Mock interview

Mock Interview means simulating the actual interview scenario. During this time you are closest to the actual interview conditions. The basic purpose of this imaginary interview is to familiarize yourself with the interview and the circumstances during it. This is to improve your preparation and to know how you will react in an actual interview situation. During this time you can correct your mistakes. This helps to strengthen your faith and free your mind from the fear of this interview.

These types of imaginary interviews are always beneficial. This is even more beneficial for those aspiring officers who have not faced any interview conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). I am discussing in detail some aspects related to these imaginary interviews.

When to start?

This is a very important question and there is a lot of doubt in the mind regarding it. There is no absolutely correct answer to this question. Therefore, I will give only that suggestion which I consider most appropriate and for which I also have logic available. Friends, I believe that you should start the process of preparing for the mock interview as soon as possible. This should be started as soon as possible i.e. about two months before the actual personality test.

The first reason is that mock interview has special importance because it reveals your level, status, strengths and shortcomings in their original form at a time when you have not yet taken admission in any coaching institute for personality test. . You can prepare your action plan based on the first feedback you receive and this will be your first mock interview which will help you determine how many more such interviews you need.

Number

You will have to decide its number based on your first hypothetical interview and the subsequent action plan. This number will vary for each candidate but I would suggest that each candidate should give at least 2 to 3 such mock interviews. Also, you get a Must be presented again before the Board, at least once, if not twice. This way you will get feedback from the same board twice which will help you determine whether your preparation is moving in the right direction or not.

Which educational institution to take help from?

Just take admission in a reputed educational institute. Stay away from such institutions which try to trap you through imaginary/pseudo interviews for free. Remember, no one gives anything in this world ‘without any purpose’. Every thing that is promoted for free has a hidden price in it. You have to stay away from such temptations. You should also keep in mind the structure of the mock/mock interview board. You should take admission in such an institute where experienced and expert people are available.

what is your attitude

You should always remember that this is an imaginary/pseudo interview. Not genuine. I want to emphasize this point because I have seen many candidates mistakenly do displacement of goals in this situation. They consider the path as the destination. Imaginary/pseudo interviews are just a way to reach the destination of personality test. Instead of learning through imaginary/pseudo interview, they start considering it as real interview. As a result of this thinking, they are not able to learn from the feedback received and are not able to learn any lessons from the mistakes made during this time. You should never do this.

You must clearly write down every aspect of the responses you receive in each mock/mock interview in your personality test diary. Now you should prepare how to overcome your shortcomings and strengthen your strengths. Now you have to keep in mind that during the next imaginary / mock interview, you work as per this plan and after this you should analyze to what extent you have been successful in working as per the plan made by you.

Response to hypothetical interview board

Generally, it is observed that only 1 or 2 members of the imaginary pseudo interview board have some expertise in this field and the rest are not very knowledgeable. Many times the entire board is a group of such persons. Therefore, you have to be very careful about the selection of responses received during such imaginary mock interviews. When I say choice, I do not mean that you should choose only the positive response or choose only the negative response that makes you feel confident. What I mean by the word ‘selection’ is that you should pay attention to which members are giving you what type of response. For example, it is not appropriate for a person who is not an expert on language to criticize you or praise your linguistics.

Second, never get too stressed by negative feedback. There is no need to be discouraged, rather you should be happy that a negative part of your personality has been brought to notice and can be improved so that it will not be repeated at the time of the actual interview. This applies equally to positive responses also. It is often seen that a positive response brings a feeling of satisfaction to the candidate. You don’t let that happen.

Mock interview for practice

Apart from these mock/mock interviews conducted by educational institutions and NGOs, you can also prepare yourself through what I call “mock interviews with friends” conducted for practice. You can conduct this interview yourself or with the help of your colleagues. There is no doubt that the level of such interviews conducted by you cannot be equal to those imaginary mock interviews because all its members will be aspiring officers themselves, but still it has some benefits of its own.

Firstly, you are now being interviewed by your friends who are fully aware of your weak areas, hence they can educate you better on these topics. Secondly, in this way, many times during the interview process, you will be a board member, that is, you will be interviewing your friends. Now you will be able to better understand the minds and attitudes of board members when asking questions. In this way you will get better information about the questions that the board may ask, hence now you can prepare better.

Point to note: Since everyone here is your friend, there is a possibility that there may be some lack of seriousness in your group and an attitude of carelessness may arise. This must be stopped at all costs. You have to maintain complete seriousness during these discussions. The day and time of these hypothetical interviews should be well decided in advance for the convenience of all the members and everyone should be present at the right time.

Worth noting: Too many fictitious/pseudo interviews can give a feeling of some travelogue in your answers. Take special care of this. Also, do not practice some standard questions too much because if this happens then the board will come to know that it is your rehearsal or some educational institute has made you write such answers.

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