Recruiter Secrets for Tech Job Seekers

For someone looking for new graduate roles, how does the recruiting and scanning change (compared to full-time senior roles)? What can new grads do the stand out?

Amita – For new grads I’d focus on the skills and experience you do have – internships, volunteer work, university projects and projects you’ve done in your own time to demonstrate technical skills, and I’d focus on demonstrating your soft skills (communication, teamwork, ability to learn) etc. For senior roles, skills, impact & experience are key evaluators, for but new new grads we are looking for well-rounded individuals that can be trained, with the right attitude and learning capabilities.

Hello! Thanks so much for this session! You just mentioned AI, how do you feel about AI created CVs? Is this a good place to start when creating a cv?

Cat – I wouldn’t encourage anyone to use an AI-created CV, because your CV is personal to you and AI doesn’t consider this. However, there is nothing wrong with viewing these for ideas alongside CV templates. But please make sure you only consider the format/elements and ensure that your CV is relevant to you.

Amita –  Using AI tools like Bard / Chat GPT can assist you in writing your CV. However, I think you should have a good idea of what you want to say in the first place. These tools can help with making your points more concise, or conveying your information in a snappy way but you don’t want to rely 100% on these tools to write your CV. Remember your CV should be an individual, unique document and so you need to ensure it’s not copied & pasted from an AI tool.

Should I tweak my CV for every role I apply for?

Cat – This is something to consider if you are for instance a Bootcamp graduate and you undertook a Full Stack course. If you apply for Front End, lead on that area and provide the specifics of interest in this area and expand on further learning/practice etc.

Amita – Yes, definitely. Using the roles and responsibilities from the JD is a great tool.

I am transitioning from non-profit management to become a software developer. I have been told not to include my soft skills that made me excel in the tech resume. Do you have any advice?

Cat – You absolutely should include your soft skills. How will you transition and showcase to a future employer what you bring to a tech role? You can’t rely on your transition training/learning alone. With limited or no experience within the tech industry, you need to be able to demonstrate to an employer that your transferable skills are adaptable to tech. Think about your role in non-profit management, you have leadership skills, accompanied by communication skills, and are more than likely a team player. Think about your duties undertaken in this role and how you can adapt them to a tech role. Soft Skills and Transferable skills go hand in hand.

Hard Skills are gained via Education, Experience, Training, and Technical ability.

Soft skills are Experience, Interpersonal, Non-Technical and behavioural.

Amita – I think you should include your soft skills that you have acquired that you think would be useful in tech. Things like team work, strategic thinking, problem solving, collaboration, communication are all skills you probably would have acquired in non-profit and would be useful in tech. Be sure to also add any other information you can as well – whether you are doing any technical training, courses, self-funded projects, self-taught projects that can highlight your technical skills as well.

For those of us trying to pivot into a different role, should we be putting training/certifications/projects in front of employment history? Any tips on formatting?

Cat – as mentioned, I would suggest using a Personal Statement and making sure that your transferable skills are showcased within your employment history.

I section up CVs to make it easier to consider how to format.

1 – Start – Your name, location and contact details

2 – Personal Statement

3 – if you’d like to consider what strengths you bring. A synopsis of these. OR you can list your skills here.

4 – Employment History

Then final sections Education and Courses or L&D

Hi – I’m just transitioning into the tech industry from a previous career in law, so I don’t have much tech experience. What I put on my application to make it stand out?

Cat – You can’t rely on your transition training/learning alone. With limited or no experience within the tech industry, you need to be able to demonstrate to an employer that your transferable skills are adaptable to tech. Think about your previous role and how many of the 5 soft skills can you detail within your employment history, Adaptability, Communication, Leadership, Team Player and Problem Solving.  Think about your duties undertaken in this role and how you can adapt them to a tech role. Soft Skills and Transferable skills go hand in hand.

What tips do you have for us who are transitioning into tech and have no work experience to add to a resume?

Cat – See previous answers.

How long should a CV be? I’ve heard it shouldn’t be more than 1 page but I’ve also heard you have to write about yourself which could lead to 2 pages with the other information you have to include. I am confused about this.

Cat  – Max 2 pages. Think about the information, how it reads through a different lens. Remember the 6 to 10 seconds scan read.

Amita – For junior candidates a CV should be 1 page. For more senior candidates it should be 2 pages. You can format a CV and play with the borders / font size so you can fit more information. Your personal statement / summary should only be a couple of sentences. All of the information in your work experience should be short, snappy statements that convey your points. You do not want to be writing essays. Recruiters are reading 100s, sometimes 1000s of CVs per role, and we don’t want to be scrolling endlessly past 2 pages of a CV to get the information we need. Short, snappy, concise is the best way forward.

I sometime feel some recruiters here in UK show on the job description that they can offer sponsorship but later I can see that there is a sort of denial stating that we will check with client if they can. But, my question is why this wasn’t considered before posting job online and why recruiters say they want to check with client if sponsorship can be offered? Specially in the UK I have seen this happening and it gives a negative impression of the recruiter because in UK most of the time a sponsorship is required for a role. Your thoughts ?

Cat  – call the recruiter before applying and obtain clarification.

Amita – Sponsorship is a tricky concept and relies heavily on factors outside of the recruiter and company’s role (rely a lot on government and home office rules and regulations). There are certain requirements that have to be met based on the role, person applying etc so there isn’t a one size fits all rule here. Often we will try to be as transparent as possible at the start of a recruiting process, but things can change which could lead to changes in the sponsorship offering. Be up front about your requirements and needs at the start of the process with the recruiter, and I am sure they will try their best to accommodate.

Is google DeepMind hiring entry level Master’s students?

Amita – We do hire entry level Masters into Research engineering and Software engineering roles.

I actually pass the test but I am scared of the in-person interviews because of a new disability.

Cat – No candidate with a disability should be marked down. If it affects your confidence within an interview, I recommend that it would be beneficial to both you and the employer to disclose prior. I know this can be daunting whilst you’re navigating what this new disability represents, but I do believe this would help. Also any employer that makes you feel uncomfortable not to mention, this then relates back to value, mission and culture.

Amita – Companies can often offer you different accommodations during your interview process. If you feel comfortable enough to share, I would disclose this information to your recruiter and they can help revise the process for you. At Google DeepMind specifically we have an accommodations team where you would need to reach out to them yourself (recruiter would be unaware of this) and they would make the accommodations for you so that your anonymity is maintained. There are things we can do to help you so please don’t be scared to ask for help.

Hi, I recently went to BlackTechFest2023 and spoke to someone at Deepmind who said they’ll be roles about Deepmind academy for grad roles. Do you know when they’ll go live?

Amita – Please connect with me on LinkedIn as we don’t know when they will be going live yet.

At Deepmind, are there any AI roles without DSA coding interviews?

Amita – All of Google DeepMind technical roles require live coding interviews

What do you say a person who has less than a year experience working as a entry level full stack developer who want to join a different company as an early career, the reason for change could be location but want an early career as I am still new to the industry.

Cat  – Be clear as to why you are looking for this type of role with less than a year you are still classed as a junior. Juniors should not require 2 years experience, even though unfortunately this is the norm for some employers. A Junior is entry level.

hi, any tips on how to crack the application tracking system ? sometimes don’t hear from the agency at all . thank you

Cat – call the agency directly. Recruiters much prefer when candidates call them. Imagine how many applications they will have received.