Hacks for getting hired beyond conf Nov 2015

HACKS FOR GETTING HIREDGENERAL ASSEMBLY

HACKS FOR GETTING HIRED


WHAT IS GENERAL ASSEMBLY?

Sam Hepburn Partnerships Lead @ General Assembly London

How to get in touch with me: Email: [email protected] Twitter: @SammyHep

Who Am I?

HACKS FOR GETTING HIRED3

Founder: Non Technical Women in Tech

Organiser: Find a Tech Job in London

Organiser: London Startup Jobs

mailto:[email protected]


WHAT’S MY STORY?MY PAST LIFE

South Africa

Hospitality Finance

LONDON LIFE

LOVE technology Not a dev :(

MY BIG BREAK

Tech communities Java, graduates, CTOs

and front end tech

GA

Career coaching community

management

MORE

More Communities

FATJIL London Startup Jobs

NTWnTech


WHAT DO COMPANIES WANT?

People fired up about what you are doing

What do they want?


People who can adapt and want to be ridiculously successful

What do they want?


People who are in it for the long haul

What do they want?


People who add something different to the team

What do they want?


PASSION AND DETERMINATION ARE TWO OF THE MOST IMPORTANT QUALITIES FOR THE

SUCCESS OF THE COMPANY.

What do they want?



BEFORE YOU GET STARTED


PROFESSIONAL PROJECT/PORTFOLIO

JOB TRACKERDIGITAL PRESENCE

(GITHUB + LINKEDIN)

CV!

BEFORE YOU GET STARTED In order to set you up for success, you will need the following:


LETS TALK ABOUT CV’ZZZZZ

3 Universal Truths!


‣Your CV should look different from your best friends CV. ‣Your CV will look widely different in format and structure over time.

‣Your audience matters! ‣You will likely have multiple versions of your CV ‣The name of the game is RELEVANCE!

‣Getting a job comes down to networking and interviewing. ‣Your resume is a supplemental tool; it can open (or close) doors, but

you need to walk through them.

THERE’S NO ONE-SIZE-FITS-ALL CV TEMPLATE

YOUR CV IS A PERSONAL MARKETING PACKAGE

YOUR CV WILL NOT GET YOU A JOB

Creative Examples


‣The interactive resume of Robby Leonardi ‣Philippe Dubost’s Amaz’ing resume

LET’S PUTH THE BOUNDARIES OF CONVENTIONAL CV’S

http://www.rleonardi.com/

http://phildub.com/

Simple but effective


The Basics


‣Name, phone, email, digital contact information ‣Education ‣Relevant experience, which can include: paid employment,

internships, volunteer work, consulting projects. ‣Relevant community organisations and involvement ‣Relevant skills ‣Relevant awards and achievements

WHAT CONTENT SHOULD YOU INCLUDE?

The Basics


‣DON’T: Include a photo of yourself, your pet, or your significant other. ‣DON’T:Use unprofessional e-mail addresses ([email protected]). ‣DON’T:Include the reason for leaving a former job, salary, or supervisor’s

name and contact details. ‣DON’T:Lie or fabricate job duties. ‣DON’T:Use subjective self-describers (“amazing interpersonal skills”).

DON’T DO THIS!


Skills


‣I KNOW THIS WELL… ‣IVE WORKED WITH… ‣IVE DABBLED WITH….

MAKE THIS CLEAR!!!


FINDING THE PERFECT JOB


There’s more than one way about it!

TIP #1


TIP #2Know what’s important to you.

Think SECTOR as much as COMPANY

SECTORS


‣ Transferwise ‣ GoCardless ‣ Crowdcube ‣ DueDil

FINANCE TRAVEL MUSIC RETAILFASHION

‣ CityMapper ‣ One Fine Stay ‣ Secret Escapes ‣ Hailo

‣ Editd ‣ Thread ‣ Stylist Pick ‣ Metail

‣ Songkick ‣ Sofar Sounds ‣ Mixlr ‣ Mixcloud

‣ Not on the High Street

‣ La Zook ‣ StreetHub

AND SO SO MANY MORE!


SSSSHHHHH EVERYONE IS HIRING!

Finding the roles


CRUNCHBASE.COM ANGEL.COTECHCITYNEWS.COM

‣ESCAPE THE CITY ‣TALENT ROCKET ‣ANGEL LIST ‣SILICON MILK ROUNDABOUT ‣TECH CITY JOBS ‣WORK IN STARTUPS ‣HIRE MY FRIEND ‣UNICORN HUNT ‣DREAMSTAKE SKILLSWAP ‣JOBPAGE ‣ENTERNSHIPS

Job boards a plenty!


‣ESCAPE THE CITY ‣TALENT ROCKET ‣ANGEL LIST ‣SILICON MILK ROUNDABOUT ‣TECH CITY JOBS ‣WORK IN STARTUPS ‣HIRE MY FRIEND ‣UNICORN HUNT ‣DREAMSTAKE SKILLSWAP ‣JOBPAGE ‣ENTERNSHIPS

Job boards a plenty!



TIP #3Dont put all your hopes on your CV.

TWITTER

PRESENTATION TITLE29

‣ Get the companies & staff in your newsfeed.

‣ Tweet. Don’t troll

Is great.

