{"id":52603,"date":"2019-11-12T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-11-11T21:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/prohoster.info\/blog\/blog_prohoster\/kak-ekonomit-svoe-i-chuzhoe-vremya-na-sobesedovaniyah-ili-nemnozhko-o-zabluzhdeniyah-hr"},"modified":"2020-02-18T14:00:22","modified_gmt":"2020-02-18T11:00:22","slug":"kak-ekonomit-svoe-i-chuzhoe-vremya-na-sobesedovaniyah-ili-nemnozhko-o-zabluzhdeniyah-hr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prohoster.info\/en\/blog\/news\/kak-ekonomit-svoe-i-chuzhoe-vremya-na-sobesedovaniyah-ili-nemnozhko-o-zabluzhdeniyah-hr","title":{"rendered":"How to save your own and others' time in interviews, or a little about HR misconceptions","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"

Another day began as is typical for a winter day during a short week. Classic tasks were pouring into the task manager \u2014 «I sent a letter to Vasily Ivanovich at Sportloto yesterday, instead of Ivan Vasilevich at Loto-million, where I wrote all sorts of nonsense about Vasily Ivanovich. Make sure he doesn't read the letter.<\/i>» or «Last year at the branch, we optimized the system; instead of hiring an administrator, we took the director's best friend's son, for which we received a contract from the director's friend. But his son lost our database along with a new SSD disk that was bought cheaply. Please help us back to how it was.<\/i>«.<\/p>\n

I was listening with one ear to a video about career growth<\/a><\/noindex>, while with the other I was hearing the noise from the effective manager coming through the thin drywall partitions. Like an owl,<\/a><\/noindex>when suddenly an unfamiliar contact tapped me on %messenger%.<\/p>\n

TL:DR Let's talk about money, HR, and, as always, a stream of consciousness. <\/p>\n

<\/a><\/noindex>
\nHello, said the contact, I found your phone on hh, are you a bit interested in a job?
\nWell, I replied. Please announce your offer: what, where, and at what price?
\nI carefully stored the correspondence with the HR, but believe me \u2014 there was nothing new or interesting there. The young HR wasn\u2019t young, moderately attractive, but she was completely unable to explain what prospects there could be in an organization where I had interviewed 1.5 years ago and where they had offered exactly the same salary and the same conditions as today.
\nIn a year and a half, the large and promising (TM) organization still hadn\u2019t bought a coffee machine ($500) and hadn\u2019t moved from the office, which was \"only half an hour walk through snowdrifts from almost the farthest metro station.\" We didn\u2019t find mutual sales love, but nevertheless, the correspondence made me think about what questions I should ask even before going to the office and having interviews \"over Skype\"? What to ask about non-material motivation<\/a><\/noindex> I have already written, but I still need to get to those questions. <\/p>\n

The first question.<\/b>
\nIn my opinion, the simplest first question that should be asked to save both my time and others' is the question about money.
\nIf the HR cannot or doesn\u2019t want to state the salary range \u2014 then the further conversation doesn\u2019t really make any sense.
\nOf course, there are exceptions: firms with a constant recruitment of employees and a good, well-known reputation \"in general.\" <\/p>\n

There are reasons for such an apparent simplicity of the question, and for HR's sharp dislike of such simplicity.
\nThe first reason. <\/b>
\nQuote: The main issue for IT professionals in Russia lies in the fact that they are not needed. There are hardly any serious IT businesses in Russia, and businesses in general are struggling. In government agencies, the pervasive approach is 'good enough', therefore
\na) total nepotism (cronyism). The Owl knows a thing or two about this.<\/a><\/noindex>)
\nb) they are indifferent to advancement (certificates, skills, knowledge).
\nHowever, there are more IT professionals in Russia than needed, as the country historically has a strong math school. But they have nowhere to work, thus competition for positions (which is quite mediocre, of course) is above average compared to Western countries.<\/i><\/p>\n

However, IT is not needed more in some places and less in others. In places where HR sends out searches without indicating salaries\u2014candidates are not needed at all. This sometimes happens\u2014perhaps they need to simulate activity in searching, or show a specialist a thick stack of resumes and say, 'Look, Evgeny V.! So many people can be found for your position.'
\nThe method is certainly not very honest, but approximately 7%<\/a><\/noindex> leaders can apply even more than that. <\/p>\n

