Globalization opens up a huge international labor market for us. You just need to have the courage to take advantage of this opportunity. Transatlantic and European companies are increasingly looking for specialists to work online in the CIS and Eastern Europe.
Russian applicants (especially IT specialists and designers) are valued in these companies, as they have a good education and relevant professional skills.
More and more Job Interviews are being conducted remotely. However, highly qualified professionals from Russia often have a problem with passing this interview. It is at this stage that the differences in the corporate culture of the West and the East show through. It turns out that this skill also needs to be learned.
At Skype school GLASHA, preparation for the Job Interview consists of three blocks.
The first of these is the preparation or verification of a resume or, as they say in American companies, a CV. The main mistake in writing a resume is listing experience that is not related to the requirements for a job or using “clichés”, the so-called general words that are not related to the applicant’s personality.
Many companies have computer systems that filter out spam resumes with the words “dynamic”, “proactive”, “motivated leader”, “team player” - these words are so often used that they have long lost all meaning for HR managers.
If in a resume for Russian companies continuous work experience is important and long breaks in work raise questions, then for foreign companies the skills that the applicant can show specifically for a particular vacancy are important and all his other positions and places of work are not important. Many applicants do not disclose their achievements in the resume; as a result, it is not clear what exactly the person did while in the previous position. Very often, our people are embarrassed to talk about themselves and lose against the background of Americans who know how to properly present themselves. It is welcome to measure your achievements using the KPI coefficient - this is a quantitatively measurable indicator of actually achieved results. For example, he brought 200 new clients to the company or increased the company's annual turnover by 15%.
A feature of international and Western companies is that they are happy to take people there if they were individual entrepreneurs in the past. It is believed that this experience allows them to be more responsible. For Russian companies, the mention of entrepreneurial experience will be rather a negative factor, as it suggests that a person will be more independent and will not obey the boss unquestioningly.
There are certain age differences. Most Russian companies are reluctant to consider applicants over forty. For international companies, this is rather a plus.
It is necessary to indicate all contacts, phone, skype, whatsapp, e-mail, since each company may have its own preferred type of communication.
Often companies offer to fill out a special form for a CV, and if a candidate wants to tell about himself in more detail, then he needs to write a Cover Letter. Sometimes this letter is even more important than the resume, as it can help the candidate stand out from the crowd.
Here is a good example of such a letter:
Some tips from our teachers can be viewed
An important feature of the hiring policy in Western companies is the mandatory request for a recommendation about a candidate for a former company.
We often fill out referral forms for our teachers.
They look something like this:
But sending scans of diplomas and certificates is often not necessary. Employers take applicants at their word, since the punishment for falsified diplomas in the West is very significant, unlike in Russia.
The second preparation block is Dress Code and Top Job Interview Questions.
It is well known that an opinion about a person is formed within the first 5 minutes. Our people are accustomed to rarely smile and rarely look into the eyes of the interlocutor, especially at the first contact. Girls often overuse makeup and jewelry. Before the interview, HR is advised to find photos from companies where applicants intend to go and carefully look at how employees are dressed in the office. If a free style is accepted there: jeans and T-shirts, then you need to choose appropriate clothes for an online interview. If the company practices stricter rules, then it does not hurt to wear a suit.
You can listen to recommendations about this block
Many Western companies include a block of psychological questions in the top Job Interview Questions. It is often difficult for Russian applicants to understand why interviewers ask strange questions, for example, what animal do you associate yourself with. Such questions are asked specifically to see how adequate the applicant is and how kindly and calmly he will be able to communicate with colleagues or clients in the future.
There was a case when one of our students got really angry at this kind of question and asked to be connected with the "boss" so that he could evaluate his abilities as a programmer without "any nonsense". However, a specialist in human resources is then needed, which at the first stage is to select balanced applicants for the company, and mental stability is more valuable here than talent.
Interviewers ask a lot of questions about tolerance. With the help of them, the attitude of the applicant to people of a different race, religion and sexual preferences is assessed. The most famous case is when a girl, when asked about overtime, answered that she was not ready to work “Like a Negro on plantations”. She received a "black mark" and was entered into the database of unsuitable candidates.
All these questions are elements of corporate culture. Ideally, the views of the applicant should coincide with the values of the company. In addition, the top questions at the interview include topics about dreams and hobbies. For the representatives of the company, the horizons of the future employee and his opportunity to relax after work are important. Recycling and burnout are not welcome. The second important type of questions is about participation in charity events or volunteer programs. Positive answers add points and characterize the applicant as a socially responsible person.
One of our students did not pass the second stage of the interview at Microsoft, as he wrote in a motivation letter that he wants to work in this company “because of the high salary”
This motivation is highly discouraged in Western companies. A more correct answer is: “I plan to use my competencies to develop and benefit the company,” since firms usually declare the values of unlocking the potential of employees and the social benefit of their work. Also, detailed stories about one's life, complaints about previous employers, information about overdue loans, etc., cause a negative impression.
The third stage of preparation includes the presentation of the candidate. At this stage, he should be able to confidently present himself and his achievements.
Competently composed portfolio and presentations will be additional pluses. Often these things outweigh even grammatical errors in English and give our students a big advantage over other candidates.
Source: www.habr.com