Any interviews are specific. They differ from company to company; In addition, if HR likes to use a non-standard approach to business, then the same specialist will not have two identical interviews. It is very difficult to go through this stage of employment, even in your own language - let alone foreigners.
In many cases, "foreign language" working interviews with successful passage allow to cut a window not only to Europe, but also to many other countries of the world, including those that are located overseas. We will talk about how best to pass English-speaking interviews in this article.
The material is divided into two parts. The first one is more theoretical, these are some tips on what to do before the interview in order to make a good impression on HR and a potential employer. The second is recommendations from those who successfully completed English-language interviews. We conducted a survey among colleagues and acquaintances, the answers were combined into several pools, summarizing what is possible. The results are presented to the attention of readers habr.com.
Theory
So, based on the experience - his, friends and "that guy" - we give a few general recommendations. They will help prepare for an English-language interview with the necessary thoroughness.
- The summary must be truthful, but all of its strengths must be shown. Many English-language resumes are more like complimentary odes to applicants. In principle, in no case should one forget about one's own merits - it is worthwhile to reflect everything that somehow relates to the intended work. On the other hand, in no case should not be grafted. For example, to exaggerate the level of knowledge of the language of death is similar. For the first or second time, a potential employer will understand the real state of things. And worst of all, if you manage to get a job with the help of lies and half-truths, then you can lose the place very quickly.
- Before the interview you need to know everything about the company in which you are going to work. In general, it is a universal advice that is suitable for interviews in any country of the world in any language. The company is important that a potential employee can do for her. And if he does not know anything about his future employer, then he will not be able to give a clear answer.
- It is necessary to prepare a list of questions that you can ask, and answers to them. Whatever the original interview, some of the questions are likely to be standard. Why did you leave your previous place of work, what you can do, with whom you would prefer to work in one team and much more. Lists of questions that are repeated from the interview to the interview, we will not specify - if you want, you can find them in a couple of minutes in any search engine. Answers should be remembered (yes, advice in the style of KO, but it is still needed).
- Do not prepare complex language constructs if you use them infrequently in conversation. If you perfectly know the language and can easily understand Shakespeare and Tolkien in the original presentation - this is good. But when you do not use complex English language constructions too often, you should not include them in your answers this time as well. Generally speaking, interviews are usually communicated using relatively simple words, so do not make life difficult for yourself and your interlocutor.
- Make a list of "corporate" words that may come in handy. We are talking about such words and phrases as "team player", "loyalty", "competence", "adapting to circumstances", "motivated". In most interviews, these words are used in a given context by both HR or a potential employer, and those who are interviewed.
- Speak English. Even if you create perfect English texts, there can be a problem with pronunciation. If you often have to speak, it’s not as likely as if you speak English only occasionally. Intonation is also very important, because it is somewhat different from that adopted in Russian.
Ay vil Speak Frome May Hart!Practice
In this part, those who recently conducted an interview in English share their experience with us (and some of the respondents even conducted them). We asked the same questions, and the received answers summarized. Our respondents are: Gulfiya Kurmangaleeva, Retail Rocket product director, Anastasia Dujardin, manager of editorial special projects for Mail.Ru Group, Anna Rudnitskaya, HR-director of Skillbox, Lili Aleinikova and Artem Pykhteev, director of educational projects.
It is noteworthy that approximately 80% of the responses of our colleagues coincided with the theoretical calculations above. We can say that the theory is fully confirmed by practice.
- Are there any differences in the course of the interview in Russian and English?- Almost not, if we are talking about semantic content. HR and employers are interested in the same thing in any language: how can a potential employee use his future company, and how much a person wants to become part of a team. You need to tell the truth, talk about your achievements, goals, and focus on the ability to work in a team. This is trivial, but they always pay attention to such moments.
It should be understood that not all managers conducting the interview are native speakers. This person may be from China, Ireland, India, so you will have to adapt to his (her) accent, and your interlocutor - to yours.
In general, it is worth separating two types of interviews: with HR and directly with your future boss. In the first case, everything is about the same as in Russian. Often, such interviews are conducted in English at least in order to understand the level of the applicant's language. As for the conversation with the manager, the main thing is to be a positive and relatively talkative person. Few people love sullen applicants who do not conduct a dialogue, but spit out certain words with visible labor for themselves.
- How not to behave in an English-speaking interview?- It is worth taking all this as a conversation with a good friend. In no case do not need to strain: try to imagine that you were invited for a cup of coffee (this is also due to the fact that applicants are often offered coffee or tea).
Also, do not build complex sentences, all the time using idioms. Once or twice good, but constantly - not necessary. Plus, the interlocutor will not always understand the idiom - we recall that the interview can also be conducted by a non-native speaker.
Still it is not necessary to hide if you do not understand something. Even native English speakers do not always understand each other if they are from different regions of the same country or, all the more, from different countries. What to say about those for whom English is not native. If the question is unclear, ask for reformulation. For the most part, employers and HR are quite adequate people who will ask a question differently without any problems.
- What can you advise those who are going to have an interview in English?“It’s best to start practicing the language immediately after submitting a resume to an English-speaking company. Every day, without exception - and it is desirable that for the interlocutor he was a native (or at least permanently used).
Optimally - enroll in business English courses with a native speaker. It is desirable that they are individual, and the tutor should immediately say that you need to prepare for the interview in one or two months.
It is also worth watching movies in English to make it easier to perceive information by ear. You can also watch business news in English - this also contributes to the development of listening comprehension.
- How did you prepare for your job interview?- First of all, with a tutor, for about two months. Plus, every day I spent a couple of hours watching movies in English.
In addition, a sample of data about the company and its future tasks was gradually being prepared.
All this helped to pass the interview.
- Do the “expectation” and the “reality” often coincide?- In most cases - yes. Although one of our colleagues once prepared a whole speech, but she was not needed because the interview went on a different course. This happens quite often, but this does not mean that you do not need to prepare for communication with the employer.
Few cases
During the interview may ask unusual questions. For example, one of the respondents above came for an interview and for a while answered quite working questions. As far as could be judged by the reaction of the interlocutor - it is quite normal. But after about half an hour, the interviewee was asked what he thought about the global financial crisis. The problem was that he even thought about it in Russian, and here he had to quickly recall everything he had ever heard about it. Everything went well, but this case shows how unexpected interviews can be. Most likely, HR just wanted to clarify the level of knowledge of English in a conversation that is not related to work issues.
One of our interlocutors told about the use of theses. In preparing for the interview, he wrote down briefly his answers to the questions he was asking. Cribs are not useful, but gave him confidence. Actually, theses have not harmed anyone yet. If you don’t have to use them, the recording process itself will help you to better remember.
And the last personal advice - carefully study the terms that are relevant to the work. Otherwise, at the right moment you can not understand the question or not too correctly answer it. In some areas - for example, in design, there are very specific words and phrases that came from very unrelated industries, for example from baseball. One of our interlocutors said that once, during a conversation with HR, he heard several new terms related to his profession, although he believed that he knew them all.
As output
Actually, the conclusion is small. Interviews in Russian and in English, especially for IT, are similar. Therefore, if you are a real professional and know a foreign language to the extent necessary for a new job, then most likely everything will be fine. In the course of the conversation, unforeseen factors may come into play, but there are always accidents, nothing can be done about it.
