An interview is definitely more important than any written exam.
So once you are called for an interview,an effective presentation from your side can always tilt the balance in your favour.
To make you a winner this book brings you many sure-shot tips and topics,never offered before by any contemporary book in the Indian market:
*SWOT analysis *Portfolio preparation *Wardrobe tips *Body language
*Interview preparation techniques that use question-and-answer sessions
with analysis of top answers.
*Exhaustive data bank of frequently asked questions and model answers to afford an advantage over other candidates.
*A bonus section containing tips on good résumé writing practices.
About the author:
Jayant Neogy is an MTech in Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur.
While writing this book, he drew upon his diverse, over 40 years top-level managerial and manpower training experience in India and abroad.
To this varied experience, he adds his abiding love for technical writing and his great store of knowledge and skills to produce a genuine career builder, which will prove useful for both fresh and experienced job hunters alike.
PREFACE:
Why Should You Buy This Book?
Let us face it. If you are a topper from an IIT or an IIM, you will probably not have to worry about your next interview or the lack of interview calls. Instead, you will be evaluating alternative job offers! However, for the vast majority of us, getting an interview call, or making sure that a job opportunity does not slip away, can be an all-consuming obsession in our lives at some time or the other. Our palms sweat, our throats run dry and our temples throb as the days go by and the pressure builds up!
As a result of this tension, when fickle opportunity does finally knock on our door, we are unprepared. Therefore, we are unable to give it our best shot. This is a great tragedy indeed!
It need not be so at all. Each one of us has knowledge, skills, aptitude, potential, ability and a burning desire to succeed. What we do not always have is the training and guidance to bring our qualities to the forefront, to package ourselves attractively and to make ourselves desirable in the eyes of the potential employer.
On the one hand, we need to acquire thorough and dispassionate knowledge about ourselves, our personal strengths and weaknesses. On the other hand, we need an understanding of the job s requirements. Then, we need the skill to match our strengths with the job requirements and offer the package to the potential employer with a degree of salesmanship that rarely comes naturally to us.
Sounds like an impossible task? Not at all! These are skills you can learn. What you need is commitment, perseverance and above all, good guidance. The very fact that you have picked up this book is a measure of your commitment and your willingness to work hard. What remains is good guidance.
That is what this book promises to give you all the guidance that you need. On your part, you must promise to put in the toil and the sweat. Together, we will surely ace that interview!
What This Book Can Do For You
Doing well in the interview is all about preparation, practice, packaging and delivery. You prepare by knowing all about yourself. This book introduces you to the unique concept of a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis. You look at your own skills and accomplishments using the same powerful analytical tool that corporate management utilises to compete in the business world. You prepare by researching the company that has called you for the interview. In this book, you will get valuable tips on where to look for information and how to collect it.
After you have a clear understanding of your strengths and the company s needs, you practise your interview response skills. This book will provide you with tips for answering convincingly and to control your body language. As a result, you will be sincere, capable and enthusiastic a winning combination.
The make-over section of this book is all about packaging yourself attractively. Here you will pick up valuable tips on how to dress correctly, groom yourself and carry yourself so that you appear a desirable addition to the staff of any organisation. You also learn how to prepare your professional and job portfolios that you will take with you to your interview.
Effective preparation, research, good dressing and grooming will all come together to inject confidence in your bearing. The practice sessions with the frequently asked questions will put you at ease in any interview situation and you will handle stress easily. You will know how to answer that tricky question, how to persuade the interviewer that you are the ideal candidate for the job and how to negotiate the salary to clinch the best deal for yourself.
The promise of this book is to make you a winner, one who will succeed in any interview.
What This Book Contains
For your comprehensive tutoring in interview success, it is best to read the book right through since all the chapters have something vital to say. However, we know that the needs will vary from reader to reader. With this in mind, the book has been structured so that you can go straight to the chapter that is relevant to you.
For instance, if your interview is tomorrow, you may wish to read Chapters 1 and 9, which work like a last-minute guide. On the other hand, if you are fresh to the job hunt, read Chapter 2, which is written specially for fresh graduates. If your interviews have gone well and you are already at the salary negotiation stage, read Chapter 8 for valuable tips on how to negotiate the best deal for yourself.
No matter what you need, this book has something useful for you! We give you a chapter-wise outline of what this book contains.
