 2013

"WELCOME OBJECTIONS"


Handling objections
Learn to Accept Objections as a Challenge Which, When Handled Correctly, Will benefit you and Your Prospect.
- The salesperson should welcome objections and not be taken personally
- The most difficult prospect to handle is one who says “no” and gives no reason
- Objections give you an opportunity to present more information about the product to the customer.

What is an objection and how do you handle the objection?
Objection is honest reasons a customer has for not making a purchase. 

TYPES OF OBJECTIONS 
1-Product or service objection. 2-Objection to the salesperson or to the company.3-Don't want to make a decision. 4-Price objection: Encompasses several forms of economic excuses and it is simple for the buyer to say. When buyer asks for the price?? Say that it is risky to discuss the product's price until it can be compared to the product's benefits. Once you convey the benefits, price becomes a secondary factor which usually can be dealt with successfully. 5- No need objection.6- Hidden Objection-- The salesperson must ask questions and carefully listen in order to smoke out the prospect's real objection. 
Other Classifications 
1-Major or minor objection. 2-Practical or psychological objection. 3-Practical (overt). 4-Psychological (hidden).

Some General Tips for Handling Objections 
1-Keep the buyers attitude toward your product positive. 2-Let buyers know you are on their side. 3-Help with objections. 4-If you get no response, give a multiple choice question to display an attitude of genuine caring. 5-Your goal is to help your prospect realistically examine reasons for and against buying now. 6-The main thing is not to be satisfied with a false objection or stall. 7-Bring out any or all of your main selling benefits now and keep on selling. 

A Negotiating Strategy for Handling Buyers’ Concerns (5 steps)

1-Listen Carefully 
-Hear the Prospect Out

2-Confirm Your Understanding of the Objection -Validate the Problem
-Clarify and Classify
-Use confirmation questions
- Ask if there is anything else
- Try to distinguish between genuine objections and excuses

3- Acknowledge their Point of View -That is a logical question
-Restate or rephrase in your own words
-Use words such as, “I understand how you feel”
-Prepare the prospect for your answer

4-Select a specific technique Base your decision on: -The prospect's behavioral style
-Phase of the interview
-The prospect's mood
-The number of times that this objection came up
-The type of objection

5-Answer the objection -Confirm with the buyer that you have answered the objection
-Attempt to Close
-Continue the Presentation If You do Not Succeed 


Specific Techniques for Handling Objections 
1-Product comparison1- Compare advantages and disadvantages
2- When the prospect is mentally comparing the present product or a competing product with your product, you may make a complete comparison of the two

2-Case history or testimonial - Describe the experience of a customer whose situation is similar to that of the prospect 


3- Demonstration 1- One of the most convincing ways to overcome buyer resistance and specific objections.
2- Sometimes a second demonstration is needed to overcome buyer skepticism. 


4-Guarantees or warranty 1- Removes resistance by reassuring that the purchase will not result in a loss.
2- Guarantees must: be meaningful - provide for recourse on the part of the customer 


5-Cost of delaying 1- The prospect wants to wait a while before making a final decision.
2- Use pencil and paper to show that delaying the purchase is expensive.


6-Boomerang
1-The objection comes back to the customer as a selling point.
2-Do not sound like you are trying to outwit the customer.
3-Use a friendly, helpful tone of voice.

7- Direct Denial
1- Considered a high risk method of handling buyer resistance. Use it with care.
2- If the buyer resistance is not valid, there may be no other option than to refute it by providing accurate information.

8- Indirect Denial 1- Acknowledge that the prospect is at least partially correct.
2- It initially appears as agreement with the customer's objection but moves into denial of the fundamental issue.
3- If done in a natural, conversational way the salesperson will not offend the prospect.
4- Rephrase or have the prospect rephrase
5- Blame yourself
6- Give the facts that answer the objection 

The most difficult objection type is price objection and When Dealing with Price Resistance 
DO
- Add value with a cluster of satisfactions.
- Point out the relationship between price and quality.
- Explain the difference between price and cost.
- Employ the Presumption of Exclusivity
1- Stress your product's exclusive features
2- Identify extras that only come from you
3- Sell quality, exclusivity and differential features
- Sell Down
1- All prospects have a buying range
2- Show the best first and then let the prospect reduce price by removing features or lowering quality 
DON'T 
- Apologize for the price.
- Make price the focal point of your sales presentation.
- Become demanding
- Become defensive
- Become hostile

