Hungary - typical interview structure

Is there a typical interview structure?

An interview usually takes 1/2 hour, although some companies do several interviews or tests (e.g. one professional, one personal, etc.). Inter­view structure varies, but the atmosphere is almost always formal (even if it is friendly). You should be slightly reserved unless you see the employer adopt a more relaxed atti­tude. The content of the interviews is usually job-oriented, but there is an increasing ten­dency to cover personality, skills and attitude, intelligence and general behaviour. You should always try to sell yourself explaining your moti­vation and why they should choose you, with­out of course being too pushy. Often the CV is referred to during the interview, and candidates are almost always asked why they left their previous job and to name their five best and worst characteristics.

You can ask anything about the job, but you should not start the interview by asking about the salary - this topic is normally raised by the employer. You should, however, be prepared to discuss your salary expectations, in which case it is always better to give a range than an exact figure. Nowadays the applicant is the one who has to state a price for his/her work as an office employee.

When is a question out of bounds?

There is anti-discrimination legislation in Hungary, which means that you do not need to reveal 'sensitive’ information about yourself (religion, political allegiance or sexual orientation, a planned pregnancy, etc.) to employers. If you are uncertain about a question’s relevance to the job, you can simply ask why it is important to disclose this information.