The second reason. <\/b>
\nRegardless of what is said in HR lectures about non-material motivation and 'money is not the main thing and only works in the short term', non-material motivation only works under comparable or better working conditions. Money is almost always the top priority for nearly everyone, phrased as 'not less than'\u2014
\nRussian companies' personnel are motivated by 'fair monetary compensation', while a 'incompetent management team' demotivates. Retaining employees is easiest done by offering them a salary increase, established analysts at Hays. The amount of monetary compensation is simultaneously the main motivating and the main demotivating factor for most Russian workers, according to research results from the recruiting company Hays. The particular importance of this factor was indicated by 93% of the 3600 respondents in a study of employees from 486 Russian and international companies operating in Russia, predominantly in Moscow.<\/i>
\nSource: RBC<\/a><\/noindex>
\nSince RBC cannot seem to decide when to block what, here is the backup link.<\/a><\/noindex>.<\/p>\n

The second question. <\/b>
\nThe second question is even simpler \u2014 who, exactly, are they looking for, and did the future manager read the job description?
\nIf the HR cannot answer the second question at all, other than saying \u201ewell, there are computers, servers, DHCP, ReFS, Proxmox, NoSQL\u201c, or confidently replies \u201eno, I did everything myself\u201c \u2014 then, it means that the employee is indeed not needed; it looks like a fa\u00e7ade of busy work. <\/p>\n

In such conditions, asking about education in the specialization, DMS, and so on is already meaningless \u2014 what can one expect from an organization where the department management is not interested in who and how the HR is looking for?<\/p>\n

It's easier to say (or write) \u201ethank you very much, I will review your offer in detail a little later, and if I find it interesting, I will respond to you.\u201c
\nIt saves a lot of time, both yours and HR's.<\/p>\n

Of course, there is a risk of getting blacklisted as \u201edifficult and greedy\u201c \u2014 such lists were recently published for Ukraine, and I have no doubt about their existence in Russia, but blacklists for distribution among organizations where there is no need for staff hold value\u2026 only among similar organizations. <\/p>\n

The end. <\/b><\/p>\n

P.S. A stream of consciousness about aluminum forks. <\/b>
\nTL:DR As always, at the end of the text, there is a stream of consciousness without any structure. <\/p>\n

The job market in IT regarding system administration in Moscow is in a strange state, or at least it seems to me that way; maybe I just lack broader coverage, but based on several links, the picture looks similar.
\nLinks:
\nOne <\/a><\/noindex>, two<\/a><\/noindex>, three<\/a><\/noindex>. <\/p>\n

From the employer's side, there is often a lament like that of Yaroslavna (or even Natasha Rostova), saying that \"there's a lack of qualified personnel.\" In general, this is not the case; there are candidates, but the employer tends to downplay that the full phrase sounds like \u2014 «\u201ethere are no specialists with the required qualifications for the specified salary, or our HR is dealing with something else, but we cannot admit that to ourselves.<\/i>«. One of the links contains a complaint like \"we're not ready to pay as much as they want.\" <\/p>\n

From the employees' side, it seems that there are no jobs with a salary of NNN (in this case, it doesn\u2019t particularly matter whether NNN is 100 or 500 thousand rubles).
\nThis is also not the case; such vacancies do exist, but they almost never become publicly available beyond a certain salary range. For example, vacancies offering 100,000-150,000 rubles are seen on hh much more frequently than two years ago, while those offering 200,000 and above are almost nonexistent in the public space, even though such vacancies do exist and they are not necessarily executive positions. However, one must also understand Sova. Sova knows a thing or two about this.<\/a><\/noindex>
\nA similar problem of \"I want to receive without earning\" has unfortunately not gone away either.<\/p>\n

From my personal viewpoint, it seems that the job market in system administration in Moscow (and Russia as a whole) is contracting under various pressures. These pressures include factors such as:
\n \u2014 Stagflation in the economy, which is also accompanied by nepotism.
\n \u2014 Increased productivity of technology, where problems can now be solved simply by \"buying an SSD\".
\n \u2014 Eased deployment of virtualization systems. Using method X-X (and in production)
\n \u2014 Increased availability of clouds and cloud services, from Office 365 to AWS.
\n \u2014 Outsourcing non-core areas; in modern monitoring and task management services, it\u2019s practically irrelevant how many points need monitoring \u2014 whether 100 or 500, which allows for personnel optimization (specifically moving them out of Moscow), and in some cases, even replacing staff with automation.
\n \u2014 Local cost-cutting.
\n \u2014 Reluctance to invest in specialists as a subtype of cutting costs (with variations). <\/p>\n

