How do I get a job interview?

An integral part of getting a job is the interview. On it, both parties can understand whether they are suitable for each other, whether the employer is satisfied with the professional skills of the applicant, whether the candidate agrees with the proposed conditions. To successfully complete an interview, especially for a managerial position, you need to carefully prepare for it.

It is recommended to pre-read the information about the company in order to correctly and quickly answer possible questions. The main stages of preparing for an interview.

• In addition to studying publicly available information about the future place of work, you should make a list of interesting questions about the company. This will show the employer that the candidate is interested.
• Review the requirements for the proposed position, understand whether such qualities are present and whether they were reflected in the resume. If you have any questions about future responsibilities, be sure to ask them.
• Play the interview ahead of time, to be prepared for possible non-standard questions or situations. It is better to write the answers to the proposed questions - this will make you feel calmer and more confident.
• Pay attention to appearance, since recruiters first of all evaluate the applicant visually and only then begin the conversation. The preferred style is classic. Clothes should be clean and ironed, shoes should shine (depending on the material). You should not choose bright makeup and harsh perfume.
• One day before the meeting, carefully check the availability of the necessary documents... It will be useful to duplicate the information on an electronic carrier.
• Be sure to sleep well. Being sleepy will not impress the recruiter, and there is a risk of not getting the desired position.
• Do not be late at all. The best option is to arrive a little earlier than the appointed time. There are usually several applicants for a job, so it is not in the employer's interest to listen to the reasons for being late.
• Do not worry. Take a deep breath before entering the office. Be calm and confident when talking, but keep the line so that confidence does not turn into arrogance.

In addition to correct answers to questions, the candidate must have the qualities of a leader.

• High intellectual abilities. The leader must be able to quickly assess the situation and make decisions. It is also important to strive for constant development and self-education, the ability to adapt to changing conditions.
• Ability to neutralize conflicts, or better - to avoid them... Adequate perception of criticism, the ability to extract useful information from it, necessary for further development. The ability to negotiate in such a way as to achieve the set goals is a significant plus.
• Developed recruiting skills... Here knowledge of psychology will come in handy, which will help to find employees who will bring high profits to the company and raise it to a new level. An important quality is the ability to win over people, maintain friendly relations without losing credibility.
• Ability to correctly calculate, allocate and use available resources. Ability to qualitatively distribute time and volume of work between employees.
• Creativity. It is important to be able to find unusual solutions to standard situations.

Each interview is unique, but there is a certain list of mandatory questions. The wording may differ depending on the activities of the organization and the specific position. All questions are divided into several groups:

• concerning the identity of the applicant;
• aimed at clarifying his professional qualities;
• directly related to the proposed position.

Personal interests, worldview, skills that are not directly related to professional activities are considered personal. The recruiter can clarify the data indicated in the resume, so it is worth indicating only real achievements and facts.

To determine the availability of professional qualities, the employer will ask questions related to the education received, the existing skills and abilities, the courses taken. To determine if a candidate is suitable for the position, it is necessary to find out how he will act in a given situation. Usually, for this, examples of real cases are given and the applicant is asked to give his solution to the proposed situation.

The specific list of mandatory questions depends on the position for which the person applies. The following information is usually required.

• What are your plans for the next 5 years? This question will help the employer understand whether the candidate knows how to plan, whether he has ambitions and goals, and whether he strives to achieve them. Here the applicant should tell about how he sees his life after a specified period of time. It is worth paying special attention to the desired income and position, the existing environment and the ways to achieve the set goals. You should not paint your dreams in colors and focus on material values: a luxurious house, a prestigious car, a high position in society.
• What achievement do you consider to be the most important? This question is aimed at obtaining information about professional opportunities.For example, to get the position of a store director, it is worth talking about the increase in product and customer turnover at the previous place of work. Future managers should give examples of successful resolution of a conflict with a client or employee, successful hiring of a promising employee. When applying to the sales department, it is necessary to tell about the applied methods of selling products, which led to an increase in the company's profits. To become a CEO, you will need to talk about successful experience in managing a company or structural unit and give specific examples of successful solutions.
• Your ideal workplace. Here the employer hopes to hear the wishes of the candidate for the future job. Naturally, when answering this question, you should rely on existing knowledge about the company and focus on them. The employer must understand that the job seeker is satisfied with the future working conditions and that they are preferable for him. But if there are any wishes for a future position or suggestions for improvement in any areas of activity, they should be left for the stage of asking the recruiter.
• Why do you want to apply for our company? This question is an ideal opportunity to show the employer the knowledge of the company. It is necessary to point out the merits of the organization, explain why these factors are important for the candidate. It would be useful to say: "I am sure that I can be useful, since I have extensive experience in this area and I have successful cases." It is worth considering that after such a statement, the recruiter may ask for suggestions, so it is necessary to prepare 2-3 ideas in advance related to the future position.
• Are you more comfortable working alone or in a team? Most often the company has a certain staff, so it is important for the employer that the candidate successfully fits into the existing team. The best answer would be something like this: “I can work equally well both independently and in a group. When choosing a way of working, I will focus on the urgency and difficulty of the task at hand. If I understand that I alone will do the work longer, I will resort to the help of the team, because we all have a common goal. "
• What will you do in this situation (the following is a description of a specific case that has already taken place in the company)? Here the future employer wants to hear a non-standard solution to a typical or atypical situation that may occur in an organization. Most often, the example is directly related to the place for which the person applies, and is associated with his job responsibilities.

For the correct answer, knowledge about the employing company, as well as information about the proposed position, will be useful. It is worth offering the optimal solution, which, according to the candidate, the recruiter wants to hear. However, the proposed option should still be his own idea, since the boss must be sure that in the future the employee will do just that.

The employer can invite the candidate to ask questions of interest to him regarding the company, salary, future responsibilities. You should be careful, as the recruiter will pay attention to the correctness of the proposal, as well as the very essence of the question asked, so you need to prepare carefully for this stage.

What you should definitely clarify when applying for a job:

• what qualities an employee should have in this position;
• whether the company has traditions or features of corporate culture;
• what plans does the company have for the near future (year / 5/10 years);
• whether there is an opportunity to move up the career ladder (in the case of applying for the position of the head of the department);
• what actions (if they are not indicated in the vacancy or job description) are a gross violation and are not allowed?

You can ask other questions, as well as suggest ideas for improving the work.

General recommendations to successfully pass an interview for a leadership position.

• Maintain eye contact with the interlocutor, listen carefully to questions and wishes. Before giving an answer, you should mentally replay the conversation scenario and think about what the questioner wants to hear. If the question is not clear, it is better to clarify than to answer incorrectly.
• Control your speech, build it consistently and logically. The leader will deal with people, so correct diction and speaking skills are one of the most important skills that an applicant should have.
• Explore information about the company as deeply as possible, and during the conversation itself, clarify the details that will remain unclear after independent study. This will make it clear to the recruiter that the candidate is interested in employment.
• When answering questions, focus on professional qualities... Give weighty arguments why this particular candidate needs to be hired, how he will be useful to the company.

For the interview to be successful, you need to be confident in yourself and in your professional qualities, to tell only the truth, as sooner or later the deception will be revealed, and not to be afraid to offer your ideas to improve the company's work.