Publication date 07.12.2004

That you are the very necessary employee for him, who should fill the existing vacancy?

Going to an interview with an employer, each applicant tries to determine in advance what range of questions he will have to answer, what will be of interest to his potential boss. And since the range of questions can be quite wide, it is better to think about the answers to each of them in a timely manner so as not to get confused during the interview if the question turns out to be unexpected.

Today we are starting a series of publications in which Tamara Achba, marketing assistant at the KELLY SERVICES recruitment agency, will introduce our readers to the most common questions asked by employers and give recommendations on how best to answer them.

Most likely, one of the first questions will be:

Why do you want to work in our company?

To answer convincingly, you need to gather information about the company's activities in advance and prepare a dossier. Then we can safely say that you believe that the company will be able to guarantee you stability and provide a favorable working environment, and that in such an atmosphere you will be able to work most efficiently.

It must be understood that the representative of the company is not just looking for an experienced engineer or secretary, he needs someone who can quickly contribute to the current projects of the company. If you don't know what company projects you will be involved in, it's best to ask about it. By asking this question, you can find out what your personal qualities will make the right impression on the employer.

More "narrow" questions will follow:
Tell us how your work fits in with the overall plans of your department and company.

This question not only tests your understanding of the mission of your department and company, but also your ability to fulfill your responsibilities as a team member.

What part of your job do you consider the most important?

This question determines the ability of the applicant to manage their time and prioritize, as well as the tendency to avoid some kind of work.

There may also be trick questions. For example:
What did you like and dislike about your previous job?

The interviewer is looking for inconsistencies. Use the information about the company and the upcoming job that you were given at the beginning of the interview. Keep your answers short and positive, and don't be critical of your former employer.

What did you learn from your previous job?

Please refer to your professional and business qualities acquired through a previous work biography.

How do you rate your professional growth to date?

Be positive in your assessment of your professionalism, but let the interviewer know that your best job you are ahead, and your potential allows it. Convince the company representative that you see an opportunity to continually learn and contribute more and more to the company.

How long would you work for our company?

You can answer in different ways, for example: “I would like my career development to be connected with this company. As long as I have the opportunity to grow professionally, I'm not going to leave. How long do you think I will have this opportunity?”. It is hardly worth limiting your desire to work in this company to specific dates, that is, to say that you want to stay here, say, five or ten years. Such an intention must be justified, and not just the good will of the applicant.

How soon can you make a contribution to our company?

Before answering this question, you need to find out in what area, in what area of ​​work, you are expected to contribute immediately.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

The best answer is to communicate that you want to be recognized as a professional and reliable team member. As far as promotion is concerned, it depends on your manager's promotion. This is the place to ask what growth opportunities exist for you in the company.

Name your biggest accomplishments.

In your answer, refer to what you have achieved at your job. You can start like this: “Although I am determined that my greatest achievements are yet to come, I am proud of what I have done…”. And then there are specific examples of your production successes that really look worthy.

Tell us about your career progression.

The answer to this question reveals your personality, your goals, your past, and influences your future. You need to tell not only about your progress, but also that it was the result of long efforts (long and hard work), significant contributions to the success of the company and your brilliant ideas.

What are your strengths?

Here it is better to focus on your professional skills and personal qualities.

What is most interesting for you in the proposed work?

To answer this question you also need to have detailed information about future work. In your answer, you must emphasize the personal qualities that you could show in this work, you can also refer to your not only professional, but also human, personal interest in this field of activity.

What do you expect from your new job?

The best answer is that you want to work in a company where your personal qualities and professional skills will make a significant contribution to the success of the company. Avoid talking about what you want from the company - you should talk about what you can give to your employer.

A question about career plans can be asked at an interview to any applicant, regardless of the position for which he is applying. Often, having heard from the HR “How do you imagine your career in 2 years, 5 years?” Job seekers are confused. In fact, there is nothing reprehensible in this matter, since the employer's interest regarding the plans of his potential employee is quite natural. Therefore, it is advisable to think over and prepare a response in advance, having previously assessed your ambitions and correlated them with the company's development opportunities.