Chapter 1 - The Last-Minute Guide
Written especially for those who have little time left to prepare, we cover the key issues so that you can make the best use of the time you have available and, thereby, maximise your chances to ace that interview.
Chapter 2 - Especially for Fresh Graduates
This chapter is written for new entrants to the job market. We help you handle disappointments and show you how to turn things around. We discuss unconventional techniques to generate interview calls and tell you how to attack your career goals on a war footing.
Chapter 3 - Interviews Come in Different Flavours
Interviews can indeed be very different from one another. We discuss the main types and their characteristics in this chapter. Your strategy must be fine-tuned to the specific interview type that you are about to face. You learn the key feature of the campus interview, the walk-in interview and the telephone interview to understand the techniques needed to cope with each type.
Chapter 4 - Good Preparation is Half the Battle
Now we come to the nuts and bolts of preparation. This chapter tells you how to analyse your strengths and weaknesses using SWOT analysis, then to research the industry, the company and the job. Armed with these insights and knowledge, you match the job requirements to your accomplishments to create a winning combination. This chapter also tells you how to improve your body language and prepare yourself mentally so that your story is convincingly told.
Chapter 5 - Your Make-over & Portfolio
This chapter is all about dressing and grooming. We discuss appropriate interview attire for men and women. You learn the art of standing out from the crowd without appearing either too dowdy or too flamboyant. In this chapter, you are introduced to the concept of your professional and job portfolios. Portfolios guarantee that you will be noticed and appreciated in any interview.
Chapter 6 - The Big Moment is Here!
The big moment, for which you have prepared so hard, is here. This chapter takes you through all the stages of the interview, from the final preparations the day before to the opening moves, through the heart of the interactive session to the final closing stage when you ensure that the battle has been won and an offer will come your way. You learn what to ask when your turn comes and how to handle stress situations along the way.
Chapter 7 - Follow-up and Offer Evaluation
Your hunt for that job of a lifetime rarely ends with a handshake at the end of the interview. Much persuasion and perseverance is required since a top job does not fall in your lap like a ripe plum. The fine art of follow-up, the skill of turning a negative response into a positive one is discussed in this chapter. If you have multiple offers, this chapter helps you compare them and select the best.
Chapter 8 - Salary Negotiations
In this chapter you learn how to time salary negotiations to your advantage and how not to falter even if you are pressed to respond immediately to an offer. The importance of researching your market value before the negotiations is stressed. You will find a salary quiz to test your negotiation skills at the end of this chapter.
Chapter 9 - Frequently Asked Questions
In this invaluable chapter, you will find categorised questions you are most likely to encounter. In the section on difficult questions, an ordinary answer that most candidates give is compared with a top answer, with explanations for what makes it a top answer. The strategies you will learn and the confidence you get by practising with this question-answer section will go a long way in ensuring you succeed in any interview.
Chapter 10 - Pitfalls You Must Avoid
In this chapter, read about the reason why so many people fail in interviews. We look at the small but serious errors that many candidates commit so that you can avoid falling into a trap. We look at the means of handling weaknesses in your education and job history so that you can turn threats into opportunities.
Chapter 11 - A Bonus for You
We recognise that a great deal of success in shaping your career depends not just on the interview, but in making sure that you get interview calls from the right organisations. To help you win the battle of job hunting, we present you, as a special bonus in this chapter, an outline for writing and evaluating your own winning ré³µmé®
Conventions Used in This Book
This book is designed for easy reading and quick reference. We have used attractive graphics to direct your attention to the tips, the pitfalls and the top answers that contain valuable insights.
Key points are highlighted throughout this book using bold text similar to the sample in this paragraph. While you skim through this book, you will be able to easily pick up valuable hints by merely reading the bold text.
A major part of any interview is in the form of questions and answers. Many questions are asked frequently in interviews and you can practise top answers for them. These answers are marked with a thumbs up sign, an icon of an upraised thumb.
Look for top answers in Chapter 9, Frequently Asked Questions. You will find top answers, similarly identified, in other parts of this book as well.
When important information exceeds a few lines and extends over an entire paragraph, a wise owl identifies the tip. You will find these tips distributed throughout this book, guiding you from one important tip to the next. Follow the owl and rapidly assimilate many good ideas.
