Online Application

For the initial stage, I had to fill information about my experience, university course, my skills and contact information. It is also possible to upload pdf file with CV and the system will automatically get most of your information. At this stage I was also asked about the hours I can work and my financial expectations. A cover letter was not required.

How to respond for success

I created one base CV which I then modified to suit the position I was applying for. To tailor the CV, I took the job spec and checked which skills on my base CV are the most relevant and put them first. I also modified the description of my experiences to highlight the most relevant things.

There were numerous things that I believe made my application stand out. Firstly, I already had nearly a year of experience as an analyst in a small software house in my hometown. Also, I wrote about a lot of extracurricular activities like startup programs I took part in.

Expect a 2-3 week wait before advancing to the next stage.

Phone Interview

You will receive a phone call from a recruiter. The phone call was about 20 minutes long. She asked me questions about why I applied, what do I expect from this role etc. There was also part of the call in English to check my level of proficiency with the language. The phone call was not announced by any email, so I didn’t prepare. You can postpone the call to another day though if you’re not able to have a 30 minute break in your activities.

Example

Most of the questions were about my previous experiences and my background. I was also asked about why did I pick my course at university. Basically the questions are not testing anything, they are designed to get to know the candidate. There is one question that is for sure going to be asked in any interview and it’s the “tell us why did you apply for this position?”

How to respond for success

Most of my answers was just simple storytelling. I would tell the story of how I ended up somewhere or what motivated me to choose the course I’ve chosen. What I would definitely recommend is to think about your story - where do you come from, what are your goals and motivations. I also think it’s fine to include some emotions in your story and show the recruiter things you’re passionate about - we’re all humans after all. Another bit of advice, be honest.

Expect a 5-7 day wait before advancing to the next stage.

Video Interview

During the technical video interview I talked with the team I am currently part of. The interview was divided into two parts - screening follow up and a technical test and it was about one hour long.

Example

The questions in the first part were just like screening questions - about my previous experiences, who am I etc. The technical interview was checking my skills connected to process designing and databases. For example I was asked how would I design a process for deciding whether to give someone mortgage and what data I would need to run this process. Another task I got was to find specific data in the database table manually and then create SQL query for the same task.

How to respond for success

Two bits of advice I can give here: if your interview is online, open your CV - it will be easier. Secondly, be honest (again). For example I knew just really basic SQL when I was applying for the position because it had been a while since I last used it. So I just said that it's been a while and I would probably need to refer to some notes in a timed test. 

Expect around a  1 week wait before being offered a position