Thursday, January 3, 2013

"The Eight Secrets of Successful Public Speaking"


1. Define the purpose of your presentation before doing anything else. 

2. Spend plenty of time preparing your talk so it will be effective.

3. Hook the attention of your listeners early in a speech so they will listen to the rest of it.

4. Tell the audience why you’re speaking to them at the beginning, the middle, and the end of your talk.

5. Overcome stage fright by making it work for you.

6. Use stories and anecdotes to bring your talk to life.

7. Evaluate each talk you give so you can constantly improve your skills.

8. Never stop practicing.

Monday, December 31, 2012

"How Do You Go About Making Important Decisions?"

What Do interviewers Want to Hear?
Before you get the interview, you have some sense of the culture of the company you’re interested in working for. So shade your answer to match it.

For example, if you want to work for a financial services company, you probably don’t want to portray yourself as a manager who makes decisions based on gut feelings rather than hard data. Similarly, if you’re auditioning to be an air traffic controller, it’s best not to admit that you like to sleep on things before making up your mind.

Think in terms of the interviewer’s main concerns: 

Will you need to be analytical? Creative? Willing to call on the expertise of others?
If you are bucking for a management position, you’ll also want to take this opportunity to convince the interviewer that your relationship skills have made you management material . . . or at least set you on the way to achieving that goal.
You might say something like this:

“When I’m faced with an important decision, I ask the advice of others. I try to consider everything. But ultimately, I’m the one who decides. I guess that’s why they say, ‘It’s lonely at the top.’The higher you go in management, the more responsibility you have and the more decisions you have to make by yourself.”
Although this is a nice general answer, you may run into an interviewer who decides to probe to see if the “rubber meets the road,” following up with something like, “Okay, tell me about the last important decision you had to make, how you went about making it, and the results you achieved.” Can you match in particulars the nice general answer given above? Or do you inadvertently show you do things completely differently (better or worse) than you just said you did?

"Why Are You Applying for a Job in a Field Other Than Your Major?"

What Do interviewers Want to Hear?

Life doesn’t always turn out according to our plans. Especially when we’re young, changes in direction are common. Changes are hard enough to live through without getting grilled about them.

When the interviewer asks about one of your 180-degree turns, you need to respond. If you’re applying for a retail management position and your degree is in geology, there’s a good chance that you’ll be asked this question; it’s not the first time this employer has encountered someone like you.

In today’s job market, changing careers is common, and there’s nothing unique about going into a field other than the one you majored in. So what do you do? You know you’ve piqued the employer’s interest enough to get an interview, right? So relax and answer the question. 

Keep it brief and positive: You’ve reexamined your career goals. You enjoy customer contact, the competitive nature of sales, and the varied management responsibilities required in retail, and you’ve decided it’s the career you want to pursue. And, oh yeah (perhaps with a sheepish grin), Then it may be a good idea to pause and ask, “Have I answered your question?” Give the interviewer an opportunity to express concerns about your qualifications. If he has any, be prepared to explain how the skills required in your degree field transfer to the field in which you’re seeking employment. You can use the same strategy with your prior work experience. Are there particular things a geologist must learn that directly translate into retail management? Particular skills? I don’t know, but you certainly better be ready to talk about them. Just because many students who major in more esoteric areas are, by definition, ill-prepared for some specific jobs, and just because many people now change jobs, careers, and even industries more and more, does not mean that many interviewers will not make you sell them on how your learning will benefit them.

Friday, December 28, 2012

"Leadership And Management"

Leadership is about inspiring others and doing the right thing. Leaders make change happen, but their values remain steady and unchanging. Most leaders not only have a long-term perspective on goals, but they also have innovative ways of achieving their goals. 
What are the qualities of good leaders? What makes them successful? 
1- Successful leaders are able to influence others & inspire a workforce, a team, or a nation to achieve goals.
2- Leaders can see beyond themselves and beyond the task at hand to look at achieving long-term goals by utilizing their strengths combined with the strengths of others. 
3- Effective leaders are able to manage relationships with others and create positive outcomes. 
4- Leaders learn from failure and have a steadfastness of purpose that keeps them focused on a goal or objective in spite of near term setbacks or adverse conditions. 
5- Leaders are able to energize those around them in order to create desired results without compromising their ethical standards.


