Table of Contents
Introduction
Communication during technical interviews is typically the act of developing meaning among entities or groups through the use of mutually understood signs, symbols and conventions. It is largely concerned with the way one expresses themselves, whether they’re able to get the other person to understand their opinion/idea or are able to convey one’s thoughts with ease.
What is Communication?
The art of communication is often misinterpreted as good spoken and verbal English skills but it essentially is an amalgamation of the way you express yourself and the medium in which you express yourself. The medium depends upon the situation you’re in. So if we need to appear for an interview to get the role in the corporate industry, English is the go-to language.
Effective communication during technical interviews forms the basis of coordination among people working together and enables fluent working. In the modern world, the growth of telecommunication, information technology and the growing competition and complexity in production have increased the importance of communication in organisations large and small irrespective of their type and kind.
A corporate executive must be in a position to communicate effectively with his superiors, colleagues in other departments and subordinates. This will make him perform well and enable him to give his hundred per cent to the organisation.
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Effective ways to improve Communication Skills
People with good communication skills are preferred during job interviews as it is greatly useful at the workplace in overcoming diversities, building trust and respect, and creating conditions for sharing creative ideas and solving problems. Good communication skills enable managers to receive and send negative or heavy messages without creating disruption of trust. It helps in improving problem-solving skills, empowers one to work productively, and makes quicker and stronger decisions.
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- Over 80% of Americans think that employee communication is a key factor in creating trust with their employers (Slideshare).
- 81% of recruiters identify interpersonal skills as important (mba.com).
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- 57% of recruiters say interpersonal skills will grow in demand over the next five years (mba.com).
- 98% of top salespeople identify relationships as the most important factor in generating new business (Salesforce).
- According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, 73.4% of employers want a candidate with strong written communication skills (Inc.).
- Companies lose on average $62.4 million per year because of inadequate communication to and between employees (SHRM).
- 37% of managers are uncomfortable having to give direct feedback about their employees’ performance if they think the employee might respond negatively to the feedback (Harvard Business Review).
- 28% of employees report poor communication as the primary cause of failing to deliver a project within its original time frame, according to a survey by the Computing Technology Industry Association (Bluesource).
How to improve your communication skills for technical interviews?
- Put yourself in difficult situations: This will give you immense confidence. Put yourself out and be expressive, make videos, start talking to people, make conversation in college society and clubs, start teaching or take sessions.
- Improve your listening: A vital part of communication is listening. If you start a conversation with someone you have to be able to listen and respond. Start talking to your peers and make conversation carefully after listening attentively.
- Ensure you are understood: You can use techniques like reading non-verbal communication and asking questions to make sure you are understood. When speaking, pay attention to the non-communication of others such as seeing the interviewer nod their head in agreement.
- Imagine yourself in the audience’s position: Think of their demographic and shared characteristics. Ask: What do they want to find out? What level are they expecting in terms of knowledge and experience?
How to improve your English Skills for technical interviews?
Practice is the key here so put yourself out and overcome your nervousness. Overlook your vocab initially and keep speaking in English- talk to yourself and the people around you. Talk to your friends only in English and appear for as many mock interviews as possible. Prepare beforehand for HR questions like:
- Tell me about yourself
- What are your strengths?
- What are your weaknesses?
- Why would you like to work here?
Make a rough map of your answer so that you are able to express and speak confidently during interviews.
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Communication Skills vs English Skills for technical interviews
In the interview, you will be judged based on your technical skills so make sure you are able to express your thought process without any difficulty. Work on your communication skills as it holds much more value than English skills. The interviewers don’t need fancy English but make sure to communicate in minimal correct grammar.
Communication skills for interviews for technical interviews
While solving problems, speak out loud, walk through your thought process and talk about your solution. Explain why and how you are coding. Get into the habit of explaining every bit about your code as to why you chose that particular data structure, what is the time and space complexity of your code, how you can optimise it further etc.
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Frequently Asked Questions
It is essential to know that communication skills and English skills are different, and you don’t necessarily have to speak well in English to be a great communicator. That being said, it is also extremely important to understand that the interviewers during your interview might not always know Hindi, and so it becomes critical to speak well in English. Make sure to always code out loud and explain the code to yourself.
Watching English movies, listening to podcasts, reading newspapers are all great ways to expand your vocabulary. Still, in the end, it comes down to you taking the opportunity to practice as much as you can, through teaching people, making content, talking to friends in English and more.
Conclusion
Don’t worry much about English and focus on your communication skills. It’s helpful in and outside of interviews. Once you get used to talking and expressing without getting nervous, you will automatically become fluent in speech. Hence, put yourself out in uncomfortable situations, gradually it will get better and you’ll become confident.
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By Jyotsna Tiwary
