Do you view interviews as a two-way street? Well, you should do!

GREAT INTERVIEW QUESTIONS:

The time you spend at an interview is not just for the interviewer to find out if you are going to be the right fit for them, what is equally important is using that time to find out if the role is going to be the right fit for you.

Not only this, not having any questions makes you look unprepared and uninterested. Here are some good questions to ask in an interview.

What is your company culture like?
This question will give you a great insight into what it’s like to work for your potential employer and the dynamics within the team you would be joining. It will also give you a chance to find out about the company’s ethos and if this aligns with your own.

What are the day to day responsibilities of this job?
This is a great question to find out the project you will be working on and the tech stack you will be working with on a day-to-day basis. This will give you a great feel for if this is a job you can see yourself doing.

What are your expectations for this role during the first 30 days, 60 days, year?
This is a great question to open the narrative and find out if this role will give you an opportunity to learn and progress over the year.

What are the biggest challenges you’re facing in the market?
This will give you an insider insight into the industry the company operate in and the direction it is going in.

Who do you consider to be your major competitors?
Although you should have researched this before the interview, this is a great question for you to uncover any information on competitors from the company’s point of view. It will also show your potential employer you have the potential to think outside the box and what’s best for the company with one eye on the competition.

What are the challenges of this position?
This question will give you a great insight into the project and some of the day-to-day problems they are encountering, and you will be working on
Is this a new position? Always good to understand, if this is a new position it is always worth digging a bit deeper into the growth plans and what’s brought on this growth. It will give you a great insight into the state of the organisation.
If it’s not a new position, it’s worth asking why the previous person left. This will also give you a greater insight into the team dynamics.

What do you like best about working for this company?
This is a great question for building rapport with the interviewer, it will also give you an actual account of what it’s like working for the company. The answers should give you a chance to visualise working here and if the work environment aligns with your expectations.

Where is the company headed in the next 5 years and how can I grow in this job?
This is a great question to ask to gain an insight into how ambitious the company is and if this ambition aligns with your own. The question should also shed some light on how your career can progress.

Can you tell me a bit about the team I would be working with?
This question will give you an insight on the team dynamics and how it is structured. It’s always good to know where you will fit in.

What are the next steps in the interview process?–
This is a good way of finding out how many interview stages are left and puts a timeline on when you can expect to receive feedback.

A guide to remote onboarding

COMMUNICATION IS KEY:

Once an offer has been accepted by a candidate most companies don’t realise how important the onboarding phase is.

This is a crucial stage, as this is the first window into your organisation and a chance for a new employee to understand the culture and kind of organisation they will be working for.

With the current Covid situation remote onboarding is now becoming the norm. Some clients are finding this lack of face-to-face contact challenging with integrating and onboarding new hires. This is a new way of working.

“Communication is key” the more you interact with new team members during onboarding the more they will feel part of the team and ready to do some of their best work.

Here is a checklist of some of the processes to be mindful of in order to do the best you can in welcoming and onboarding new starters.

1.Send a welcome package

We have all been in that situation where we have accepted a new job offer and there is a notice period or small time before we join a new company.

This is the ideal time to perhaps send a welcome to the company and team gift.

Great examples of these would be: –

  • Company merchandise such as Sweets, pens, notepads, diaries etc
  • Some company literature and articles to give a deeper insight into the company.
  • Perhaps a welcome to the team email or letter from the CEO, Co-Founder or CTO.

2. Equipment

A key thing to ensure is that you have a sent out the correct equipment and have them set up on all internal systems before their start date. It is worth checking in with your new team member to ensure this is all going smoothly, and this should alleviate any panic setting in.

3. First week starter pack and schedule: –

Okay so now it’s the first day does your new team member have all the information of what they are supposed to be doing and how to get in touch with other team members?

Do they know what they are working on this week? It is so easy to become isolated working from home so again “communication is key”.

Some of the key things you should have ready in a first week starter pack should be: –

  • Logins/passwords they’ll need to perhaps internal portals etc
  • Contact details for their team members and who is the best person to contact.
  • Alongside this information it would be great to have a schedule set up in their outlook diary, with stand-ups, meetings and calls inserted.

As I mentioned communication is key to making your new team member feel at home. Here are some of the key things you could do to integrate and onboard them into the team quickly: –

1. Introduce your new team member to the rest of the team in the morning catch up.

A great time introduce a new team member is when the team are all on a call together. A great way to break the ice is to have the new starter introduce themselves to the team.

It’s also key for management to organise individual video calls with each team member to welcome new member.

2. Assign a mentor

Assigning a mentor can really speed up the integration of a new team member. Having a person on hand if there are any issues or questions can lead to a new team member becoming comfortable with processes quickly.

3. Set up social events for the team.

This year speaking to a lot of people, remote working has taken a bit of toll on some. There have been times where team members have felt lonely and isolated.

To clear such hurdles, It’s vital any new team members are always connected to the team and it’s great to organise online team quizzes, Friday drinks etc. This will ensure all communication between different team members is always high.

Simplicity is key

THE BEST WAY TO WRITE YOUR CV:

In a world where everything is driven by speed, quality always tends to take a back seat. This is also the case with some of the CV’s I’ve encountered, spending that little extra time to update your CV can open up avenues and path the way to interviews and one step closer to your ideal job.

TAILOR IT TO THE JOB DECRIPTION & MATCH YOUR SKILLS TO THE JOB

Spending a little time in reading the job description and highlighting any key points, projects and technologies you have worked with which will bring value to the team and company project is key to impressing your future employer.

It is key to go into details about the projects you are working on and how you added value. Details of what you did and how this impacted the project are key to impressing your future employer.

ADD PERSONAL PROJECTS AND GITHUB

One of the key things I notice is that a lot of the Software Engineers I speak to are so passionate about technologies and projects they work with outside of work and never mention or show these off on the CV.

It is vital to add any Github links or personal project links to your CV as this will give an insight to your future employer that you are passionate about technology and puts you in a light where you can work independently solve problems on your own and potentially bring new ideas to the team.

KEEP IT TO TWO PAGES & DON’T WAFFLE

Some people have the misconception that the longer the CV means the better and more experienced that individual is. This is definitely not the case; it is vital to keep your CV short and concise. My recommendation is “Keep it two pages”. Anything more than this tends to be waffle and you will lose the reader and it will make your CV less desirable.

When describing your work experiences, the best way to convey your experiences are to keep them short highlighting the project / platform you have worked on and the technologies you worked with. A good way of structuring this is using the STAR method. By firstly describing the Situation you were in. The it is key to explain the Task you had to complete. Describe the specific Action you took to complete the task and what was the Result of your efforts.

Alongside this at the bottom of the CV it is important to show any education or qualifications you may have obtained in your career.

DON’T COMPLICATE YOUR CV & MAKE SURE THERE ARE NO SPELLING MISTAKES

I have come across some CV’s which are very flamboyant and just simply put “over the top”. Too many graphics and colours can sometimes lead the reader to be put off by the CV and lead to confusions.

“Simplicity is key” the best way to be is understated.

It is also key to proofread your CV once you have completed it just to make sure there are no spelling mistakes as these can give the impression of carelessness.

SHORT TERM PAIN LONG TERM GAIN

Having read through hundreds of CV’s in my career these are some of the keyways in which to highlight the things you’ve achieved, what kind of person you are and what you can bring to the table.

By putting time and effort into your CV at the start of your job search will certainly pay off and lead to creating more opportunities and interviews for you. Ultimately it will put you one step closer to that amazing next career move.