LEADERSHIP VERSUS MANAGEMENT

"Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things". —Peter F. Drucker

Leaders may be managers, but not all managers are leaders. So just what are the differences?
While managers tend to have their eyes on the bottom line, leaders are more often looking toward the horizon, trying to find new opportunities for growth and development. Managers are often responsible for executing the task at hand, not thinking of future goals. Managers are responsible for maintaining, but leaders look to innovate.Managers may involve employees in their activities, but often on a “need to know” basis while Leaders work to inspire those around them by trying to help others gain personal growth and development from their activities and by turning weaknesses into strengths. Companies that have “leader-managers” throughout the corporate hierarchy are the most successful.

ROLES OF MANAGERS 
Management is often expressed as the process of achieving an organization’s objectives through guiding development, maintenance, and allocating resources. The primary roles of managers are planning, organizing, leading, and controlling
1- Planning
"The very essence of leadership is that you have to have vision. You can’t blow an uncertain trumpet." —Theodore M. Hesburgh 
Planning is the process of determining a course of action for future conditions and events with the goal of achieving the company’s objectives. Effective planning is necessary for any business or organization that wants to avoid costly mistakes. There are 4 types of planning that are associated with management: strategic, tactical, operational, and contingency planning. 
- Strategic planning involves creating long-range goals and determining the resources required for achieving these goals. Strategic planning is the most far-reaching level of planning and involves plans with time frames from 1 to 5 years. Essential to the notion of strategic planning is that it involves an assessment and consideration of the organization’s external environment, and that the organization is adaptive to these outside, noncontrollable variables, adjusting and possibly redirecting its strategy to account for this changing environment.- Tactical planning denotes the implementation of the activities defined by the strategic plans. Generally, tactical planning involves shorter-range plans with time frames of less than one year.
Operational planning involves the creation of specific methods, standards, and procedures for different functional areas of an organization. In addition, the organization chooses specific work targets and assigns employees to teams to carry out plans. 
- Contingency planning involves the creation of alternative courses of action for unusual or crisis situations. For example, realizing the impact of terrorism on businesses in the wake of September 11, 2001, many companies have developed contingency plans to respond to potential terrorism events.
2- Organizing
This management role involves blending human and capital resources in a formal structure. The manager will divide and classify work by determining which specific tasks need to be carried out in order to accomplish a set of objectives. 
3- Leading 
The goal of leading is to guide and motivate employees in order to accomplish organizational objectives. This role involves explaining procedures, issuing directives, and ensuring that any mistakes are corrected. 
4- Controlling
Controlling allows a manager to measure how closely an organization is adhering to its set goals. It is also a process that provides feedback for future planning.

LEADERSHIP STYLES 
"Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it." —Dwight D. Eisenhower

The predominant leadership styles—autocratic, democratic, and laissez-faire—have many variations. We can compare and contrast the effectiveness of each of these styles as it affects employee performance.

Autocratic Leadership
This style is both directive and controlling. The leader will make all decisions without consulting employees and will also dictate employee roles. The autocratic style of leadership limits employee freedom of expression and participation in the decision-making process. It may result in alienating employees from leadership and will not serve to create trust between managers and subordinates. Further, creative minds cannot flourish under autocratic leadership. Autocratic leadership may best be used when companies are managing less experienced employees.

Democratic Leadership
This style is centered on employee participation and involves decision making by consensus and consultation. This often leads to empowerment of employees because it gives them a sense of responsibility for the decisions made by management. This can also be a very effective form of management when employees offer a different perspective than the manager. Democratic leadership may best be used when working with highly skilled and experienced employees. One of the downsides of democratic leadership is that it may lead to endless meetings and therefore create frustration among employees if used for every decision made by a company. Democratic leadership is not a good idea in situations when the business is facing a crisis situation such as bankruptcy. 

