CV mistakes - Answers by IT Recruiter  - Experts Zone Talks #17

Today we will talk about CVs and the IT recruitment process. Adriana will share the main mistakes developers make while making a CV and tips about the recruitment process.

Transcription

Olga

Hi everyone. My name is Olga and this is Expert Zone Talks. Today we will talk with Adriana. It is a remote interview today and we will speak about CV mistakes. But first, let's watch the intro. Hi, how are you? 

Adriana

I'm okay, thank you. We have really sunny day in Krakow. 

Olga

In Lodz, it is not a sunny day, it never is!

Adriana

So we are happy here.

Olga

Please tell a few words about yourself. 

Adriana

Okay. So my name is Ada. I'm located in Krakow. I work as an IT recruiter in Liki/Frontend House. I have about seven years of experience but I learn all the time from each candidate's story. 

Olga

You communicate with developers every day and you have seen I think hundreds, thousands of CVs. So you know for sure when a CV is good and when it is not. 

Adriana

I hope so. 

Olga

Today we will talk about CVs and the IT recruitment process. Adriana will tell us some secret tips about the recruitment process. So could you please tell us what are the main mistakes developers do while making a CV for recruitment? 

CV in IT recruitment

Adriana

The first impression is the most important. When you prepare your CV you have to be careful about the appearance of the curriculum vitae. So you have to check all spellings, and formatting and also put a nice photo because it shows how much attention you pay to your work. 

Olga

So you said that the appearance and the way the CV looks is very important. But what do you think about CVs without photos? Because I know that it is very popular now not to add photos and personal information in there. 

Adriana

Yes, exactly. For me, personality is also of course important. But I always give the chance anyway to the candidate. But I know a lot of recruiters who decline CVs without contact information or without photos. Additionally, sometimes we have a situation where when we send the summary of screening and also see the candidate to a manager, they decide to decline the candidate because of missing photos. 

Olga

I've heard that a lot of recruiters want to know a little personal information before the interview to be as objective as possible. 

Adriana

Yes. What do you mean about personal information? Like address and..? 

Olga

Like photos, hobbies, and age. 

Adriana

Okay. Yes, it's of course very important. But I think that at the beginning the hobby is not very important. Of course, if I see the hobby on a CV I always ask candidate later about the hobby.

Olga

It's like a topic to talk about, right? 

Adriana

Yes, exactly. So it's good to see it also. But the age. I'm not sure if it's so important. We can always look at the year of finished study or something like this. 

CV mistakes

Olga

So what are the main mistakes in CVS? The first one is not the perfect appearance of it and formatting. What's the next?

Adriana

The next mistake, in my opinion, is a situation when the candidate put the information about technologies but without the level of knowledge. It's also very important because we can better prepare for the interview to propose some project in the company and also it's very important to prepare for the technical interview. 

Olga

So developers are better to put the level of technology and maybe more information about the experience. 

Adriana

Yes, about the experience, about the project. Because also you know some kind of point when we can start the interview to ask about the project, about the team. Because sometimes when I check the CV I can see that the candidate has let's say seven or eight years of experience. But in my opinion, the level of knowledge - and skills too - is more important in seniority than years of experience. For sure. We had a lot of situations when I saw in the CV that the candidate has about seven or eight years of experience, so our senior developers were prepared that it will be a technical interview with senior and during the interview, it was a shock because the knowledge and the skills were on the regular or junior level. So it happens sometimes. 

Olga

I think it is a lot of such situations because to say truly CV is something which has to take your attention.

Adriana

Yes, exactly. Because first what is checked in CV are the requirements with the profile we need. So when you prepare your CV you should also pay attention to the job description, job responsibilities, and your experience in technology needed by the employer. 

Olga

What do you think about lies in a CV? Would you invite a tech talent for the next part of the interview, if you saw that it is a lot of lies in there? 

Adriana

I think that during screening, our first interview - HR interview - we can check. Yes. But anyway if you colorize your CV, technical knowledge will be checked during technical interviews. So there is no sense. But yes, we had a situation like this, of course. 

