Exploring Caseware: What to Really Expect from Our First Call

Hey ??

Thank you for being here ??

I am glad that we will have a chance to connect.

So the question that you might have:

What should I really expect from our first call?

My phone interviews are normally slightly different, because I know that traditionally you would probably get an opportunity to ask your questions in the end, whereas I would love to always open with giving you the space to ask your questions.

Most people don't understand it, but I'm going to share it very transparently.

The quality and sophistication of the questions that you ask tell me everything I need to know about your communication skills, your articulation skills, your ability to put thoughts into words, and the complexity of your thinking processes.

It tells me a lot about thinking maturity, your depth and sophistication, and your social and emotional intelligence.

Really, I can't emphasize this enough for candidates out there - the questions you ask can make it or break it.

So, this would be the beginning of our conversation.

• What do you know about us? Have you done your research in the company, and do you really understand the role?
• Then, I'm going to walk you through everything else that's probably not in the job description, any additional context that you need to know (my job is to provide you with maximum information so that you can make this informed decision).
• And then I will open a forum for your questions.

This would happen before we dive into the part where it is my turn to ask questions.

So what questions do I ask?

Every time I enter a call, this is the question I really have: what’s going on with this human? What’s going on in their reality, and how can we change their reality? How can we explore some new alternative variations of their reality?

So, we all know that your success in the interviews really depends on your storytelling skills, so that's what I suggest we do to prepare - we will break down your story into three sections: I want to know about your past, I want to know about your present, and I want to know about your future.

Your Past

First, your past. I want to know about your past roles. What kind of skills have you acquired? Your story will tell me if you can do the job. I want to know about your impacts and accomplishments because that will give me an understanding of what you have done on the job.

We all know that the job itself is never equal to what is written on the job description. We really create the job; we shape the role and expand it with our own being. That’s what I’m interested in. I’m not interested in knowing what your job responsibilities were. That’s not the information you need to put on your resume either.

I’m interested in knowing what you have done with the opportunity that’s been given to you. How have you stretched the role you got? What was a your impact at the organization?

I want to know why you made the career choices you did. What motivated you at that time? These same motivations will likely persist through the career choices you’re making now and will make in the future.

I want to know what has been driving you throughout your career. I want to know why you chose the career path you’re on in the first place. Did you fall into this career path, or did you discover it for yourself? How did you find your passion, and why are you staying on this path? Why are you staying committed to this path or maybe we are exploring a potential pivot?

I want to know what kind of environment you thrive in. What’s the best team for you, and what made them the best?

The answers to all these questions recruiters seek are all from the past, and that would be my guidance to everyone going into phone interviews with recruiters: tell your story bottom up.

I want you to tell me the story of your career evolution.

How did you come from humble beginnings to where you are today? What kind of skills, experiences, and knowledge have you acquired along the way?

Your Present

The next part would be your present. I want to know your current situation. Why change? Why now?

There are only two reasons why people want to make a change: they’re either going towards something or away from something.

So these are the questions I have: what are you going towards? What would you like to leave behind?

I want to know your current role and what you have achieved in your most recent role. What was your impact? What was your contribution?

This will help me connect the dots and help you connect your story from your past into your present and then to the question: how does what you do right now organically connect to the opportunity we are discussing at the moment?

Your present is your current identity. What is your identity? What is your concept of self? What is your self-perception? What are your core values? How do you think about work? How do you think about this particular job? Why are you interested in this role?

Your Future

The next bucket of questions would be your around your future.

What is your vision of self? How do you see yourself evolving and growing in this role? The business question they have is about your longevity: you come, you join us in this capacity, how long will you stay in this role? What is your plan for your career development?

It’s not like the business wants you to always be in one role. We want you to evolve, and we want you to create a bigger and higher impact across the organization.

If you’re a top performer, we would want you to be able to "clone" yourself i.e. replicate your performance by finding and nurturing new talent.

What we’re looking for are force multipliers.

What’s really important for us when we talk about your future is whether you see this role as an opportunity for yourself. That’s what every business wants.

They want a person who sees the role with them as an opportunity, not just another job, 9 to 5, clock in, clock out, but truly sees it as an opportunity to stretch themselves and their career.

Role-Specific Questions

The last section of our call would be dedicated to a deep dive into role-specific questions, whether they are technical questions or any kind of specific experiences.

Examples:

For a software developer, I want to know the complexity of the problems you’ve solved, the complex technical challenges, the bugs you’ve resolved, and even what kind of bugs you find frustrating.

?? Here is a video where I deep dive into interview questions for devs.

For Product roles, especially for Caseware, there would be two types of Product people: people with no prior product experience who bring in CPA, Audit, and Assurance Acumen and whom we can train in product management, and those with purely technical product management experience who need strong product experience. I want to know if you’ve created and scaled products from 0 to 1. What makes a great product? What’s your product thinking?

For finance roles, like financial operations, we might need a CPA, but it depends on the role. Some roles depend heavily on your technical expertise and experience. Where did you get your education and training? Was it at a Big Four firm or another firm? Are you an internationally trained professional? What is your knowledge of accounting standards, the scale of the business you worked in, and the complexity of technical accounting issues you resolved in the past?

I don't need to give you a lot of context here. You are the expert in your field, and you can discern what is relevant.

If I could give a tip, it would be to go to the job description. It’s written by the hiring manager, and it is written for a reason.

Exercise your intelligence, and you will be able to translate every bullet point into an interview question about experience or a technical skill that is required to perform the job. This way, you can anticipate the questions the hiring team will have for you once you get to the next rounds.

All the technical questions you can expect from me - are exactly the same that you will get from the Hiring Manager or the team.

Last part from me, some logistics.

Expect these questions as well:

• Are you open to hybrid or remote mode (depends on the nature of the role)?
• What is the notice period for you? (how many weeks of notice do you need to give to your current employer?)
• What are your salary expectations?

Re: Last question.

I know there is a lot of weird advice going on on the internet, but I will tell you right away.

What I exercise, and I encourage everyone to exercise, is a simple principle called Transparency of Intention. I think doing business with people would be much easier if everyone operated like that.

• This is what I want
• This is what I want you to give me
• Can we align?

Simple.

Both parties can communicate effectively if they choose to.

Salary negotiation is not complicated. It becomes complicated when people start playing games. Playing games for me signals immaturity - both personal and professional.

If we find alignment we both know - we want to work together. How can we make it happen?

So, I will tell you from the get-go, with me, you can be completely transparent

My job is to (if I can) improve your situation to the better.

My role is not only Talent Acquisition, it is also Talent Retention.

I don't want you to come join the company and think about the money. I want you to come join the company, think that you're adequately compensated for the value that you create, and focus on delivering your best work.

Hopefully, this helps.

Looking forward to connecting.

??

C.