And, finally:
All endeavours have dangers and pitfalls. Preparing for your interview is no exception. It is easy to overlook something important or to give out a wrong signal or make untenable claims, which may be exposed later. Caution is called for. Traps are clearly identified in this book by the familiar skull and crossbones. Beware when you see this symbol and save yourself grief!
Best of luck in your job hunt!
CONTENTS:
- The Last-Minute Guide
- Especially for Fresh Graduates
- Interviews Come in Different Flavours
- Interviews Come in Different Flavours
- Some Special Types of Interviews
- Good Preparation is Half the Battle
- Tools for Good Preparation
- Body Language in Interviews
- Overcoming Nervousness
- Your Make-over and Portfolio
- The Big Moment is Here!
- The Day Before
- Opening Moves
- During the Interview
- Closing the Interview
- Follow-up and Offer Evaluation
- Effective Follow-up
- Post-offer Tasks
- Salary Negotiations
- The Art of Negotiating Salary
- After Negotiations
- Salary Quiz
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Pitfalls to Avoid
- Why People Fail in Interviews
- A Bonus for You
- Writing Your Ré³µmé ¼/LI>
- Rate Your Ré³µmé ¼/LI>
EXCERPTS
Chap. 8. Salary Negotiations
WHAT THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS- Key strategies for negotiations
- Establishing a salary range
- Your magic number
- Handling premature salary enquiries
- Making the transition
- A salary quiz to test you
The Art of Negotiating Salary
Discussing salary with a prospective employer is a procedure that requires both tact and know-how. In this chapter, you will learn how to negotiate an attractive compensation package for yourself without offending or alienating your future employers.
When you discuss the subject of salary negotiation with your friends, they will tell you things like:
- He or she who mentions a salary figure first will lose the negotiation
- You cannot negotiate successfully without knowing your exact market value
- Suspect any employer who presses you for a quick decision
While there is some truth in each of these statements, they give you the feeling that salary negotiation is a battle between two opponents, a win-lose confrontation in which if you benefit, the organisation will lose and vice versa. It need not be so. If you have a clear understanding of the negotiation process and if you prepare thoroughly before the negotiations, you can turn the exercise into a win-win strategy in which both the organisation and you will stand to benefit.
The Key Strategy
The key to successful negotiation lies in your carefully-planned strategy involving three elements: preparation, presentation and patience. Of these, preparation is probably the single most important part. A successful trial lawyer will tell you that the key to presenting a good case in the courtroom is the hours of preparation that goes beforehand. The same is true for successful negotiations. A well researched and a well-prepared case will almost present itself! Here are some guidelines for research, preparation and practice.
Do Your Research
Gather as much factual information as you can about your current market value and compensation practices of the organisation you are negotiating with. If you have already received other offers, you will know your market value. If not, your current salary will have to do as your guide. Include any salary survey information that you have. See the section below under Preparing a Salary Range for more details.
Be very clear about the minimum increase in pay that will justify the risk of leaving your current job for a new and potentially uncertain job. You must find out if the interviewing organisation has fixed salary grades, and what they are. If so, you will be slotted within an existing framework. If you see that the scope of the base salary package is limited, you may be able to negotiate a package of perquisites that give you tax relief or compensate you in other ways.
Psychological Preparation
It is unlikely that you will know the person with whom you will negotiate in advance. Therefore, you will not have advance knowledge about his communication style and decision-making behaviour. You will have to decide how much firmness you must display and how much accommodation you must make as the negotiation progresses. In short, you will have to observe, learn and plan your strategy as you go along. The soundness of the background information that you collect will bolster your confidence and give teeth to your arguments.
Be sure you know exactly what you want as your compensation package, not just the approximate amount of your salary, but the whole package including perquisites. While this does not mean that you will get everything you want, having the information clear in your head will help you determine to what extent you can concede and where you must draw the line. If you know exactly where you must stop, your manner will convey your determination to the interviewer. Bargaining will usually stop when the interviewer can see that your limit has been reached.
Practise
Rehearse the presentation of your case. Describe and justify the compensation you expect, using a friend to act the part of the employer. If you make mistakes in this rehearsal, you will get a chance to correct your mistakes without harming the actual negotiations. Ask your friend to criticise your presentation and analyse your reasoning. This will help you prepare for questions you should expect and pitfalls you should avoid. If all this seems a lot of work, remember that if something is worth negotiating for, it is also worth preparing for.