I'll elaborate on the last two points.
\n \u2014 Local cost-cutting. <\/b>
\nThe demand for IT in Moscow developed unevenly. Riding the wave of oil money and with a lack of the variety of clouds and tools we have today, before the crisis of summer-autumn 2008, demand for staff was growing. From the start of the crisis, from autumn 2008 to 2012, the market was flooded with numerous candidates, including many with high competencies (experience and real certificates).
\nAs a result, among some HR specialists, there emerged a belief that good IT specialists are available on the market, are inexpensive, and that finding such a specialist, in particular, and in IT as a whole is not challenging. In other words, one can hire anyone and their qualifications will be sufficient.
\nHowever, at the same time, there has been an intensified flow of specialists from IT administration into adjacent fields (development, testing, and sometimes even through 1C and into accounting).
\nFurthermore, since around 2008, there has been an increase (which hasn't stopped) in the exodus of specialists from the Russian Federation as a whole. This outflow is not noticeable in raw numbers, with hundreds of people leaving each year; however, they are not just junior staff or junior administrators \u2014 on the contrary, serious specialists are emerging from the Russian-speaking IT community. This is indirectly confirmed by previous analyses of blogs in Russian and the unfortunate fate of a once-popular website that, in pursuit of ad views, merged marketing, coworking, and narratives about space, food, plus headphones with a warm, tube sound into one chaotic blend.
\nUnfortunately, no public analysis (of job positions) is conducted by the only remaining major job portal \u2014 HH. However, HH provides an API for tracking employee loyalty, and there are rumors that the database can also be obtained in one way or another, yet there is no public statistics available, just as there are no tools for employees to evaluate job vacancies.
\nPerhaps statistics on the outflow of personnel can be obtained from certification tracking systems, such as VUE.
\nIt might also be possible to indirectly assess the outflow of personnel through published lists of various experts.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Reluctance to invest in specialists as a subtype of cutting costs (with variations). <\/b>
\nAnother complaint from the management and HR side is: 'Do not educate them, or else they will leave.'
\nI believe this is related to the fact that even inexpensive ($500) training can provide a specialist with an understanding that they are worth more in the market than what is being offered \u201chere,\u201d leading to specialists leaving after their training. As a result, in the overwhelming majority (in numbers) of organizations, there is no training available, and there\u2019s even an implicit (unstated) ban on free training \u2014 whether online or through open competitions for pizza eating. Sometimes there\u2019s not even the opportunity to set up a booth just to check updates on various services. Variations occur in the form of mandatory additional periods on the gallery like \"either fulfill obligations for the training or return NNN% of the cost,\" or a sudden change in management regarding what seemed to be a promising prospect, including the approach «Currently, all of the above results in a knocking sound from the bottom in the form of:<\/i>«.<\/p>\n

Conclusion. <\/b>
\nCurrently, all of the above results in a knock at the bottom of the species:
\n \u2014 \"Oh, I'm a student. I was told to update the exchange during the probation period, so we installed it from torrents, bought an SSD, but it still doesn't work as it should. Please help, good people, I have no money for support.\"
\n \u2014 Oh, what a disaster, there are no specialists.
\n \u2014 Oh, it's unclear what to study; they don't increase salaries for certification anyway, they won't pay 100 (200, 300) thousand.
\n \u2014 Oh, well it will be enough for my working years, and then I'll be 65 and retire, we will live well!
\n \u2014 There are NO specialists in some places AT ALL. And you're in Moscow, while the tasks are in the regions, so it\u2019s your problem, %username%.<\/p>\n

