This is the second part of our new series “Work is not a wolf,” which will consist of five parts, each of which reveals the most important aspects related to employment. As with the education cycle, articles will be subjective, honest, and based on extensive expertise. Here is what awaits you:
Part 1. Job Search: Sources, Resumes, HR Interviews
Part 2. Device and adaptation: interview with the boss, we pass the trial period with a breeze
Part 3. Work as a newcomer: growth in the company
Part 4. Work as an experienced employee: how not to burn out
Part 5. Dismissal: I am leaving beautifully
We are waiting for your stories in the comments - let as many Habr readers as possible be able to look for work without fear, find success and work with confidence.
Job interview: how to get through the boss
So, in the last article we discussed the resume, went through HR and are ready for the new stage of the interview with the head. Well, or they immediately got into a company where the interview is conducted by the head of the company or jointly by the head and managers - such a situation often happens in small and even medium-sized businesses.
▍What to be prepared for?
- To real practical problems. Most likely, the head of the unit or company will offer you to do some kind of task right in front of his nose. And it is always stress! I recommend you not to shade, but to start solving and reasoning - often the train of thoughts and the chosen methods of finding a solution are already enough for the future boss to draw conclusions. If it’s stalled (well, you don’t remember one or another algorithm), remember that you are not in the exam, you are on an equal footing with your opponent, so ask how much you need to know such things in memory, is it not easier to use Google, and time to spend on project architecture and refactoring?
- To theoretical questions in the specialty and related moments - this is especially true for applicants for initial positions. For example, if you are going to be a testing engineer, questions about knowing the OSI model, UNIX fundamentals, some basic commands, types of testing, etc. are very likely. Here, getting out with a “look at Google” will not work, so if you are not confident in yourself, prepare for an interview in advance, refresh your knowledge of the basics of the specialty that you are going to.
- To the questions “make fun of”, which will give out your ability to think, formulate, behave, etc. In large corporations, these can be the very eerie questions that are often written on the Internet ( How much money do you wash all windows in Seattle for? Or Develop an evacuation plan for San Francisco) , as a rule, in small companies this is either completely inadequate with silly humor or good, intelligible questions from a strong professional ( What is testing in one word? Do you think the ideal program has already been created? ).
- To personal questions from the category of hobbies, travel, languages, family composition, etc. At such moments, you should forget that you are at the interview and answer as openly as possible, so you will arouse sympathy and demonstrate the ability to switch between work and the personal sphere.
- To questions about past work - by the way, they can be asked at any stage. One advice: do not pour mud, do not carry dirty linen from the hut, do not stand alone in a white coat among the finished shit. Tell us about the good, neutralize the reason for leaving. And yes, do not make the opposite mistake, do not praise the previous place, otherwise you will run into the question: “Why did you leave then?”
Other questions and conversation topics usually come down to the following. The main thing at this stage is to remember that now they are talking to you not as a job seeker, but as a professional, and demonstrate this side of yourself.
▍A few simple tips that we forget about:
- if there are several interviewees, try to look at each after an equal period of time, they will catch your eye;
- look in the eyes;
- at the end of the conversation, ask who will be your immediate supervisor (sometimes intuition will help you more than reading reviews on the Internet);
- try to prevent hanging pauses;
- do not interrupt;
- ask questions if you need to maintain a conversation;
- do not rush to end the conversation;
- don’t try to impress.
▍ What to look for?
I’m probably going to repeat for the fifth time in two posts that interviewing is a great stress for everyone, regardless of qualifications. Inside this stress, you need to keep your thoughts and professional skills in order and behave confidently. But this is not enough - be sure to tune in to analyze your environment in order to understand whether it is worth saying “Yes” to this company.
- If there are several hierarchically subordinate people at the interview (HR and director, department head and director or top manager), pay attention to their communication model, whether they work smoothly, if there is contact or only reverent silence. The team is visible from afar.
- How did you react to your resume: it is one of many and you are “on the stream” here or it lies alone, and you are in focus.
