Talk to a Specialist Recruiter
A great recruiter will look out for you and your best interests. They have a wide understanding and insight of the market and can offer multiple opportunities, while sharing/ tips on writing your resume and interviews techniques.
A recruiter will give you access to the “hidden” job market. Often, the best roles are not advertised directly by companies – perhaps they are still in stealth mode or do not want their competitors to know what they are working on. In these instances, they will partner with a specialist recruiter to find the best talent.
A recruiter will protect your privacy! Often, candidates do realize that when they apply for a role on a job board, their resume will upload to that database. Many technology companies have internal talent/recruitment teams who are just as likely to find you there and hence, know that you are exploring the market. Some companies even have alerts set up to track this!
A recruiter can help you understand your market rate and guide you through the salary negotiation process. Many states have introduced laws prohibiting potential employees from asking candidates their salary history – making the salary negotiation process more complex than before. A recruiter can guide you through these laws and ensure that you appropriately price yourself in the industry, as you do not want to ask for too much or too little! A recruiter can even handle the whole negotiation process on your behalf, as we know it can be an uncomfortable experience at times!
Unsure on which recruitment firm to talk to? If your skillset is in AI & Machine Learning, Engineering & Development, Cybersecurity or Sales, Marketing & Product – talk to us at Glocomms. If not – speak to colleagues or mentors and ask who they can recommend. Referrals/recommendations are always best in our opinion.
Take Time to Write Your Resume
On the internet, there now are hundreds of resources to help with writing a resume. Let’s face it-- it can be very confusing! As recruiters, our advice would be to keep it simple: avoid graphics, logos and graphs. Try and keep to less than 3 pages if possible. Do not use buzz words. Avoid unnecessary bolds, underlines and italics. Highlight your key skills but do not list every technology you have ever been exposed to. If you code in your spare time or contribute to open source – include this! Don’t be afraid to share a few hobbies/interests – it shows your personality (especially if this relates to technology)
Network
In the ever changing and evolving technology industry – it can be hugely beneficial to network with like-minded individuals. You will meet new and interesting people, learn about different industries and technologies and potentially meet new employers. In the larger metropolitan cities (in fact, in most cities) there are lots of great events happening every day. Meetup.com is a great website to use! Join the groups that are relevant to you and your skillset, then you can pick and chose which ones to attend. New to networking? Our tip would be to take a friend/colleague with you.
Practice and Prepare for the Interview
We’re not the first company to write about how to prepare for a job interview and we certainly won’t be the last. Anyone who has read such an article will know that the usual advice offered is generally pretty standard: research the company, know your resume, prepare some questions to ask etc… However, when attending a job interview, the last thing you want to be is run-of-the-mill.
Here are a few other tips from us
Dress to Impress
‘Dressing to impress’ means basing your outfit on the culture of the company you are interviewing with. This is hugely important to technology, where most companies have a relaxed culture. To make a truly informed outfit choice, research the company’s social media pages to see what employees wear on an average day in the office and then most importantly - adopt a smarter version of this attire. The closer that your outfit fits the organization, the quicker you will develop a rapport with your interviewer. If you are unsure, double check with the company you are interviewing for ahead of time.
Record Yourself
Professional athletes film themselves prior to key events in order to optimize their performance - so why not also apply this practice to preparing for an interview? The majority of your interview is, in fact, not assessed on what you say but on the way you say it. As a result, it’s imperative to ensure your body language portrays you as knowledgeable, engaged and confident. Moreover, practice talking on the phone! Nearly every interview process nowadays includes a telephone interview, yet a lot of us rarely speak on the phone when we can send a text or instant message. As simple as it seems, if your interview process involves speaking on the phone, call a friend beforehand and practice!
Shine Like a STAR
If you find yourself in a competency-based interview, you will be expected to give structured answers that demonstrate key skills such as problem-solving, conflict management, team- building etc. When asked a question starting with, ‘Tell me about a time when…’ use the STAR acronym to structure your response and provide the right level of detail. Here’s how it works:
Situation: Set the scene and give some context
Task: Explain what you were required to do
Activity: Clarify what you actually did
Result: Describe how well the situation played out. Prepare a bank of answers that fit this format in advance of your interview to ensure your answers are well articulated and confidently executed.
First-Name Terms Know the names of your interviewers before you walk through the door. This may seem obvious, but it’s something that often gets forgotten among the million and one other things you have running through your mind prior to an interview. Memorize panel members’ names and address them directly during the interview. This is proven to help build a stronger rapport and make your interviewers like you more!
Fuel Up
It’s important to prepare your body from the inside pre-interview. Avoid foods that will give you peaks and troughs of energy directly before your interview such as caffeine, greasy/ sugary foods, heavy carbs, or sugary drinks. Instead, you should opt for peak performance foods: blueberries, salmon, oatmeal, and avocado are all considered great brain foods; nuts and yogurt are believed to reduce anxiety; while olive oil, goji berries, and raw foods can all help enhance your problem-solving skills.
Shake, Rattle and Roll…
Finally, the way you greet your interviewer can say a lot about you. There’s nothing complicated about a handshake… or is there? With the handshake being your first opportunity to impress, you only have one chance to get it right and handshakes that are too clammy, too tight, too limp, too long or too short are definite no-nos. For the perfect handshake, you need dry palms, a firm (but not too firm) grip, a sideways (not from above) approach, and a three-shake rule. It should also be accompanied by good eye contact and a winning smile.
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About Us
Glocomms is a leading specialist recruitment agency for the technology sector. We were founded in 2013 to give clients and candidates peace of mind that the recruitment process is in expert hands. Our continual investment in best-in-class technologies and consultant training enables us to recruit with speed, precision and accuracy. Today, Glocomms provides contingency, retained search and project-based contract recruitment across our offices in San Francisco, New York, London and Berlin. Find out how Glocomms can help you.