LINKEDIN


Is better.

‣ Take pride in your skills, (and if you can) what you’re looking for

‣ Stalk the company, and the staff

‣ Send connection requests (but don’t leave them blank!)

‣ Get endorsed, recommended & intro’d.

Make it easy to be found!


Your LinkedIn Profile is your living resume:

‣Strong headline and summary paragraph ‣Make sure to get your own URL and make your profile public ‣Good, professional photo ‣Turn off notifications to your network (if you are currently working) ‣Get a few recommendations ‣Certifications, Groups Updated other accounts relative to role: i.e. Github, Pinterest, Youtube

Getting found for a role you don't want.


‣Research the individual to see if any connections at another job ‣Ask them if they know about anything more like “This role” or have

contacts there ‣Offer to put them in touch with individuals that might be a fit for the role if

you know them or will reach out to them

How to find common connections


Click on the job you’d like to apply to or company.

Linked in provides a people you know section for all employees at that company.

REFERRALS


The Best.

‣ Do you know anyone that works there?

‣ Do you know anyone that knows anyone that works there?

‣ Do you know anyone that knows anyone that knows anyone that works there?



TIP #4people are better then job boards.

Tech Job events


WHO WENT?

Tech Job events


26TH NOV, WHO’S COMING?

‣ MEETUP.COM ‣ STARTUP GRIND ‣ DON’T PITCH ME BRO ‣ GLUG LONDON - DESIGN AND CREATIVE ‣ CREATIVE BYTES ‣ DESIGN + BANTER - DESIGN ‣ LONDON TECHNOLOGY WEEK ‣ HACKER NEWS LONDON ‣ STARTUP WEEKEND ‣ SILICON DRINKABOUT

Networking events



Networking events



MEETUP.COM

http://meetup.com


Networking events



SILICON DRINK ABOUT

Finding the perfect job - A few tips


‣A lot like sales or dating – it’s a numbers game!

‣People want to hire people they know or their network knows, especially true in startups.

‣ Employees who refer candidates get compensated for it

‣ GENERAL ASSEMBLY MAILING LIST ‣ 3 BEARDS ‣ ADA’S LIST - WOMEN IN TECH LISTSERV ‣ THE FETCH ‣ ESCAPE THE CITY ‣ STARTUP DIGEST ‣ TECH CITY NEWS ‣ THE DRUM ‣ 3460 MILES ‣ FACEBOOK GROUPS - LONDON STARTUPS, LONDON STARTUP EVENTS

Sync up with London Newsletters




RESEARCH RESEARCH RESEARCH

The Basics


‣Keep it simple ‣Something that isn’t on the resume or linkedin ‣WHY them– what’s so special about this company ‣WHY you are the best person for the specific job ‣What else you’ll bring to the table ‣Be Human!

Cover letter tips


‣Send early in the day during the week (avoid your email getting buried)

‣Use email tracking to identify if/when email is opened – you can then follow up shortly after or call (Yesware)

‣ Set a clear time and action for a next step.

sofia quintero Head of Growth at Geckoboard

“In the job description, they said they were looking for a ‘Marketing Honeybadger’ ”

————————————————————————-

Some of my mates


sofia quintero Head of Growth at Geckoboard

Some of my mates


THE INTERVIEW


The Interview


‣ Preparing ‣ Answering Questions ‣ Asking Questions

‣

Interview Prep


‣ Research the interviewer – it’s okay to stalk...

‣ Research the company – website, find out any press mentions of them, customer reviews, employee reviews. Glassdoor, Yelp, Twitter, blogs, etc.

‣ Show up early (5-10 minutes)!

‣ Come prepared with resume, set list of questions and way to take notes

When answering questions you can…


‣Pause before giving an answer to a question ‣Ask for a couple seconds to formulate your thoughts ‣Ask to clarify the question, “If I’m hearing you clearly you asked...” ‣ In summary, does this answer the question for you?

HAVE STANDARD SET OF QUESTIONS (3-5)

Questions?


My List


‣Three months from now, how will you know this role has been a success? 6 months from now?

‣When do you need to have someone in this role? ‣What do you need help with now? ‣ What’s the best way to work with you? ‣What is something you need on your team and don’t have yet? ‣What is the process for hiring for this position?

After the interview


Follow up

FOLLOW UP


‣ In my opinion the most important part of the process ‣Always send a thank you email regardless of the outcome ‣People get busy its ok to reminder them who you are ‣Send presents?? ‣See if they are going to any events you are.


TIP #5Be a HUMAN!

THE OFFER


Offer Negotiation


‣Let them provide the first number! ‣ If you cant give a range! ‣Ask about equity (Startups) ‣Ask when you can get something in writing ‣Ask to meet the team! ‣Ask for time to review the offer and see if you have any questions ‣Sign and start!


IN SUMMARY ‣ Know what you’re after ‣ Research is key ‣ Don’t just rely on your CV ‣ Get out there ‣ Know your value proposition ‣ Keep going!

Sam Hepburn Partnerships Lead @ General Assembly London

How to get in touch with me: Email: [email protected] Twitter: @SammyHep

Thank you! Q&A


Founder: Non Technical Women in Tech

Organiser: Find a Tech Job in London

Organiser: London Startup Jobs
