During the interview process, we always receive a lot of different questions from the Talent Acquisition Team – so it was only logical that we put them on a (virtual) paper.
If you are more comfortable with a video format make sure to head over to Nordeus IGTV and have a watch.
1. HOW DO I PREPARE FOR THE INTERVIEW?
After you get the invitation for the first interview, it can be exciting, but also stressful as you are thinking about the impression you want to make.
What you can certainly expect from us is that you are going to have a friendly intro chat with one of our team members from Talent Acquisition and that most of it is going to be in English since that is our official language keeping in mind a large number of expats working at Nordeus.
Here is some practical advice on what you can do before the interview takes place:
- Read the job description once again and think about how your experience relates to what we are looking for in a particular role.
- Also, as you probably made sure you’ve sent the updated version of your CV when you applied, make sure you are familiar with its content, think about examples that demonstrate your previous experience and skills.
- Get familiar with the most recent updates in the industry and Nordeus, and make sure you check out our games– it would be valuable for you to see what we are working on.
- Think about the questions for the interviewer – Before every round in the process, we tell candidates who they are going to talk with. Think about the area of expertise of the interviewer and ask things that are relevant for you to know- e.g. technical interviews are a good place for you to ask all the tech-related questions, but also to find out what project the team is working on. It’s not about asking questions just for the sake of asking, but because your questions also reflect your motivation and passion for a certain position, the hiring team will welcome your better understanding of the role.
- Don’t overprepare – One of the most common traps is trying to give a recruiter an answer they want to hear, practicing perfect answers to some common questions. Even though it’s completely reasonable to do the mental exercise of imagining the interview situation before it actually happens – try not to lose your genuine self because learned answers are usually generic and leave a flat impression.
Fun fact: we receive around 500-700 applications each month.
2. HOW DOES YOUR REMOTE SELECTION PROCESS LOOK LIKE?
With current circumstances happening around the world we needed to re-adjust our hiring process. We’ve switched to a remote process completely, organizing every interview via Zoom, including technical rounds.
- We’ve tried to adjust to the situation, including the tools we are using- e.g., for tech rounds where candidates used to come to our office and solve the problems by writing their thought process on the whiteboard in front of our interviewers, that now got replaced by online collaboration platforms and Zoom share screen options.
- We often get questions if we had struggles adjusting to this new normal in recruitment, and the truth is that it hasn’t been easy, especially for the candidate experience. 🙂 As we want all our candidates to have a great candidate journey, we needed to think about ways in which we can transfer a bit of our culture to candidates who only see us on the screen. Previously, one of our biggest strengths in the process was the experience we used to provide to candidates coming to our office for the onsite interviews, a time when they would come to spend most of their day with us. It’s just easier to fall in love with the actual people in the actual space, especially because the atmosphere here is something we are very proud of.
- We’ve realized that we wouldn’t like to deprive candidates nor our hiring managers from meeting in person– but at the very end of the process, before we give an offer to the candidate, in a spacious, safe environment, taking all the precautions.
- Also, a process that is lacking the usual human face-to-face interaction, requires more check-ins. As a result, we understood we needed to be more visual, trying to embed a flavor of the company culture through accompanying materials.
- Sometimes, as candidates go through the process that is inevitably longer, and that process is not successful, candidates are investing time and effort and we want to make sure it’s reciprocated. That made us rethink our feedback culture, and how we can enhance that experience with more detailed and comprehensive reasoning for our decisions.
Fun fact: Since switching to WFH, we hired and onboarded around 35 people.
3. IS THE COVER LETTER REALLY THAT IMPORTANT?
We know that sometimes a candidate can think that a detailed CV takes care of everything when it comes to pursuing a new position. Although a good CV is one of the key ingredients of a successful application, let’s not forget what a quality cover letter can do for you in the application screening process.
Main purpose of a cover letter is to help us get to know a particular candidate better and give us the additional context for the content of a CV (e.g., a career change) and candidate’s motivation for a certain role.
Maybe some people think that we don’t even read cover letters. This is a huge misconception. We receive many applications for each role we open, and for a candidate this is a good opportunity to make his/ hers application stand out. What does that mean?
Make sure to tell us why you would like to join Nordeus, what you are passionate about, what additional value you would bring to our teams and everything else you consider relevant that is not mentioned in your resume.
We have to emphasize how important this is for junior candidates, where the application review round gets even more competitive (lots of candidates have a strong background, extracurricular activities, etc.) and we need additional cues to decide who is going to the next round.
