Why people don’t hire you: employment in Russian realities
The current labor market is harsh and merciless, and employers, alas, are not waiting for everyone with open arms, as they would like, although there is talk all around about a “shortage of qualified personnel.” Why don't they hire you? Let's figure it out.
The reason is quite banal - the employer bears a colossal tax burden for any employee. He pays contributions to pensions and insurance funds alone, 34% of the employee’s salary, and in some cases, even more.
Consumer demand for goods and services is shrinking, and profits for many companies are stagnant, if not falling. But taxes are rising. The minimum wage has also been increased, which means that workers now have to pay more.
Most employers today choose three options. Either they cut salaries or start paying them in an envelope, or they “optimize” the staff, or rather reduce it, loading one employee with the functionality of an entire department (this is often the case with budgetary organizations). Or the third way - they are trying to attract a person who would help generate profit for the company not in the long term, but in the short term, at best immediately, at worst in the coming months.
Of course, there are also companies that are ready to invest in employee education, teach him everything and work for the long term, but they are a minority.
Such decisions lead to the fact that today in a resume it is no longer enough to tell how communicative and stress-resistant you are, and even abstract numbers of experience for a specific position in a work book will not always be the decisive factor in hiring a person. And competition in the labor market means that companies have a lot to choose from.
Therefore, I will tell you what the current Russian employer actually needs in order not to be left without work in the modern labor market.
It is necessary to upgrade work skills in related industries
The market values a lawyer who defends a company in court. And an accountant who manages finances is valued. But a lawyer-accountant who knows both how to minimize taxes and how to guarantee not to sit down for it is much more valued. A designer will need basic knowledge of programming, and a customs declarant will need basic knowledge of logistics. For additional knowledge, the employer is ready to increase the salary; moreover, additional knowledge provides more opportunities for employment and further career growth. In addition, in today’s business, everything changes too often and quickly, and additional employee skills help the company adapt much faster, without resorting to outside services or hiring a new person to solve a temporary problem.
We need to make contacts
In a resume, work experience is indicated by a number. But in fact, for an employer, what is much more important is not how many man-years you have worked in a specific position, but what connections you have managed to acquire, what organizations or specific people you have established contacts with, and, more importantly, whether you are ready to bring into the company together with new clients. And this applies not only to sales managers. When hiring a person, the employer expects revenue growth, and therefore expects that you will be able to bring clients or ensure their influx in the near future. Or another option is possible - you know the specifics of working with specific partner organizations, you know where you can buy something cheaper, or you are able to establish business processes so that the company will soon begin to make a profit.
This, by the way, is one of the main reasons why it is so difficult for university graduates to get a job, regardless of the color of the diploma - they simply do not have a base of contacts or clients, which means that in the short term they will not bring profit to the company, they need to be taught and generously shared with him with his work.
By the way, connections are now the main factor for employment. Last year, the Romir research holding conducted a study and found out an interesting fact. That same bearded joke that “they are more likely to take a stool to work if it is someone’s relative”, alas, turned out to be true. Even statistics recorded complete “pull”.
65% of respondents use contacts of relatives and friends when looking for a new job.
We need to promote ourselves
I don't like the word "PR". There is something unpleasant and intrusive about him. But, alas, this is exactly what a modern specialist who wants to get a decent job cannot do without. Accounts on social networks, publications or legal advice on specialized resources, a portfolio, a professional business card website, participation in industry conferences or seminars - all these are ways to express yourself on the Internet or in the professional community. The main thing here is not to overdo it and not to attribute to yourself merits that do not exist.
Why is it important? Because an employment contract is, by and large, the same deal. Your task as a seller is to sell your services as expensively as possible, and to buy the buyer, that is, the employer, as cheaply as possible. Competent PR will help you increase your value. In addition, nowadays personnel officers or recruiters always look at profiles on social networks. Their absence often becomes a reason to choose another candidate.
You need to make a lucrative offer to your employer.
The best way to interest an employer is to contact him directly and offer him cooperation. You can show your work, or even draw up a mini business plan, telling what specific actions you will take and how much the company can earn thanks to them. The main thing is that the proposal makes economic sense for both of you. Even if the company does not have an open vacancy, if the employer is interested in your proposal or project, then it will appear for you. It’s better not to write a message in the spirit of “I’m Masha, and I want to work for you,” but to offer specific services.
