Alla Pavlova is a tech recruiter with Riot Games and has a long experience finding and hiring the best people for her teams. She shared her methods and even hacks during a super cool VanHackCON 2021. Do you want to know how to make your profile stand out and make recruiters find and select you?
She explained that, as a recruiter, she uses two main methods for finding good candidates. The first is through tools like software that filter professional profiles by skill, years of experience, or other qualifications. They allow HR to skim several LinkedIn accounts, for example. The second method is much more organic. Pavlova also likes scavenging through the web, looking for a potential good fit. Either way, she explains that her job gets a lot easier when candidates make themselves visible. Here are some of her tips on how to become a candidate that recruits will find and reach out to:
Make Recruiters Find and Select You
1 – State your goals
“If I look at your CV, is it obvious what you do and what you are looking for?” Pavlova asks. She says it is essential for her to know that the person is open to new opportunities and what kind of job they are interested in. “Indicate that you are open for work or relocation, and I will be able to find you faster.” If you can, try to mention where you are currently living, if you can work remotely and / or where you would like to relocate to. “Mentioning in your [LinkedIn summary that you’re open for relocation is great. Open for applications, which countries, amazing. So you will have very nice conversations relevant to you with recruiters. Don’t miss out on them”.
2 – Say how would you benefit the company
Be very thorough when building your online profile. Make sure to list skills and describe what problems you can solve. Companies want to know how your abilities translate to benefits to them.
3 – Answer these two questions in your cover letter
When writing a cover letter, avoid repeating information from your CV. Pavlova says it is much more helpful for recruiters to connect your history (skills, work experience, interests) to its story. So again, try to link what you can do to what the company is looking for by answering two fundamental questions: Why do you want to work for the company, and why should the company hire you?
4 – Use PDF files and links
Recruiters get info from so many candidates it may be hard to manage different files and formats. So make things easier for the person on HR to get, keep and read your application: always send PDF files rather than Doc, Word, or other options. And have an online portfolio that you can easily share with a link.
5 – Don’t say relocating is the primary motivation
A job interview is never complete without the ever-present question “why do you want to work with us?”. While the correct answer may vary, one is always wrong: saying you want the job to relocate. “Your motivation has to be more complex than relocating,” says Pavlova. Again, she explains it comes down to connecting your abilities and needs to what the company is looking for.
6 – Show evidence that you have researched the company
The best way to make any conversation with a stranger a little less awkward is knowing something about them to break the ice. Pavlova says recruiters always notice when candidates have done their homework and can talk about the company. And it doesn’t even have to be boring either. “Show some evidence of the research that you made. For example, if you guys tell me what you’re working on and ask my opinion, I could say that that company makes some TV series. You know, these things make you stand out, mentioning something relevant, something that shows some effort”.
7 – Invest some time in extra activities
Remember how we said recruiters use other methods to search for candidates besides reading your online CV? Pavlova explained how important it is to have further proof of your skills and interests that she could find, such as volunteer work and published articles on platforms like Medium.
8 – Tweak your LinkedIn
The tools recruiters use to find candidates online are designed to filter profiles by keywords and categories like location, coding language, industry, etc. Make it easier for recruiters to find and select you. You can do that by constantly updating and improving your LinkedIn profile to reflect precisely what kind of opportunity interests you. “Make LinkedIn algorithm work for you,” Pavlova says. Here are some of her tips on how to do that:
- Indicate you are looking for a job
- Interact with people of interest
- Follow companies of interest
- Keep job titles simple
- Keep location easy to find
- Be honest
- Add skills and keywords
- If you want to change industries, show interest in those other areas
9 – Avoid funny job descriptions
“I like Star Wars too, but please, don’t say you are a Java Jedi,” Pavlova says, only half-joking. Sure, LinkedIn doesn’t need to be dull, but if you want to be found by recruiters, make sure search software will understand your qualifications. Saying you are a “code ninja” sounds cool, but algorithms don’t know what it means.
10 – Work on your summary
Treat your LinkedIn summary like an elevator pitch, short but interesting. Make it stand out; talk about your inspirations, strengths, what you care about.
11 – Update your skills and responsibilities
Updating your skills makes it easier for recruiters to find you. See that your online profile always has your latest information. Keep adding projects as you work on them, and remember to be thorough when describing your role and responsibilities in each new project.
12 – Have a profile where recruiters look for candidates?
Yes, LinkedIn is the easier place recruiters go to to find candidates. Pavlova calls it the “low hanging fruit” but is not the only one. It is especially interesting for experienced professionals with extensive CVs to have a portfolio or an online presence on other websites. Here are some of Pavlova suggestions:
13 – Be part of the community
Recruiters find and select candidates who are active in their industries, and there are many simple ways you can show them that. “Not everybody is a public speaker or an article writer. But you can think of ways to make your profile easy for me to find that works for you”, Pavlova says. Some of her ideas include adding a summary to the Slack and Discord groups you participate in, posting relevant comments on Reddit, Medium, or Quora (even Goodreads counts), taking an active part in online events. “I’m not saying you have to participate in all of them; I am saying one of them must work for you to make your application better than others.”
14 – Have your profile and your content translated to other languages you speak
This one is a no-brainer. If you are looking for job opportunities abroad, your profile and other online contributions must be translated into all the languages you speak. If you can, try to make it as easy as possible for people reading your content to understand your levels of competence in different languages.
15 – Contribute to your community
Last but not least, impress recruiters by showing active collaborations within your industry or online community. Again volunteer work may be interesting, but just being a good player counts. You can contribute by answering questions on forums or uploading content to open-source repositories, for example.
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