Salary negotiation is an integral part of any interview process and it is not completely done until you get the Offer Letter with your desired pay package.

Here are some expert tips on salary negotiation techniques, what to say, how to say and what not to say during that time.

• Never start the negotiation from your side. It sends a negative signal to the employer. It shows that you are much interested in the money rather than in job. And also if recruiter tries to your focus your attention on salary, shift the focus on your talents, skills and what you intend to bring to the table.
• If forced to give insight about salary in number, never give any exact detail. Keep a salary range according to the job profile and skills. For this, you can research on the others what amount they are getting at the same level.Also, the best answer would be to say as per industry standards.
• Never reveal your personal financial detail to the employer for getting salary hike.
• Treat your negotiation as a healthy talk. Use positive phrases like’ we can look forward on this’, ‘Surely I will consider your view point’. Play it cool and try to work out a way that works for both the parties. Don’t get emotional and get rough during negotiation talks; keep it as friendly as possible.

• Show your accomplishments and achievements to the manager. Brag your true worth in such a manner that employer can’t refuse to give the amount that you have in mind. Statistics and numbers that prove how you’ve added to the revenue, savings, efficiency, and productivity of your current employer will help you to get extra perks. This is a perfect strategy.

So, to make the salary negotiation a fruitful task – always prepare for the interview in advance highlighting technical skills, accomplishments,contributions to the team in the past with quantifiable results and ultimately what you bring-in along with you to the current role.Be aware of the industry pay standards of the role and negotiate accordingly so that you don’t quote unrealistic numbers.

There are some Do’s and Don’ts that a job seeker must follow while framing his/her resume.

Do’s

1. As far as possible, make your resume reader friendly. Do not make it too long and limit it to one page.
2. Resume design should be such that it is different from everyone else.
3. Please give complete information about your contact, email id, city name in clear words.
4. Focus on key strengths using which you can help the organization.
5.  Create a summary of qualification and profile.
6. Mention your experience in chronological order. If you don’t have an experience, then mention your skills.
7. If you were a team leader in previous organization, mention this information and what the previous company has benefitted from you.

Don’ts

1. Never give false information in your resume.
2. Do not use personal promos (I, my, me) in resume. Never use justified text blocks.
3. Do not use expressions such as Duty included, responsibility involving, responsible for.
4. Avoid giving too much information about very old experience.
5. Avoid giving information about your highlights, current weight, name of last boss, previous salary etc.
6. Do not let your hobbies and any other worthless info in resume.
7. Do not mention those skills and job activities which do not match with the job profile.

• Preparing a CV
• Sharing your CV to the Right People
• Gentle Follow-up
• Phone Interviews
• Follow-up
• Personal One-On-One Interviews
• Thank You communication
• Follow-up
• Etc.

Each and every step in the process in very important and you always need to give your best in every step. Also, during Personal or One-On-One Interviews your professional behavior (etiquette) is extremely critical which leaves a strong positive impression in the minds of the interviewer. Personal behavior (professional etiquette) consists of

• Perfect Dressing Sense
• Smiling Face
• Neatly Groomed
• Wishing all people very politely and being gentle
• Confident, Calm & Composed Attitude
• Speaking Slowly, Clearly and Articulating your ideas well
• Making sure your Phones are on Silent or Switch-off Mode
• Etc.

Following are some of the critical interview manners that need to be followed before, during and after interview to help you in performing better.

• Punctuality: Reaching to an interview site few minutes early than the given time is very helpful as it will give you an extra advantage by making you get adjusted to the interview environment. Relax, get your breadth, have some water, fresh-up if needed, sit calm and organize all your ideas/thoughts, Review your Resume all over again, Review of notes on company etc.

• Body Language: The non-verbal communication through body language is an integral part of an interview. The hand, body gestures and face expressions should show that you are interested, confident, honest and very enthusiastic of the job. It shouldn’t feel like that you are submissive, shy, introvert or defensive in nature. Greet the interviewer and all with abroad smile & a firm handshake.

• Dress Sense: An interviewee must know the corporate/business attire before going to an interview. As well-dressed person will get an extra edge over the untidy person. This is not only for the interview panel also for you as a good neat business attire help you with a feel good factor & enhance your confidence levels. Wear pleasant colours with fits well with you & your personality. Avoid heavy jewellery and shining clothes.
• Home on Company Background: It will be very embarrassing and foolish on your part of you are not aware of the company history, background, leadership team, culture etc. Form an opinion about it so that you have a talking point which will be really appreciated. Also, if you can appreciate something about the company based on some factor that will have a very good positive impact.

• Closing an Interview: As starting an interview is important as closing it also. Close the interview with a firm smile that shows you are interested in job and would like to work for it. That leaves a good impression on them. Always thank them for their time at the end and followed by a Thank You e-mail after an interview. Be sure to ask some questions related to your position, company long term goal, benefits, or next steps in the interview process etc. It will send a positive impression on the interviewer.

Thus, by following these simple and basic manners during an interview, one can Excel and leave an everlasting impression on the interview team which can certainly help you to succeed in the process.

Most of the young students and working professionals have the above 2 questions while they get started. It has been observed that student’s take-up the CV’s of their friends and copy paste which is a big blunder where it does not reflect his personality.

From a recent survey from a leading HR Firm from recruiters and students on the issue of CV/Resume are:

• 80% of the CV get rejected within 2 minutes
• 85% of the CV lack originality
• Many of them copy pasted from others sources & does not reflect the individual’s capability
• 70% of the Students are not sure how to get started (Starting Trouble)
• Poor Formatting & Presentation
• What things should & should not be present in the CV

Most of the issues that students are facing is there is no one who can guide them on the basic requirements that they must have before even thinking to attempt any interview or job application.

