Solution. Completion.

Interview with the client.

In many cases, the hiring company is not your end client. Therefore, you should be prepared for an interview with the end client as well. Here, you can expect any kind of questions. It all depends on the organizational structure of the hiring company and the client company, as well as the nature of their business. If the hiring company offers staff augmentation services, then the main part of the interview may take place during the communication with representatives of the client company because they essentially hire people for their team and will be interested in independently assessing your knowledge. Of course, there are exceptions, and even in the staff augmentation format, the client company may completely delegate the hiring and candidate evaluation to the hiring company. However, it is still important to clarify these points at the beginning of the interview process.

If the hiring company collaborates with the client company on an outsourcing basis, then you have a better chance that the interview with the client representatives will be more like an introduction, answering your questions, and assessing your motivation and readiness to integrate into the team. Of course, you may still encounter various questions, but it is better to clarify with the hiring company representatives what to expect. Can these be technical questions or questions about development methodologies, or does the client want to hear questions from you about their project?

In the most challenging scenario, you will be asked to go through the same interview stages with the client company as you did with the hiring company.

Meeting with the hiring company's director.

If the hiring company is small, it is quite possible that at some stage of the interview process, you will meet with its director. Of course, this can happen either at the beginning or at the end of the interviews. However, the most important thing to understand is that the director is often the owner of the company, and they want to know who will be working in their company and whether the company is making the right choice by investing money in a person. Therefore, your task is to be prepared to demonstrate your interest and explain why you should be hired, why you are interested in this position and this company.

Here are a few questions that can help you understand the context in which the conversation with the director of a small company may take place:

• What attracted you to our company, and why did you decide to apply for this position?
• What skills and experience can you bring to our company to help us achieve our goals and grow?
• Tell us about your understanding of an ideal client for our company. How would you approach attracting and retaining such clients?
• How do you see yourself in our company in the long term, and how would you develop your skills and career?
• How would you approach creating and developing partnerships with other companies or organizations?
• Tell us about your experience in project management and how you would ensure successful project execution in our company.
• How do you envision the growth of our company, and how would you contribute to its development and increased revenue?
• How would you approach assessing and mitigating risks in our company, especially in the rapidly changing IT industry?
• What are your ideas or suggestions for improving the efficiency and productivity of our company?
• How would you handle the financial and budgetary aspects of work, especially in the context of a small company?

Directors usually prefer to meet with more experienced professionals, but sometimes exceptions occur. Therefore, if you are invited to such an interview, it is worth spending some time preparing. And, of course, be prepared for any, even the most unexpected, questions.

At the same time, remember that an interview is a dialogue, and if the company's director does not provide you with an opportunity to ask questions, you can take the initiative and ask something that will showcase you in a positive light, for example:

• What are the goals and development strategy of the company in the coming years?
• What is your unique competitive advantage in the market, and how do you plan to maintain your position?
• What are the core values and culture of the company? How do they manifest in daily work?
• What are the company's plans regarding the use of new technologies or expansion of services?
• What role do employees play in the company's success, and what do you expect from new employees?

You can also ask similar questions that you prepared for the interview with the management. After all, the director is the top manager of the company.

Meeting with the company's lawyers or accountants.

Though signing the contract is a long-awaited stage, still exercise restraint and prudence. At the moment of contract signing, you should also make sure that everything is in order and be prepared to answer any legal questions. Therefore, for Ukraine in particular, make sure you understand the difference between employment and sole proprietorship, what types of sole proprietorship exist, and what sets them apart. Make sure to inquire about who will be responsible for paying taxes and whether taxes or a portion of them will be compensated if you haven't discussed this from the very beginning. But even in this case, it is worth reminding the accounting department of your agreements with the company. And, of course, be prepared to discuss any unusual clauses in the contract, such as a prohibition on working with competitors or in related industries, or a prohibition on termination, and so on.

Meeting with the security service.

Of course, not every company has a security service, but sometimes, at the client's request, hiring companies are required to conduct a so-called "background check." This means checking your personal history and criminal records, the presence of ongoing legal cases, and even undergoing drug testing. This is a common and voluntarily-compulsory practice without which you may not be allowed to work on certain projects.

Conclusion.

Although we have tried to cover as many aspects and nuances as possible when it comes to job searching and employment, it is important to remember that each individual case is unique. Experienced professionals may excel in their field but have little understanding of the job market and interview processes.

Therefore, if you want to gain an advantage, you need as much experience as possible in interviews and job placement. This experience will not only help you develop necessary skills such as negotiation, research, emotional intelligence, and learning ability but also make you adaptable, unafraid of changing jobs, and quickly adjust to new projects and companies. Even if you end up working for the same company and on the same project for many years (which, by the way, I consider not the best practice for less experienced professionals in our current reality), having the skill and confidence that you can always find a job can greatly benefit you. In particular, throughout almost everyone's career, the question arises whether they are doing what they truly enjoy. If you have no fear of trying and changing jobs, you will always have the option to do so if you desire. However, if this question does not interest you, and you are always 100% confident in your current job, then you will know for sure that you are not working out of fear of change.

In the next part of my articles, I would like to create an action plan that you can use as a basis. In all the previous articles, we only described parts of the job search task, such as:

Where to start the job search?

Task definition

Task analysis:

Competition

Knowledge

Experience

Soft skills and completing the analysis

Solution:

Goal, time, and attention of the recruiter

Testing. HR

Interview with the team representative

Interview with project management

In the next part of the articles, dedicated to planning, I want to provide instructions that you can try to start your search and then adapt it to your own characteristics and realities.