How To Ace The Interview With University Representative?
When it comes to getting admission to your dream university abroad, a shiver runs down every student’s spine at the mention of ‘Interviews,’ which is an inevitable part of the admission process. Scoring best in your college admission tests like SAT, GRE, TOEFL, etc is not enough unless you are able to crack the interview with the University’s representative of your preferred university.
As a student, the reason you might be dreading these interviews is because of the rumors that go around about them; especially the ones that tell you about the interviewers asking students paradoxical questions that have no clear answers or making them perform impossible tasks, most of which are not generally true. Well, if you too have heard such rumors and hence are worried about your interview, then you are the right place. So get prepared to ace an interview with a university representative.
Below we have mentioned a few tips to help you ace your Interviews with the University Representative. So, breathe in and relax because, at the end of this article, we assure you won’t be so stressed regarding your interview anymore.
TIPS TO HELP YOU ACE YOUR INTERVIEW EASILY
Here we share some tips to help you ace your interview with the university representative:
Professionalism:
First things first, professionalism is the first aspect you need to consider when you are going for an interview. Everything from your appearance to your personality should be professional. Opt for formal apparel and footwear. Don’t wear anything too bright as it might look too tacky.
Along with looking professional, acting professional is equally important. So, try to seem confident in your body language & while answering any of the interviewer’s questions, try sticking to the point with your answers. Also, try to make your interview seem more like a formal conversation rather than an interrogative session.
Punctuality is the key:
Punctuality is the first aspect that proves your professionalism. Being punctual is undeniably one of the most attractive aspects in any individual. It proves to your interviewer that you value your time as well as theirs. So, make sure you are never late for your interview.
You have to make sure that you carry all the documents required for the interview. If you have any confusion regarding what documents you need or need not bring, don’t hesitate to ask a day before the interview and place your documents properly in a file so that you can easily take out any document whenever you want After all, you don’t want to be clumsily fumbling in front of the interviewer if they ask you for your resume or any other academic document. That can be embarrassing.
An insight into the different types of questions:
Even though no one can tell for sure, what questions will be asked to you by your interviewer, the best we can do is to provide you with some tips for the most common questions that are often asked in these types of interviews.–
Personal statement:
One question that has been asked to every interviewee is ‘How would you describe yourself?’ or alternatively ‘Tell us about yourself’ or any other variation of the same question. Open-ended questions often cause interviewees to get nervous.
So, how to answer it?
Most of the time, the interviewer already knows about your academic details and if not they can see it on your resume, so try to talk more about yourself as a person rather than only what’s written in your CV. Also, be completely honest with your answers. Don’t go too far as to lying just to impress the interviewer.
If asked about mentioning your strengths and weakness be very considerate while answering. Suppose you are mentioning your weaknesses, in that case, you don’t just want to tell them what your weakness is, but also what you are doing to make yourself better at it. Also, when mentioning your strengths, try not to brag about anything as that might make you look overconfident or pompous.
– Regarding the university:
Another thing your University Representative would want to know is why you are selecting their university out of all others? To answer this, you don’t just need to praise the university, you need to sound to do that smartly too. After all, you can’t end up saying that you selected that university because it is better than others, you will also have to explain why.
The best way will be to gather some details regarding the university beforehand. This will not just help you understand the positive aspects of the University but you will also get more information about your university which will help you support your answer better.
– Regarding your degree
Whether you want to pursue an MS or an MBA, you don’t just decide to pursue a career for no reason. There is a lot of planning involved in the process of deciding your education. That is exactly what you need to be able to convey when asked ‘Why do you want to take up this degree?’
You need to be prepared with as much information as you can gather not just about the degree but also about how it can help you in the future. Sound passionate about your field of study and also give specific answers to the questions. You must be able to convince the interviewer that you want to take this degree because you are passionate about it and not just because it will look good on your resume.
– Regarding your subjects
When you are taking up a degree, you must have knowledge of all the subjects you are going to be studying in your graduating years as the interviewer might ask you a few questions regarding that. These questions are not only asked to test your knowledge but also to understand whether or not you are really interested in studying these subjects.
Thus, you need to be prepared with the basics of all the subjects that you will be studying while pursuing your degree. Now, it might happen that you don’t know the answer to a particular question. In that case, try to honestly answer the question as far as you can. But, try not to give too vague or wrong answers as that might create a wrong impression.
– Your aspirations
Yet another open-ended question that students dread is when the interviewer asks you ‘What are your goals or ambitions?’ The reason to be asking this question is usually to know how ambitious you are and if you are ambitious then how reasonable are your goals.
Being ambitious doesn’t mean that you need to be completely sure of how you are going to make a difference in the world, your ambitions can be more reasonable like what is the next step once you finish your degree.
– Topical questions
As we mentioned before, you want to seem passionate about your degree and the subjects that you will be studying while you graduate. And a way for your interviewer to test that is to test whether or not you have the updated knowledge about the field you will be taking up. They can ask you questions regarding the recent incidents in the world that might be related to your field of study.
So, you need to be sure that you keep yourself updated with all the news regarding your subjects or anything relating to your field of study. Gather as much knowledge as you can from various resources and be confident in your answers. Your general knowledge of the subject not only proves your interest in your subjects but also that you keep pace with the world’s events.
Be prepared:
It is rightly said that ‘Practice makes perfect’. This is true for your University interview too. The only way you can make sure you perform well is to prepare for it previously. You need to have knowledge about the degree you are appearing for, the subjects you will be taking and also the university you want to pursue your degree from.
Besides this, you need to be prepared to confidently answer questions about yourself. You can take your teachers’ help with this. You can ask your teachers to take your mock interviews and ask them how you performed in them. This way you will be prepared in all ways for your interview.
Well, we told you it’s not that hard.
Cracking an interview might seem like a hard nut to crack, but if you prepare properly, you can easily perform well. So, the next time you are preparing for an interview, make sure to keep all these tips in mind and we are sure you will definitely clear it. All the best for your interview with the university representative!
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