What do employers want to know?

The question about career prospects is included in the list of standard questions asked to applicants during all stages of the interview. The answer to it can clarify several points for the employer at once: how ambitious the candidate is, whether his aspirations have solid ground under them, or whether they are from a series of mental planning, akin to Manilov's dreams. At the same time, in addition to the immediate career plans of the applicant, his ability to plan is ascertained, and based on the information received, it becomes possible to predict after what time the scope of the position for which he is applying will become too tight for him, and how long he will be able to work in the company without significant guarantees of its further development.

There is no correct answer to this question, therefore it makes no sense to get off with phrases that have set everyone on edge that your plans are to “work, work and work again” for the benefit of the company for all subsequent years. It is important for the employer to see a person capable of sound reasoning in front of him, and to understand how justified his claims look. By comparing the applicant's wishes for further professional development with the capabilities of the company in which there is a vacant position, the recruiter can determine how they "fit" together.

According to Oksana Shumilo, HR Specialist, Jay Lab LLC, the question about career plans is one of the most popular among employers and, surprisingly, one of the most “unexpected” for candidates. “Unfortunately, today most candidates either do not plan anything, or plan to grow from a tester to a project manager in six months. In the first case, the question arises about the motivation of a person: what prompted him to respond to this vacancy and how long will he work with us? In the second case, there are doubts about the candidate's adequate perception of his professional skills and, again, the question is, how long will he work with us? It is no secret that for any employer, the indicator of the average period of work of an employee in the company is extremely important. Therefore, neither the first nor the second option can suit the employer. First of all, the candidate must answer this question for himself. It is important to remember that changing jobs “in search of yourself” will make it difficult to find a job in the future.”

What should applicants keep in mind?

When talking about how you see your career in 2.5 years, applicants need to pay attention to several important points, which will be discussed below.

Determine for yourself what you expect from the position you are applying for.

Such certainty will allow, on the one hand, not to be disappointed in the absence of development prospects in the company, since it may turn out that none are foreseen in the near future. On the other hand, do not take on an extra burden of responsibility that you cannot cope with.

It can be noted that you want to reach certain heights in your chosen industry, systematically building your career.

When you apply for a vacancy from a different field than your previous one, justify your decision.

Oksana Shumilo, HR Jay Lab LLC: “The option “Yesterday I was doing marketing, and today I decided that I want to be an economist” again leads the employer to the idea of ​​“search for yourself”, which will not add any positive points to any candidate. If you are really sure that you want to change professional sphere must be able to substantiate it. During my work, I often met candidates who reinforced their desire professional courses, self-learning and, as a result, extensive theoretical knowledge and good test papers. I remember an electrician who successfully worked as a sales manager, an economist who retrained as an html layout designer, and a builder who became a PHP programmer. The list of such candidates is endless. After all, I'm one of them myself."

As an explanation for your interest in a job in a different professional field, tell the employer that you have reached your career ceiling.

Emphasize that you feel in yourself the strength to develop further, show your awareness of the development trends of the chosen professional field. It is advisable to mention that you received additional education in your new specialization, attending trainings and seminars.

Link the answer to the question about your career plans with the development prospects of the company itself.

Before an interview with a future leader, you should carefully familiarize yourself with the activities of the company, study its corporate website, view materials in the press. If you received an invitation for an interview through recruitment agency, ask your consultant to express his opinion on the further development of the company, especially since recruiters, as a rule, have a positive attitude towards such interest from applicants. Having collected such a “dossier”, you will not only be aware of external events related to the employer, but also get an idea of ​​​​the atmosphere prevailing among your potential colleagues, which will allow you to clearly and balancedly answer your opponent’s questions, demonstrating a desire to grow and develop together with the company.

Even though you want to present yourself in a favorable light in an interview, it is recommended that you answer as honestly as possible.

