Love me or hate me: don’t ignore me

My debut article with the Mint newspaper is a full page coverage :) The article covers some interesting Job Applications that we have received in our journey at Jombay. You would enjoy reading them :)

Here's the link to the online version of the article. I am resharing it below :

Recruiters get hundreds of applications—online and offline—every hour. Often, the challenge for them is to eliminate candidates until they are left with the best (wo)man standing. The challenge for applicants, on the other hand, is to write a résumé so compelling that a human resource manager would think twice before putting it through a paper shredder.

True, some applicants just spray and pray that their application sticks. But some of the smarter ones treat it as a marketing campaign. Some make video résumés, some stand outside company gates with banners on why they should be hired, some buy Google ads to make their résumés visible, some even send personalized, handwritten covering letters.The younger lot, in particular, no longer hesitate to speak their mind. They want to transcribe their personality, values and beliefs into the job application to get the attention of the recruiter. Broadly, we categorize such applications as realistic, sarcastic, passionate and arrogant. Here are some examples of edgy, out-there résumés.

Realistic

Who I am: These applicants want to come across as the person next door, someone whose values and problems the recruiter can relate with.

Excerpts from my résumé: I am a foodie, a devoted mother of a three-year-old child and a prayerful person. Motherhood has taught me big lessons about choosing priorities. While my top priority is my child, work is my next priority. After all, I need to make a respectable living to fulfill my child’s dreams.

“I am a finance graduate with distinction and have had a three-year stint at an IT (information technology) firm before I took a break for maternity. Sincerity, discipline, and a no-nonsense attitude in my work are the virtues I uphold. I want to make sure that I do my work in timely fashion and with utmost perfection. Because, hey, I can’t leave my son alone at odd hours if something goes wrong.”

Who would hire me? Such applicants are likely to be hired at set-ups like business process management companies or support functions where things are a bit more structured most of the time. They may not be cut out for start-ups or very dynamic set-ups as these start-ups don’t run on a fixed schedule or offer the kind of work-life balance such applicants look for.

Sarcastic

Who I am: These candidates play the “sarcasm” card in job applications to get attention.

Excerpts from my résumé:

5 Reasons to Not Hire Me:

1. I am an extrovert. I can strike up a conversation with random strangers. If you think this is hazardous to your company culture, please do not hire me.
2. If you are looking for somebody who does exactly what they are told without thinking, do not hire me. I love to experiment. I can thrive when there is freedom to experiment. Rest assured, I don’t tinker with fire alarms :)
3. If you judge a candidate by his scorecard, do not hire me. The only scorecard that I am proud of is the number of support requests that I successfully resolved in my previous company.
4. If point #1 is a reason to worry in terms of your phone bills, please do not hire me ;)
5. I am willing to be available on call 24x7. But if I expect some flexibility with my in and out times on a few days and that doesn’t work for you, do not hire me.

Who would hire me? These people can get the red-carpet treatment in a sales-and-support-driven organization which is young and willing to experiment. They are unlikely to get hired for a banking-support organization which follows the rule book to the letter.

Arrogant

Who I am: Attitude oozes from their applications, but they manage to grab attention.

Excerpts from my résumé: I breathe, eat, drink, walk, sleep beer. In my spare time, I make handsome Android and iOS apps.

I am a star mobile apps developer who deserves to be working at Apple. Alas, Apple doesn't have their development center in India.

I can boast of writing readable codes which even the IT minister can read and interpret, quality codes with minimum chances of bugs, let alone server crashes, and usable codes that the open-source community across the world would love to lay their hands on.

You can pamper/spoil/woo me with free beer but I need handsome sponsorship for my spare time hobby (read coding).

Who would hire me? New-age e-commerce start-ups would be interested in such employees because such skills, expertise and aggression are precious to start-ups and hard to find otherwise. But traditional software services companies might find it hard to massage their egos.

Passionate

Who I am: These applicants find creative ways to convey their passion for work to a potential employer, like drawing an analogy between a job application and a “letter to the future husband”.

Excerpts from my résumé:

“I love my career to bits. My parents have invested a huge part of their hard-earned money in educating me. I cannot give up on my career to stay at home. I am not saying that I will turn a blind eye to my responsibilities towards our home. I will devote equal attention to both spheres of my life. But just like you, I will come home tired after working all day. It seems a little unfair to me if I have to do all the household chores. I am not saying that you have to cook for me every day, but a cup of tea wouldn't hurt. At least I will know that you are sensitive towards the pressure on me.”

Who would hire me? Such applicants have a good chance with consulting companies, investment banking firms, law firms or even media houses where the nature of work is very intense, demanding and involves a lot of travel. These industries also offer the kind of growth that will justify the cost, time and effort such applicants put into building their careers.

You can see the print version here : 

I would like to thank Chanpreet from Mint for this opportunity.

Warm regards,

Mohit

About me :

I am the Co-founder and CEO of Jombay, an award-winning Talent Measurement & Analytics company. I have been featured in Fortune India's 40-under-40 list for 2015. Prior, I was the country head of mig33, a mobile community of more than 60 million users. Before that I was at Stanford University in California. Follow me on twitter : @mohitgundecha

Other articles by me :

1. Startups that are changing the face of hiring
2. While you were away, India moved on!
3. Enough of heroics on Women's Day
4. How long does it take to dry 20 clothes?
5. Convincing HiPPO for the HiPo
6. Is it Retention (Quality Control) vs. Attrition (Damage Control)?
7. Can't Appraisals be more human?
8. Getting Competencies out of PDFs/PPTs