Most Keys to succeed in a telephonic interview

In a world where jobs are no longer restricted by political and geographical boundaries, several companies today are conducting phone interviews to short-list candidates before calling them in for a face-to-face interaction.

A phone interview has several advantages both for the employer and candidate. It is typically shorter than a face-to-face interview, allowing the interviewer to save on time.

For the candidate, who has the advantage of remaining unseen, a phone interview allows the use of cue cards and cheat sheets, as well as access to the Internet.

Here are 10 phone interview tips to help you ace your phone interview:

1. Choose a good spot
Companies generally tell you in advance when they will be calling. Choose a room where you can speak without disruption. Shut out other noises like TV and radio, take the kids away and lock the room from inside. Ask your family members not to disturb you when the interview is in progress. Get a good phone -- preferably a landline. You don’t want calls to drop at this time.  

2. Keep documents handy
Get a hard copy of your resume and cover letter and keep it ready. Keep pen and paper handy to take down notes. You could even keep your laptop on in case you want to refer to the Internet. But take care to be discreet -- don’t hammer away loudly at the keys of your computer.

3. Use a cheat sheet
One of the great advantages of a phone interview is invisibility. Prepare for expected questions in advance and jot down points on a piece of paper. Write clearly and legibly since you will be referring to it under pressure. Practice the answers to expected questions beforehand and prepare for any derivative question that may arise as well.

4. Be in a positive frame of mind
This may seem odd, but smile! Though the interviewer cannot see you, it is not difficult to sense your mood over the phone. If you feel happy, bright and enthusiastic, this will reflect in your voice. Some experts also suggest dressing for the interview. If you think this will put you in the right frame of mind for the interview, go right ahead and slip into formal clothes.

5. Do your homework
You’ve already visited the company portal while writing your cover letter, so you have a sense of what the organization is about. This may be a good time to go back to the portal and brush up on that knowledge. If you know the name of your interviewer, you could also search him/her on the Internet to learn more about him/her.

6. Treat the interview like a face-to-face interaction
It is easy to fall into the trap of not taking a phone interview as seriously as a face-to-face interview. But remember, this is a process of elimination as well. It will be unfortunate if you were eliminated at this stage because you did not take the interview seriously enough. Prepare for a phone interview as you would for a face-to-face interaction.

7. Ask intelligent questions
After he/she is done with the interview, your interviewer will typically ask if you have any questions. This is a chance for you to showcase your intelligence. You could ask questions on the role you are being interviewed for, company branding or its strategy to beat market slump. Asking questions that tell the employer you are serious about this role.

8. Don't bring up salary
It is too early at this stage to bring up salary and perks. The company is still assessing your suitability for the job. Salary discussions generally take place in the final stages of the hiring process. So hold your horses till then!

9. Ask if the interviewer has other questions
Asking the interviewer if he/she has any other questions is a good way to round up the discussion. This will give him/her a chance go back to the list of questions and see if something has been left out. If there are no more questions, ask what the next step will be in the hiring process.

10. Say thank you
Don’t forget to say thank you, even if the interview has gone badly. Some experts even recommend sending a short thank you note to the interviewer a day after the interview.

You may spend a lot of time talking on the phone, but that does not equip you to master a phone interview. So keep these pointers in mind to get one step closer to the job.

Top 10 Best Success Tips for Women Entrepreneurs

Success is a combination of thinking right and doing right.

1.Be optimist
2.Avoid Big Mistakes
        1.No cost to low cost – Use social media liked Facebook; twitter etc. to drive your business.
        2.It is a proven fact that entrepreneurs are today driving economies. Why? We are able to think              fast on our feet, we can make changes as needed when we see the markets change. During                    recession in 2008, it was “dinosaur” companies suffered the most as they tend to move slowly.
        3.Bring in flexibility in our working style. Maintain a work life balance.
        4.Never design your lifestyle around your work, instead design business around your                        lifestyle. Then work becomes your passion.
5.Turn your passion into profits. Purpose of business is actually to make profits  and not                          make it a “Secret Hobby”.
3.Provide products & services which audience really “WANTS”. Wants are bigger than needs…trust      me we indulge more in wants than needs
4.Business model needs to be efficient and self-sufficient. Cost to Income ratio needs to work in your    favor.
5.Learn to embrace risks.
1.Get out of your comfort zone.
2.Get comfortable being uncomfortable.
6.Stay out of fear – Stay in faith.
1.Have faith in yourself. Believe in yourself
2.Grow as far as your greatest fear.
3.Biggest fear makes you uncomfortable to be able to reach that big success.Success we seek                 will only come when we move through the fear.
7.Learn from inspiring people and surround yourself with people who are there where you want to be.
1.Invest in training, education, coaching – Invest in yourself.
2.You are the average of five people who surround you the most.
3.Master mind: Having a group of successful entrepreneurs with whom you                                would learn and share.
                4.Not everyone will support your success. Don’t get distracted by criticism. Holding back                      hurts no one but you.
8.Time: we all have 24 hours but how one utilizes it are what makes one rich.
9.Marketing yourself is more important than mastery of your skills.
             1.There are many masters of your trade better than you but are not commercially successful                   because people don’t know them.
             2.If you don’t know how to get word around you won’t be able to get clients.
             3.Important to understand how lead generation from offline and online prospects can be                         converted to buyers and then to repeat buyers.
10.Make decisions not from where you are but where you want to be.