The candidate's answer to the question about future plans serves as an indicator of honesty, adequacy and the ability to critically assess their competencies. If the applicant tries to guess the answer, then either the recruiter will feel false, or the person himself will face internal contradictions. A sober assessment by the applicant of his own capabilities, reasonable ambitions and a vision of himself in the future are the most important factors in making a decision to hire an employee. Young professionals in particular are encouraged to balance their personal aspirations with the capabilities of the company in which they want to settle.

question question discord

It is necessary to understand the difference between the questions “How do you see your career in 2 years?” and “How do you assess your career prospects in 5 years?”. In our "high-speed" time, it is considered quite acceptable if an employee has worked in one company for about two years. Therefore, the first question is focused primarily on finding out how the applicant presents and whether he represents his prospects in the company at all.

The second question concerns personal development and becoming a professional. It can be replaced with a more abstract one, such as "How do you see your future?". The answer to it will allow the employer to understand the motivation of the applicant when choosing a job. For example, a sales representative agrees to travel for the next year and a half in order to then take up the position of supervisor. In five years, he will already have enough experience to move to a managerial position in the retail or wholesale departments. Such an example shows that the candidate is betting on vertical growth, and therefore, he should focus on employment in a company whose priority is to ensure an internal talent pool, and, conversely, should not get a job in a small organization where there are no prerequisites for career growth.

At the same time, it is obvious that many people generally prefer to live exclusively in the present and not make any long-term plans, there are also turning points when it is difficult to decide and say something for sure. In addition, not all positions require experienced strategists who can not only paint their future in detail, but also systematically achieve the implementation of their goals. Most specialists prefer to “go with the flow”, conscientiously fulfilling their duties and not striving for career take-offs. Therefore, even if you find it difficult to answer, you should not use banal phrases, such as "I will make my contribution." Your honest answer will allow the recruiter to match you with the right company and position. And in cases where the applicant is counting on a creative position, non-standard answers are generally welcome.

At the interview, recruiters are often interested in candidates: “What are your plans for the future?”, “What is your professional dream?”, “Where do you see yourself in 5 years?”. Our expert, head of career services at HeadHunter Marina Khadina told us how to answer this question without scaring off the employer.

Why does the employer need to know about your plans?

He wants to understand a few things.

• Are your plans in line with the company's expectations and capabilities? If you can realize your plans in a new place and are satisfied with the tasks and workload, the chance that your “romance” with the company will be successful is much higher.
• What goals do you set for yourself, what do you want from your career. It is important to answer this question honestly and openly, because many companies have a certain career development logic. If the expectations will be very different from the company's capabilities, it is better - both for the employer and for you - to understand this in advance.
• Is everything in order with your ambitions and self-esteem. "After 5 years? Yes, I will become a director! - if a narcissistic graduate with no work experience claims this, the HR manager will have to be wary.

What to answer?

You should not share plans with an employer that are not related to a career unless you are asked about it. Therefore, it is better not to voice dreams of building a house, recording a music album and a happy marriage. The answer to the question should be as related as possible to the work under discussion. It is also appropriate to ask a counter question: what is the practice of this company, is there a career development logic.

Here are some possible answers.

You are ambitious and focused on career growth:“In a few years, with additional experience, I would be interested in moving from a technical role to a management role.”
“At this stage, I am interested in solving the problems that you proposed. Especially those related to creation/modification…(please add): I would like to have such a project in my portfolio. And then take on new tasks in the company. Tell me, what is the fate of the previous person in my position?

You did not think about career growth and are aimed at a long stable job:“These duties are clear and interesting to me. I am a person who knows how to work long and steadily within one specialization, it will be great if you expect the same from a candidate. Please tell us about your vision?
"The long-term plan is to grow with the company: I'm going to learn, expand my responsibilities and bring the most value to the company."
“At this stage, this is the ideal role for me. But if new tasks come up, I’ll be happy to try them.”

All your goals are personal, and work for you is in the background:“This position is more than satisfying for me. I’m not a careerist at all, I just know how to do my job well.”

Do you have a dream that is not related to this company: if it is not related to the current activity, it is important to understand why you are postponing the realization of a dream and wasting time on this work. Most likely, the employer does not need to know about this, especially if this position becomes an obstacle to achieving the goal. You can find out in which areas of activity you will succeed in using the "" service: this is a professional test that determines your inclinations and abilities and suggests development paths in each direction. For those who work, but still doubt whether it is worth it to develop in this area, Career Guidance can help with self-determination.