Olga

As you said the first impression plays a crucial role. But what are your main criteria to understand who is who? 

Adriana

I think that it's quite a difficult question. 

Olga

It is. Sorry. 

Adriana

I think each recruiter has some kind of intuition. When you see CV you can only check if experience meets the requirements as I told already. But during our screening we can check the soft skills. Yes. So you can see how candidates communicate with you, how he talks about his work, about the team, how he feels in the team. Yes. And even what his relationship with the current manager is. We have some points to ask the question to make some kind of evaluation even before we move the candidates for next stage. 

Stages of recruitment at Fronted House and Liki

Olga

What are the stages of recruitment at Fronted House and Liki and how long does entire recruitment process take? 

Adriana

Okay. I think that our recruitment process is very fast, it's very quick and it's a big, big plus for Liki. We have only three stages. The first one is screening with one of our recruiters and the second one is the technical interview and the last stage is short meeting with Przemek our COO and with me, and usually is the offer stage. That's all usually is about one week maximum. 

Olga

One week is fast.

Tips for candidates

Olga

Could you please share some pro tips during the interview from the side of recruiter and from the side of developer? 

Adriana

Yes, sure. For me personally, it is very important when candidate is open person and when I have the impression that the candidate really wants to talk with me. Sometimes people talk with you like you know, they are, let's say, bored a little bit. So I immediately know that this candidate is not really interested in work with us. The second issue is to be prepared like find a quiet place so nobody and nothing will disturb us because sometimes you can lose the flow during the conversation. And it's also very important. And for me when I asked candidate about the reason why he wants to work with Liki and he told me that salary. So it's also not really good motivation.

Olga

But it is important too. 

Adriana

Yes, of course. But if someone tells you immediately - salary - and nothing more, it's a little bit maybe not strange, but for sure, if in three months or four months, someone calls him, he will leave the company for money. Rather he is not looking for permanent positions.

Olga

So those are red flags for you as a recruiter.

Red flags for developer

Olga

Maybe you can share some red flags for developer. There are moments during the work interview when developer can already understand that it is time to run.

Adriana

Okay. I think that for sure. If they ask me about company, about the management, about technical interview or so I try to provide enough information about everything. And usually on the last stage, when asked candidate if he has any questions, they usually told that no, because I received all information during the first meeting. Yes. So it's very important to know such much about company as needed. So I'm always very open for questions and I try to leave a lot of time for those questions. 

Olga

So if recruiters doesn't want to tell enough or try to hide some information, it is a red flag, right? 

Adriana

Yes, exactly. And maybe more usually not always. But usually candidates ask if they can can receive the draft of the contract. At Frontend House and Liki we are very open for it. It's not the problem to send and discuss the contract, but often the employees don't want to do it. And if a candidate asks about the contract and you tell them no, you can’t see it. It's a little bit strange. So it's also very important thing. 

Olga

Yeah. It could be a little bit suspicious when the company doesn't want to show details of contract. It has to be clear.

Adriana

You have to be transparent as an employee. It's really important. 

Favorite recruiting story

Olga

Do you have some stories, some work interviews which impressed you? Which you remember till today and you are just amazed. 

Adriana

I had a little bit or maybe even totally different recruitment. It was for scientific software developers. The client needed a person which is a mix of developer, but also very open and let's say has a really big brain. Yes, I have to find the people after we diploma econometry or economy, something or statistics, even something like this. So I had to make a very deep research on the Internet about the technology but also about the tasks which the candidates will have if the client decides on this candidate. So it was very interesting for me. I learned a lot of new information and additionally, I met a lot of very interesting people and prospective employees with a passion for their job and what they do in their life. So it was very sometimes fun. 

Olga

So did you find a perfect candidate, a skilled talent for this role then? 

Adriana

Yes, I found it was quite difficult but yes.

Olga

You did it!

Adriana

Yeah, I did it. So I was really happy. 

Olga

Thank you, Ada, for your stories and for your tips about IT hiring process. Remember that Ada always waits for you during the work interviews so check our open positions. Check the link below. I hope to see you soon.

Careers section

Olga

Thank you! Have a nice day. Bye!