Most BBA graduates have good grades, attendance records, and glamorous mark sheets, but cannot work well during interviews. This brings disappointment because students tend to think that good grades should be sufficient to obtain entry-level positions in the corporate world. Nevertheless, interviews exist to determine a lot more than theoretical knowledge or results in the exam.
Key Reasons Why BBA Students Face Interview Challenges
In situations where students are mainly concerned with the ability to score highly in exams but not develop skills, have experience in the industry, and understand themselves, there is a disconnect between being academic and being employable. This loophole is most obvious when it comes to interviews, where the practicality is more important than grades. The recruiters assess candidates based on their communication skills, problem-solving attitude, confidence, and business environment knowledge.
Lack of Practical Business Exposure
BBA programs provide students with the fundamental business concepts, but many students have difficulties linking the theory and the practical environment. Recruiters may also use situational or scenario-based questions during interviews, which are tests of pragmatic knowledge as opposed to textbook definitions.
Students are not exposed to internships, live projects, and case-based learning, and therefore, they cannot respond to such questions with confidence.
Common Gaps Include:
• Inability to articulate concepts with actual businesses.
• Low knowledge of organizational processes.
• failure to connect academic education and job descriptions.
Lack of Good Communication and Articulation Skills
High academic grades cannot necessarily achieve good communication skills. Most of the BBA students are aware of the answers and are not able to articulate their thoughts in a professional, confident, and clear way in the interviews.
The recruiters appreciate clarity of thinking and articulation, as most business jobs involve presentations, discussions, and dealing with clients.
The Issues Encountered During Interviews:
• Hesitation while speaking
• The use of too much theoretical language without clarity.
• Problems with the logical organization of answers.
Excessive Dependence on Memorization
In an academic setting, memorization, as opposed to understanding, reasoning, and adaptability, is commonly rewarded. Students who are heavy users of memorized answers would find it difficult to cope with interview questions that do not according to the expected patterns.
Follow-ups are purposefully posed to recruiters to check on the depth of understanding, which reveals superficial preparation.
Impact of Rote Learning:
• Lack of ability to deal with unforeseen questions.
• Superficial description of business concepts.
• Lack of confidence during questioning.
Limited Awareness of Corporate Expectations
A number of BBA students do not have knowledge of the corporate culture, role expectations, and industry professionalism in terms of entering an interview. This leads to generic responses, which are not impressive to recruiters.
The interviewers seek candidates with knowledge of how organizations operate and what is expected of entry-level professionals.
Lack of Awareness Shows Up As:
• Lack of comprehension of the job duties.
• Imaginative salary or growth expectations.
Inadequate Soft Skill Development
Teamwork, flexibility, emotional intelligence, and professionalism are some of the soft skills that are essential in the business world. Regrettably, these skills are hardly tested during exams; thus, they are disregarded by students.
Recruiters evaluate these characteristics during the behavior-based questions and interactions in the interviews.
Typical Areas of Weakness in Soft Skills are:
• inability to manage or process feedback or criticism.
• Deficit in confidence in group discussions.
• Despite having attended the university, poor professional etiquette.
Minimal Interview Preparation Strategy
Most students only prepare for a few days before the interview, and they are more concerned with academic subjects. This short-term preparation does not help to cover personality, communication style, and self-presentation.
The interviewing performance needs to be prepared and improved over a long period of time.
Some of the Mistakes in Preparation Include
• Ignoring mock interviews
• Not researching the company
• Not exercising structured answers.
Lack of the Ability to Prove Problem-Solving Skills
Recruiters have high expectations of the candidates who are able to think rationally and systematically solve problems. Students of BBA usually find it difficult to respond to interview questions that are analytical or based on a case since they have not been trained to think outside the box.
Problem-solving skill reveals the way in which a candidate will work in an actual business scenario.
The Following Challenges were Noticed During the Interview:
• Jumping to conclusions without analysis.
• Lack of the ability to decompose problems.
• Ineffective thinking and rationale.
Low Confidence and High Anxiety Levels
Most students find themselves victims of interview anxiety because of the fear of being judged or not being exposed, although they have good academic performance. Nervousness influences body language, voice modulation, and clarity of answers.
Confidence is important in the perception of answers by interviewers.
Problems that Relate to Confidence are
• Avoiding eye contact
• talking either too low or too quickly.
• Retarding rehearsed points.
Lack of Self-Knowledge and Career Precision
Interviewers usually inquire about the candidates about their strengths, weaknesses, and career aspirations. Students who have never analyzed themselves are unable to respond to such questions with a sense of conviction.
Self-awareness assists the candidates in making themselves genuine and strategic.
Signs of Low Self-Awareness:
• Weaknesses and strengths that are generic.
• Unclear long-term goals
• Failure to fit with the job being requested.
Conclusion
Academic excellence in studies is an indicator of discipline and conceptual knowledge, whereas interviews are used to evaluate the ability of a candidate to work in a real business setting. Students at the BBA level fail in the interview sessions not because they are not bright, but because academic excellence does not nurture skills in communicating, getting practical experience, gaining confidence, and having corporate awareness. The only way to address this gap is to pay a fair amount of attention to the theory, skills, and practical experience during the academic process. Learning institutions such as Aravali College of Engineering and Management have realized this challenge and focus on holistic growth in terms of industry exposure, skill development programs, and careerist training and development in order to ensure that students who have good academic backgrounds translate these backgrounds into meaningful work careers.