How I landed an Interview at a Tech Start-Up
I wanted to really put into practice what I teach here on this site and really prove that it works. I just hate how recruiters and HR Generalists are really quick to give “Top 10 resume tips” or general career and job search advice when in reality they would have a hard time finding a job themselves. I find it that most guru’s or experts don’t have a touch with actual realty and an intelligent insight on the struggles that people actually go through on a daily basis. You can literally read 10 different articles and they will all say the same thing, mostly irrelevant fluff that won’t help you find a job.
The majority of job seekers are sending out resumes left and right which doesn’t get results. They then tweak their resume a bit and repeat the same pointless cycle. I always favor the approach that works, which is rewriting every resume towards a job that you are applying for.
I’m not a big guru, or a superstar recruiter; I’m simply somebody who has spent enough time in this field to really understand the recruitment process and I’m sharing it with hopes of helping you land a job quickly. Even if I help one person creating this website would have been worth it for me.
Here is the quick rundown on how I landed an interview at a Tech Start Up just a few days ago.
The Job Description: ( Note that I deleted the company name and the location for copyright purposes, that is why you will see these odd blank spaces )
From this job description I pulled out some key components that I knew would be of interest to the recruiter. I also viewed all their other job postings on their site and noticed that each one of them had the same line about “comfortable working in an entrepreneurial environment” and dealing with “change”.
This was my first point that I was going to emphasize on
I also saw that they need a few technical skills
MySQL database management ( which I only have self though knowledge about) I literally just bought a book called Head First SQL: Your Brain on SQL — A Learner’s Guide
and went through the exercises, which thought me the basics about building DB and SQL Statements. Additionally they wanted Excel and Visual Basic ( My excel is very strong, however I don’t have any Visual Basic knowledge ) PHP is preferred ( I don’t have any PHP and when they say preferred its usually a bonus, not a requirement)
In regards to the technical skills I have two out of four which in my book is enough to make me a strong candidate. Remember don’t shy away from jobs that list some skills that you may not have. I used to write job descriptions in such a way that would discourage people to apply just to limit the number of resumes coming my way. Recruiters will do this so keep it in mind as you are applying for jobs.
I also did some research on the company and found out that they were a start up eCommerce and learned a bit about how they started etc.
My Next Step:
I usually don’t skip the cover letter but I did on this occasion for a simple reason. The job description was very short, which indicated to me that it was written by a non HR person. HR people will usually write two page long descriptions listing work requirements, qualifications, working conditions bla bla bla. For those I would definitely include a cover letter and make everything sound very formal.
I digress; I chose to have a conversational approach instead and present myself the way I would have presented one of my candidates for a job.
Here is what I did:
I recently moved to “City” about four months ago and was really surprised to find a thriving ecommerce start up here so I simply had to apply. I’ve included a brief elevator pitch highlighting my experience below along with my resume. Let me know what day and time would work best with your schedule to discuss this opportunity in more detail.
Warm Regards
“My Name”
( I don’t talk about me on this site to much, because that’s not what resumetemplatesformac.com is about. I want this site to be about helping you rather then making this about how of an uber recruiter I am )
The quick elevator pitch:
“With a double Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources and General Management along with a solid track record in account management, new business development, and project management in competitive high-tech markets, I’m a hands on account coordinator who can deliver results quickly. I have thorough command of Microsoft Excel (auto fill, sorting and advanced filtering, concatenation, conditional formatting, vlookup, pivot tables, If analysis, conditional sum, average, count, macros and charts) scoring 100% on power user testing, along with strong technical depth in HTML, database management, application tracking systems, SQL Statements and content management platforms. I have worked as an account manager and recruiter and have placed high caliber candidates with Amazon, Starbucks, Spacelabs, and various financial and manufacturing companies. I am very responsive and customer-driven; able to manage a high workload (80+ clients); able to build rapport with customers, develop long-term relationships, anticipate needs and make appropriate recommendations. As an individual who takes pride in everything I accomplish, I would be a positive addition to any team looking for a diverse individual to handle multiple projects.”
Notes: This statement pretty much would make any recruiter want to talk to me. I touched on the things they need most which is strong organization within Excel, content management platforms and SQL. I additionally I elaborated and conveyed that I can handle many challenging tasks and would make a good hire.
Resume was attached
Not done Yet:
I also did a few vital things on LinkedIn. Remember that every time you apply to any company these days, they will do their best to look you up on LinkedIn. They will want to review your recomendations so if you don’t have any then you need to jump on this. Currently I have about seven recommendation which is more then enough. Don’t wait for people to recommend you they never will. You have to ask for them, so make sure that you ask all your professors, all your previous bosses and co-workers to write a few lines about you. Secondly a bad LinkedIn profile will hurt you, so make sure that you have roughly 250 contacts added ( which will make you look stronger ) and also join a few groups and follow the companies you are interested in working for.
1) I followed the company
2) I looked at all the employees for this company ( When you view somebody in LinkedIn they will get a notification, which in turn makes them click on your profile. Its a good way to draw attention
Sure enough a few days later a few people from this company looked at my profile and here is what happened next
Here is the response I got:
I hope this example helps you and illustrates how you can land jobs quickly simply by taking a few extra minutes to tailor your cover letter and your resume. A simple bullet point can do wonders for standing out amongst the large crowd. Don’t neglect your initial email which has to spark interest.
If you merely state I’m applying for such and such position that I saw on this website and I would really like this job. You can reach me at such and such number.
Recruiters are used to seeing these type of resumes and literally after viewing 300 on a daily basis emails like these become boring and we don’t even look at them anymore. Please take the time to target your email, your cover letter and your resume. And please only apply to a few jobs per day it will make a big difference. Don’t send your resume to 50 postings just to make yourself feel better. Instead focus your time on improving yourself. Everything I know about IT I have self-thought including Excel, SQL, HTML and many more.
I’m a person who likes to learn from examples. If you could share your story with me and be detailed about your approach I would love to publish it on our site. Happy Hunting
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