Just A Minute JAM session Part 1

It got published in Gyan Vitaranam An English magazine for the career conscious youth and teens.

Steps for a successful JAM Session

BY VIVEKANAND  RAYAPEDDI

 JAM is an elimination round, for sure. Hey don’t lose heart or don’t get disturbed. You can think positively, if you are thorough with the steps that we suggest here, you can eliminate others. Thus JAM is not a bad round, it is a blessing in disguise for you.

A winner makes every obstacle as his stepping stone; I know that you are a winner. Come on take up the challenge.

In the modern interview process, JAM has become an inseparable part.  When the employer is particular about the English Language Skills and Communication skills of the candidate, the only quick test that is available for him is JAM session.

 When the candidates are many and the job openings are few, the employer has to take in only the best of the pack. Thus in the modern interview process, before short-listing the candidates for the HR round, the HR team goes for ‘JustA Minute’ (JAM)round.

Of course, those who may not be appearing for any interview need not neglect the power of JAM. It serves the purpose of self diagnosing one’s Communication skills and the skills of English Language. It helps every individual, irrespective of age and qualification to self test and sharpen one’s skills.

Before we get into the nitty-gritty of the topic, first, let us think from the angle of the interviewer for a while.  Let us take this real life situation, as an example.

An organization wants engineering graduates who have a project pertinent to their industry, with an aggregate of 70% and above score. The organization is very particular that the candidate should be good at C++ and Java and he/she must also have a minimum 1 year of work experience. Suppose, there are only five openings, the applicants are around 50 and most of them have aforesaid credentials.

Now what differentiates the candidates one from the other? How can the HR get the best five candidates? This is what the HR’s prime concern is.

When there are many candidates with desired profile, then the HR wants to test them for their extra skills. The candidates with all the aforesaid eligibility criteria PLUS excellent Communication Skills with a fantastic Grip over English and Presence of Mind will be the right picks. So that, they can be great team players, and can be live-wires in the organization.

They may come in handy when the organization needs to send one or two overseas for a project at a client’s place. Is there any such tool, which can discern the candidates with these extra abilities? Undoubtedly, JAM fits the bill.

Now let us see the plight of an engineering student, Aruna. She is a topper all the way in her academic career.  It was a black day for her. Because for the first time in her life, she faced a rejection. She just could not digest this fact for a long time.

Over all these years, right from her LKG to Engineering, she has never participated in any Elocution Competitions, Seminar Presentations and Debates or in any activities where she can get an opportunity to put forward her ideas into what may be called a public speech.

She simply focused on getting good grades, ranks, percentages and marks. That’s it. Of course she had attended project reviews, gave the final seminar and faced viva voce of her project and labs during her engineering course. To be frank, it was a nightmarish experience to her on all those occasions. Since those were mainly academic-based situations, she could manage them with an effort. She never realized that she should work on her “Weakness”.

A winner is one, who always considers his weakness as ‘An area for improvement’. If you feel that, ‘you don’t know something’ that is a weakness. If you feel that, ‘till date I don’t know that, however let me learn it’, it is called an area for improvement.

The choice is yours, would you like to live with your weakness or would you like to take it as an opportunity to improve your personality.

Candidates sure have to work on their SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats). Once one understandsone’s strengths and weaknesses, life is going to be easy for them. However, weakness remains a weakness, if one thinks, “I don’t know” or “It’s not my cup of tea.” But a weakness becomes an area for improvement, if one starts working on it and is willing to face the problem squarely.

Aruna was fortunate enough to find a trainer who guided and mentored her to get the best out of a JAM session. She followed his advice and got selected in the next interview.

So, what did the trainer teach Aruna? Don’t you want to know it?

Let us also start learning these skills and let us master them. I am sure you won’t rue like Aruna did at first, once you analyze the ins and outs of a JAM.

As told in my earlier article in the last issue, by this JAM session, the interviewer tests the following skills of the candidate in a jiffy:

·         Self-confidence,

·         Communication skills,

·         Spoken English &fluency,

·         Flow of thoughts,

·         Flow of speech,

·         Coherence,

·         Spontaneity & GK,

·         Time management and

·         Sense of humor

If you just follow the steps given below, you can demonstrate that you got in you what the interviewer wants.

·         Smile! Be confident. Don’t be nervous.

·         Begin on a thanking note.

·         Define the topic in a simple language.

·         Give brief details-- past/present/future

·         Speak with a clear & audible voice

·         Use correct grammar

·         Comprehensive approach-related topics – SPELT Method (Social, Political, Economic, Legal/Language, Technical issues of the topic)

·         “KISS” principle (Keep it Simple and Straight)

·         Positive outlook

·         Conclude on a thanking note

·         Let us study the above steps a bit deeply.

Be Confident and Show Positive Attitude

Through your smile you can show that you are relaxed and you are pretty confident. Always greet the interviewer with a genuine smile. A smile speaks volumes about your confidence. However the smile should be genuine, I repeat. An artificial smile raises doubts about your integrity.

Why one should have Positive Attitude?

The positive attitude is the quintessential prerequisite for a successful person. Especially a leader must always possess and demonstrate positive attitude. In any organization, every employee looks forward to having colleagues who are full of positive spirit and cooperative nature. Thus the JAM session gives the employer an opportunity to zero in on the candidate with positive attitude.

But talking good about anything and everything is not positive attitude. Many people make a mistake here.

Of late, there has been so much talk about positive attitude. Good amount of literature is available on the ‘net’, and many self-help books also focus on this theme. However, if you don’t take the meaning of positive attitude in its right spirit, youhave to face music.

For example, if the interviewer asks you to talk about Ajmal Kasab, what should you do?

