tips for job-seekers from a hiring manager
You would think that in this economy, where the California unemployment rate has topped 10%, that it'd be a total piece of cake for hiring managers to find great folks to fill any job opening. But I think that in my 15 years of hiring, right now is still a pretty hard time to hire folks, too.
Why? The signal-to-noise ratio is way out of whack, and it's about finding the right fit.
My most recent Senior Product Manager opening has attracted 125+ LinkedIn candidates, 200+ Craiglist applicants, and another 100+ coming from referrals, twitter, other job sites etc. Recruiters have probably screened another 500 candidates for me, so call it 1,000 applicants. I've phone screened probably about 25 people (~3%) and brought in 6 people for interviews (0.6%). My earlier post for an office manager role attracted the same volume, including former VPs from Merrill Lynch. It's a tough market out there.
People have gotten smarter with getting hiring managers' attention. Obviously, it's easy for me to filter out the semiconductor engineer from Cairo, Egypt (true!) for my consumer online job. Thankfully, I'm seeing more candidates who more closely meet the requirements to try and get a phone screen. Great! Btw, I'm willing to take a chance on people who may not be a perfect fit if they bring other unique things to the table. I'm sure others are, too (so take heart, mr semiconductor)
So, first off, congratulations on swimming in a really tough current, and getting noticed. Now, that you have my attention, here are 5 things you can do to help me think you're the right person to bring in (this may be biased toward product managers, but can apply universally, I think).
1) Spend time with the product. A lot. Go figure, but very few people I talk with spend more than 10 minutes with the product, if at all. It shows really fast when you ask them questions about the experience. It's important to spend time with the product for a lot of reasons, but I'm mostly interested when you use that time to...
2) Share your top 5 ideas for making the product/service/experience better. This tells me a lot. It tells me whether you did #1, and also, how you think about addressing customer needs. I don't care if the ideas are wrong, or if you missed the customer, but if your ideas are good at helping improve the user experience, and ideally, advancing the company in a strategic way, I'll immediately be intrigued. Chances are we'll only have time to talk about one, so have a little depth, but be prepared to discuss others.
3) Ask good questions. How do I know whether you're really interested in my company, or whether I'm just Company #235 on your list today? By the questions you choose to ask me. I always save time at the end of interviews to see what questions people have. If it's only about next steps, then that's not enough. Ask the questions that will help me know you understand what it takes to be a great part of the team (i.e., if you're a product person, ask insightful product questions. One example: Ask how we learn about our customers and their needs.)
4) Have some understanding of the marketplace. I love it when people understand what we're facing in the marketplace, how that might be affecting our strategy and revenue model, and how competitors may have influenced this thinking. Industry knowledge isn't in the top 3 of criteria for me, but knowing you've done some homework, even if you're not from the space, helps me know that you can adapt quickly, and that you'll have a context for making good decisions.
5) Show me you care. The market is terrible, yes, and I'm very hopeful that I can do something to help you and as many others as I can. Ideally, I want to know at the end of the call, or cover letter, that you're the person I should get to know because you LOVE this kind of role and LOVE this kind of company (e.g., startup), and LOVE this kind of space (e.g., consumer online). Passion goes a long way, but it has to be focused in a relevant way for it to matter. Btw, I share opportunities at other companies with former candidates I've spoken with who I thought were great, but not a right fit with my place, so if I'm left with that feeling, I'm going to want to help you, and stay connected with you. Who knows what will happen down the road.
My best advice: Apply for fewer jobs. But when you apply for one, really invest your time so anyone would be a fool to not bring you in for at least a round of interviews. The rock stars I was lucky enough to hire in the past all did these five things with flying colors...
I'll be surprised if anyone is surprised with these tips. No brainer, right? Well, I don't think it happens enough, and it surprises me. So I hope this can be helpful to someone. Let me know if you have any tips to add in the comments below, and let me know if there's anything I can do to help you.