Beginning Negotiations
When you begin, put aside the issue of compensation and focus on the content and future of the job. After you have decided that the job is right for you, then focus on the compensation package.
Desired Salary for the Job
Although salary is usually discussed only when you are being seriously considered, most job applications will ask you to fill in a desired salary amount. When you fill in the job application, do not give a specific figure for desired salary . Instead, use one of the following two lines:
- Open to negotiations
- Seeking a competitive salary
You do not wish to be tied down to a number at this stage before you know what the employer is willing to pay you. If the job is really what you want, you do not wish to be dropped from consideration because you have quoted too high a figure. Conversely, the job may be worth much more than the figure you have mentioned. If so, you leave yourself no room to negotiate further. Either way, by quoting a specific figure, you will place yourself at a disadvantage. Wait for the actual negotiations to begin before committing yourself. In the meanwhile, well before the negotiations begin, you must get your facts together.
Later in this chapter, we will discuss how you can fend off premature questions on your salary expectations.
Preparing a Salary Range
Come to the negotiation table armed with clear information about what you must get as a compensation package before you make a career move. If this is your first job, you should work out a reserve price for yourself, below which you would rather wait for the next offer. If you are changing jobs, put a price for the risk you will take in making a job change. In either case, establish a personal salary range. To do so, here is what you need to know:
Minimum Salary: Determine the minimum amount of money for which you will accept this job offer. Do not disclose this figure, but keep it at the back of your mind.
Market Price Range: Find out what a person with your skills is worth in the marketplace. The following list highlights good sources for this information:
- Professional journals
- Magazines, newspapers, etc
- Executive search professionals or headhunters
- Peers and colleagues
- National salary surveys
- Other job offers
Dream Salary Figure: Determine a figure that would really be your dream come true. You can select the top of the market price range as this figure. This is your starting number for salary negotiations. Remember it is easy to lower your original figure, but it is almost impossible to raise it.
Your minimum salary requirement and your market value determine the low end of your salary range. Your dream salary determines the top end of your salary range. Be sure that your range is realistic, based on the market price of the special knowledge and the years of experience that you bring to the employer.
Consider other forms of compensation that may play a role in the total package. Determine what each is worth to you. Here are some of the main components that go into a salary package:
- Annual bonus
- Base salary
- Company car or car allowance and other forms of travel compensation
- Coverage of dependants in medical insurance schemes
- Earned leave, casual leave and medical leave
- Gratuity and provident funds
- Medical benefits
- Performance or profit-sharing bonus
- Retirement or pension plans
- Stock option or stock purchase plans for employees
For many organisations, year-end bonuses or a Diwali bonus are a common part of total compensation. Ask about past bonus levels and get estimates on future performance. As a general rule, bonuses are not guaranteed, so make sure you understand the conditions for receiving them. Determine if bonuses are based on personal, departmental or company-wide performance. Similarly, enquire into the qualifying criteria for gratuity and provident fund schemes as well.
Strategy During Negotiations
Reaching Your Magic Number
Always discuss salary in person, not over the phone. It is much easier to read the persons opposite you when you can see their faces and interpret their body language. Remember, companies are responsible for acquiring your services at a reasonable price to them. On the other hand, negotiating the best deal for yourself is your sole responsibility. Do not be afraid to bargain hard. Companies regard people with good negotiating skills as a valuable asset to their firm since, as an employee, you can use the same skills on behalf of your employer!
However, be reasonable. You should not be seen to bargain hard just for the sake of appearing to be a tough negotiator. Be willing to adjust your expectations based on your market value. At the same time, do not accept an offer that does not make you happy. Accepting an underpaid job will serve neither you nor the company in the long run. Nobody wants to be, or engage, an unhappy employee.
It is important to get the employer to offer the first concrete number. When an employer asks questions such as, How much will you expect to join us? or What are your salary expectations or requirements? do not provide a specific figure. We have already discussed the disadvantage of doing so. Instead, respond by laying out the details of your current compensation package. Give a detailed basic salary and perquisites breakdown. Discuss other forms of compensation that you currently receive, including any special allowances, stock options, medical benefits, etc. State that you are open to a good counter-offer. More strategies to handle premature salary questions are discussed later in this chapter.