We need to work on our appearance and speech
They say you meet someone by their clothes - and this is the first thing a recruiter or direct employer really pays attention to. But it's not just about clothes or facial features. First of all, they pay attention to the speech and how confidently the employee behaves during the interview, and you really need to work on this, because in most cases the applicant shakes like a leaf in fear that he is being evaluated, confuses his words and looks completely unconvincing. This is especially true for positions where you have to work with people.
Here it is important to understand one fact: employment is a mutual cooperation, where not only you are evaluated, but you yourself are evaluated by the employer. If you value yourself as a specialist, then there should be no fear.
Why doesn't the employer formalize it?
The first and main reason why an employer avoids concluding a formal employment contract is financial. The absence of an employment contract allows companies to:
- Do not pay insurance premiums to funds;
- Do not bear the costs of paying for non-working time in terms of vacations and sick leave when the employee does not make a profit;
- Eliminate additional administrative costs associated with the preparation of large amounts of documentation.
In addition, the procedure for parting with a candidate they don’t like is significantly simplified for the employer, including without paying the required salary.
At the same time, the employment contract fixes most of the employee’s work parameters in part (Article 57 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation):
- Places of work;
- A clear description of the functions it performs;
- The procedure for calculating and the amount of earnings;
- Working hours, including shift duration, start and end times;
- Working conditions provided by the employer.
The absence of documented conditions of employment deprives the employee of the guarantee of compliance with oral agreements and opens up the widest scope for abuse by an unscrupulous employer.
Therefore, a citizen who agrees to work unofficially may not receive the payments and compensation due to him by law from the employer. On the other hand, if such an employee causes damage, the employer will not be able to legally recover it.
About the most important
Any interview is based on the fact that the employer asks questions and the applicant answers them. And in no case is it the other way around. If you come and the first thing you do is not talk about yourself, but ask how much the company is willing to pay you, they will consider it arrogance. Yes, both the employer and the applicant choose, but you come to the interview as a “visit” and must play by the rules that are offered to you. You will be able to ask your questions at the end of the meeting. However, first things first.
Tatyana Khamitova, especially for 66.RU, compiled the top 10 questions that are asked during interviews. All of them, at first glance, are quite simple, but nevertheless, an unprepared candidate can be taken by surprise - like me, for example. Therefore, Tatyana kindly agreed to immediately tell me how to behave and how to answer her questions - all of them are presented below with a transcript and tips.
1. How did you get there?
The first question, according to Tatyana, should set up communication and immediately allow you to be assessed. If you say that you arrived early and without difficulty (even if you had to wait in traffic), this will set a light tone for the conversation; and if you start complaining about terrible traffic and stuffy minibuses, the recruiter will note that you have little positive attitude, you are emotional and behave uncontrollably in stressful situations. By the way, if you are really nervous and worried during the interview, you can say so. But don’t panic: just explain that you were looking forward to the meeting and want this job so much that you were worried, although you’re usually not afraid of anything like that. Allowance for excitement can always be made and understood.
2. What do you know about our company?
This is one of the most important questions in an interview: the employer needs an interested person who really wants to work in his company, and therefore has prepared for the meeting and knows everything about the company.
Tatyana Khamitova, recruitment expert at ANCOR personnel holding:
- Even if you say that you have dreamed of working in this company for 10 years, these will only be empty words, because with them you will not be able to prove your motivation. General phrases are not suitable here. Before the meeting, go to the company’s website, read about it, find articles and interviews about the company in the media; if a company sells and produces something, go to the store, look at this product, buy it, study it. And in your story about why you want to work here, make reference to your knowledge of the company
Two preparation points
Before meeting with the specialists, I had two simple questions. Firstly, do employers study applicants’ social media pages? It turned out that yes: now managers often check the accounts of applicants on VKontakte or Facebook - this is a general trend. As Oksana Laskina , experts understand that a person demonstrates his personal life on social networks, and it is not a fact that he will do this at work. But the content of your VK wall can still influence the decision to hire: if it is full of obscene expressions or posts that go beyond the scope, then you will most likely be refused; and if you subscribe to public pages on a professional topic or some kind of educational pages, this may work for you.
The second question is: do recruiters and company representatives pay attention to the applicant’s appearance? I dressed differently for interviews: for the first one I came in a skirt, sweater and boots; for the second - in a sweater, jeans and sneakers. None of the specialists made any comments to me about this. However, according to Victoria Salakhieva , business style always wins. It is mandatory for companies with a conservative corporate culture (banks, government agencies). For representatives of creative professions, such as designers, employers are more accepting of jeans and sneakers.
