What questions are asked in Siemens interviews and what are the procedures? Anyone knows? Please share. Thank you.

As the largest private enterprise in Germany and the fifth largest multinational company in the world, Siemens is undoubtedly a shining star in the world's electrical industry. Today's achievements are inseparable from Siemens' emphasis on talents. Not only do they have a well-known talent training system in the industry, but their recruitment system is equally remarkable. Recently, the reporter interviewed Ms. Hu Chun, senior consultant of the Human Resources Department of Siemens (China). In the conference room of Siemens, our conversation started with the topic of how Siemens conducts recruitment and selection.

The Human Resources Department of Siemens is divided into two parts for Chinese employees. The first is the Operation Group, which is responsible for specific matters such as execution and operation. It conducts all-round human resources according to the needs of business departments or functional departments. Serve. The second is the Strategy and Policy Group, which is responsible for formulating strategies, policies and overall plans and programs. Miss Hu Chun belongs to the execution group.

General recruitment process

Reporter: Can you briefly introduce the recruitment system of Siemens?

Hu: Siemens’ recruitment process is roughly the same as other companies: publish recruitment information → screen resumes → interview → enter the probation period. In the early days, Siemens mostly published recruitment information in newspapers with wide coverage. Now it mainly recruits through external talent websites and the Siemens website.

The headquarters of Siemens uses a software system, which we call ATS. Siemens (global) recruitment work is conducted on this platform. We can use this system to publish recruitment advertisements and establish many links to external talent websites. At the same time, the company has its own intranet and internet. Information is released through multiple channels, and all job seekers can apply for jobs online. This system has a tracking software that will track and record when resumes come in, when they are screened, and what the screening conclusions are. After the human resources department eliminates unsuitable candidates, it sends the information about the candidates it considers suitable to the recruitment department and discusses it with the department manager.

After that, we will adopt different plans according to different positions. For example, when recruiting for highly technical positions such as R&D engineers, the business department usually conducts interviews first, because they have a better understanding of the technical requirements and business conditions. Occasionally there will be a written test.

If you are recruiting for a position that is widely applicable, such as secretary, and there are many applicants, and there are hundreds or thousands of applicants for a position, we will first screen the resumes and then conduct a phone interview. We will get to know their English skills, communication skills, etc. over the phone, and we will invite those who are more suitable for interviews. Therefore, the recruitment process for each position is not exactly the same and there is no fixed model. Basically, interviews are the main focus.

An interview can last up to 2 hours. To get into a company like Siemens, you may need to conduct 2 to 3 interviews. Depending on the position, some people may go through more interviews. The human resources department focuses on the ability part, and the business department examines the experience and knowledge part.

Even so, I think it is still difficult to fully understand a person. Only in real work can a person's strength be reflected.

Siemens generally signs 3-year contracts with employees. According to my country's "Labor Law", there is a probation period of up to 6 months, and we will further evaluate an individual during these 6 months. Recruitment is not complete until the probationary period is over.

Reporter: How is Siemens’ recruitment plan determined?

Hu: Siemens has a budget every year. In May and June every year, each business department begins to consider the budget based on the business status of the previous year and the needs of next year's business development. Which areas of business the company needs to expand, what kind of adjustments to the organizational structure, and how many people are needed for a certain business are all issues that need to be considered. Then, they will count up the types of people and how many people they will need in the next year. Then, based on actual business development, business volume growth, and work distribution, they will recruit the needed people in batches over time. Which type of people to recruit and how many people to recruit are linked to business needs and annual plans. Anything beyond the plan requires approval from the superior department.

Reporter: Does Siemens prefer to recruit freshly graduated college students or people with work experience in society?

Hu: To put it simply, the people we recruit are roughly divided into three types: students, managers (middle-level managers), and professionals (professionals). The three types of personnel have different focuses. When recruiting managers, they mainly focus on experience, ability, knowledge, etc.; when recruiting professionals, they focus more on experience and professional skills; and students have no experience at all, and the professional knowledge learned in school is of little use. The main thing is to look at abilities, such as innovation ability, learning ability, organization and coordination ability, etc. Relatively speaking, most of the college students recruited belong to technical positions, while for sales and marketing positions, we prefer to recruit experienced people in society.

Reporter: Do you have any standards when screening resumes? What kind of resume attracts your attention more?

Hu: This depends on the job requirements. We have specific requirements when posting recruitment advertisements, including study background, academic qualifications, major, work experience, etc. When screening resumes, mainly look at whether the applicant's situation meets these requirements.

We found that many resumes have problems. Some resumes do not state any facts clearly. After reading it, you have no idea what this person has done before and what his current situation is like; some resumes are too simple and do not even include contact information; some resumes are messy and include everything, such as those from primary school. Transcript.

A resume that is too simple or too complex is not an effective resume. Because it is too simple, we cannot understand the person's work experience; if it is too complex, people feel that the resume is not focused and we do not know what he wants to do first. What's more interesting is that there are all kinds of resumes, and some people even sent her wedding photos, artistic photos, and celebrity photos. In fact, we just want to recruit a civilian staff.

Interview Principle: More Eyes Principle

Note: Are there any principles for interviews at Siemens?

Hu: Siemens emphasizes understanding candidates from multiple aspects and angles. After the interview, everyone will communicate and talk about their feelings about the person, what is good and what needs to be improved. Siemens follows the "more eyes principle" during interviews. More people see a person from different angles. Everyone exchanges different opinions and ultimately reaches a unanimous conclusion. I think this is the most important thing.

Reporter: What questions are usually asked during interviews at Siemens? Are there any fixed issues with the settings?

