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The most significant requirement is professional experience. As a rule, successful identical experience is required. The employer is searching for a candidate with the experience of working in the same segment of the market or successful experience in the solution of identical business tasks. The experience should by no means be delayed in time, as the situation in the Russian market is dynamically changing, and sometimes three- or four-year old experience does not satisfy the employer's expectations.
The next important criterion is education. Experts usually suppose that the ideal candidate must possess a fundamental higher education received in one of the leading Russian universities. Sometimes a business education (MBA degree) is required as it provides the candidate with the base of knowledge and skills necessary to achieve maximum efficiency in work.
These two requirements are of key importance for the employer. That is why they must be fully reflected in the CV.
However, these are not the only things the employer pays attention to.
In addition to professional experience and education, the candidate is expected to possess a number of personal characteristics. Dynamism is one of them. High speed in business is exceptionally important, that is why the people who are slow in thinking or in decision taking are of no use. Most companies pay attention to the initiative of the candidate. This requirement follows from the dynamism of the situation: if the employee is constantly waiting for a supervisor's instructions, he is wasting a vital resource -- time!
We should not forget ambition, as only an ambitious person will be inspired by a new project. A person completely satisfied with the present situation will not work in order to achieve new objectives. A high level of motivation is also of great importance, as a candidate is engaged for solution of concrete business tasks and achieving appointed goals. This trait is especially important when we deal with a new trend development or a start-up project.
An understanding of business economics is necessary in order to derive maximum benefit out of the money invested into business. That is why the candidates are required to possess economic and strategic thinking. The term "responsibility" is very popular with employers, but it is interpreted in many different ways. Most often it means independence in decision making and understanding of the consequences of these decisions. A manager must be quick on the uptake of everything new and be able to make things clear to others. That is why learning capability and ability to teach are especially needed from the candidates for the top positions.
Successful top managers as a rule possess most of the mentioned characteristics, although motivation (a future candidate's personal interest in a business task decision) is no less important. Even a professional, perfectly educated candidate with successful experience will hardly be offered a position if he doesn't show interest in it.
But even brilliant experience, perfect education and a magnificent set of interpersonal characteristics in combination with professional skills and a high level of motivation are not enough to guarantee a position. There are a number of subjective characteristics a company requires from a candidate, for example, management style and theoretical grounding in his experience. These requirements are hard to be foresee, but still possible to find.
The list of requirements for candidates can be infinite: depending on the vacancy and the tasks that are to be solved by the candidate. We have considered only the standard ones. Though the principal trend is clear, companies are always eager to find and attract true professionals.
The deficiency that the labor market is experiencing at the moment is a lack of professionals. Under existing conditions of competition, companies can not afford hiring managers who need to be pulled up to the necessary level. That is why the basic requirement is professionalism, no matter if we are speaking of a Chief Accountant or a Chief Executive officer.
So, dear future and present candidates, we hope that you will take this article as a guide for action and will continue self-developing, defining and achieving ambitious objectives.