Raids
The main activity of a scout involves long-term crossing of terrain, so raids in groups and in full uniform are the most important element of training. This is where all the endurance that the fighter developed during exercises will be needed. We will be guided by the scout's memos, which are usually posted in the locations of the scouts. Let's start with the equipment:
If possible, it is not recommended to load one fighter with ammunition weighing more than a third of his body weight; if this is not possible, then the main weight should be carried by the core of the group (in which fighters can carry up to half or more of their body weight), overload should be excluded from the front and rear. Considering that the weight of the average man is about 80-85 kg, then one fighter carries about 27 kg, and those who walk in the center can carry more than 40 kg.
A strictly limited amount of provisions is taken; it is always easier to find food than to carry it with you for many kilometers. The uniform should include everything you need: an automatic rifle, several magazines, a gas mask, 1-2 smoke bombs, several throwing grenades, a portable emergency supply (NAS), woolen socks, etc. Usually a fighter carries at least 12 kg of additional weight, and this is in the best case scenario.
The transition itself is carried out in a calm and measured mode, observing rest periods. It is recommended to take a 10-minute rest break every hour. This is mandatory, since raids usually last several days and sometimes weeks, so in the first 2-3 days the fighter should not feel tired at all, which is achieved through regular rest. In this mode, the group moves for about 8-10 hours, after which it is recommended to take a break for at least an hour, if possible, to sleep. In this mode, a group of scouts can move for several weeks.
Now try to imagine what it will be like for a bodybuilder, who himself weighs about 100-105 kg, to take an additional load of about 30-35 kg (if he is not walking in the center of the group) and then move 10, and sometimes 20, for 5 days. hours a day. Agree, it is extremely unlikely that a bodybuilder will be able to withstand such a load, and in conditions of severe nutritional deficiency. Often fighters can only break to eat once in 10 hours.
The best qualities in a female employee
Despite the reasons why women are not hired, those who do rarely regret their decision. After a long collaboration, it turns out that:
- Girls are more attached to the workplace than men and are less likely to build a career.
- More responsible.
- They devote themselves completely to work.
- Assiduous.
- Enterprising.
- Business projects are carefully studied.
- They do not claim exorbitant salaries.
Post tags: women, not accepted, work, employers
Obstacle course
It is worthwhile to dwell separately on this element of the training of reconnaissance fighters, since in the understanding of the average person, an obstacle course is an exercise in agility, but even here the scout must have good endurance indicators.
In addition to the standard uniform, the fighter is equipped with an automatic rifle, a bag with two cartridge magazines, and a gas mask.
This gives an additional weight of about 5 kg and somewhat restricts movement. The strip itself looks something like this:
The soldier climbs through the model of the armored personnel carrier and jumps off the opposite side, runs 200 meters, runs around the trench and jumps into it, puts on a gas mask, runs out of the trench and runs along the log through the hole. He overcomes the rubble and jumps into the ditch, where on one side of the trench he takes a box weighing 40 kg and transfers it to the other part of the trench and back. After this, the gas mask is removed and packed into a bag, the labyrinth is overcome, then the fighter runs along an inclined board onto a fence, crosses onto a beam, jumps over gaps, and jumps to the ground. This is followed by a standard wall, after which the scout jumps into the well and runs there to the trench, where he throws an anti-tank grenade from a distance of 15 m into a shield measuring 2 sq.m. (3 attempts per throw are given). After the front garden is overcome, the soldier climbs into the lower window of the house, climbs out from the upper one, crosses the beam and jumps over the trench. Agree, such a 400-meter obstacle course is not very similar to “fun starts”. Moreover, all this must be done in 3 minutes 45 seconds for a satisfactory assessment.
Which women do employers fear the most?
A survey conducted in April 2020 showed that 68% of Russian employers are ready to hire predominantly men. Men's chances of finding a job increase if they apply for the following vacancies:
- administrative staff;
- marketing sphere;
- programming.
In these areas, preference for men among employers is given at a shocking rate of 91%. That is, even when a woman proves herself to be a good specialist, ready to work hard and deliver projects on time, if a man looms on the horizon, she will be refused.
The rating of the most undesirable employees is headed by women with the status of “divorced”, raising two or more young children. However, you should not count on the fact that when the kids grow up, a representative of the fair sex after 40 years will be happy to be hired. This will not happen, but they will explain their decision with a short remark: “Where have you been and what have you been doing all these years?”