4. HOW MANY SELECTION ROUNDS DO YOU HAVE AND WHAT DO THEY LOOK LIKE?
This really depends on the role. After a conversation with a recruiter and a meeting with a hiring manager, most of our candidates get a task that mimics the everyday work in that role to complete. What we try to do in our process is to give the candidate as much information as possible about the role, team and the company, so in case all goes well, they can make an informed decision if this is the right path for them.
We try to have the candidate meet everyone they would be working with in a formal interview and informal coffee meeting.
5. DOES IT HELP IF I GET RECOMMENDED IN COMPARISON TO STANDARD APPLYING?
If you know someone at Nordeus, we encourage you to reach out to them to get more info about the position you are interested in. We respect the opinion from our Nordeans, and believe that great people know great people, but what is more important is someone’s technical knowledge and how that person fits the team, and we pay special attention to that. That means we don’t make a difference between recommendations and standard applications.
6. DO I HAVE TO BE A GAMER TO WORK IN THE GAMING INDUSTRY?
Being a gamer is more important for some roles than for others, for example, it is hard to imagine that people interested in Game Design or User Research are not gamers. From our perspective, it makes any position a lot easier because of the familiarity with gaming terminology, concepts, and the motivation to make awesome games.
6. WITH THE CURRENT SITUATION GOING ON, HOW DO YOU ONBOARD NEW EMPLOYEES?
Fun fact: We’ve hired 28 people in 2020 from 6 countries, 16 of them women. Majority of them onboarded remotely.
So far, we are making sure everyone has a clear onboarding plan (with weekly and monthly goals/expectations) with a mentor to help with the onboarding into the role and a buddy to show you around.
The key, of course, is overcommunication. We advise all our new hires to reach out any time something isn’t clear or they need more information about anything!
Newest addition to our onboarding- there are playing sessions where new joiners play our games together! They are acquiring product knowledge while they hang out. Pretty cool, right?
Also, we have our Donut pairing system. It’s a Slack integration that randomly pairs people up, helping new faces meet people in the company but having a virtual coffee, or is the opportunity for old colleagues to catch up.
8. IF MY PROCESS WAS UNSUCCESSFUL, DOES THAT MEAN I SHOULD NEVER RE-APPLY?
Absolutely not! We encourage candidates to consider re-applying for a similar position in 6-12 months after the unsuccessful application. We believe that period of time is about optimal to make a difference in the next selection process- e.g., to develop a certain skill or get the additional experience, depending on the position.
9. I WANT TO WORK AT NORDEUS, BUT I DON’T SEE A POSITION FOR MYSELF. WHAT SHOULD I DO?
We suggest you explore the gaming industry by playing various mobile games and If you’d like to stay up to date with opportunities and events in the Serbian gaming community, you can subscribe to Nordeus Hub updates. Also, you can follow Nordeus on LinkedIn or Instagram so you can stay informed about our freshly opened positions. It is also a cool idea to check out our games on the App Store or Google Play, and figure out if you see yourself working on those or similar games.
Other than that, this year we are working on our Early Talent program that will bring a lot of interesting activities for the junior talent. You can follow our Early Talent blog here.
As for the advice- be a self-starter! If you are interested in something-dig deeper, make your own projects besides the ones related to the school curriculum, explore what really moves you as a future engineer/artist/designer. 🙂
For more advice click here to find out how you can get started in the gaming industry!
10. WHAT ARE SOME NON-TECHNICAL CHARACTERISTICS YOU ARE LOOKING FOR?
- Self-starter – Has an urge to ’’make’’ things. Starts initiatives and explores the ways of working on his/her interests. An entrepreneurial spirit who lives his/her passion.
- Gritty – Persistent in delivering results. Aware that it is okay to fail, as long as you learn from previous experiences and strive to make it happen even after x number of attempts.
- Curious – Has a strong motivation to learn and try new ways. Uses versatile sources while learning. Hungry for knowledge.
- Team player – we believe our people are individually great but amazing things happen when they join forces!
11. CAN I APPLY TO WORK AT NORDEUS IF I DO NOT LIVE IN BELGRADE?
Yes, we are hiring people from all over the world. You can check here what living in Belgrade is like.
We also know that moving to another country is a stressful business, so expect full support in the process of relocation and settling in.
Check out open positions here and do not hesitate to reach out to us!