Laissez-Faire Leadership
"Delegating work works, provided the one delegating works, too." —Robert Half
This form of leadership requires extensive communication by management with employees. It is the style that makes employees responsible for most of the decisions that are made, and in which they are minimally supervised. Employees are responsible for motivating and managing themselves on a daily basis under this leadership style. Laissez-faire leadership may best be used when employees are educated, knowledgeable, and self-motivated. Laissez-faire leadership is not a good idea in situations where employees feel insecure about the manager’s lack of availability or the manager is using the employees to cover for his or her inability to carry out his or her own work. This type of situation can create resentment and result in an unhealthy work environment. 

Transformational and Transactional Leadership
Transformational Leadership. Leaders who have a clear vision and are able to articulate it effectively to others often characterize this style of leadership. Transformational leaders look beyond themselves in order to work for the greater good of everyone. This type of leader will bring others into the decision-making process and will allow those around them opportunity to learn and grow as individuals. They seek out different perspectives when trying to solve a problem and are able to instill pride into those who work under them. Transformational leaders spend time coaching their employees and learning from them as well.
Transactional Leadership. This style is characterized by centralized control over employees. The transactional leader will control outcomes and strive for behavioral compliance. Employees under a transactional leader are motivated by the transactional leader’s praise, reward, and promise. They may also be corrected by the leader’s negative feedback, threats, or disciplinary action.



"The most effective leadership style is using a combination of styles." 
Leaders should know when it is best to be autocratic and when to be democratic. They can also be transformational and transactional at the same time; these are not mutually exclusive styles and in fact can complement one another extremely well.

LEADERSHIP AND MOTIVATION 
- An important role for a leader is motivating employees to do the best job possible. There are many ways a leader can motivate employees, and many of them do not require additional monetary compensation.

- Sometimes motivation is brought about through creative means. 

- Open communication is also a key to motivating employees. 
- When employees feel that they will be listened to and managers openly discuss matters with employees, a trusting relationship is created. 
- Another method to motivate is to ensure that employees are matched up with the right job. It is the leader’s job to learn what employees’ abilities and preferences are and match them accordingly to tasks that utilize their skills and when possible match with their preferences.
- If a leader is a good role model, showing enthusiasm for his or her work and pride in the company, this will positively affect employee motivation.


Thursday, December 27, 2012

"What Motivates You?"

Employers are looking for people who are keen to make a difference to their organisation. So if you aren’t terribly motivated by work and the only thing that keeps you going is the thought of leaving your workplace at the end of the day, keep that to yourself. 

One trick is to say that you are motivated when you get to use the kinds of skills that the employer is looking for. For instance, if the employer requires someone with customer service skills, then – hey presto – it may be wise to say something along the lines of:


"I really enjoy spending time with people and get a buzz out of dealing with customers and sorting out their problems. I hate it when I feel that I’m not doing my best on behalf of customers"
Other good answers include:

1- Recognition: While many interviewers consider it gauche to say that you are motivated by money, you can say that you like to have your good work recognized by your boss, peers, or clients.

2- Making a difference: Especially in the charity or non-profit sector, saying that you are motivated by the pursuit of the organisation’s goals is a good idea.


3- Challenge: Another good answer is to say that you enjoy getting fully caught up in solving problems and getting to the bottom of difficult situations.

4- Self-development: Employers like candidates who want to further their own learning and development. Do bear in mind the nature of the role that you are applying for, though. A management training scheme is likely to provide you with much more by way of development opportunities than, say, an office data entry job.

5- Money: Only when going for a sales job should you talk about the fact that you are motivated by financial reward. In fact, many sales people are suspicious of candidates who say that they are not motivated by money and the luxuries that money can allow you to buy.

Don’t just memorise one of these answers by heart. Take a moment to figure out what really motivates you – you’ll sound much more genuine.


Sunday, December 23, 2012

"The Difference Between Creativity And Innovation"



There is a huge confusion about the difference between creativity, innovation.
so let us first start with definitions of Creativity and Innovation: 

“Creativity is the capability or act of conceiving something original or unusual.” 
“Innovation is the implementation of something new.”
Creativity is thinking up new things. Innovation is doing new things. 
Creativity = Ideas but Innovation = Ideas + Action
“Creativity is the ability to combine ideas in a unique way”  
“Innovation is conversion of new knowledge into new product”
If you have a brainstorm meeting and dream up dozens of new ideas then you have displayed creativity but there is no innovation until something gets implemented. Somebody has to take a risk and deliver something for a creative idea to be turned into an innovation.