Recommendations for interviewing HR professionals
Over the past six months, I managed to attend dozens of interviews. Not so much because I was looking for work, but more for the sake of curiosity. I was interested to find out exactly how employers select and evaluate specialists. During my little experiment, I managed to communicate both with recruitment specialists and directly with the heads of departments or divisions. I have also been to small companies where interviews are conducted by the director himself, as well as to large federal corporations where interviews with your immediate supervisor are preceded by 2-3, or even more interviews with various services. But almost always, the first step when applying for a job will be a conversation with a specialist in the personnel department. I would like to dwell on this issue in more detail,
I want to immediately warn that this article does not claim to be true. I just describe my experience of interviewing, typical questions of hr-specialists and give recommendations on how to answer them.
So, let's begin. First - you came for an interview and go into the office. Never sit strictly opposite the interviewer. If possible, then move the chair slightly to the side to be on the side of the company employee. Or millet, rotate the chair to sit towards him in a half-turn. Whatever opponents of psychology say, but this moment is very important and this is why: the pose when two people (especially strangers to each other) are sitting exactly opposite is always perceived on an unconscious level as a confrontation. You need it? I think not, because it is much more efficient to collaborate with personnel officers.
Further, I want to dwell on some basic questions that you are most likely to be asked. And the understanding of what the personnel specialist wants to hear on this question depends on the successful outcome of the interview.
Usually the first question is:
Tell us about yourself?
Here, I think, everything is clear. You need to talk about your work and success, and not about the fact that you have three children and how you spend your weekend.
Why do you want to change jobs?
When answering this question, there is one rule that I recommend to adhere to: do not speak badly about the previous employer. Such answer options work quite well: to tell you that at the last job you have limited development potential (even if it is not so), and you want to grow as a specialist. Or that the activity that you are currently engaged in does not entirely correspond to your desires, and that working in the company where you want to get a job is exactly what you have been dreaming of all your life.
What do you know about our company / why do you want to work with us?
Partially the answer to this question is stated above. However, before you go for an interview, you should look for information about the company. You should have a clear idea of why you came here. It should be said accordingly that this activity is extremely interesting for you. It is not superfluous to mention how you can be useful to the company. However, this is in the next question.
How can you be of assistance to us?
It is desirable to give specific answers. For example: I’ll raise sales of a product, increase the efficiency of the department. Moreover, it is not necessary to go into details, rather general formulations. A recruiting specialist, as a rule, does not know all the intricacies of your work, he evaluates what contribution you can make to the development of the company. But at the same time, of course, you should imagine what you are talking about, since your words will almost always be transferred to the head of the department, where you want to get employed ...
Do you undergo professional trainings / How do you improve your skills?
If you have already mentioned your own development, then this question can hardly be avoided. Therefore, it’s good to prepare for it in advance. Even if you have not attended any trainings / seminars / events over the past couple of years, you still need to talk about the fact that you constantly communicate with colleagues from your field, read books, and participate in discussions.
Who do you see yourself in 5 (10) years?
Also a fairly common question. They are understandable, no one wants to get in touch with a person who does not know what he wants and does not set any goals for himself. Moreover, the employer will not have to expect anything good from you in this case. Therefore, you need to tell who you see yourself in a few years and what tasks you would like to perform.
What do you like most about your work (what you don't like)?
The trick question. After all, if a person cannot answer what he liked to do at his previous job, then most likely here one should not expect any significant achievements from the applicant. Yes, and enthusiasm for work in general. In addition, this question well helps the personnel officer to understand what you expect from work. So it's better to forget about template phrases and tell what is really interesting to you.
Do you think you can cope with your responsibilities?
Yes.
What are your strengths / weaknesses?
The purpose of this question is to check how objectively you can evaluate yourself from the outside. Therefore, it is advisable to tell about yourself more strengths and less weaknesses, such that they do not interfere with this position.
And yet, the main thing in the interview is not to be silent. Even if you don’t know the answer to the question, you need to reason out loud, show how you are looking for solutions, but in no case do not be silent and do not say “I don’t know”.