Just have a glance at the following answer by a candidate. Indeed, it was an answer given by a B. Tech. student, during a recent campus Interview! He took positive attitude means, talking high about anything and every thing.

“AjmalKasab is really very dedicated. He is so courageous, I just adore his grit. Moreover, he is very good at shooting, his aiming is very perfect. He is active and agile and blah... blah... blah...”

You just do not agree with the above style of narration, right? So is the interviewer. I was one among the panel members. After the interview, out of curiosity I asked the candidate why he did so answer. His reply gave us a bit of a shock and a revelation for us: “My trainer’s suggestion was to talk positive in the HR round of the interview”.

So the point you need to take is-- being positive doesn’t necessarily mean, “always talking good about everything and not being critical about anything.” We need to exercise our discretion. To put it plainly, one needs to use just one’s common sense.

Let me give you a powerful tip now!

You can be critical, if the need is there. However, a leader is one, who focuses more on solutions, rather than listing the negative points of the persons or the things.

In the above example itself, you can regret the negative turns that took place in the life of this anti social element named Kasab.  You can give solutions, how he would have become a decent citizen, you can give solutions, how the whole tragic incident would have been avoided.

Mentioning negative points and problems during your presentation should be minimal.

I repeat, you should talk less about the negative aspects and problems in your presentation. However, at times, the topic warrants you to talk critical or even negative. Then there is no other go. You need to mention the critical and negative points.

 However, you are strongly advised to give minimum two or more solutions to that particular problem, so that you can present yourself to be a solution-oriented person, rather than a problem-obsessed one.

Let us take a topic, “Traffic Snarls in Hyderabad”

Here obviously, you can’t talk positive about ‘Traffic Jams’ in the city. If I start my presentation saying, “Traffic jam is a beautiful experience, it is nice to get caught in a traffic jam etc,” it does not show my positive attitude;it certainly shows that I require some psychiatric counseling. Definitely this is not a positive attitude.

Show your positive attitude by following steps:

Accept the problem. But do not be hyper-critical. Bring it in as a matter of fact.

Then try to analyze the root cause behind the problem.

Never criticize any one in particular; if you need to do so, empathize.

Give the most suitable and practical solutions

Give as many solutions as possible

Try to think innovatively, cost-effectively.

Be realistic and don’t go overboard and far-fetched.

Let us consider one answer on the above lines:

“Thank you very much for giving me this opportunity, sir. Hyderabad is a beautiful city. It is rated as a fast growing city. However, along with the growth of a city, people from various parts of the county do come here to make this city their second home.

When it comes to traffic snarls, Hyderabad is not the only city which is facing this menace. It is a common problem in all the booming cities across the world. Experts opine that, when compared with other major cities, the traffic problems in Hyderabad are not that worst. However it is advised, in the interest of all, to nip the problem in the bud.

For this, we need to address the issue of widening the roads. The authorities should take strong steps to acquire the space on both sides of the existing roads, and on a war-footing, they should widen the roads.

By focusing on Rapid Mass Transportation Systems like Metro Trains System, we can cut down on the number of vehicles including autos, cabs and city buses. People also should co-operate with the traffic authorities by going for pooling of cars etc.

With these measures, I feel the Traffic Snarls can be avoided to a great extent.”

Thus we can always tailor our answer with a positive tone despite the unavoidable minimum of negativity.

Let us come to Communication Skills.

First, let us understand the essence of it.

Beginning on a thanking note and with a pleasant facial expression, show that you are a good communicator. A demonstrative person alone is welcomed by the industry.

Be open.

Be pleasant.

Impress with your self-esteem; feel happy with your disposition.

“Good morning sir, my name is Bhashyam ArunaDevi. You can call me Aruna”. Abeginning like this makes a good impression and establishes the fact that you are a good communicator and a natural speaker.

A good communicator is always happy with oneself (Self-esteem), and he/she is equally happy with the surroundings (positive attitude and inclusive approach).

If you make your presentation with precise grammar and apt words, it displays your language skills

If it reaches others’ ears, it is communication. (Transmission of ideas)

If others understand it, agree with you and feel okay with your communication, it is an endorsement of your Effective Communication Skills

The essence is that if you have to say anything, your objective should be to make others to put themselves in your shoes. If your words, ideas, talk reach others’ ears, that is good; but your objective should be to make them convinced of what you have said. Precisely this is the difference between, mere communication and Skillful Communication. Your target should be, to master communication skills. The others should listen, empathize and agree with you.

Let us suppose, you have to say, “Anand, your shirt is not good”. Well, if you say so, it reaches me, I get your communication. However, there is no guarantee that I readily agree with you. After all, I wear a shirt only if I like it, right?

An effective communicator tries this way, “Anand, this white shirt which you wear now,is really good. However I remember the dark one you wore yesterday. Personally, I feel dark suits you better. This shirt is good, but why don’t you try going in for dark ones more, at least for change?”

Here the message is the same; however, the chances are that the listener may give a benefit of your conviction. This is the way you can hone your Communication Skills.

Let us know about Spoken English and Fluency

When you follow the above techniques viz. – define the topic, few lines about the past, present and future, and then the SPELT method-- all these things help you in two ways:

You will be in a position to give a picture that you have a good thought-process and that there is no dearth of ideas on any given topic.

You can establish that you have got a great grip over Grammar.

Here is a small word of advice. You should never falter in grammar. It is high time you got your Spoken English polished.

Also remember that concluding on a thanking note shows that you are comfortable and not tensed.

Thus, though the JAM session may be a hurdle for others, but not for you. If you just practise the above techniques, for sure, you are going to come out with flying colors from a JAM session.

All the best.

Please go through also my earlierarticle on JAM in the last issue for a comprehensive understanding of the JAM session.