In the next discussion with the employer, begin by listing parts of the compensation package that both agree to, so that the discussion starts on a note of agreement. Then suggest an increase in the base salary or the perquisites. If you have a good track record of past success in similar jobs, use that as a justification for a higher starting salary. If the proposed compensation package does not include a perquisite you currently get, that will be what you should point out. Conclude your presentation with a counter-question: What figure do you feel is appropriate for someone with my skills?
If the revised offer is acceptable, consider accepting on the spot. Many companies give their best offer in the first or the second round and will not negotiate any further. It is vital to interpret the mood and body language of the negotiator of the organisation. If you misread the signs and try to push the bargaining process too far, you will not get the job.
Handling Premature Salary Enquiries
Salary negotiation is something that hiring managers do for a living. They are therefore a lot better at it than the candidates. To have a better chance against these professionals, it is necessary to devote enough time to perfect your technique, especially the skills to handle premature salary questions that you will surely be asked.
To reduce employee costs, almost all companies play a nasty little game. They ask you how much you want. You will see a specific entry in a company application form that asks you to indicate your desired salary. Most of the time, you tend to automatically fill in all blanks on a form. So, you put down a figure. As we have already discussed under Preliminary Negotiations earlier in this chapter, use one of the suggested answers instead of a figure. If you have done your research well, you will have a minimum acceptable salary in your head. Leave it there; do not put it down in the form!
Since you have not indicated a figure in your application form, you will be asked for a figure during the interview. Here is a step-by-step approach to the question-and-answer session that will follow:
Step 1: The first time they ask you how much you expect, reply: I am much more interested in an organisation like yours and in meeting the challenges of the job than I am in the size of the initial offer.
This sentence is constructed with great care. You may want to memorise it. It does several things for you. It is excellent public relations. The vast majority of people answer the salary question with a number. However, unlike the rest, you focus on the job and not the compensation. Thereby, you will instantly distinguish yourself from the competition. You will also avoid answering their question.
In four cases out of ten, this is all you need to say. The interviewer will look up your current earnings and make you a fair offer. However, in the remaining six cases, they will ask you again. If they do, go to Step 2.
Step 2: The second time they ask, reply: I will consider any reasonable offer.
This is basically a stalling tactic. The word consider will give you a lot of leeway. Add to it the various interpretations possible of the word reasonable . Taken together, you will see that the sentence has no real meaning at all. However, you have been polite and, once more, you have avoided naming the salary figure first!
Only very determined employers will still insist that you name your salary expectations first. If that happens, go to Step 3.
Step 3: The third time they ask, reply: You are in a much better position to know how much I am worth to you than I am.
Once again, you have been polite and, again, you have refused to put down a figure. You have also told them, in so many words, that you have seen through their little game. Any employer who seriously wants to offer you a job will surely make you an offer now, opening the way for you to use all your research information and negotiating skills to your best advantage. If no offer materialises after this, the employer is not serious. You will do well to look elsewhere!
After Negotiations
Making the Transition
Once you have made your decision, accept the job verbally. Restate the terms of the offer to spell out exactly what you are accepting. Inform them that you will resign after receiving a written offer from them. Inform them of the minimum time you will need to join them. The time will depend mainly on the notice period that you are obliged to give your present employer.
Get the offer in writing. Be sure that it includes your start date, salary, perquisites, job title, benefits and any other items promised. Write your resignation letter and present it to your current employers only after receiving a written offer. Inform your new employers as soon as you have handed in your resignation letter.
You should call each of your interviewers to thank them for their role in the process and express your desire to join the firm as soon as you are released. While you are on the phone with them, ask them if there is anything you can do, in advance, to help speed up your integration into the new work environment.
Counter-offers
Your current employer will often extend a counter-offer after you have resigned. This is very likely if you work in a specialised, difficult-to-replace job. In addition, there are a number of reasons why your present employer may not want to let you go. These include:
- It is cheaper to give you a raise than it would be to recruit a new employee.
- Companies do not want sensitive or confidential information going to a competitor.
- Companies do not want skilled professionals going to competitors.
- The project you were working on will suffer delays because of your departure.
- Companies want to have low turnover rate.