In conclusion, I want to note that sometimes at interviews it seems that you are being asked completely idiotic questions (often it is), but nevertheless, in most cases, HR people assess how suitable a person is for the company and how comfortable it is for him to work there. So if you were denied, perhaps this is for the best.
I want to immediately warn that this article does not claim to be true. I just describe my experience of interviewing, typical questions of hr-specialists and give recommendations on how to answer them.
So, let's begin. First - you came for an interview and go into the office. Never sit strictly opposite the interviewer. If possible, then move the chair slightly to the side to be on the side of the company employee. Or millet, rotate the chair to sit towards him in a half-turn. Whatever opponents of psychology say, but this moment is very important and this is why: the pose when two people (especially strangers to each other) are sitting exactly opposite is always perceived on an unconscious level as a confrontation. You need it? I think not, because it is much more efficient to collaborate with personnel officers.
Further, I want to dwell on some basic questions that you are most likely to be asked. And the understanding of what the personnel specialist wants to hear on this question depends on the successful outcome of the interview.
Usually the first question is:
Tell us about yourself?
Here, I think, everything is clear. You need to talk about your work and success, and not about the fact that you have three children and how you spend your weekend.
Why do you want to change jobs?
When answering this question, there is one rule that I recommend to adhere to: do not speak badly about the previous employer. Such answer options work quite well: to tell you that at the last job you have limited development potential (even if it is not so), and you want to grow as a specialist. Or that the activity that you are currently engaged in does not entirely correspond to your desires, and that working in the company where you want to get a job is exactly what you have been dreaming of all your life.
What do you know about our company / why do you want to work with us?
Partially the answer to this question is stated above. However, before you go for an interview, you should look for information about the company. You should have a clear idea of why you came here. It should be said accordingly that this activity is extremely interesting for you. It is not superfluous to mention how you can be useful to the company. However, this is in the next question.
How can you be of assistance to us?
It is desirable to give specific answers. For example: I’ll raise sales of a product, increase the efficiency of the department. Moreover, it is not necessary to go into details, rather general formulations. A recruiting specialist, as a rule, does not know all the intricacies of your work, he evaluates what contribution you can make to the development of the company. But at the same time, of course, you should imagine what you are talking about, since your words will almost always be transferred to the head of the department, where you want to get employed ...
Do you undergo professional trainings / How do you improve your skills?
If you have already mentioned your own development, then this question can hardly be avoided. Therefore, it’s good to prepare for it in advance. Even if you have not attended any trainings / seminars / events over the past couple of years, you still need to talk about the fact that you constantly communicate with colleagues from your field, read books, and participate in discussions.
Who do you see yourself in 5 (10) years?
Also a fairly common question. They are understandable, no one wants to get in touch with a person who does not know what he wants and does not set any goals for himself. Moreover, the employer will not have to expect anything good from you in this case. Therefore, you need to tell who you see yourself in a few years and what tasks you would like to perform.
What do you like most about your work (what you don't like)?
The trick question. After all, if a person cannot answer what he liked to do at his previous job, then most likely here one should not expect any significant achievements from the applicant. Yes, and enthusiasm for work in general. In addition, this question well helps the personnel officer to understand what you expect from work. So it's better to forget about template phrases and tell what is really interesting to you.
Do you think you can cope with your responsibilities?
Yes.
What are your strengths / weaknesses?
The purpose of this question is to check how objectively you can evaluate yourself from the outside. Therefore, it is advisable to tell about yourself more strengths and less weaknesses, such that they do not interfere with this position.
And yet, the main thing in the interview is not to be silent. Even if you don’t know the answer to the question, you need to reason out loud, show how you are looking for solutions, but in no case do not be silent and do not say “I don’t know”.
In conclusion, I want to note that sometimes at interviews it seems that you are being asked completely idiotic questions (often it is), but nevertheless, in most cases, HR people assess how suitable a person is for the company and how comfortable it is for him to work there. So if you were denied, perhaps this is for the best.