Hu: There are some fixed simple questions, such as asking them to give a simple self-introduction, explaining their study and work experience, which projects they have been responsible for before, how they did it, what their achievements are, and other conventional questions. Another thing is to understand the reasons why they change jobs each time, why they want to work at Siemens now, their future plans and goals, what their expected salary is, etc. These are general questions asked of basically every candidate.

Reporter: Just now you mentioned a frequently asked question: Why choose Siemens? I think many companies also ask this question. Excuse me, what does Siemens mainly hope to understand through this question?

Hu: I think this has a lot to do with candidates changing jobs. Especially in 2000, IT and the Internet were developing rapidly. At that time, many people changed jobs very frequently, changing jobs every six months or even two to three months without purpose. We will consider whether candidates come to Siemens blindly and leave after one or two years, and how loyal they are. You know, Siemens has many employees who have worked for more than ten years!

Every company has its own culture, but from a certain perspective they are all similar. Some people experienced something in a certain company and felt confused, so they jumped to Siemens and left two or three months later feeling confused. I think such people are very problematic.

Note: Applicants are likely to unconsciously beautify themselves when answering questions. How to effectively identify their actual abilities during interviews?

Hu: I know that everyone now prepares for interviews and tries to show their best side during the interview. When it comes to identification, it involves interview techniques and methods.

Our recruiters are all professionally trained, including business managers, who have all gone through interview training.

For example, to understand the applicant's learning ability, you can ask him specifically how he learned, what he learned, and what the situation was like at the time... In this way, the details will be revealed.

In addition, there are several rounds of interviews for a candidate, and we will examine him from different aspects. For example, if a person exaggerates himself in front of interviewers A, B, and C, his words will change in front of different people. When a few of us discuss it together, we will find the problem.

Then again, these interview methods and techniques cannot 100% prove that this person is suitable for this position, so some people will be eliminated during the probation period.

Reporter: When recruiting, does Siemens consider whether the applicant's cultural philosophy is in line with the company's culture and philosophy?

Hu: There is an old saying that gold will shine wherever you put it. An outstanding talent is very good in a Japanese company or an American company. After he comes to Siemens, even though the company culture is different, he will quickly adapt to the environment and even transform the environment on a small scale.

Flexible interview skills

Note: Just now you mentioned that interview skills are very important. Do you have any good methods or experiences?

Hu: I think it is difficult to talk about some conceptual things during the interview. I can only speculate from his past experience and behavior on what he will do in a similar environment in the future. We often ask candidates what they have actually done in the past, the situation at that time, what links were involved, what they thought and how they did it at the time... Only through these can we judge the impact of his past behavior on our current job requirements. Say it positively or negatively and whether it is a good fit for the position.

Note: Your method seems to have the same focus as the behavioral event interviews used to build the Competency Model. I wonder if Siemens has also established its own Competency Model?

Hu: Siemens (Global) has established a Competency Model that defines 17 Capabilities, such as initiative, learning ability, strategic orientation, customer orientation, creativity, communication skills, change orientation, etc. For each position, we will define the Key Capabilities of the position, that is, we will define where the main focus is during recruitment. All job definitions will be determined based on these 17 competency definitions, which are the basis.

Reporter: In addition to one-on-one interviews, does Siemens also have on-site simulations, group discussions, etc.?

Hu: We will use this method when time is tight and there are many applicants.

Not long ago, we were recruiting sales staff for a business department. There were 24 applicants in one day. We conducted two recruitment activities in two days, with a group of 12 people. Activities include introducing Siemens to them, taking a questionnaire, English speeches, group discussions, role-playing, and finally individual communication with each candidate.

We have defined several general requirements for sales positions, such as initiative, communication skills, results-oriented thinking and teamwork spirit, etc. All activities are designed according to the defined directions. of.

English speech mainly tests their English fluency and ability to express their opinions. In fact, speech can reflect a person's comprehensive ability. We will look at whether the applicant is overly nervous, whether his English is fluent, whether he can express himself well, whether he is good at using expressions, eyes, body language, and using the tools in the conference room at the time.

You can see more things during group discussions. Some people can lead the entire team to discuss and analyze clearly what the topic of discussion is, what problems need to be solved, and what results can be achieved. The scenario we assumed was a bit like a desert island escape. There was a person who impressed me deeply at the time. He performed very well and kept leading everyone to discuss it in depth. The problem has nothing to do with work, but it can particularly reflect how a person expresses himself in a team.

The next step is role play to see how they deal with customers, communicate with customers, and solve customer problems. The main thing is to know whether they have rich sales experience, but more importantly, whether they have sales sense. For example, someone may have little experience, but has a very good sense of sales.

He knows how to get close to customers and understand their needs. Although he is obviously inexperienced, he shows a particularly positive attitude. Experience can be accumulated and skills can be learned, but it feels difficult to obtain them externally.

We have observers in every step, that is, observers, who rate these applicants. After the event we will have a discussion and put forward some opinions on the 12 candidates that day. We don't necessarily want the candidate with the highest score, because it just means that he performed particularly well in the activity and may not be suitable for the job.

In the end, we recruited 6 candidates. These people performed relatively well in all aspects, had relatively high overall quality, and were unanimously recognized by our observers.

Reporter: How significant do you think recruitment is to the entire human resources work, and even to the company?

Hu: The importance of talent makes recruitment very important, so during the interview, if I see a particularly good person, I will be very excited. Sometimes I interview seven or eight people in a day and find no suitable candidate, which makes me feel very frustrated.

One thing we often say is: How can human resources management be done better? ——It means putting the right people in the right position. The first step is to recruit the right people. When we recruit, we consider more about the person's long-term development in the company. Considering the long-term development of talents may be the meaning of recruitment.