Interview w/ Recruiter Reveals Truth about Rejection, LinkedIn, Job Boards & More

At the beginning on 2024, I interviewed a recruiter with 8 years of experience, and ~6 years of experience at Meta (formerly Facebook). She also has worked as a recruiter in 3 different countries.

She gave me insight into the hiring process, and I want to share that with you.

We discussed these topics:

- LinkedIn and Personal Brand

- Soft Skills vs. Hard Skills

- Job Search Tips

- Communicating with Recruiters

- Communicating with Hiring Managers

- How to Work at Top Companies

- State of the Job Market

- Relocation

- Resumes

& more

LinkedIn and Personal Brand

Key Takeaways:

- Person brand and LinkedIn are important especially if you want to work at top companies.

“Top companies are almost not hiring from applications. You can just forget about that. The chances are really really low. What I was doing, I was going to LinkedIn, and searching for people. So if you want to be hired by [a top company], and you want to be approached, then you need to work on your profile.Your keywords should be great, you need some activity. Obviously, participating in some events, being a speaker, writing some articles. If you’re a technical person then you should have GitHub, StackoverFlow, etc.” - Senior Talent Acquisition Specialist

Soft Skills vs. Hard Skills

Key Takeaways:

- There is no secret skill or trait!

- Soft skills are more important than hard skills!

- You’re graded on soft skills DURING technical interviews.

“Companies are hiring very specific people (hard skills), but soft skills are actually more important. If you have the technical skills, but your behavioral part is not good, then you will not be hired. They get behavioral signals starting from the first communication. They're judging you based on your behavioral points during technical interviews. During technical tasks, the behavioral signal is captured. If someone is arrogant or not listening to feedback, then you’ll see it during tough technical interviews.” - Senior Talent Acquisition Specialist

Job Search Tips

Key Takeaways:

- Be an early applicant.

- Network and talk to people via LinkedIn.

- Automatic rejection letters may have nothing to do with qualifications

- Don’t worry about rejection, or figure out why you were rejected. There can be a million reasons.

- Don’t only apply on job boards. Try other channels. Try other ways of talking to people at the company.

“Apply to larger companies (it’s possible to get it) but also try other ways, because the applications at the top companies in the world are overwhelming.”

“At smaller companies they can be obligated to review all apps. When they have a certain amount of applications, they can pause the pipeline.” (on rejection)

“A job description can say software engineers, but you have no idea what the seniority is. It can say software engineer, but it can be a very senior position.” (on rejection)

“Job searching should be treated like a job. You should be on sites all the time looking for new positions.”

“There’s many possible reasons why your application wasn’t accepted. You shouldn’t think why didn’t they respond to my application, you should think: how should I maximize my chances?”

“Like everything in life, it’s a game of luck.”

“It’s a game of numbers.”

“Try different channels of applying and seeing who can refer you”

“I think you should still try to increase your chances. You shouldn’t do it without thinking.”

“You may get an automatic rejection letter because the job is posted for internal applicants.”

Communicating with Recruiters

Key Takeaways:

- Sometimes it’s the applicant’s fault, because the applicant is not specific, clear, and/or realistic.

- Generally, it’s better to reach out to hiring managers.

- Recruiters can be bad at their job and inconsiderate.

- Sometimes they can’t help you.

- They’re busy.

“Recruiters do see your message, but some recruiters don’t do a good job. Some recruiters are useless.”

“Have a structured request when reaching out to recruiters.”

- “Try to figure out who the right recruiter is, and make sure they’re responsible for the position.”

- “Be specific about the positions.”

- “Be clear.”

Hiring Managers

Key Takeaways:

- Reaching out to hiring managers is better than recruiters.

- Have a clear structured message.

- Find something that you have in common with them (culture, language etc).

“For hiring managers: Here is the position, here is why I approached you, and here is my CV.”

How to Work at Top Companies

“You don’t have to have everything, but you DO have to have something special on your CV. It can be education, it can be your promotions, it can be changing industries, or it can be a referral.”

Many people ask, “What If My Chances of Getting in Are Low?” Her response was, “I’ll give 10% of my attention to wildcards: people who don’t look exactly perfect on paper, but maybe they can still be good. I’ve hired some people like that.”

- “I recommend juniors work at smaller companies, then after 5 years, work at larger companies.”

State of the Job Market

“Companies are picky now, looking for something specific. They’re looking for reasons to reject.”

On Relocation

“Most companies are relocating people to Canada or Europe and then after 1 year considering relocating them to the US.”

Things That Stood Out to Me (Personally)

- The recruiter really encouraged things that I include as part of my program: getting off job boards, focusing on personal brand, and reaching out to hiring managers.

- Recruiters have different opinions and points-of-view. It doesn’t mean you should adopt everything they say and do, BUT you should consider them.

- Recruiters like seeing which skills, tools and technologies you most recently used; not only your most recent accomplishments.

- Getting a company to hire you and sponsor you for an H1-B visa is challenging.

- A company can post jobs/vacancies that are ties to internal positions. And they should get an automation rejection letter if applying for it.

Conclusion:

Job search can be rather tricky and it's not going to be the same for everyone. Some will naturally have more a difficult time finding a good fit. Therefore, it's imperative to try a combination of methods and reach out to people.

LinkedIn is a great method to reach out, however if you're only reaching out you're grossly under-utilizing the platform. It's important to have an effective personal brand that will attract the opportunities you want.

___________________

If you have any questions or need clarity on anything mentioned here, feel free to reach out to me.

Chris Barnes

[email protected]

www.dhirubhai.net/in/chris-barnes-52398a3b