The following elements need to be very clear in your Resume / CV:

• Contact Information:The most consistent element in the CV & your contact details must be outlined near the top very clearly (Phone, E-mail & Physical address)
• Career Objective:Resume introduction can be used by anyone to give an illustration on your objective in 3-4 Lines; it is strongly advisable to make it relevant to the company/sector & position. (I mean you cannot have a strong technical ambition for a managerial or sales position)
• Relevant to Position & Sector: Make the resume and tailor it to meet the needs and requirements of the employer. Absolutely NO – One size fits all!
• Work Experience:Illustrate all your Work (also Internship) Experiences, Accomplishments, Tenure, Duration, Location etc. along with lessons learnt and how you contributed to that particular role.(It is highly recommended to make this highlighted a lot; be consistent and chronological)
• Additional Skills: Your skills section must be used to highlight personal attributes that you are proud&add a WOW Factor, be it leadership, Software, Team Building, or anything that reflects yourself.
• Education: Your degrees (any) and certifications (if relevant) should be highlighted
• Notable Coursework: It is always good to have a few notable Coursework that you have taken as a part of your Education and the projects that you have taken-up as a part of it. MAP these to the skills you have developed & to the position that you are applying to.
• Awards & Honors: Be sure to mention your most impressive example/s that could tell more about you and add a WOW Factor.

Thus, these are some of the many things that are required for sure in your CV. Candidate can take the help of academies that Guides, Mentors, Inspires, Motivates Students on various factors and give a 360 Degree perspective on how to write a CV and be presentable at an interview.

Without any doubts the Resume/CV should be Error Free; very presentable in such a way that the recruiter will be more pleased to take the interview process to the next level.

These are some of the most important flaws that a candidate must avoid while preparing or constructing a CV:

• The length of the CV should be taken into consideration before applying to any organization. It is the Quality that matter more than Quantity. A recruiter does not have all the time in the world to go through a lengthy CV with too much texts and long sentences/content. CV should be like a snapshot of your qualifications, experience, accomplishments, personality etc. A short and simple CV will be eye catching for a recruiter. Remember it should be like a 2 min trailer for a 2. 5 Hour Movie.
• Always proof read your CV four to five times before applying to ensure that there will not be any grammatical, spelling or misleading information in it. Get it reviewed by your friend or senior with a fresh pair of eyes; sometime we cannot catch our own errors since we have spent a lot of time on it.

• Try to be as honest as you can in presenting your accomplishments in your CV; never share unrelated or irrelevant information which has no significance to the position that you are applying to. Care should be taken to ensure there is nothing suspicious at any cost in your CV that could raise doubts on your honesty & credibility. Always remember the recruiters always want Honest, Reliable & people with Credibility in their organizations.
• CV layout matters a lot to a recruiter. It should not look messy, untidy, crampy with too much texts or long sentences without proper spacing etc. Proper font and size which is very pleasant to the eye should be used in the CV.

So, these are some of the many precautions a candidate should take care while constructing their CV which shall increase the chances of getting selected in the interview process.

This is the most common question that occurs in the minds of almost all students before appearing for any campus placement interviews. In this era of cut-throat competition, everyone wants to be DIFFERENT & UNIQUE so that companies hire them.

But there is none who can guide them on the basic requirements that they must have before even thinking to attempt any interview or job application. They should be guided on how to:

• Approach Interviews
• Prepare a Fantastic CV thatillustrates all your accomplishments & make it Presentable
• Handle Phone Interviews
• Ace General HR & Technical Interviews
• Excel in One-on-One & Group Interviews with outstanding Body Language, Eye Contact, Confidence etc.

And ultimately help you in getting placed comfortably into your Dream Organizations.

Some of the essential components a student must have before applying or appearing for campus placements interviews are:

• Good Impressive CV/ Resume: It is not only your attire that can attract the recruiter, your CV is like a profile pic of you which is the most important aspect at the screening stage. Unimpressive CVs are rejected mercilessly first glance that too within 30 seconds. As per many HR Surveys 80% of the CV’s received are rejected within 2 minutes.

• Communication/ Interpersonal Skill: The first thing any recruiter wants is that their potential employee must have good and effective interpersonal skills; so that in future they can influence others effectively. Having command over English Language is always an added advantage.

• Proper Attire:  The clothes that a person wear during an interview speaks a lot about the Personality and Attitude which is very important from the interviewee perspective.A student should choose right comfortable clothes which are neat, comfortable and has develops into a feel-good element during the interview.

Thus, don’t give a chance to them to send you out without any further discussion& you need to ensure that your CV is among the 20% and not the rejected 80%.So, make your CV Professional, Crispy, Effective and Well-Articulated with your thoughts, ideas and accomplishments.

• Ability to Learn New Things & have Energy / Enthusiasm: in the modern world of changing technologies; companies would love to have people join them who are willing to learn new things, get inspired with surroundings, have the Energy / Enthusiasm and Drive to take-up challenging assignments. This needs to get reflected in your discussions during interview processes.

Thus, these are some of the traits and things that are required before attending an interview, but these are not the only requirements. Different jobs require different skills and traits but we should be flexible and mould ourselves to meet the company requirements. One should be well aware of his Strengths and Weaknesses before interviews. Need to organize all your thoughts clearly before appearing & work on converting weakness into strengths in a smart way with the help of mentors.