Remember that the answer to this question does not oblige you to anything: both you and your interlocutor know that a lot will change in 5 years. And if there is no clear life plan, the process of reflection and the direction of your thoughts are important.

Good luck with your interviews!

Standard Structured Interview

Preliminary preparation.

Make sure that all the necessary information is prepared and at hand.

Establishing contact.

Try to make the candidate feel at ease.

Come out to say hello to the candidate at the reception.

Escort the candidate to the meeting room.

Ask him a few irrelevant questions, such as: “Was it difficult to get here?”, “Did you find us easily?”.

Standard interview questions.

2. Who would give you the worst review and why?

3. What have you done to make your firm/department more profitable?

4. What have you done to help your firm/department save costs?

5. What have you done to help your firm/department save time by increasing the amount of work?

6. How did you manage to stand out among your employees?

7. Tell me in order about how you have grown professionally in your current job and what you are doing now day by day.

8. Tell us about a problem you had at your current job/in your client's department and how you solved it.

9. What are your immediate and long-term goals?

10. Among the duties that we would like you to perform, there are three most important (list them). What experience do you have to solve these problems?

11. Do you have any other experience or knowledge that would be useful to our client?

12. What personal challenges did you face when you took on your current job?

13. To what extent did you manage to solve them?

Questions about education.

14. What subjects did you most/least like/dislike in high school/university? Why?

15. What grades did you get in your favorite and least favorite subjects?

16. What subjects did you do better than others? Worse?

17. Why did you decide to study at the university?

18. Why did you specialize in?

19. Why did you choose to attend?

20. What extracurricular activities did you take part in? Why in this one?

21. How did you plan your career at the beginning of your university course?

22. How did you plan your career when you graduated from high school/university?

23. What did your high school/university education give you?

24. If you had the opportunity to go back to school, what would you change or not change at all?

25. What special courses did you choose? Why?

26. How did high school/university prepare you for "real life"?

27. Tell us how you studied (any field relevant to the job).

28. Do you feel that studying this field has prepared you for the job that is required for the position you are offered?

29. When did you decide that you wanted to be a specialist in _______?

30. What are your favorite/least favorite high school/university teachers? Why did you like/dislike them?

31. Tell me, how did you organize your classes while studying at school/university?

32. Tell us about where you worked while studying at school / university?

33. Which of these temporary jobs was the most interesting/most uninteresting for you?

34. How did you spend your summer holidays when you were at school/university?

35. Why did you work while studying at school/university?

36. Do you have plans to continue your education? If yes, what are they?

37. What do you think is the most difficult thing in combining work and study?

38. What advice would you give to someone who wants to study and work at the same time?

Questions regarding prior experience and other work-related topics.

39. Please describe your typical work day.

40. How would you describe your ideal manager? Subordinate? Employee?

41. What kind of people do you find difficult/easy to work with? Why?

42. What did you like/dislike the most about your latest work?

43. Please describe your ideal work environment.

44. What motives drive you? Why?

45. What qualities make you an effective leader?

46. ​​What is your highest career achievement to date? Why?