You will be given some of these reasons and also promised a tempting salary package. However, our advice to you is not to accept a counter-offer. We list some of the reasons why you should not stay after resigning:
- While you may get more money, your original reasons for wishing to leave your job will still remain.
- The extra money offered will probably come out of your next increment or bonus!
- Your loyalty to the company will always be suspect in future. When the next promotion time comes around, managers remember who was loyal and who was not.
It has been found that almost 80% of all employees who accept the present employer s counter-offer leave within six months to a year anyway.
Salary Quiz
We have now covered the theoretical aspects and many practical techniques required for successful salary negotiations. By the time you have read through this chapter, you should feel confident of handling your own salary negotiations. As we have already said, a great deal of your success will depend on the depth and quality of your preparations.
Test how ready you are to tackle the real thing by answering the dozen questions given below. It will tell you what you know (or do not know) about negotiating your salary.
Directions
There are 12 questions in this quiz. Each may be answered as True, False or Don t Know by ticking the appropriate box. Correct answers will be found at the end of the quiz. There is no time limit for taking the test.
Questions
1) Salary negotiations affect not only your pay, but your performance on the job as well.
2) If the employer s offer is significantly higher than your market value, you should accept it and get it in writing right away.
3) Employers will often calculate a salary offer to you as a percentage increase over your present earnings. To make the interview process go smoothly, get the expected percentage agreed at the beginning of the interview.
4) Avoid interview calls for jobs where the salary is significantly below your expectations because it wastes both your time and that of the interviewers.
5) At the time of final negotiations, you should start with a number that is at the high end of your range; that way you will have room to negotiate.
6) Good benefits will not make up for a poor base salary.
7) To find your fair market value, you have only to find out what others in similar positions are earning.
8) Straight commission is the riskiest type of compensation, although you might have to accept it if you are inexperienced in the sales of that particular line of products.
9) An average wage earner would add an additional Rs 10 lakhs to his career earnings if his salary negotiation skills increased his income by just ten percent.
10) You should disclose your current compensation during salary negotiations in complete detail, even corroborating earnings with your current salary slip if asked for.
11) One acceptable way to increase your negotiation advantage is to inflate the amount of your present earnings when you negotiate. Therefore, you should add 10% to your base salary to cover benefits, and add any anticipated bonus or expected pay increase when you give the employer your current income.
12) Any one of these questions that you answered incorrectly could easily cost you thousands of rupees in actual salary negotiations.
Answers to Salary Quiz
1) True. A poorly negotiated salary will adversely affect your attitude at work. The poor attitude will eventually affect your performance and your chances for raises or promotions.
2) False. If you are overpaid, you should find out why. If it is a mistake, it will not last. On the other hand, if there is a hidden sinister reason, you should get out, fast!
3) False. Although most employers will like to know your current salary because they want to be sure that they can make you an attractive offer, you need not disclose your expectations at too early a stage. By doing so, you run the risk of over- or under-valuing yourself and thus lose your bargaining advantage.
4) False. While you should not take interviews for fun, each interview is an opportunity to hone your negotiating skills. You cannot know in advance what opportunities may open up even from what looks like an unpromising offer at first glance. Therefore, do not give up an opportunity.
5) False. You should not be talked into being the first to indicate a figure for your salary.
6) False. There are many combinations of benefits and perquisites that can make the whole package acceptable, even when the base salary is low.
7) False. There are three components that determine your fair market value. These are your current salary, the going market rate and the skills and knowledge that you will bring to the job.
8) False. Straight commission is the safest kind of compensation. It is acceptable in many situations, regardless of your experience level.
9) True. Ten percent increase in earnings spread over a career lifetime of 30 to 35 years will often add up to over Rs 10 lakhs!
10) True. Being straightforward will generally work in your favour. Remember that the interviewing company can always verify this figure after you have joined them. If your current income is much lower than the market rate, you will have to overcome this drawback by convincing the new employers of your true worth.
11) False. Inflating your earnings is a bad idea. It has all sorts of potential dangers. The best strategy is to avoid discussion of your earnings at all until there is an offer. See the previous section for a step-by-step procedure to handle premature enquiries about your salary expectations.
12) True. Any wrong answer could easily cost you thousands. We hope you have had fun taking the quiz and getting the point!
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