How to get an interview for a leadership position?

An integral part of a job application is an interview. On it, both parties can understand whether they are suitable for each other, whether the employer suits the professional skills of the applicant, whether the candidate agrees with the proposed conditions. To successfully pass an interview, especially for a managerial position, you need to carefully prepare for it.

It is recommended that you read the information about the company in advance in order to correctly and quickly answer possible questions. The main stages of preparation for an interview.

• In addition to studying publicly available information about a future job, you should make a list of questions about the company. This will show the employer the interest of the candidate.
• Get acquainted with the requirements for the proposed position, to understand whether such qualities are present and whether they were reflected in the summary. If you have any questions about future responsibilities, be sure to ask them.
• “Lose” the interview in advance, to be prepared for possible non-standard issues or situations. Answers to suggested questions are best written - this will make you feel calmer and more confident.
• Pay attention to appearance, since recruiters first of all evaluate the applicant visually and only then begin the conversation. The preferred style is classic. Clothing should be clean and ironed, shoes should shine (depending on the material). Do not choose bright makeup and harsh perfumes.
• A day before the meeting, carefully check the availability of the necessary documents. It will be useful to duplicate information on an electronic medium.
• Be sure to sleep. A sleepy look will not impress the recruiter, and there is a risk of not getting the desired position.
• Never be late. The best option is to arrive a little earlier than the appointed time. There are usually several applicants for a place, therefore, it is not in the employer's interests to listen to the reasons for being late.
• Do not worry. Before entering the office take a deep breath. During the conversation, behave calmly and confidently, but keep the line so that confidence does not turn into arrogance.

In addition to the correct answers to questions, the candidate must have the qualities of a leader.

• High intellectual abilities. The leader must be able to quickly assess the situation and make decisions. Equally important is the desire for continuous development and self-education, the ability to adapt to changing conditions.
• Ability to neutralize conflicts, and better to avoid them. Adequate perception of criticism, the ability to extract from it useful information necessary for further development. The ability to negotiate in order to achieve your goals is a significant plus.
• Developed recruitment skills. Psychological knowledge will be useful here, which will help to find employees who will bring high profits to the company and raise it to a new level. An important quality is the ability to win over people, maintain friendly relations without losing credibility.
• The ability to correctly calculate, distribute and use available resources. The ability to qualitatively distribute time and amount of work between employees.
• Creativity. It is important to be able to find unusual solutions to standard situations.

Each interview is unique, but there is a certain list of mandatory questions. The wording may differ depending on the activities of the organization and the specific position. All questions are divided into several groups:

• concerning the identity of the applicant;
• aimed at clarifying his professional qualities;
• directly related to the proposed position.

Personal interests include interests, worldview, skills that are not directly related to professional activities. The recruiter can clarify the data indicated in the resume, so it is worth indicating only real achievements and facts.

To determine the availability of professional qualities, the employer will ask questions related to the education received, available skills and courses. To determine if a candidate is suitable for the position, it is necessary to find out how he will act in a given situation. Usually for this they give examples of real cases and ask the applicant to give their solution to the proposed situation.

The specific list of mandatory questions depends on the position for which the person is applying. The following information is usually required.

• What are your plans for the next 5 years? This question will help the employer to understand whether the candidate is able to plan, whether he has ambitions and goals, whether he seeks to achieve them. Here, the applicant should talk about how he sees his life after a specified period of time. It is worth paying special attention to the desired income and position, the current environment and ways to achieve your goals. Do not paint your dreams in colors and focus on material values: a chic house, a prestigious car, and a high position in society.
• What achievement do you consider the most important? This question is aimed at obtaining information about professional opportunities.For example, to obtain the position of director of a store, it’s worth talking about the increase in goods and customer turnover at the previous place of work. Future managers should give examples of successful resolution of a conflict with a client or employee, successful hiring of a promising employee. When applying to the sales department, it is necessary to tell about the methods used to sell products, which led to an increase in the company's profit. To become a CEO, you will need to tell about successful experience in managing a company or structural unit and give specific examples of successful decisions.
• Your ideal workplace. Here, the employer hopes to hear the wishes of the candidate for the future job. Naturally, in answering this question, one should rely on the existing knowledge about the company and focus on it. The employer must understand that the applicant is satisfied with the future working conditions and that they are preferable for him. But if there are any wishes for a future position or suggestions for improvement in any areas of activity, they should be left for the stage of questions for the recruiter.
• Why do you want to get a job in our company? This question is an ideal opportunity to show the employer ownership of company information. It is necessary to point out the merits of the organization, explain why exactly these factors are important for the candidate. The phrase would be useful: "I am sure that I can be useful, because I have extensive experience in this field and I have successful cases." It is worth considering that after such a statement, the recruiter may ask to voice proposals, so it is necessary to prepare 2-3 ideas in advance related to the future position.
• Are you more comfortable working alone or as a team? Most often, the company has a certain staff, so it is important for the employer that the candidate successfully fits into the current team. The best answer would be something like this: “I can work equally well both independently and in a group. When choosing a method of work, I will focus on the urgency and difficulty of the task. If I understand that one will do the work longer, I will resort to the help of the team, because we all have a common goal. "
• What will you do in this situation (the following is a description of a specific case that has already taken place in the company)? Here, the future employer wants to hear a non-standard solution to a typical or atypical situation that may occur in the organization. Most often, the example is directly related to the place for which the person claims, and is associated with his official duties.

For the correct answer, knowledge of the employing company, as well as information about the proposed position, will be useful. It is worth proposing the optimal solution, which, according to the candidate, the recruiter wants to hear. However, the proposed option should still be your own idea, since the boss must be sure that in the future the employee will do just that.

The employer may invite the candidate to ask questions of interest to him regarding the company, salary, future responsibilities. It is worth being careful, as the recruiter will pay attention to the correctness of the construction of the proposals, as well as the very essence of the person asked, so you need to prepare carefully for this stage.

What must be clarified when applying for a job:

• what qualities an employee in this position should have;
• Does the company have traditions or features of corporate culture;
• what are the company's plans for the near future (year / 5/10 years);
• Is there a possibility of promotion on the career ladder (in the case of a job as a department head);
• what actions (if they are not indicated in the vacancy or job description) are a gross violation and are not allowed?

You can ask other questions, as well as offer your ideas for improving the work.

General recommendations that will allow you to successfully pass an interview for a leadership position.

• Maintain eye contact with the interlocutor, listen carefully to questions and suggestions. Before giving an answer, you should mentally lose the script of the conversation and think what the asker wants to hear. If the question is not clear, it is better to clarify than to answer incorrectly.
• Control your speech, build it consistently and logically. The leader will deal with people, therefore, the correct diction and oratorical abilities are one of the most important skills that the applicant should possess.
• Explore company information as deep as possible, and during the conversation itself, specify the details that will remain unclear after independent study. This will make it clear to the recruiter that the candidate is interested in finding a job.
• When answering questions, focus on professional qualities. To give weighty arguments why this particular candidate needs to be hired, and how he will be useful to the company.

For the interview to be successful, you need to be confident in yourself and in your professional qualities, tell only the truth, as the fraud will open sooner or later, and not be afraid to offer your ideas for improving the company's work.