1.关于简历和cover letter要注意的东西太多了,我这里从hr打来第一轮screening电话写起。最重要的是要准备好几个必答题:
a)在5分钟之内能够清楚明白的把自己的经历讲一遍,按照时间顺序讲,在有比较大的转折处(比如换专业,换工作,有gap),务必简要说明为什么做了这样的决定。
b)能够举出至少两个理由为什么你对申请的工作有兴趣,理由并不用冠冕堂皇,但求真实可信。我用过的理由有,我对你们公司的business有兴趣,这个工作很符合我的背景,我有ready-to-use skill set,这个职位需要跟很多不同的人合作而我喜欢跟人打交道,这个职位is in perfect alignment with my long term career goal(要准备好被问你的长期职业规划是什么)如果是比较大的公司,还可以说there is infinite room for self development,最后加一句,我相信你们公司会continue to excel从而可以提供现在这鬼年头尤为宝贵的stability。顺便奉送马屁一枚。
c)你为什么认为你可以胜任这个工作。无非就是skill set + past experience + strong interest,清楚分成第一第二第三,说三条感觉比较合适。
d)准备两到三个要问hr的问题。后面有几个小例子。
e)hr一般会说他会把你的材料给hiring manager,这时候一定要hr给你送一个email,留下联系方式。
2. 有几个朋友写信来问从hr把简历给hiring manager到hiring manager打电话来面试有多久,这个问题其实我们是可以掌握一下主动的,不妨问一声,according to your experience, how soon should I expect to hear from him/her? 或者would you mind me giving you a call if I don’t hear anything within a week or two? 这样多少给hr一些压力,提醒他不要忘记这事,而且有了铺垫,你将来打电话去查询也显得理所当然。 在面试当地工作的时候还可以更进一步。我一般在hr说他会给hiring manager我的简历看是否要安排电面时说一句,when you talk to the hiring manager, please keep in mind that I live at local so it is very easy for me to come visit your site. Please let the manager know that I am totally open for a face to face conversation if he prefers to do so. 就是这样有3个面试很快安排了onsite。
3. know your story. 如上面说的,要能够简洁明了的照着resume把自己的经历在3或5分钟之内讲完,最好写写背下来。Resume上的每一个bullet,都要能讲出一个小故事来。一般我用的脉络是,这部分工作我是什么时候做的,为什么要做它,用了什么方法,完成用了多少时间,都起到了什么作用,老板和同事都给了什么正面评价。有个scheme叫做STAR,可能很多朋友都知道,Situation, Task, Action, Result,用来讲述resume里的故事,是个很好的方法。
( 接下来的一些onsite经验或许不适合面试程序比较死板严格的公司,每个interviewer拿一个单子,每个问题都要问到的那种。)
4. Construct a conversation。我认为面试不该是一个你先问我来答,我再问你来答的游戏,而应该从头到尾都是一个双向的对话。比如你准备问interviewer的问题,不一定要留到最后再问(当然至少要留两个压箱宝,不能等他问any question for me?的时候说没有),而是在任何环节都可以找适当的时候提出来。如果你在对方介绍公司和职位情况,说到中间略作停顿的时候,说一句I am sorry to interrupt but can I chip in a question here? 针对他刚刚说的提出一个有意义的问题,会让对方觉得你在认真倾听,而且有自己的见解,不是只会点头而已。例子:去面试一个最近进军e-marketing和web hosting的公司,对面的人是VP level,所以感觉跟他谈一些战略层面的问题是比较合适的。当他讲到进军新领域的时候,我说了may I chip in a question here之后,说It is very interesting to know that the company is going to enter these areas. However I know there are some big competitors out there and they control a big market share. Which market segment do you target? What do you think is your competitive advantage? 对面的人明显露出赞许的表情,说that’s an excellent question!
