How Visible is Your Resume
In today’s job-market, it is especially important to make your resume visible, but also to be visible to the right recruiters. The IT Tech Industry made the job search really challenging. Today, you must get through at least four software filters to have your resume seen.
Analysts estimate the average visibility of your resume for HR professionals at the employing company at just 4%.
Find out for yourself. For a resume to just get into the database, it must pass the first filter - format validation. For example, at this stage, up to 75% of the downloaded resumes were screened out by websites last year.
The resume should then go to the correct database, but if you missed important indicators, it would not show up in searches, even if you passed the format check. At this stage, 25% of downloaded resumes are lost. Thus, approximately only 18% of all downloaded files end up in the right database.
But that is not all! When a recruiter starts looking for a specialist for a vacancy, he will not read hundreds and thousands of resumes - this is impossible, he will simply load a list of keywords, set certain quantitative and quality filters and start an automatic search.
Depending on the filters installed, at this stage only 4-8% of the downloaded resumes will be visible.
Finally, when the recruiter sees and selects your resume, he will call you. He will ask you to send the most recently updated resumes that he will send to an HR.
And... are you surprised? Your resume will be checked with a company ATS!
To cope with this task, you need to be truly professional, and we are proud of our specialists, since the resumes compiled by them are always in the TOP-3 of the search.
How to Prepare for a Video Interview.
You need to prepare especially carefully for a video interview, since it is much more difficult to go through it since there is no personal contact with the interviewer. But using our tips, you can easily do it.
1. Do a rehearsal to relieve anxiety and increase confidence in the interview. Ask a friend or family member to be your interviewer to practice answering video questions, record yourself, and see what needs to be fixed.
2. Test how the microphone and video camera are working and eliminate potential distractions (for example, a bright poster on the wall behind you). In the video, overhead lighting casts dark shadows, making you look sleep-deprived and ominous. Side lighting or bottom lighting is better.
3. Prepare the background and surroundings. Make sure you prepare your video interview location in a quiet area free from distractions. Make sure that what is behind you (and may be visible on camera) does not distract the interviewer, that no one will walk during the interview, and, for example, pets will not distract you. Pay attention to the background, it should provide proper contrast to your profile. Use technical solutions of video applications to overlay an office digital background. Either way, this should be a clean and professional video interview site.
4. Do not forget to dress for the video interview as well as for the traditional interview in office clothes. Just because you are at home does not mean you do not need to get dressed. You should look clean and tidy, wearing modest hair and makeup (optional).
5. Finally, the most important piece of advice is "look into the eyes" during the interview. This means that you must look directly into the camera lens and not at the computer screen. This may seem inconvenient to some. Print any face in full size and clip it so that the camera lens "looks" at you with one of the eyes of the face. This will make it easier for you to look at the camera while recording the interview. Show confidence (even if you may not have it). How? Sit up straight, lean back slightly in your chair, smile, use hand gestures (but do not gesture too hard), and do not cross your arms and legs.
6. If you are afraid to get confused, prepare the abstracts of answers to the most difficult questions for you in large print and hang them around the camera. Adjust your distance from the camera so that it is not noticeable that you are looking at the abstracts (this is about 50 cm further than usual).
Bonus that fits for a video interview as well as for face to face!
1. For each question, say no more than three short phrases, and then shut up. Only three things maximum and that is it! (People talk too much at interviews and it is really negative).
2. Be easy on interviews. Try to look at each interview not as a meeting to decide your fate, but as a training for your communication and self-presentation skills, as well as a useful acquaintance. First, it will make you worry less. Second, it is a really rewarding workout. Thirdly, getting to know the recruiter and potential leader can be useful to you in the future, even if this time the job will not work out. The professional circle is usually quite narrow, besides, employers remember good candidates with an eye to the future, if the selected finalist for some reason does not stay in the company, or a similar vacancy opens. In a word, even in case of refusal, you did not waste your time in any case.
What Questions to Ask in an Interview?
At the end of each interview, the candidate is always asked if he has any questions. The big mistake is to say no. You just must ask them, otherwise the interviewers will not understand you.
However, it is especially important to ask the right questions. The “correctness” of the questions depends on the level of the interview.
For example, at the first interview with a recruiter or HR manager, it is better to talk about the company's mission, your tasks in case of hiring, and corporate culture. At a meeting with a manager, you can go deeper into the details: technologies used, project features, hierarchy and communications, responsibilities, and environment.
If you are invited to a meeting with a CEO or COO, you can find out about the company's plans for the year, about its development strategy.
It is better to discuss issues related to salaries and bonuses with the hiring manager directly.
As you prepare for your interview, write down your questions. During the interview process, you can get carried away, worry, or, simply, forget about some important detail. Do not hesitate to read them from your note, just say that you prepared your question in advance. It would show that you prepared seriously.
It is not necessary to voice the entire list (perhaps you will get some answers from the main story of the interviewer) but asking 3 questions is quite a good tone.
Sample list of questions:
Tell me please why this vacancy appeared?
Who is the ideal candidate for this position? / How would I exceed your expectations on a short-term basis, say, in the first 30 to 60 days on the job? / What qualities do your best employees have in common? / Is there anything about myself, my skills, or my background that you would like me to clarify?
Let us discuss the tasks that fall within the scope of this role again.
How is remote work organized now?
Tell me please about the corporate culture and management system of the company?
Tell me please a little about the training and development system that you have? / Are there opportunities for professional training or further education, particularly to keep up with new technology? / What types of mentoring programs do you offer?
What do you like most about your company? / Why did you choose this company?
When a Cover Letter is Appropriate?
Frequently, our clients ask us to write a Cover Letter, thinking that this is an absolutely necessary supplement to the Resume. In fact, this is not the case.
Most often, such a Cover Letter is required when you are applying for positions B to C levels - the position of leader, director/ vice president / president, or for scientists and university teachers.
Sometimes, when filling out a form on the website of the employer's company, there is a requirement to attach a Cover Letter. We usually suggest that our customers attach this file only if "* REQUIRED" with an asterisk is indicated next to the file upload field. If it says (OPTIONAL), then we do not recommend doing this, since, in this case, no one will read your Cover Letter.
We never do a Cover Letter for all occasions. You should understand that HRs encounter huge numbers of such letters daily and have already seen the same texts hundreds and thousands of times. They are usually very susceptible to falsehood and plagiarism. If the Cover Letter is required, they read it before the resume, and it shows them who a candidate really is. Letters made from templates or samples are simply thrown away with the resume.
Therefore, we write a cover letter only for a specific position of a certain company, which will show why you chose it and what you yourself can bring to this company, which will allow HR to pay attention to you.