The Complete Breakdown of European Job Interview Process (Including MAANG)

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This article is part of series of articles for helping fellow candidates crack abroad jobs, specifically European jobs, from their home country. Mostly, it is catered for us Indians wishing to know the right techniques to crack European jobs. However, individual steps can be used for anyone looking to get a new job in European market, so feel free to pick and chose the steps relevant for you!

All the information is completely free of cost, and DO NOT require you to visit consultancy and waste tons of money there. It is my own knowledge that I built while going through the complete process.

Please find the steps below:

a) Step 0: Introduction and how recruitment works.

b) Step 1: Tips on creating a killer profile.

c) Step 2: Building the right resume and cover letter.

d) Step 3: Strategy of applying and sponsorship ready job portal links.

e) Step 4: Insights on actual interview process and conclusion.

Hopefully, the above steps could help anyone land their dream European job, and that, would be the success of this post!

Introduction:

This article gives a detailed breakdown of how the actual interview process happens in Europe, including important questions asked, the expectations from recruiters, and the overall time frame. Additionally, it also shares some important tips for folks who are applying from their native country and are looking for visa sponsorship.

Step 4: Crack the interview!

If you have reached this step and got the interview call, many congratulations! It is now up to your skills and capability to crack the interview.

That being said, a few pointers on how the whole interview process would be structured, specifically for Europe:

1. Round 0, HR pre talk: Almost all European firms, especially startups, would have the first call scheduled with the HR. This is a very light half hour call, where the HR would walk you through the company, the interview process, discuss your availability, and essentially just fill you in on what to expect going forward. Just be relaxed, and if needed, prepare any questions about the role in general and the company culture.
   Most importantly, research the salary about the role as your salary expectations would be asked in this round. If you are not so sure about salary, just say that you would love to discuss this after the interviews. However, most European firms would insist on asking any number, so just google the average salary of this role in that area, and add +5 to 7 thousand as part of negotiation tactics :).
2. Round 1: take home test: Many European firms, especially startups, have a concept of take home test in round 1. It is essentially a coding assignment, such as build a CI/CD pipeline with logging for DevOps role. What they are trying to assess is your hands-on ability to tackle real life problems. The actual solution could be trivial, but how you approach it is essential.
   Make sure to clarify as many doubts you can. And please try to own your solution (i.e. no plagiarism), as the interviewers are smart enough to know if it is not your work. Taking help from friends is ok, but make sure to completely understand and own the solution, as the future rounds would be based on your take home test (such as tradeoffs, alternate solutions etc.).
3. Round 1 alternate: online assessment or interviews: Other European firms, especially MNCs, would directly have either an interview, or an online assessment (mostly MAANG firms have online test). In either case, take it seriously and better clarify all the doubts with the recruiter before committing to the dates.
4. Round 2 and 3 (optional): Technical rounds: Most firms would have 2 rounds of technical interviews after initial assessment/take home test. Exact number of rounds depends on firm to firm. Mostly startups, and some MNCs, have managerial round combined with technical, or it could be purely technical. In either case, just be ready with some of the common behavioral questions:
   -> Your motivations to switch job?
   -> Your strengths/weakness?
   -> Where do you see yourself 5 years down the line (architecture/manager)?
   -> Why are you inclined to join this firm, and why now?
   It is a very good idea to go through the LinkedIn of the interviewers (if they have one). That way, you have some idea of their competency/knowledge area, and you could brush up on those before hand.
   Additionally, please do prepare some questions for the interviewers at the end. Some of the most common questions you could ask are:
   -> What is the tech stack I would be working at?
   -> What do the next two promotions look like?
   -> What is the best thing about working in your firm?
   -> What is the team size/project timeline etc.?
5. Round 5 or 6 (optional): Managerial: Again, if the previous two or three rounds were technical, these rounds would be purely managerial or a little bit of technical/managerial. It is always a good idea to get the clarity from the recruiter. For the managerial round, again be ready with the important questions, but this time in details about your previous experiences around behavioral side. Some of the detail oriented managerial questions that you should be ready on are:
   -> Walk me through a time when you had to deal with an angry customer/stakeholder?
   -> How did you resolve conflicts within your team?
   -> Have you taken any leadership roles?
   -> Have you ever taken an unpopular decision?
   -> How do you work under stress?
6. Round 7: HR: If you have reached this round, many many congratulations, as most HR rounds are for salary negotiations and your willingness to accept the offer. There are few kind HR who schedule this round to reject, but mostly the rejections are via an automated email :(. In either case, salary negotiations are a different ballgame. There are entire literature based on negotiations, so I would not make this long article longer! Just a few tips:
   -> Always remember to start with +10–20% of the average salary for that role in that city. This is called anchoring.
   -> If possible, try to gauge or ask the maximum budget your HR has been allocated for this role. Try to get a little bit more than that.
   -> If at all possible, best idea would be to talk to employers already working there who you know off personally (as you would be asking salary questions). You could even post the given offer on forums such as teamblind as well to know if you are getting a good offer.
   -> The most important fact is to ascertain the average rate of that role, and making sure you get above average! Remember, a good negotiation would leave neither side satisfied :).
   -> Finally, you would not need to accept the offer on the spot. Take a day or two to really understand if you are getting good value.

A few pointers to keep in mind in this whole process:

1. Recruiter is your best friend: Remember, the recruiter wants you to get selected so that they can close of their quarterly targets. So make sure to ask and clarify any doubts right from the beginning. For visa sponsorship jobs, it becomes even more important, as they will help you with sponsorship queries as well. Some super friendly recruiters would also share the interview feedbacks, or even the type of questions expected!
2. MAANG firms, especially Amazon, have more focus on behavioral: MAANG firms have Technical Screening, Round 1 and 2 for technical, Round 3 and 4 for managerial, and Round 5 for HR. However, their emphasis on behavioral is equally important. So make sure to pay attention to behavioral questions. Amazon is notorious for stressing out the leadership principals.
3. The entire process could take weeks, if not months: Remember, you need the sponsorship, not the other way around. So be prepared for the interview process to go on for weeks, or the next rounds to be scheduled a month apart. Just keep your focus and keep preparing based on the communication received from the recruiters.
4. Be prepared for rejection even after offer letter is accepted: Unless and until your visa is filed, be prepared for rejection. Remember, the firm would expect you to arrive there months after you are selected, as visa process could take time. So even if offer letter is signed, if they find someone local, they would prefer to hire them rather than wait for months. They could very well renegade on their offer, as is their right. You could too renegade on their offer if you get a better one right? So never count your sweets till you actually land there :). That being said, after visa filing, most firms are obligated to have you land there, as they risk falling in bad graces of immigration and government agencies.

Conclusion

So this is it folks. All the knowledge that I have acquired while going through my own process of applications to European jobs has been summed here.

Europe is a nice continent to work and explore. The famous European work culture is amazingly well suited for work life balance and raising family. Immigration is also pretty much easy, with most work visa being processed in just two to three months max.

If you need more help in resume formatting, and any more info about the whole process, please feel free to reach me at my Linkedin. Additionally, as a bonus, I can share my resume and cover letter (that had a huge success rate), if you could drop a comment on any of my post in this series and ping me on Linkedin :).

Thank you, and I hope this post helps job seekers to have a structured process to apply and hopefully grab an European offer. All the best!!