47. Recall and describe a time when you were under pressure at your last job. How did you deal with it?

48. What, in your opinion, is the duty of the employer to the employee?

49. How do you feel about business travel?

50. Tell me about how often and for how long you had to go on business trips in the past.

51. How do you feel about moving? Are there places where you would not like to move?

52. Which of your last job responsibilities did you find difficult?

53. How do you rate your career advancement to date?

54. Tell us about the problems you faced at your last job.

55. How is your current job different from your previous one?

56. What job did you do that paid the best/worst of all?

57. How do you think your current job has prepared you to take on additional responsibilities?

58. What was the most painful and unpleasant situation for you throughout your career?

59. Why do you want to leave your current job?

60. What do you think about the leadership style that developed in your department/unit at your last job?

61. If I asked your supervisor/supervisor to describe your work, what would he say?

62. What would you do if...?

63. How would you deal with...?

64. What prospects do you see in the new job compared to the old one?

65. What would you like to find in your new job?

66. Did the military service influence what field you chose for yourself?

67. Tell us, please, what did you do in the army?

68. What do you want to achieve in your career in the near term and in the distant future?

69. What would you like to avoid in your future work?

70. What are your salary requirements?

71. Who or what influenced you in setting career goals? How exactly?

72. To what do you owe your success?

73. What do you think is your greatest strength?

74. In what areas do you need to improve? How are you going to improve?

75. What kind of leader do you think you are? subordinate? Employee?

76. What part of your job brings you the most satisfaction?

77. How do you complete tasks that you don't like?

78. How do you manage your time?

79. What is your leadership style?

80. What have you learned from each of your previous jobs?

81. Please give examples of decisions you made in the course of your work. What were the consequences of these decisions?

82. How do you make decisions?

83. Do you know how, from your point of view, to distribute work between subordinates?

84. What do you consider your standard work discipline- in relation to himself and his subordinates?

85. Please tell us about your relationship with your last leader.

86. Please give an example of a project, the implementation of which did not correspond to your plans. What happened?

87. What attracts you to this position in our firm?

88. What are your reasons for joining your current position?

89. What is the biggest responsibility in your current job?

90. Describe your promotion at your last job.

91. What did your leaders praise/criticize you for?

92. What can you offer our firm?

93. Does the proposed position fit into your personal career plans?

94. In what work-related situations do you feel most comfortable / tense and constrained?

95. Why do you agree to a reduction in pay?

96. Why did you decide to become _________?

97. Why do you want to change the field of activity?

98. What is primary responsibility leader/subordinate?

99. How do you feel about the same type, repetitive tasks?

100. How do you feel about the fact that your work is carefully controlled?

101. How do you feel about working overtime?

102. How do you feel about the fact that you can be called to work at any time?

103. What reasons would you consider good to work for this firm until retirement?

104. What reasons would make you leave this job?

105. Under what circumstances, if any, do you think that a supervisor or manager should carry out the duties of his subordinates?

106. How would you deal with a subordinate who is consistently late?

107. This job will require you to have the ability/skill of ______. What experience do you have in this area?

108. What, in your opinion, in this position will be the most difficult and what will bring the most satisfaction?

109. If you are asked to do work that is not part of your functional responsibilities what will you answer?

110. What do you think "company loyalty" means? To what extent does it extend?

111. How will you behave when discussing dissatisfaction with your work with your boss?

112. What could your previous employer do to convince you to stay?

113. Have you fired anyone? Tell me how it was.

114. Would you like to give me any information about your qualifications that will help me make a final decision?

Final part

Confirm the information about the opened opportunity.

Describe the department, the project, and the role this position plays in the structure of the company, as well as provide all significant information about the company.

Determine the required qualifications and talk about the client's preferences.

When selecting a candidate, you made sure that his qualifications meet the requirements of the client.

Check the candidate's resume, his progress and achievements in terms of specific requirements for the proposed position. Based on the successes and achievements, try to make sure that the candidate can solve the problem or achieve the desired result, based on the requirements of the proposed position.

Testing of technical knowledge and further familiarization / sighting survey is carried out when there is a need to obtain more detailed information about the experience of the candidate.

Goals and perspectives

(Once again, find out the candidate's desires and compare whether his career goals match the position opened with your client.)

How did the candidate describe the ideal prospect at the selection stage?

Where does the candidate think to work in a year, three, five years? What type of firm would the candidate prefer to work for? Why?

What type of firm would the candidate least want to work for, and why?

What are the personal goals of the candidate?

Compatible with corporate culture

(Describe the client's corporate culture and compare with the candidate's preferences and work style.)

What is the candidate's work style?

How did the candidate describe the companies in which he would prefer to work?

1. Which management style suits the candidate best?

2. How does he describe the corporate culture of his current/previous place of work?

3. How does it affect him?

• Recruitment and selection, Labor market

Keywords:

1 -1