在外企面试中,主考官除了就应聘者目前的工作、所应聘的职位、应聘者的职业规划、薪水期望、个性特征、专业技能、业务能力、团队合作等方面提出问题以外,还可能问及一些令人措手不及、意想不到的问题,譬如:“How many years do you need to earn RMB100,000?”“Don’t you think you are overqualified?”等。主考官问这类问题的目的不仅是要考察应聘者的临场反应能力和灵活应变的思维方式,更重要的是对应聘者的各方面素质和性格特征有一个尽可能全面和深层次的了解,以进一步确定应聘者是否符合公司需求。
由于这类问题很难预测,而且不易回答,故笔者称之为“面试刁钻难题”。主考官通常会从应聘者的信心(Confidence)、雄心(Ambition)、忠心(Loyalty)、细心(Carefulness)、用心(Dedication)等五方面提出相关的刁钻难题,在此笔者将就这几方面常见的难题进行剖析,并提供应答思路和参考回答。
应聘者的信心(Confidence)
① As we have many candidates for this position, we will consider your application after you’ve worked a three-month unpaid trial period. What do you think?
② If this were your first annual review with our company, what would I be telling you right now?
这两个问题是为了考察应聘者的自信心而设置的。经笔者调查发现,针对第一个问题“你能否不带薪水为公司工作三个月?”,多数应届毕业生给出的回答是肯定的,即接受主考官的要求。显然,这一回答不够妥善。根据合同法,公司应当给员工的劳动提供报酬,否则违反法律。当然在面试时,不必这样生硬作答。应聘者应当自信地指出自己的劳动会给公司创造价值,获得报酬也是理所当然的。第二个问题谈到如果面试考官要对你进行第一次年终评估,你希望他会对你说些什么。对于这种自我评价式的问题,应聘者也应当以自信、积极的方式如实说明自己所做出的成就以及应得到的奖赏,不必过分谦逊。
① I’m afraid I can’t work unpaid for that long. If you give me a chance to work for you, I’m sure that my work and experience would bring benefit to your company. If I could contribute to the company, then I should naturally be compensated for my work.
② You’d be thanking me for a job well done and would say that you look forward to continuing to see good work from me. Moreover, I would anticipate that you would explain how you really appreciated my spending extra time on some key projects.
应聘者的雄心(Ambition)
① How many years would you need to make RMB100,000?
② Why did you stay in your last job so long?
公司在招聘职员时,尤其是招聘销售人员时,有时会问及以上刁钻难题来了解应聘者是否具有雄心壮志。在回答这类问题时,应聘者切忌过于谦虚。例如,针对第一个问题“挣十万元钱,你需要多少年的时间?”,应聘者首先应当为自己设置一个较高的目标,然后为实现目标制定一个计划,接着通过执行计划来实现目标。应聘者应该向主考官充分展示自己的远大抱负、胆识和魄力。在回答第二个问题时,应聘者应当说明自己多年未更换工作的原因并非是安于现状,不愿意接受新事物或学习新知识,而是因为这些年一直都在学习、进步,并一直在承担新的、具有挑战性的工作。应该着重强调自己积极上进,善于学习,并且具有雄心壮志。
① I think I can make this money within one year. If you offer me this job, first I will set a relatively high sales target, based on which I will make a sales plan. Then I will apply myself to the plan so that I can achieve or even exceed my sales target. With the annual profit, I will also be rewarded with a certain amount of money, which I think won’t be less than RMB100,000.
② I was in my last job over seven years. During that time, I completed an advanced technical degree and was assigned to other departments twice in six months. As a result, I learned additional skills that are normally not related to that particular job.
应聘者的忠心(Loyalty)
① Why have you changed jobs so frequently?
② Don’t you think you are overqualified?
③ What would you do if one of our competitors offered you a position?
④ How long would you plan to stay with our company?
⑤ What do you think you can learn from this job?
