What really matters in interview room (Campus Recruitment Special)

I've been hearing from students that many "Campus Recruitment Experts" are visiting colleges and scaring students with their 'awesome English' and telling students how 'body language, etiquette, way of speaking and bla blah' decides whether you crack any interview. I'm quite shocked to hear the advice these experts give to students. The common advice given to students is on the lines of -

• Knock only twice on the door.
• Look straight in the eyes of interviewer
• The resume should be at least 1.5 pages 'long'
• Never say "I don't know the answer"
• Present yourself as if you've been born and raised to be an employee of the company
• Your hobbies should be 'reading', philately, numismatics etc.
• (Personal favorite): Your weakness should sound as if your 'strength'. Like "I'm a perfectionist".

What actually happens is that instead of 'preparing' students for the boardroom interviews, students are scared. They try to be 'someone else' [ The Perfect Employee ] and fail badly in interviews. Let's cut the CRAP!

You are a CEan and our aim is to give you the REAL advise. We'd urge you to user your own intelligence and decide which makes more sense and follow it.

What I recommend (You can trust me, because I've been on both sides of the boardroom table, several times 😀 )-

• Pay *lot of* attention to your resume. Don't try to appear smarter in your resume than you are.
• Be calm, cool and respectful in interview.
• Don't think campus interview is your 'do or die' opportunity.
• As I've discussed earlier, think of the interviewer as your distant relative. It helps you relaxed and have a smile on your face.
• Interviewers don't really pay attention to your body language. Just sit naturally, professionally and keep your head cool.
• You don't have to look straight into interviewer's eyes all the time. It looks weird. Be natural.
• Take your time to answer questions. If you know only a bit of the information *relevant* to the answer, discuss it briefly before admitting that you're not aware.
• If you don't know *anything* - say you don't. Avoid posing yourself as "Living Wikipedia".
• Dress well - professionally. You may not wear a tie because it's not comfortable in Indian environment. If it's mandatory to wear a tie, wear it.
• If the interviewer offers tea or coffee or chocolate - it's perfectly okay to say Yes.

If you have questions, post them in this thread.