Tips To Crack Just A Minute [JAM] in a Job Interview

 

Job Interview Steps: Know The Tips To Crack Just A Minute [JAM] Round And Stay Ahead

The Importance of JAM [Just A Minute] in a Job Interview Process

 

Just a Minute or JAM as it is popularly known in the Job Interview Process is a means that is used by the recruiters to shortlist quality candidates from hundreds and thousands of applicants.

 

JAM is a preliminary round for the candidates to qualify for the next round of the interview process.

 

How Is JAM Conducted?

 

The candidates participating in the job interview process are given a topic on the spot by the evaluator representing the hiring company. There is no syllabus for the topic decided by the evaluator. The candidate will never know what topic he may be called upon to speak about. The topic can be anything serious or even humorous.

 

What Is The Objective of Conducting JAM?

 

There are companies that may require their employees to possess confidence along with a good hold on their verbal communication. JAM is one of the ways to test these qualities. In addition, a lot of other qualities can be judged by the evaluator about the candidate by just listening to him speak.

 

In the video below I share with you some of the qualities and skills that a company looks for in a candidate.

 

JOB INTERVIEW Tips | How to handle JUST A MINUTE | 5 Points to CRACK JAM

 

In addition to the objectives shared in the video above there are certain rules that a candidate needs to practice and follow if she has to clear the JAM.

 

Rules of JAM:

 

1. No Hesitation: As the candidate is asked to speak, he should not hesitate to begin his talk. Hesitation and use of fillers can become hurdles in his selection.

 

2. No Deviation from the Topic: The evaluator wants the candidate to speak on the topic given to him. Unfortunately, many candidates speak about what they know and not what is being asked. This sends a negative message to the evaluator.

 

Before you start speaking make sure you have understood the topic. But don’t waste your 10-15 seconds in silence.

 

3. No Repetition: Repeating a word or a phrase many a time in a one-minute speech makes the whole talk boring. It shows that the candidate doesn’t have enough content to speak. This also gets the candidate rejected.

 

Avoid repetition at all costs. Either you should have enough content to sail you through that one minute or you should develop the capability to build on the content as you speak.

 

4 Key Elements of Success in JAM:

 

1. Use Short, Simple, Easy and Interesting Sentences as you speak:

How do we eat our food? One bite at a time. Even though we may eat a plate full but we take one bite at a time. Similar is the case when you are speaking. Keep your sentences short. This way you will have control over the sentence and your audience will also be able to understand it better because you will be serving them your thoughts one small sentence at a time.

 

At the same time, your sentences should be simple and easy to understand. Most people think that if it is easy it should be boring. For example – when someone asks you ‘How are you?’ the easiest answer is ‘fine’ or ‘good’ or ‘not bad’. These answers are simple but are boring. You have to make them interesting by being creative. In the above example, you can say – ‘I am fantastic’ or ‘I feel energetic’ or ‘I am excited’.

 

If you fail to add the element of interest in your speech people will get bored and they will consider you as mediocre as others. In the job interview process, you will face lots of competition because most people speak just for the sake of answering the question. They don’t enjoy or feel what they are speaking as a result they fail to make an impact on the audience.

 

2. Make sure your speech is understandable by your listener:

 

Have you ever witnessed a speech where you understood the words being spoken but after the speech, you wondered what was the talk all about?

 

This happens to us most of the time even during normal day to day conversation. We say something but the listener doesn’t understand. We then have to repeat the same thing but in different words.

 

But in JAM you will not get a second chance. Nobody will tell you that they didn’t understand and will not ask you to repeat. It is you who has to make sure that whatever you are speaking, the audience is able to understand.  For this, you have to structure your speech in such a way that it follows logic.

 

You may argue that – If I can understand, why can’t they? The answer is, when you are speaking you may be imagining things about the topic. A lot goes on in the mind based on which you come out with a sentence. The listener is unaware of all these. He doesn’t know what you are thinking as you speak. His only connection to you is through your words and sentences. Therefore, it’s your duty to phrase your thoughts in such a manner that they can hold on to each sentence that you speak and make a logical connection.

 

Hard work?  - Yes!

 

But with ample practice life can be easy.

 

3. Make sure you are audible to your audience:

 

In order for people to understand you, the first crucial point is that they should be able to hear you. And for them to be able to hear you, you should be audible to them.

 

Before you start speaking you should have gauged the size of your audience and the place where you will be speaking. Based on the surrounding you should decide the volume of your voice.

 

4. Show confidence as you speak: 

 

Simply speaking is not enough. While participating in JAM one has to speak with confidence.

 

How does one gain confidence?

 

Unfortunately, people have the wrong notion of being confident. They believe that if they think they are confident, they will be confident. Thanks to millions of motivational speakers, they have been bombarded with the mantra - believe in yourself. But they have not been shown the path of how to develop that belief in themselves.

 

I believe confidence comes from taking continuous action in a certain field. Say, you want to gain confidence in public speaking. However confident you feel, if you have not practiced, you will never be able to perform with confidence. On the other hand, if you have practiced hard you will ooze with confidence and come out a winner.

 

The only way to show confidence in your speech is to practice hard.

 

Practice is doing the same thing again and again without losing enthusiasm or getting bored.

 

Individuals who have risen to their peak performance in any field have indulged in years and years of deliberate practice.

 

If you want to shine in Just A Minute, you need to stand up and speak on as many varied topics as you can. Stand up in front of your friends, classmates, and mirror and speak as if you are the master of that topic. Of course, for this, you will have to research and prepare the topic. That is a part of your preparation.

 

Taking This Forward

Speaking impromptu or without having time to prepare is a skill that can be learned through enough practice. Developing this communication skill will not only help you scale your job interview process, but it will also serve you in becoming a social person who has the ability to be a part of almost any conversation.

 

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