- How is the time allocated for the interview and how often are the participants distracted, whether the communication started on time or you had to wait more than 15 minutes.
- As the leader was introduced to you - with regalia or not, by first name or patronymic, or name, formally or informally.
- How did you react to the course of solving the tasks - as an exam or as a business discussion of the problem. This indicates your level in the eyes of the interviewee.
These points provide important signals to the applicant. Having gone outside the company, you should carefully scroll through the whole conversation a couple of times in your memory, so you will understand that you were especially surprised, pleased, impressed, hurt.
▍What not to do and not to ask?
- Do not ask questions that can be clarified with HR, the only exception: a justified request for a higher salary than you were voiced.
- Do not crush intellect and do not try to prove that the interlocutor is stupid. For example, you definitely should not talk about errors in the design of the site or about your vision of how to conduct a business. So you run into a fair: "You open your business, then we'll talk."
- No plans for improving the company's work and specific business processes. It just looks unprofessional: how can you talk about processes that you know nothing about and inside of which you were not ?!
- Do not ask about the salaries of specific people (“How much does your technical director earn?”) - in almost all companies this is classified information, which is sometimes even forbidden to discuss by internal rules.
- Do not comment on employee behavior, office conditions, company image on the market, etc.
- Do not demand an immediate response and a decision on hiring you.
In general, everything is simple: do not be silly. You almost completed the quest, do not spoil your result.
And if the result is positive and everything suits you too, read on. The first three months and especially the first couple of weeks at work are the most terrible, revealing and important.
The first working days - we evaluate the situation
So, you went to work in a new company. Everything is new for you: the team, the decor, the product, the leadership style, tasks, etc. Something will definitely go wrong, do not panic, first impressions may be dictated by fear and an involuntary comparison with past experience. To make it easier to transfer this time, use life hack: draw 21 sticks in a notebook and cross out one each day. This is a very successful technique, in 3 weeks a person develops a habit of something. When you cross out the last stick, you will be surprised to find that everything has become much easier and more understandable.
So, how to behave in the first few weeks in a new place?
▍What can
- First of all, find out if you will have a mentor, mentor or guide to the company world. If it is, this is ideal: he can be officially asked all the questions. If not, contact the head of the department and make friends with someone as quickly as possible (for example, have lunch or come up to clarify something).
- If you weren’t immediately given a computer (this is unpleasant and very often happens), ask for documentation to study, ask how you can help for now, and even better bring your laptop and ask if there is an internal portal to get acquainted with the product, knowledge base and rules corporate life.
- Ask to tell you about the rules of work, bring up to date, show your tasks. Be sure to connect to automation systems, study their interface, subscribe to notifications (Jira, CRM, bug tracker and other systems for work).
- Find out how it is customary to communicate on work issues, in writing or offline. There are companies or departments within them where only chat is welcome and, speaking out loud, you can feel very awkward.
- Work 100%: follow deadlines, work as far as possible without errors, close tasks and actively demonstrate it. Get involved in professional discussions, meetings, external events (conferences, meetings). Even if you are deeply unsure of yourself inside, do not show the mind: be an ordinary member of the team.
- Try to demonstrate some unusual “overtime” skills, but in a very limited dose - show possession of a modern stack, tell us about the methodology that you own, and tell about an interesting experience. This will show your professionalism and desire to use skills in work.
A story from the life of the author. At one of the jobs, I had the position of manager of a large IT project, all responsibilities were standard and some very boring, steady employee came out of me. And in the distant 2013 that company started a blog on Habré and marketers began to poke around like blind kittens into topics and problems. It was my finest hour: at that time my account had about 10 articles with a good rating and +28 karma. Yes, this significantly added to the tasks, but also immediately increased the value as a specialist. In the next increase, wages increased by 20%.
Beginner on the first day. Self-awareness.
▍What can’t
- Do not adjoin clans of employees and do not begin to be friends against or for someone with other colleagues. Office intrigues still reach you, give yourself time to figure out why there is a clan, if it exists at all and who is really a good hero and who is evil.
