You are prepared for a job interview in Quebec.
How to behave? What to wear? What is crucial to say?
If these are some of your thousands of doubts, despair no more. We have separated here, all the most important things to know before you interview with the Quebec recruiters.
1) BE YOU AND RELAX!
In Quebec, the job interview is much more focused on finding out who you are, and whether you fit within the company culture, rather than asking very specific questions about a competency on your resume.
If you have been called, it is because the company liked (and believes) that the skills on your resume are true. The recruiter will ask a bit about them, but in most cases the focus of the interview is to find out your personality and whether you will have chemistry between you and the team.
In many cases, your technical skills will be assessed in detail with a technical test or exam after the job interview.
Culturally, Quebec society is not very formal and the vast majority of Quebec interviewers will behave the same way in the interview. It is recommended to use “Vous” for the first contact with the interviewer, but it is very likely that he will tell you right away that you can “le tutoyer” or he will use “Tu” with you, and use a very friendly tone.
The goal is quite simple: to break the formality and take some of the stress and nervousness out of the candidate to find out his or her personality faster.
Take advantage of this to be you!
2) JOB INTERVIEW IN QUEBEC: GET TO KNOW THE COMPANY
The time before the interview is your chance to learn about the company culture, the people who work there, and the position.
If you are well prepared when presenting yourself to the company, you will feel confident and able to develop a conversation, and you will be able to discuss all the points presented during the interview. The best interviews are those that have more fluent conversation, not those that feel like interrogations.
It is extremely important to do some research about the company and to know the job description before participating in the selection process. In addition to seeking candidates with the necessary experience and knowledge, companies are looking for motivated people to join the team.
A good knowledge about the recruiting company opens you up to asking pertinent questions about the company as well. Try to access the company’s website and memorize some information or particulars. In this way you show yourself to be more interested, and this is of very significant value to recruiters.
3) JOB INTERVIEW IN QUÉBEC: REFLECT ON YOUR TRAJECTORY AND YOUR GOALS
It is important to keep in mind what attracts you to this job and what attributes you can add to the company.
During the interview you will be asked questions about your work history, for which you will have to answer by giving examples. It is essential to be able to concisely discuss any subject related to your work experience, and to exemplify this you can mention work that you have performed that you feel is pertinent to say.
It is important to highlight some work or projects that you have been part of, that are relevant and add even more value when you describe your skills and professional background. Every detail matters.
Some important elements that we can point out to you are:
- projects you participated in;
- description and objective of the project;
- its function;
- technologies used (skills within your area of training);
- teamwork (number of members);
- accomplishments;
- problems and solutions;
- its shortcomings and what it could have improved.
The key word for success in an interview is self-knowledge. The more you know yourself, the easier it will be, and the more natural it will be to answer the questions. And so you will appear more confident to the recruiter’s judgment.
4) JOB INTERVIEW IN QUÉBEC: ANTICIPATE QUESTIONS AND TESTS
For professionals in the technical field, (programmer, IT, healthcare, etc.) it is important to be prepared to answer technical questions during the interview or to take a Technical test.
Don’t let the test take you by surprise, or unprepared. These tests are usually performed in one of these ways:
- a written or electronic test;
- technical questions asked by a team member (usually asked by a manager);
- a programming problem to be solved on a whiteboard.
Depending on the company, you may be invited for more than one interview, up to three interviews before you are hired.
First, you will be interviewed by a human resources person, who will evaluate whether you meet the requirements. For a second interview, this would be with a director or team leader who will evaluate your skills and knowledge. But it may happen that the interview is with both evaluators together.
The interview is the perfect and indispensable time to show what you are capable of, which is why you need to do everything possible to be well prepared.
Prepare yourself, believe in yourself, and focus on your qualities and your experience.
5) JOB INTERVIEW IN QUEBEC: ELABORATE YOUR ANSWERS WELL
Always remember that companies are looking for qualified professionals to achieve their goals and increase their profits. If you have been invited for an interview, it is because the company is already interested in your profile and wants to know more about your experience and what you can add.
Listen carefully to the questions and answer them as best you can, preferably giving examples, and as detailed as possible. Answers in the affirmative or negative, give the feeling of disinterest and do not allow the recruiter to get to know you well.
Important, be detailed in your answers, but do not give endless answers, leaving room for unnecessary information. Because you can get distracted from the real subject matter, causing the recruiter to get lost.
Don’t rush to answer questions quickly.
6) JOB INTERVIEW IN QUÉBEC: DON’T BE ASHAMED TO SHOW WEAKNESSES
Arrive prepared to be able to talk about your three greatest qualities and to be able to list about three shortcomings. Avoid the classic trick of making up a quality within a defect. The classic, “I am a prefectionist.
Companies do not expect perfection from their employees, or that candidates know everything. They are looking for people who know their strengths and are aware of their small flaws and are willing to improve every day.
Don’t be ashamed to speak well of yourself if you are good at something. In the same way, that there is no problem in expressing to the employer your lack of knowledge of something.
Being transparent helps create a bond of trust and strengthens your credibility. If you don’t know something, there is no harm in answering “I don’t know.”
BONUS TIP: DO MOCK INTERVIEWS
Recreating the atmosphere and questions of an interview will make you more prepared and confident.
Think about the most common questions you have answered in interviews and prepare answers for each one. The goal is not to memorize answers, after all you may sound artificial, but not to be taken by surprise with something that is easy to predict.
To help you further, École Québec offers interview preparation with native teachers from Quebec.
