The Purpose of a Job Interview Interviewing cannot be viewed just as a two way conversation, but as a process of social interaction. Personal interview is the most flexible tool that helps to obtain the most accurate information about the prospective candidate as the presence of the interviewer makes it hard for the respondent to report incorrectly. You might have seen some poker players with a winning spree. That is because of their ability to guess opponent’s potential apart from their own knowledge about the game. The same applies to an effective interviewer who elicits the most appropriate information from the interviewee by gauging his potential and scope. Ambience: The ambience of an interview should facilitate the respondents to freely come out with their ideas about what they expect from the job and also what they are capable of contributing in terms of lifting the organization to greater heights. Fear generally grips freshers who may not have had exposure to such situations that decides their future. Even before completing their engineering or professional courses students get placed in very good companies that offer much scope in terms of pay and career advancement. It has become statutory for these students to express themselves in the most impressive manner to capture the interest of the interviewers and to outsmart their rivals competing for the same position or capacity. Body Language: Your body language speaks volumes about the self confidence you possess, whether you are really capable of leading. Pleasing personality is definitely a plus and it is a winning strategy to get noticed among the pool of prospects. Try to be as modest and dignified in your behavior and attitude but at the same time be self assured to avoid any question that falls beyond the scope of discussion or if it is aimed to puncture your ego. Stress Interviews: Most of the stress interviews are structured in order to test the tolerance level of the prospective employees given a crisis situation and also to judge their decision making skills in such a situation. Rapid fire questions are thrown before you, wherein either you can buy some time to think, keep quiet to prove your self control or burst open and check out. Higher level management interviews are of this order as managers of the senior levels and CEO’s are constantly exposed to pressure situations and they need to keep their think tank cool to keep going. Systematic interviewing using lucid language is welcome. The session must be to the point and the respondent should not lose interest in the interview. Emotional and leading questions better be avoided. The interviewer must be a trained man who has the ability to conduct the interview in the most natural way and also should be well informed about all the possible and important aspects about the prospective candidates. Hypothetical Questions: Recent trend is to ask hypothetical questions where the respondent has to place himself in a particular situation and arrive at solutions. This probes beyond the skill sets that the respondent possesses and it concentrates on the crisis management ability, presence of mind and the quick wit of individuals. Corporate companies conduct their interviews in a completely different manner. They are more concerned about the attitude, morale, soft skills, role analysis and the like. How an individual performs as a member of a team or a group and how well he can lead his team in times of crisis are a matter of concern in big corporates. Say for instance, if you are the head of a company, what possible changes would you bring in terms of sales, marketing and production? What will be...

Debtor Management or Receivables Management Profit is directly proportional to the volume of sales, provided all your business transactions are cash based. Is it possible for a manufacturer, wholesaler or retailer to carry on his business without offering credit in this competitive business environment? The answer is a definite “no”, because extension of credit improves your sales and thus your profit. Problems arise only when a firm is not able to recover the debt within the stipulated period of time from the customers. What is receivables management or debtors’ management? It covers two aspects- one, the kind of money that is being invested in debt rotation; second, the risk factor which includes loss of money or the opportunity cost foregone by the organisation. Had these funds not been tied in receivables, the firm would have invested the same elsewhere and earned income thereon. A transaction entirely through cash is definitely a possible option, but whether it is lucrative in the long run must be subject to consideration. When customers are not offered credit, they choose concerns that extend credit facilities and thus you may lose your earlier customers and also exposed to the risk of declining sales proportions. Credit Sales In credit sales, the supplier offers credit for a specific time period, which is an investment from the angle of supplier and largest single source of short term financing from the angle of the customer. The supplier should be able to recover the amount of interest on the credit investment he has made. How? Recovery of debt within the stipulated credit period Taking interest from the customer for the period of delay Volume sales Surplus capital to offset these negative impacts on rotation of funds Proper formulation and execution of credit policies by the finance manager Discipline in collection policy and its execution. Discounts Cash discounts, quantity discounts and trade discounts are offered by many firms to the customers to encourage credit sales, favoring bulk purchases. A firm cannot be expected to survive long by pursuing the policy of cash sales while similar firms can overtake it by adapting to liberal credit policies. The main aspects of receivables management decisions are as follows: Time period of credit Credibility of the customer Cash discounts Trade discounts Learn the basics of the Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Cash Flow Statement and understand how they fit together. Credit Policy Credit policy on one hand stimulates sales and so also its gross earnings, but on the other may be accompanied by added costs, such as: 1) Clerical expenses involved in investigating additional accounts and servicing added volume of receivables, 2) increased bad-debt losses due to credit extension to less credit worthy customers, 3) higher cost of capital. Incremental earnings from increased sales should be matched with incremental costs that arise due to credit terms, to avoid funds being tied up in receivables. In course of time it would deprive you of your profits. The pivotal consideration of your credit policy would be the selection of credit worthy customers or debtors. If your funds become sticky, recovery becomes next to impossible and you need to proceed legally to claim your rights. Properly maintained accounting records and vouchers will stand as a testimony in your favor, in the court of...