5. 在网上看见的经验里好像比较少提到,我们interviewee是可以引导谈话方向的。举个例子吧,可能罗嗦些 --- 我本人非常痛恨behavioral questions,有一个onsite for senior analyst position,我先见了两个analyst,然后是一个finance VP,同时他们在另外招一个director来填补VP和analyst之间的职位空缺。之前我问了那两个analyst关于这个VP管理风格的问题,他们都提到了这个老板人很好,但是对工作要求严格,会要求他们努力干活。后来那个VP带着behavior questions sheet进来,问我how did the interview go的时候,我没有简单的说些great之类的话,而是多说了两句: I have enjoyed speaking with *** and *** very much. They are very nice, and they told me quite a few things about you。然后那个VP很感兴趣的问我他手下都说了什么,我先跟他开了个玩笑做尴尬状说, eh, I am not sure if I should tell you everything they said about you。那个VP笑完之后我把几个我觉得他很可能引以为傲的优点讲出来,大意是My first impression is that, first you are easy going and very nice to work for. Second, you know how to make people work hard without laying an eye on them all the time. Most importantly, you care about your employees and you are willing to fight for them when they are right. These are the things that in my opinion can decide if one can make a successful manager. 这VP大喜,吹嘘了自己的管理哲学一番,然后开始谈论他们正在招的director,跟我讨论什么样的人才能胜任这一职位。等他想起来要问我那些讨厌的behavioral questions.的时候,时间已经不多了,而双方都觉得谈得很愉快。
6. 看人下菜碟,在谈话中寻找能引起interviewer共鸣的一个点,稍作发挥即可迅速拉近距离。一个例子,有一天我跟3个senior and lead analysts谈话,其中一个刚刚加入公司3个多月,谈话中她有意无意的透露出对这公司某些现存体系的不满,而且表示很难改变在这里待了比较久的人的做法。记住千万不能附和interviewer对他们自己team的负面言论,不好的东西只能自己说,别人说是要挨板砖的。最保险的方法是拿自己的经历说事儿。我记得我先说I know exactly what you mean because I have had the same feelings before. 然后说了我在上一个公司的 组里也是资历最浅的一个,有时候想要改进一些东西的时候,往往对自己信心不足,it takes a lot of courage to challenge senior people. And it is indeed hard to make changes happen because most people don’t like to change the way they do things all the time。然后稍微讲了一两个小例子,那个interview听得频频点头,然后开始讨论怎么在工作中说服资深的同事. 你一言我一语说完这个问题,问behavioral questions.的时间又不多了, ouye!
7. 到了onsite的阶段,最好准备一些chit chat,或者interview的时候也可以即兴发挥一下。 可以是跟工作有关或者无关的任何题目,虽然小,也常常会起到创造友好气氛,拉进与interviewer距离的作用。有次onsite正好下大雪, interviewer进来说了句开始下雪了,我说oh no,然后说几年前贪图虚荣买了辆sports car,然后每年夏天很拉风,一到冬天就想哭。Interviewer哈哈大笑。另外一次一个manager走进来发现会议室里的表走得不准,他自己又没带表,不高兴的抱怨了几句,我笑着说ah, now I believe it is hard to have everything work correctly in a company, even in a great one such as ***. 那个manager一下子笑了,气氛马上轻松了很多。
总之interview的要诀就是以下几个:胆大,心细,脸皮厚,还有提前做好功课。接下来是一些sample questions,是我问过之后感觉对方反应比较好的,给大家做个参考。注意问题要问对对象,例如,对hiring manager和未来的group member最好问实际工作方面的问题,不要问公司的总体业务,战略走势,市场竞争等等,对方可能会因为不清楚而感到尴尬。
问HR的问题:
Could you tell me more about the company and the *** group? (如果他没有主动详细解释)
Is this a newly created position or recently vacated position? How will the new hire fit in the *** group?
Who will this new hire be working with on a regular basis? Or: Who will be the primary business partners of this new hire?
Could you help me better understand the recruiting process? How many rounds of interviews are there? Who will be interviewing candidates, other than you and the hiring manager?
According to your experience, how soon should I expect to hear from him/her?
Would you mind me giving you a call if I don’t hear anything within a week or two?
另外,跟一个hr聊得很开心,所以在onsite的时候问了how many people are competing with me on this round? 也没问题。有些hr会介意这种问题,所以如无把握不要问。
问Hiring manager的问题:
What do you value the most in the new hire? What is the most important for one to succeed in this position? 这个是必问题,因为作为hiring manager,最关心的就是能否招到合适的人,你问这个问题表明你了解他的需要也愿意听听他的期待,是很好的一个互相沟通。
How much would you encourage new ideas? You know, sometimes new ideas mean extra time spent and no return guaranteed.
I have *** skills. From the job description, I think it might be helpful but not quite sure. What is your opinion? 这个是为自己不动声色加分的方法,注意要准备好被问为什么你觉得你的这个skill会有用。
问未来同事的问题:
Ask more about the job responsibility: Could you describe a typical day of yours? 或者换个方式问 how much time do you spend on working on your computer, and how much time on talking to other people 诸如此类的。
What kind of people do you like to work with? 记住在他讲完之后抓住一两点表明自己具有他喜欢的特质。
I know you’ve been working here for a number of years. Would you mind sharing your personal experience with the company? What do you like about the company and the xxx team? 最好不要问对方不喜欢什么,最多用委婉一点的说法, what do you feel is the most challenging thing.
Has it been hard to balance work and family life since you joined the company? (对以忙著称的公司就不要问这个了)
问对方大头目的问题;
Ask about the company’s “big” topics. 做好功课,最好能做一点简单的分析和提出有意义的问题。
Ask about his/her personal experience with the company. 如果对方已经做到比较高的位置,个人经历都不至于太不愉快的,每次问这个问题,对方都很高兴的吹了吹牛。
https://www.unjs.com/