绝大多数公司都希望自己招聘的员工能够效忠于公司,能够长久地为公司服务,除非员工由于自身原因无法胜任工作。因此,主考官有时会通过问及以上这类问题来了解应聘者对公司的忠心程度。对于第一个问题“为何频繁换工作?”,应聘者应当尽可能说明自己频繁跳槽是客观因素引起的,而不是为了寻求更高的薪水、更好的待遇。对于第二和第三个问题,应聘者要突出自己对所应聘的职位和公司的浓厚兴趣,说明自己绝非朝三暮四、频繁跳槽之辈。对于第四和第五个问题,应聘者应当强调自己在工作期间能够持续为公司带来利益、创造价值,同时也可以提及自己能够学习到新的知识和技能。
① My frequent job changes over the last five years have been due to the rapid changes in my profession. My jobs have been based on government contracts, and over the past few years there have been changes in the government policies, which caused some companies’ contracts to be canceled. Because of this, I had to quit several times. Because your business is based mostly on consumer products, and not on government contracts, I welcome the opportunity to work in a stable setting like yours.
② Quite frankly, I can do this job. If the fear is that I am going to be bored, be assured I am dedicated and I don’t start a project that I don’t complete. Besides, I am the kind of person who is able to multitask. You’ll get more than your money’s worth.
③ I’d say no. I’m not interested in other players in this industry. I like your brand of shoes a lot because of their superior quality and unique design. Actually, I won a number of races wearing them in college. Because of my positive experience with your products, I know I’d be good at selling them to customers.
④ Well, that’s hard to answer. If I got this position, I’d say I would stay in this company as long as my work and effort are still valuable to the company and improving to myself.
⑤ My own personal measure of growth in a job is new skills and knowledge learned and new understanding about the industry gained. As long as I can see this type of growth, I consider myself valuable to your company.
应聘者的细心(Carefulness)
How careful are you?
像这类看似简单但又具描述性的问题,往往出乎应聘者的意料。多数人的回答往往简单笼统,无法让主考官信服。例如,笔者有一位朋友的职位是外企财务主管,他在招聘一名财务助理时,对参加应聘的二十多人提了以上问题。绝大多数人的回答如出一辙,除了再三强调自己的认真,似乎别无可说。只有一名应聘者以具有说服力的例子说明自己是如何细心。由于其与众不同的回答,最终他从众多竞争者中脱颖而出,获得这一职位。后来据笔者的朋友透露,这名员工在工作当中确实很细心,很少出错。通过以上例子,这一问题的回答思路不言而喻。
I’m very careful and detail-oriented. I’d like to give you an example. Once, I spent a whole night checking a sixty-slide PPT for a very important school project. I read it again and again until I couldn’t find any typos and grammar mistakes in it. Later I found that I had read it at least twenty times. The PPT was flawless, which helped the school win the project.
应聘者的用心(Dedication)
① Do you have a boyfriend/girlfriend?
② Do you plan to have children?
③ Do you have any children?
涉及个人隐私的问题也是面试里的一个雷区。虽然专业的HR人员不会过问应聘者的私人生活,但是雇主总是希望更多地了解应聘者。如果不回答这类问题也不必直接拒绝,那样或许会失去一个机会。其实,面对这类敏感问题,应聘者可以尽量把问题转移到自己对工作的重视和热情上来,强调自己会用心工作,以打消雇主的顾虑。
① Yes, I do. But my work is very important to me, so I make sure nothing interferes with it. I put 100% of my effort into my work, so my relationship won’t affect my work performance.
② Currently I don’t have a plan for that. But if I do decide to have children, I wouldn’t let it affect my work. Becoming a parent is important, but my career is certainly very important to me, too. I plan on putting all of my effort into this job and this company.
③ Yes, I do. But I keep my family life separate from my work life so that I can put all my effort into my job. I’m flexible when it comes to travel and late hours.
以上问题的应答思路和回答仅供参考。应聘者在面试过程中倘若碰到此类问题,应保持沉着、冷静,思路清晰。回答问题时,应聘者应尽可能在了解主考官问题意图的基础上来组织自己的观点,表达的理由要充分、流畅,合情合理。
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