text: Hi Gharsha,\n\nMy experience throughout group discussions is that you should demonstrate actively your mentality but with correctness and intelligence. Indeed, being relaxed and confident helps a lot, but not to the point they perceive you may be too comfortable or even arrogant. Yes, perceptions count and often they buy-in the wrong ones! \n\nWhen it comes to a personal interview is easier because you don’t have to compete, only to be honest and give the interviewer as much useful info as you can. Some questions are surprisingly ambiguous, e.g.: “talk me about you”. Don’t panic! You have to follow a coherent line, so sometimes is good for you to require a more specific question –keeping your nice smile-: “Oh, yes…like about how I look at myself? Or about my family? About my past, student experience? About my latest work experience?” Obviously the answers are free, but being a little bit more specific info helps you not to panic (and getting your mind in blank!). \n\nI guess the most difficult part comes when they ask you to talk about “future”. Great businessmen have warned me you’ve just to tell companies what they expect to listen. If you plan to study a master or doctorate in France within 2 years, probably they won’t hire someone who will quit the company in an early future, so don’t say it!!! You dream to work in that company, and you’ll be there the rest of your life working for them –that’s what they expect to listen. Despite the prior, make it clear you’re a person with ambitions and not mediocre –just keep your aces under your sleeves, gotcha?- They hire what they need, and… believe me, when you’re not useful to them anymore, it’d be real strange if they don’t fire you. For me, too, that’s a tough point, but hey, it’s globalization, and nowadays loyalty doesn’t exist at all, likely a multi-national company just buy a little company and then everybody’s out. \n\nAdditionally, is always interesting to ask about the performance, growing, development, career opportunities and: THE GOLDEN RULE: The salary and benefits package, always, always are discussed at the end of interviews or negotiations, don’t even mention it if they don’t touch that issue, wait at the end –when they seem to be so interested on you-. If the company is real good and you really project yourself staying there some time, you can always sacrifice a little money, exchanging it for experience, vitae, training or relationships in order to escalate to better positions-in that company or any other one-.\n\nI hope those tips helped you. Please pardon my English mistakes, but Spanish, Catalan and French really mix my mind up!\n\nGood luck, and tell me if you succeed!\n\nAlfonso