Lately I’ve been getting questions at my career coaching practice about what recruiters are looking for in a candidate. Said differently, how to get an interview and get hired. I’ve hired a lot of people, so let me provide a bit of context on how this process works (for a mid-size to large company) and what I (as a hiring manager rather than a career coach) tend to think about.
Getting your resume in front of me
It is a very competitive job market and that means hundreds of people may be applying for the same position. Most of these people probably aren’t qualified and I don’t have the time to weed through resumes and cover letters myself, which means that a recruiter or an assistant is going to do that for me.
Whoever is supporting me isn’t as clear about the role as I am, which means I have given very specific instructions about what I am looking for. In other words, I haven’t asked them to think outside the box because they don’t have the context to do it. This makes it really hard to get an interview.
To say it plainly, your resume and cover letter should be very close to the position I am looking for to get to my desk.
It isn’t to say that I wouldn’t consider someone unconventional, just that you need to get that unconventional resume in front of me and going through the front door isn’t going to do it. You need to find another way to get to me so that you can get an interview.
Look for a mutual contact on LinkedIn and see if you can get a friend of a friend to get me your resume.
I’ll read it as a courtesy to my contact, and this is your only shot at getting your unconventional background to fit what I am looking for. If I’m close with our mutual friend or otherwise need to win their favor, you’ll get an interview even if you aren’t the best candidate.
Reduce my risk
Taking risks in hiring decisions is very costly. The price of a bad hire means I can’t get my work done as effectively, and even worse, my boss is going to doubt my decision making abilities. In other words, I’m taking a risk to my career in hiring you, which means I have to try and reduce that risk as much as possible.
So, how do I do it?
Obviously I look for matching skills and experience, but after that I look for internal candidates first. They have a proven track record and reputation, which means that I almost can’t go wrong unless I hire someone who just doesn’t have the skills.
Experienced job candidates know this; the good ones know that they can beat their peers but they can’t beat an internal hire. It’s unfortunate, but it is part of the game. You may get an interview based on your credentials, but an internal hire has been interviewing for a long, long time.
The second thing I try to do is look for big credentials. If you’ve worked at Microsoft, Google, Bain, McKinsey (or equivalent) or gone to a top tier school, I’ve just bought myself some insurance. Why?
Because if in six months things aren’t working with you I can say to my boss something to the effect of, “He’s just not working out. I would have thought a guy with his background…” Essentially, it isn’t on me, and my boss should be just as surprised as I am.
Third, all things being equal, I want someone local. Having to move someone cross country for a role raises the concern that I’m going to be the one paying for the move and 6 months later the recruit may be looking at other options or want to move back.
Yes, if I’ve crafted the right role and do a good job leading I should be able to mitigate this risk, but it is a concern. I also may be able to use that relocation budget elsewhere. This is also a factor in determining whether or not you will get an interview (beyond the initial screening), as you have to pass a pretty high hurdle for me to be willing to fly you in for an office visit.
Give me a shot at looking like a star
Everyone knows the way to get promoted is to make your boss’s life easier. When I’m hiring I am always looking for stars: real A players who can perform well and that I can rely on. The best way to demonstrate that you might be one of these people is to add some real value in the interview. Do your homework, share some insights, bring me some ideas, and do it in a humble way.
Let me emphasize that last point. I don’t care how smart you are or what you’ve done, if you get an interview, be humble. Strategic issues, solutions to problems, etc may seem painfully obvious to an outsider, yet their execution within an organization may be infinitely complex. Be modest.
I need your patience
Sometimes hiring processes can drag on. Most of the time this is for factors way out of your control as a candidate: I have to prepare for a board meeting, I have a customer crisis that just came up, etc. However, it is equally possible that I am stalling the process because I want the best possible candidate and new candidates have emerged, or that I need time to see if I can increase the salary for the role, etc. In other words, it isn’t necessarily about you, it’s about me.
One of my favorite sayings is, “When you are 18 you care what everyone thinks, when you are 40 you don’t care what anyone thinks, and when you are 70 you realize that no one has been thinking about you this whole time.”
As you can see from the above, the hiring process isn’t entirely about the candidate, but primarily about me, the hiring manager, and the time between when you get an interview and when you get hired may drag on. I will take a risk on you, the unconventional candidate, but I need you to make it a low risk proposition for me that gives me a chance of looking like a star.