Preparing for a Job Interview
A job interview in the agricultural sector is prepared just like in any other sector. Here are the main elements to anticipate.
Purpose of the interview
Whether it is a physical or video interview, the goal is the same: they want to see you to discover what the CV and cover letter have not yet revealed... and on your side, it is an opportunity to reassure and convince, by reducing the areas of uncertainty and ambiguity that may arise from your written application.
The interview aims to identify and then select the "finalists," by determining the profile that best matches the company's needs.
Setting up the interview
The interview offer is most often made during a phone call.
During this call, have the right reflexes by trying to obtain information on 4 essential questions: Who? Where? When? How?
At this stage, the potential employer is on the lookout for any clue that can give them confidence in their interlocutor. Your tone and your ability to propose solutions to overcome obstacles will help reassure them.
Who will participate in the recruitment interviews?
Depending on the situation, this may be, simultaneously or successively:
- General Management
- The HR Director
- The president and members of the board of directors (this is often the case in cooperatives or agricultural professional organizations);
- The direct hierarchical supervisor of the person being recruited;
- An external consultant if the company uses a recruitment agency;
- The previous holder of the position (in case of retirement, internal promotion, or amicable departure) or
- An "expert" employee who will provide a practical perspective on the profile.
Each of these people, due to their respective roles, may have particular objectives during the interviews, which will generate specific questions.
The challenge for the candidate will be to "sense" which expectations and fears they should particularly reassure.
When will the interviews take place?
The recruitment process can extend over several months, but often in the final stretch everything speeds up: your responsiveness can then be decisive.
Make sure you are available on the proposed date and, unless there are insurmountable constraints, do not be "difficult": if you hesitate without a legitimate reason and there is competition, the recruiter will move on to the next person on their list, without looking back. If you are unable to free yourself, take the initiative by courteously explaining and proposing all other time slots when you could be available.
Where will the interviews take place?
The choice of meeting place is often revealing. In most cases, it will be within the company or via video.
It will give you a first impression of the company (resources, atmosphere, culture, and communicated image) and clues about the human environment in which you might evolve.
Sometimes, for geographical convenience, interviews may take place in premises provided by partners (such as an agricultural chamber) or in hotels (common for sales positions if the company has no premises in the geographic area).
The general atmosphere (calm or tense), the offices where you will be received, and the sense of welcome you will be shown will be very informative clues.
Different types of interviews
Different types of interviews may be offered to you. Even for the most innovative, the objective remains unchanged: to project yourself (or not) into a future collaboration.
The individual interview
The most common. It is a face-to-face candidate/recruiter, in a question-and-answer format.
You are evaluated on your knowledge, professional skills, ability to evolve, motivations, ambitions, expectations, your personality (interpersonal skills, autonomy, authority, organization, sense of initiative).
Depending on the companies and the people who receive you, it can be very structured or leave a large place to intuition and digression, which will require great vigilance on the part of the candidate to refocus the exchange on their profile and the tasks of the position to be filled.
The panel interview
Identical to the previous one in principle, but with several interlocutors facing the candidates (more frequent during interviews in local authorities or agricultural professional organizations).
It requires increased concentration from the candidate, under penalty of being destabilized by the "barrage" of simultaneous and sometimes disconnected questions.
If they have not done so themselves, make sure to ask for the role of each panel member, to better understand "where they are coming from" with their questions.
If you feel there are divergent views on the position among the "recruiters," do not hesitate to ask the "chair" of the panel to summarize and reformulate the points that seem ambiguous or contradictory.
Successive individual interviews
Candidates meet several people successively, all involved in the recruitment.
Each conducts their investigations according to their own expectations, linked to the function they hold in the company.
At the end of these successive interviews, the recruiters pool their impressions. This process allows verifying the consistency of the candidates' arguments and behaviors. It also ensures that some panel members are not "stifled" or "restrained" by the presence of their hierarchical superiors or more talkative colleagues.
The group interview
Its main attraction is time-saving; by summoning all candidates, a common presentation of the company and the position to be filled can be made.
Many companies limit the group phase to this aspect, then receive candidates individually throughout the day.
For positions requiring strong interpersonal skills, abilities for facilitation or group work, a debate among candidates may be scheduled on a theme representative of their future tasks. This type of interview allows quickly identifying candidates comfortable in groups and verifying their expression skills, analytical ability, and proposal strength.
The escape game: a variant close to the "assessment center"… Locked in a room, participants have a limited time to escape by collectively solving a number of puzzles. Cooperation is expected rather than competition, and participants' behaviors are observed in the situation: leadership, adaptability, stress management...
"A negotiation advances more by a good question than by a good argument" Talleyrand.
If you manage to turn the "interrogation" into an open discussion, with reciprocal exchange of questions and answers, you will promote the highlighting of your strengths.
This requires a lot of preparation of the points to be addressed, before the interview... Be careful not to reverse the roles too radically, you are not summoning the employer to a court!