What did I learn after reviewing 317 applicant profiles for a marketing role?

We launched a job opening for a junior marketing person to build our marketing from scratch at Tokiota. I put in the salary on purpose as I wanted to make sure that I did not get too many senior people to reply (as my budget does not allow for them). The JD stated literally that the role would be reporting in to me, the COO of Tokiota. It is a pretty important role for me as this person needs to be my right hand in lots of things related to marketing. That is why I asked my recruiting team to share all applicants with me and I went through them one by one, something I have never done before. 

What did I learn after reviewing 317 applicant profiles?

I have 10 seconds to decide if I stay on your profile, so you need to capture my attention somehow.

With LinkedIn this is through your summary and your headshot photo.

Your summary. A lot of people have not put in a summary description, they just list the different roles they have had at different companies often with the nomenclature of the company which I as a hiring manager I do not understand.  When you do put in a summary try to describe who you are, what is it that makes you tick, not a general description like “I am a Digital Marketeer”. I need to get to know you a little bit. Please please please, if your English is not 100% perfect do not write a headline in English that is pompous and doesn′t really say anything and has grammar errors.

Your headshot. There are people that do not have a photo. Hmm. You are in marketing. You need to market yourself as well.  If you have no photo you need to be a super candidate for me to select you. So far of the 317 profiles, I selected a longlist of 39. None without a photo. I don’t care if you are handsome or ugly, if you are overweight or underweight. I just want to see who you are. Take the effort of having a good photo of yourself. Avoid low quality selfies, the typical marriage picture where you are in suite and bowtie, a holiday picture etc.

Once you get my attention I will go through your profile. What work experience did you have. Multinational or small companies or both. Have you worked abroad? Do you speak multiple languages, did you work during your studies? Do we have people in common in our LinkedIn Network? Do you have any recommendations?

Also what I don’t understand is why of the 317 applicants only one reached out to me via LinkedIn directly. It is not too hard to figure out who the hiring manager is in our case. Don’t be shy. That way at least I know of your name and existence and I will think you are proactive.  This is specifically important for people that do not fit the profile. If you do not fit the profile (way too senior, different background etc) you need to do something special to get my attention. You can′t compete with the pile of applicants that fit the profile.

These are just some of my thoughts as a hiring manager which I hope will be useful.