The last point (there are NO specialists in some places AT ALL) also needs to be discussed separately.
\n1. The outflow of specialists from the regions.
\nAlmost all competent specialists from the regions have either settled down well or moved to Moscow (St. Petersburg) and are now on the tractor. There are few exceptions, though they do exist.
\n2. The optimization of what\u2019s left has led to the fact that there is simply no personnel who can do something needed once a year. There is a type of substitute available if needed, but that \"something\" is not his specialization.
\n3. The same applies to servicing all sorts of minor items, like cash registers, computers, monitors, and so on. These are minor items, but they also need to be understood and handled, along with that **** barcode and about the same *** inventory system for alcoholic products, \u0415\u0413\u0410\u0418\u0421.
\n4. The situation is deteriorating in spurts because, generally speaking, you need about 10 good specialists for every 100,000 people, roughly (in the market like p. 3, where all sorts of minor items are involved). A jump will occur when the next specialist either suffers a heart attack or stroke, or moves to Moscow-Petersburg. The situation will immediately drop a level.
\nFor example, let's take a small town with a population of about 50,000. There is a conditional store chain, any of them \u2014 Monetochki, Pyaterochka, Magnit, Dixie, Lenta, Perekrestok \u2014 whoever else. But there is. The store has cash registers, essentially \u2014 small PCs with a printing device attached by duct tape and a card terminal that somehow send sales reports. There are SCS installers in the city.
\nThere is no one capable of solving a problem at the level of 'printing not printing' and reprogramming or fixing or making a decision about replacing the connection between computer \u2014 printer \u2014 payment terminal. It's really not that complicated. However, the nearest specialists are 100 kilometers away. They don\u2019t mind traveling that distance \u2014 it\u2019s just that you need to dispatch two vehicles over harsh roads (and two vehicles because only one can operate in summer, and in winter, it\u2019s too risky), and the price for their services immediately skyrockets by *10 \u2014 because of the two vehicles, two drivers, and associated risks, and this is for a day, plus they have ongoing work at their current location.
\nThe same goes for any task slightly more complex than 'cutting with a grinder'. Sure, there are some experts for current operations, but everything else is either non-existent or very limited. Not needed.<\/p>\n

What to do about it, someone might ask, how to live? I would be happy, but... (c)<\/a><\/noindex><\/i><\/b>
\nNothing new has been invented here.
\n \u2014 VUE Certification (Prometric, etc.)
\n \u2014 IELTS (TOEFL, CELPIP)
\n \u2014 LinkedIn (monster, etc.)
\n \u2014 Three widely known options. <\/p>\n

For those who read this far. <\/b>
\nFor many, it\u2019s a SUDDEN discovery that the internet is full of not just courses on YouTube, but ready-made courses, labs, and simulators, all for FREE, that is, for nothing.
\nNo hidden fees and at high speed.
\nI will list the most well-known ones:
\nAWS and Azure. Unexpectedly, both offer 'kinda free' for a month to a year, although Azure will deduct either a ruble or a dollar, but they say it will be refunded later.
\nMS Hands-on lab<\/a><\/noindex>
\nand for MS Hands-on lab \u2014 Channel 9<\/a><\/noindex>
\nThe aforementioned pizza makers: Microsoft 365 Intelligent Communications Global Azure Bootcamp 2019 Russia<\/p>\n

Vmware Hands-on lab<\/a><\/noindex>
\nand their YouTube channel<\/a><\/noindex>
\nand their freshly prepared training within VMUG<\/a><\/noindex> <\/p>\n

Storage Array.
\nList of VSA Virtual Storage Appliances and SAN Storage Simulators <\/a><\/noindex>
\nSome simulators are just GUI or CLI, while others are full-fledged virtual machines.<\/p>\n

Networks.
\nNetwork simulators are even described here \u2014 from packet tracer to GNS3, where you can insert ASA with known tricks.<\/p>\n

How is all this related to the original title? <\/b>
\nIt's quite simple.
\nThe job market globally, and in Russia in particular, is tightening, and reskilling is becoming increasingly difficult. As a result, it may happen that there will be no job options left; any available job might seem like a good opportunity. However, in my opinion, such a situation should be avoided by monitoring both the overall trends and your own growth prospects regarding salary and qualifications, as well as job stability. To achieve this, you should spend less time interviewing at obviously unpromising places, and even less time working there, unless you want to suddenly find yourself at age 50 with 2005-era knowledge interviewing for a position where skilled workers are not really needed.
\nIn my opinion, it\u2019s much better when you decide whether to call back or not, %username%.<\/b><\/p>\n

Only registered users can participate in the survey. Please log in<\/a><\/noindex>, please.<\/p>\n

Have you encountered various forms of trimming on personnel and been in places where workers are not needed?<\/h2>\n