Laid Off? Quick Tips to Stand Out as a High-Caliber Candidate
Layoffs from large tech companies are dominating LinkedIn feeds. Chances are you or someone you know has been impacted.
While major tech companies have cut their workforce, that isn’t the case for the majority of small and medium organizations that continue to hire tech talent.
I decided to take a break from my normal medium musings on tech to offer a different perspective than most.
I am a devops engineer that also brings 15 years of HR strategy experience. Prior to jumping into tech, I directed the HR strategy for multiple small and medium non-profit organizations.
Most recently, the organization I was apart of interviewed and hired around 500 staff and volunteers. So what I can offer the tech community is my HR expertise.
Here’s some quick tips that will help you stand out and get that second look from recruiters hiring managers amongst a sea of other applicants:
1. Identify the Recruiter or Hiring Manger from the Role.
LinkedIn has a feature that allows you to see the Job Poster and connect with them directly. Many recruiters have inbox notifications tied into their phones and many WILL respond to you even outside of business hours why? Because many of them only get paid if they can help secure a successful hire for the vacancy. Here’s a sample script to get you started, but you should make it your own:
Greetings [NAME],
My name is [BLANK] I am passionate about [SHOULD LINK YOUR PASSION TO KEY JOB] . [INSERT ROLE NAME] at [COMPANY NAME] caught my attention because of [INSERT UNIQUE ORGANIZATIONAL QUALITY THAT RESONATES WITH YOU].
Are you the right person to connect with regarding this role or could you connect me with the right person? I really appreciate your time.
[SIGNED YOUR NAME]
What’s great about this approach is it puts an “action” back on the recruiter — “Are you the right person to connect with OR could you connect me?”
2. Tailor your Resume / CV to Each individual Job Description
I cannot emphasize enough how much this matters. I would guess that less than 5% of the job applications I have seen actually do this, which means that when you put the time and effort it takes to custom tailor your resume, it sticks out.
The average recruiter, or hiring mangers spends about 4 seconds per resume and that’s even IF your resume makes it to them via an ATS (Application Tracking System).
This is why personalization matters on each of your resume(s).
I use a titling-based system to help me track of my own personalized resumes so that I can then easily refer to once I get a call back for a phone screen:
SmithResumeDevOpsTarget.pdf
SmithResumeDevOpsBestBuy.pdf
SmithResumeSysOpsAdminChanel.pdf
When personalizing your resume focus on matching previous responsibilities to qualifications AND essential responsibilities of the role.
Personalization makes your stand out when most applicants mass submit the same resume to hundreds of roles. It shows and if you find yourself in any sort of competitive application process, your resume won’t ever get a second look.
3. Preparing for an Initial Phone Screen
These are usually brief (less than :30) and focus on weeding out applicants based who AREN’T qualified. If you’re resume is missing a few qualifications be prepared to give parallels examples of previous success or of tech stacks used to show your ability to understand what’s required and your ability to adapt.
Be prepared for the daunting “Tell me about yourself” “What interests you in this role?” “Why this role / this company?” Your answer should reflect excitement for the role and organization and summarize your successes and qualification this this current role.
If this is a phone screen (no video), you can write down your answer and read it out loud. Just make sure you practice it before hand so you don’t sound scripted.
If the initial screen is on video, you can also have a document up to read from, but make sure your answers are close to the camera and practice on camera so you don’t sound scripted.
If you pass the phone screen, the recruiter should inform you of next steps. This is a good place to asked for a salary-range if it hasn’t been disclosed yet. NOTE: You do NOT want to give a salary expectation number during the phone screen.
They may ask you, “What are your salary expectations?” But during a phone screen this is meant to weed out applicants. A simple answer usually suffices here,
“That’s a great question, may I first ask what the approved salary range for the role is?”
If they counter and ask what your minimum acceptable salary is. DON’T ANSWER. Defer. Defer. Defer. Salary questions are always meant to exclude candidates from consideration unless you are a finalist. Your goal in the phone screen is to score another interview NOT win the job.
4. Preparing for the First Interview
It’s usually ok to ask a recruiter AFTER your initial screening was successful on how to prepare for subsequent interviews. This shouldn’t be done on the phone screen. Most times, recruiters don’t schedule a lot of buffer time between phone screens and so you don’t want to draw the conversation out longer than it needs to be. A simple follow up email will do.
A good recruiter will pre-emptively prepare you for what to expect, but may not tell you if you don’t ask. They should be able to tell you who will be interviewing you — An internal HR rep versus hiring manager, etc. If it’s NOT the hiring manager, it’s likely a more in-depth probing of your qualifications and experience as it relates to this role.
It’s usually ok at this stage to ask about the hiring timeline. This might reveal how many more “rounds” you can expect and how soon they expect to offer the role. The more “rounds” and if the offer seems weeks or a month away, you can expect there are MANY candidates they are trying to narrow down.
They should leave time for you to ask questions. Focus on 1–3 questions related to the role that shows your understanding of the roles core functions. You should ask questions. Come prepared. Candidates who don’t bring questions come off as disinterested and disengaged. Plus, you can bet your competing candidates are bringing their questions.
5. Subsequent Interviews
If you expect “multiple rounds” know that each round of interviews is designed for YOU to say the wrong thing and get you excluded from future rounds. Expect trick-questions that are designed for you to get ousted from the process such as:
1. Tell me about your weaknesses
2. How do you handle conflict?
3. Tell me about a time when you disagreed with your boss.
4. Tell me about a time when you failed
5. Tell me about a time when you had a disagreement with your boss
6. Tell me about a time when the project called for more but your resources were limited and what your response was.
There are many more. But the way you answer these should show honesty, integrity, and what hiring managers are MOST looking for-the actions you took to learn from the mistake or move forward despite the failures of others or circumstance.
Expect more specific questions about technology or project management. Unless you know specifically what they are looking for focus more on “how” you approach problems or the tech stacks that you HAVE used and how you’re a quick learner.
5. Final Round Interview
Once your reach the final round, this is truly your time to shine. Ask all the questions you want. You are THE candidate after all. You should still bring even more questions. This round is typically when you ask more questions than you answer. Does the organization fit YOU? Do you see yourself working under THIS boss? Do they have the structures in place for you to grow and thrive?
The last part is the most fun and is TRULY up to you.
If you found this content helpful, please share it with someone experiencing a layoff who could use a boost.
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Until next time — Onward!
