Viva-voce

A manager is supposed to be a good communicator. As a budding manager you are not only tested in the examination halls about the conceptual skills you would also be tested in your communication skills. This takes the form of the Viva-voce. The first viva-voce will be held at the end of the second semester and the second viva-voce will be held at the end of the fourth semester. The first viva-voce will test your knowledge of the first two semesters and the second viva-voce will test your knowledge of the entire four semesters.

One of the things that every candidate should posses while facing an interview is presence of mind. A bright freshly minted IIM topper who incidentally was a topper at IIT too had prepared very thoroughly for his interview at his holy grail – HLL (now Hindustan Unilever Limited). He has all his certificates neatly ready. His suit was immaculate and his shoes were shining. As he was entering into the interview room our candidate trips and falls flat on his face. As he is falling he thought “Oh my good here goes my chance of getting in HUL”. Slowly our IIM graduate gets up dusts himself and says “thank god I fell in good company!” The horrified interviewers were greatly relieved at his ready wit. It goes without saying that our IIM graduate got his dream assignment at HUL and went on to become one of the top honchos at HUL.

Some do’s and don’ts for facing in the viva-voce or an interview:

• Wear a good and clean dress, remember first impressions are the best impressions

• For god’s sake no bad odor. Invest in a good deodorant.

• For men dark trousers and light shirt with a tie is a very appropriate dress. Always see that you wear formal shoes and that your hair is combed properly and that you are cleanly shaved

• For the women any appropriate dress will do. If you are comfortable in saree do wear it. You appear more mature.

• Knock before you enter the room,

• Wish all the members a cheerful “Good morning”

• Wait till a examiner asks you to sit down

• St down with a thank you. Sit upright and don’t slouch in the chair. Don’t put hands on the table (you might drum the table. Definite sign of nervousness).

• Don’t cross your legs (a sign of defensiveness). Sit upright, put your chin up and show that you are a confident person and that you are going to enjoy the viva-voce,

• Listen carefully and don’t interrupt,

• Answer clearly and audibly. Please don’t mumble,

• Don’t try to bluff. The examiner will catch you out,

• Even if you don’t agree with the examiner don’t argue. Nobody has got better marks by arguing

• Don’t make irritating noises like dragging of chairs, hitting the table with your pen or coughing. They irritate the examiners.

• Always maintain eye contact. Not maintaining eye contact means that you are unsure about what you say

• Always try to illustrate what you say with examples. Examiners are known to appreciate when you lace theory with examples

Don’t show that you are nervous. Keep smiling and at the end don’t forget to thank the examiners for their time.