How to prepare for post-CEED interviews

This post gives an overview about the preparation for interviews conducted at IITs, NIDs and IISc. It is based on my own experience and experiences of my friends from these institutes. This post is by no way a foolproof but should provide you with a glimpse of the process. It was inspired by a comment from Anbu

Generally the interview will be conducted in a closed room, with a panel of 4 – 5 members. The interview will be conducted by this panel, who will consist of the faculty and sometimes even alumni and guest faculty.

1. A brief introduction about yourself. Just don’t begin by throwing your beautiful portfolio on the interview panel. This is the basic part which you are expected to tell things like your name, your qualification, experience, etc.

2. Your past. The panel may be interested in knowing your past record. Your achievements, any awards, subjects that interest you, etc. Prepare some of these. For example, if you tell that you like web design, be prepared to illustrate your point by quoting some examples of your work from past. If you haven’t worked in your field of interest feel free to say so.

3.Your achievements. Here you may continue telling that you were awarded 2nd prize in TECHFEST 09, or that your work helped your employer with a 10% increase in profits. Here what will be seen is your determination and dedication to your work.

4. Details of your work. The panel might be interested in knowing the details of certain project that you executed. This can be your B.Tech project if you have nothing else to tell about. Be prepared to defend why you took certain decision. For example, “why did you choose to use wood for the handle than steel?” or “why did you do keep the ‘About us’ link above the ‘Our Products’ link in this web-page design?”. If it is a team project then tell your role in the team and what part of the project were you responsible for.

5. Showing your portfolio. Generally the requirement of portfolio at this interview is pretty high. This can make a big post in itself, but as a overview your portfolio should serve as a visual guide to what you are saying in the interview. For example, “I designed a web-page for ABC pvt. Ltd., and here is how it looks”

6. What do you want to do in future? The panel may wish to know what are your goals and aspirations. The reply to this maybe as simple as “I want to make a career in automotive styling” or can be very long term like “Ten years from now I want to be the founder of the world best furniture design company”

7.Why did you choose to apply for this course? This question will indicate your orientation towards the course you are being interviewed for. It is directly related with what you have said till now. Take care that you align what you will be doing, will be determined by what you will be learning in this course. For example, a course in visual communication will launch your career into graphic design field.

8.Why did you choose this institute? Keep in mind that even if the name of course is same, the syllabus varies to some extent. Foe example, Product Design course at IISc enables you in research techniques and thinking that goes behind the process of Product design, while the same course at NID will teach you about aesthetics and applications of Product Design. So be prepared well by going through the syllabus and have clarity about why you have applied for this institute. Reply like “… this institute is very famous that’s why…” is not sufficient!

9. Your hobbies. At this point you maybe asked your hobbies. Feel free to tell them. If possible illustrate your point. Like if your hobby is reading then you can illustrate the point by telling the recent book you read was Fountainhead by Ayn Rand, which is in turn an architectural design related book and supports your claim of interest in design.

10. Other general tips on interview can be found at this page. Though it discusses about job interview, some tips are really worthwhile.

Lets hope that this post helps you. I composed it pretty fast so please feel free to let me know if I missed out something. Also if you want to add your experiences to it write me for a guest post.

Best of luck for the CEED and interviews :-)