Mending your Communication Skills in College for Job Interviews (Sunday Series)

 

Sujith Kumar is the head of HR in Infosys, India. He goes for recruiting in engineering campuses. He stresses that the students should be proficient in soft skills. He mentioned an incident in the Pondicherry university recruitment drive. While interviewing the topper from Pondicherry University, he noticed that the topper with 96% cannot communicate in English. He answered in yes or no only. He could not recruit him. The placement officer charged Sujith Kumar that why he did not recruit the topper. Sujith told the TPO that when he had asked the topper to go ahead with the answer, the boy went out of the room and had to send for him by the peon. Then, he asked why he had left without answering the questions. He said, “Sir, you said go”. He did not understand the difference between go ahead and go. You can check the story in his videos.

There are two types of communication skills. One is required to communicate your thoughts, and the other is necessary to maintain healthy communication in workplaces and society.  While studying in colleges, we are concerned with the first one only. The second one will be required when you get older.

For excellent communication, you have to have good command over the spoken aspect of the English language. In India, students are taught in the mother tongue. Though they read and write English well, they cannot speak fluently. The reason is the non-practice in schools and society while communicating. Hence, this aspect never grows in us. Suddenly, you are asked to express your thoughts and communicate in English in colleges and interviews. You fail to deliver. There is always a way when there is a will. I have gone through websites and videos regarding practical communication skills. I have collected the information and writing in summary form to help you.

Now, let’s get down to the business of practical communication skills. There are specific steps which one should follow religiously. These are given below.

(1) Listen: We learn a language by listening. So, we need to hear more. You watch the news, cricket, commentary, or listen to audiobooks & radio etc. to improve English. This will help you to pronounce better too.

(2) Read: When you read, your vocabulary gets improved. Additionally, your general knowledge increases. Therefore, you have an idea regarding every topic. Most of the time, we cannot say anything because we do not know about the issue. We feel less confident and hesitate to speak. But reading fills that void by making you self confidant to take on anything or everything that comes in the way. One should read editorials of reputed newspapers and magazines of one’s interest to develop the habit. Initially, you will stumble upon new words in every sentence. Slowly, this will get reduced and read without seeing a dictionary. Your vocabulary will be impressive by your surprise. 

(3) Speak:  Once you have developed the habits of listening and reading, we need to focus on the speaking aspect of the problem.  Generally, we do not get opportunity to speak English. That is why spoken English is rusty. You have to take any chance to talk in English. Initially, it may be in broken sentences, but later on, it will improve immensely upon practice. Furthermore, one can take a topic in day to day life and try to express it in English at home by recording his voice over phones. This helps. Now a day, there are online apps and sites which helps you in this regard.The main point is practice and practice. Do whatever suits you.

(4) Observe: One can learn by observing too. When I travelled to Shanghai in 2019, I used Google translate and used to communicate in the Chinese language. In a few days, I picked a few sentences and could go market to buy things by using those small sentences. They always greeted my wife and me with a smile as we tried to speak in their language and still got discounts on items. To learn the language, you need to observe it and repeat it shamelessly. Do not worry. Nobody is going to care much. If somebody laughs at you, let it be. The next day will be yours. You will be better prepared.

These are necessary steps. There are no short cuts. But I would like to tell one thing. One can express better something when he or she understands that thing completely. Most of the time, we cannot express our thought not because of a lack of speaking power but because of understanding deficiency. Always try to understand things wholly to communicate it better. Most of the time, I feel that I can better explain something which I have encountered already. This keeps people interested and hooked to your talk.

Read B.Tech Guide Book to be a conscious engineer  by going through this link.

 

Follow us on twitter: The Review