- Do not sit on entertainment resources, video portals, on social networks and do not stick out on the phone, otherwise you may be misunderstood. Gradually, you will plunge into the team and understand what is happening and whether, for example, you can listen to not tracks from balls or Yandex.Music, for example, but something from YouTube. A trifle, but how much respect for the unspoken rules of the company!
- Do not separate from everyone. The policy “I came to work here” is not the best for teamwork, and especially not the best for a beginner who has to understand business processes.
- Do not blame your mistakes on the neighbor, computer, network, weather and traffic jams. If you work hard, apologize, explain the reasons and ask to help you figure it out. Better yet, ask before you make it your own way, even if you are Senior Java Developer or Deputy. the head of the department - it is likely that the company has unspoken rules of work, code style and other corporate principles.
You don’t need much more from you during the trial period: no beer parties, no ticket requirements for expensive conferences, no rats. suggestions. Be a little more expensive than the expectations that the employer made and three months later you will have an excellent resource to turn around as a pro and as a person.
But these three months must be survived.
Probationary Period - Important Points
A marketer, a typical representative born in XXI, but 30 years old, came to work in my department. Fighting about him was useless, he considered exactly two things: the fact that he owed nothing to anyone and his salary. It seemed to me, an inexperienced leader, that it was my fault, I needed to finish up, stretch, but ... In general, we decided to dismiss from the probationary period, missed the necessary period and the harsh Labor Code of the Russian Federation began, and our hero did not want to leave. He worked for a year until his relatives arranged a job for the intergalactic corporation. A year of inefficient work of an entire team member, a year of my wildest overload with marketing issues!
But this is bad for the employer, but the employee is very good. Therefore, be sure to remember what you need to know about the trial period.
Your articles - Art. 70 and Art. 71 of the Federal Law " Labor Code of the Russian Federation ", but if you do not like to read in the language of lawyers, we will write the main points in Russian.
- The absence of a condition of a probationary period in an employment contract means that the employee was hired without a test - therefore, when applying for a job, read the contract. And read the agreement on trade secrets carefully, there are unusual surprises.
- There is a list of employees who can not be assigned a trial period - they are listed in the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, from the audience of Habr may include, for example, pregnant women and minors
- The test period may not exceed three months, and for the heads of organizations and their deputies, chief accountants and their deputies, heads of branches, representative offices or other separate divisions - six months.
- The probationary period does not include hospital and other periods when you were absent from work.
- If the employee is not suitable for the employer, during the trial period he can terminate the employment contract by notifying him in writing not later than three days later indicating the reasons.
- If you decide on a trial period that work in the company is not yours, you can quit of your own free will, having notified the employer in writing in three days.
- When dismissing during the probationary period, you do not need to count on severance pay.
- If the test period has expired, and you continue to work, then everything, you continue to work and the subsequent termination of the employment contract is allowed only on general grounds (and this is not as simple as it seems).
- The probationary period is taken into account when calculating vacation pay - that is, 3 months probationary period + 3 months of “normal” work and it is possible on vacation.
Many IT companies have the practice of early termination of the probationary period or vice versa, not including training courses for the selection of the best students in the length of the probationary period. And if the second situation has not yet gone where, then reducing the period of the probationary period may not allow you to be revealed, therefore the plan is simple: to show professional and human qualities as early as possible.
In fact, if you have developed with the company, you will not even notice the end of the trial period - you simply will not wait for a decision on your fate, but you will be immersed in work, in team life, in projects that interest you. This is work for love, and not just for calculation. And I’ll tell you honestly: to find a good job and the same “yes, this is mine” is no less valuable than finding a good friend or your love.
PS Summed up our Halloween horror contest . Frenology won , his story gained 15 pluses, he gets a hoodie from Levelorda, the second place went to webdevium with 8 points, he is sent an annual supply of socks as a gift. Details of receiving prizes were written in a personal winners. Thank you all for participating in the contest.