How to make a successful career leap :Sushant Singh Rajput

How can you tell if you should change careers or not? Many of us have faced this dilemma at some point in our professional lives. Your salary no longer makes up for the boredom you feel and you know you’re made for better things than what you're currently doing.

Actor Sushant Singh Rajput arrived at this moment of truth while at the peak of his television career. Despite a lead role in the hugely popular soap opera Pavitra Rishta, the actor felt like he was stagnating. “I knew exactly what my character was up to each day. There were no surprises left. I was doing the same thing day in and out. So I left TV,” he said in an interview to Filmfare magazine.

While many performers have failed to make the transition from TV to film, Sushant’s managed to stay ahead in the game with breakout film Kai Po Che. The buzz surrounding his upcoming release MS Dhoni: The Untold Story, where he plays cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni is equally strong. “If you strongly desire something, then you should really go for it,” said the actor, who believes that success will come if you #LoveWhatYouDo.

Based on Sushant’s career, here’s what you’ll need to do to make a career leap:

#1 Follow your heart but do your prep
It’s essential to know where your passion lies. Sushant was studying mechanical engineering at Delhi Technological University when he realised that his heart lay in acting, not engineering. He decided to drop out of the college to pursue a career in acting. But he didn’t switch without doing his groundwork. While in college, he joined Shiamak Davar’s dance school. Soon after, he enrolled at Barry John's acting school, where he learnt the basics of acting. For his new movie, Sushant learnt cricket from former Indian cricketer Kiran More and also met Dhoni a couple of times to get to know him better so he could play him better.

Takeaway: Just finding your calling isn’t enough. You need to work towards it. So take a class, get training or find a mentor.

#2 Take small steps, and keep your eyes on the big picture
A career leap is all very well but a gradual approach to changing your career works better for most of us than a radical reinvention. When Sushant decided to take the leap to acting, he went from theatre to TV to cinema – learning and enhancing his skills every step of the way. He was on stage in a play when Ekta Kapoor, who said she would make him a “star”, spotted him. His role as Manav Deshmukh in Pavitra Rishta did just that. But he didn’t stay content and kept experimenting with his choices.

Takeaway: Take up small jobs that are similar to what the big prize is, for you. Preparing for them will make the transition easier.

#3 Keep up-skilling, be it upgrading skills or adding new ones
Shiamak Davar may have told him that he wasn’t “one of my finest dancers” but Sushant – his eyes on Bollywood, perhaps – thought that he could better his dancing skills. He joined Zara Nachke Dikha, a dance reality show in 2009, and followed it up with Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 4 in 2010. He may not have won either of the shows, but he did make a mark as a dancer of note, with even Madhuri Dixit, a judge on Jhakak Dikhla Jaa, applauding his talent. That’s not all, he even took martial arts classes, worked on a six-pack and learnt ballet. He was planning to go to UCLA to study acting, but changed his mind after he was offered Kai Po Che.

Takeway: Focus on learning new skills that will make you more attractive to potential employers.

#4 Figure out what works for you and then take the leap
Everyone needs to know what they’re willing to do and what they aren’t. Sushant did TV for more than two years. “The money and fame were good but I began feeling suffocated. There was no challenge, no improvisation,” he said in an interview. When he realised he was not learning anything, he decided to take the leap but only after thinking things through. “Actors have their priorities – money, passion, big names, working with friends. I work for the script. I was offered seven single-hero films before this…then I got this [Kai Po Che] script with three main guys. When I read it, I got goose bumps and I knew I had to play Ishaan,” he said.

Takeaway: Your heart may have done the thinking when you made the leap but let your brain decide the way to get it done.

#5 Focus on the journey, not the destination
Sushant, who decided to begin with and stick to unconventional roles, has said that he doesn’t obsess over the destination. “It's the journey that matters more than the destination. Right now is very important,” he said in a recent interview. The actor, who is winning applause for his portrayal of Dhoni even before the film’s release, says his mantra for giving the role his best was living in the moment, what he calls “total immersion”.

Lesson: The result is important, but the many steps that take you there are just as important so focus all the way.

To be the best, you need to #LoveWhatYouDo. Search and find a job that you love here.