Benefits from an experienced HR manager

Job search is always stressful, uncertain. The challenge also lies in the fact that the interview evaluates not only your professional knowledge and experience — hard skills, but also your personal qualities — soft skills.

It is important to remember here: high—quality preparation is the key to a successful interview. It will help not only to cope with the excitement, but also to turn a meeting with a potential employer into an offer for a dream company.

Yulia Nekrasova, HR Manager of the Kolesa Group, shared tips that can help you get an interview.

1) Define your goals

Think about how your goals may coincide with the goals of the company. Answer the following questions for yourself: 

- What goals do I want to achieve at my new job?

- What skills do I want to develop?

- Which tasks are most interesting to me?

This will allow you to confidently answer questions about your motivation and career plans.

2) Study the company 

Check out the company's website and social networks. Read articles, watch podcasts, interviews, recordings of reports with the participation of employees. Know the history, products, projects, and values of a potential employer. This will help you better understand the company's culture and show your interest in the work.

3) Study the vacancy

In addition to proofreading the text of the vacancy, ask the HR manager in a telephone interview about the expectations of a potential employee. Identify the exact need and analyze how your experience and skills will be able to close it. 

Know the answers to the following questions clearly:

- What tasks do I have to solve?  

- What are my strengths?

- How do my experience and professional interests match up with the tasks and challenges that the company has? 

a) If you are applying for a technical position, be prepared for questions about the main technology stack of the desired company. Learn which programming languages, frameworks, and databases are listed in the job description. Pay attention to the basic skills and knowledge. Try on your experience and knowledge in the vacancy to meet the requirements.

b) Be prepared for questions about soft skills. Teamwork, the ability to communicate with colleagues and resolve disputes are just as important as hard skills. Think of examples where you have effectively used "software" in your work.

4) Prepare yourself technically

Make sure everything is working: camera, microphone, internet. Choose a calm and quiet place with good lighting.

5) Give the results of your work

Tell us about your achievements: give the figures. For example, profit growth, plan fulfillment, process optimization. Tell us about the implemented projects where the result of your work is visible.

The ideal description of the result: made "A", measured in "B", benefited in "C".

Example: attracted 50 large clients over the past year, increasing the profit of the department by 15%.

6) Don't go into details, be concise

Time for interviews is limited, you need to have time to convey key achievements in the allotted period. This will set you apart from other applicants. I recommend answering according to the method below:

Situation → Task → Action → Result

7) Don't be afraid to ask questions

Ask about the processes in the team and the company, what the employer expects from a potential employee — find out everything that is important to you. Questions can be prepared in advance or written out during the conversation. Record the key points from the interview. 

8) Be sincere

a) When a person behaves naturally, it is easier for him to communicate and answer questions.

b) An honest presentation of yourself will help you understand whether you and the company are suitable for each other.

c) An experienced HR will recognize socially desirable answers and make a choice in favor of another candidate who answered honestly.

All these tips will not only help you get the coveted offer, but also give you an understanding of whether this job and company are suitable for you.