Job Interview Preparation: 9 Tips That Really Matter! | Job Talks With HR
Our Today’s Guest is Maria Wittenberger who is Senior Technical Recruiter at SE2. In this job talks with hr podcast she is going to share her insights about hiring candidates for job. She fell in love with recruiter during her college days & since then she has been working towards meeting new people, talking to candidates & find the best fit for SE2.
Full Episode: https://open.spotify.com/episode/65n0QiGIZ9rjku24PCiQrz?si=7a8e8032172f439f
What is Job Talks With HR? Job Talks With HR is a podcast where we invite recruiters, head-hunters from all every country to get their advice on how to get a job, how to prepare for interviews, best resume tips, which job portal to use, how to negotiate salary and much more. Every podcast tells you to prepare in a certain way for the interview, here, the recruiters tells you how to prepare, talk, build resume and get your dream job. Our aim is to provide you with enough insights that, you can Crack any interviews.
Transcript-
Allin1hub:
( Guest Introduction )All right. Welcome, Maria. And thank you for being on job. Talk with HR. We are greatly honored by your presence. Maria has been a recruiter for the past many years, and she has been recruiting for many big, big clients, as well as she has experience in recruiting candidates in various. More onto you, Maria.
Maria: Well, thank you so much for the introduction. And I wanna thank you for inviting me to be on this podcast. It’s super exciting. I’m very passionate about recruiting. So something I love to talk about is a little bit about me.
Again, my name’s Maria Wittenberger. I am a Senior Technical Recruiter for SE2 and I love what I do. I didn’t start doing this in college. It’s not something I had in mind, but it’s something I came across and loved.
Allin1hub: Maria, what is your story? Interestingly, you started from college, so everyone should now know what’s the story.
Maria: I have a master’s degree in biology so it’s not exactly human resources, but how it started. I worked outta college. I was teaching and I loved it. I was passionate about it. And then they asked me to help with a recruitment event and I’m happy to help volunteer.
And I fell in love with it. Getting to talk to eager students who are excited about their future and talking about careers, just lit a spark in me. I loved it. So I eventually transitioned into a college recruiter role. I did that for many years. And again, very passionate about that.
I love working with college students both traditional and nontraditional college students. And I did that for many years. But I wanted more. I wanted to grow and I knew that bug of recruiting, was something that I wanted to do. And I made the transition a few years ago into recruiting for careers versus colleges. And that’s where I’ve been ever since.
Allin1hub: Interesting that you began in college, then you had a Ph.D. in a different domain. And then came back to recruiting. I guess, that you might have, both sides of recruiting as well as biology and using it in some form or fashion in recruiting as well.
Maria: Yeah, I agree. It’s flexing a lot of the same muscle college recruiting and career recruiting. It’s really, it’s about people having open ears and listening to people and what they’re wanting to do and helping them get to those and achieve those dreams. So, yeah, absolutely agree.
Allin1hub: Can you tell us about your company?
Maria: Yeah. SE2, we are a technology company and we build end-to-end technologies for life insurance and annuity companies. So we build the software that not only the employees use, you know, for our clients, but also for their customers as well.
We also support them operationally. We have a lot of big contracts and life insurance annuities are so important. They can be life-changing. So being able to help and support companies be more accurate efficient, and just overall effective with their processing is, is something that we are very, excited about being able to do rest.
Allin1hub: Insurance means you have done recruiting insurance as well. Is that what you’re trying to say?
Maria: No. We don’t sell insurance. We build the technology that the people who sell the insurance use.
Allin1hub: So you give a platform to them, right?
Maria: Yes. That’s exactly right. So we are a third-party administrator.
So we build the platforms that the insurance companies use. So we, again, digital products, nothing on the physical office shelf, but we don’t sell insurance. We build the software that the companies who sell the insurance use.
Alln1hub: What do you think is the hardest part about your recruit?
Maria: Oh, my gosh right now it’s sourcing. I’m a tech recruiter. I do some operations recruiting as well, but just finding candidates. Once I find them, I am great about building that rapport building up. I believe in our, company mission and our values, and our amazing benefits.
So once I find a candidate, that’s the easier part, but right now sourcing tech talent is tough to find, right? Specifically for some of our, harder defined positions, there is a scarcity of candidates who are right for the job and the job openings are moved.
For every two, or three jobs you have, there might only be a handful of candidates that can fit that role. Yes, if you are thinking about getting into the tech industry now is the time.
Allin1hub: Is there any common misunderstanding about the interview or is there anything that a candidate always does wrong?
Maria: I don’t think it’s wrong. I think they need to focus on doing what’s right. And, this is my motto. If I talk to a candidate, especially a junior candidate, and I can tell they’re extremely nervous, I let them know that I want it to be them.
I want them to be the next candidate. I am just as hopeful and as excited as the candidate is that’s my job, right? To get folks over the finish line and to be in a position where they can thrive and grow in and help our business succeed. I want just as much as you do. And so another thing I would mention.
Is be able to speak to experiences. Say you tell me yes, I have an incredible work ethic. Fantastic. Tell me about an example where you went above and beyond, and be able to speak to what is on your resume. That is a reflection of you. So when you’re building that be very cognizant about what you’re putting on there.
So when I ask for an example, if you can’t give me examples, that’s. That I would say, is a little bit of a red flag. And also don’t be afraid to show your personality. I want to know you, of course, your skill sets are important that you’re gonna be on my team. So being able to share your personality and a little bit, about your, fun, creative side, whatever it is, please show that to me too.
The more rapport you build with a recruiter, I can tell you the more successful you’ll be.
Allin1hub: So you have to be aware of what you’re trying to put on your resume and be able to showcase it back with an example, right. And, and some other advice I would give, the first step isn’t the interview.
The first step is me reviewing your resume and wanting to interview you. So make sure, your resume is aligned with the job description. Don’t use a blanket resume for every job. You will not find very much success doing that. Don’t lie on your resume. Be honest, because we will, you know, find that out eventually, but maybe rearrange your resume.
There are different skill sets. Higher up in the job description, then align your skill sets to match that because that’s what we’re looking for. So that’s something else I would say before you would get to the interview step is to make, sure your resume is aligned as closely with your accurate skillset to the job description as possible.
Allin1hub: So you mean that for not lying on the interview. Meaning that the candidate has to fact-check everything on his resume and be able to back it up by proof means, suppose he has a candidate suppose a candidate has a certificate or anything like that better. He has to showcase the skills as well as the certificate to prove it back.
Maria: Absolutely. So we are a highly regulated industry. The finance and insurance industry is so we verify employment we verify certificates but also we have skills test, especially for, you know, software developers, software engineers, full-stack engineers DevOps we use different skillset tests.
So you can showcase your skill set. We’re not trying to catch anybody, but we really wanna highlight where you might be. Fit. Yes, being honest is key because we would quickly find out if that wasn’t the case. But yeah, I, I don’t run into that often. I don’t. But I have a handful of times, but I would just say being able to speak to what is on your resume, be excited about those examples, passionate about those examples of things you’ve done, because that’s, what’s gonna stand out in the interview.
Allin1hub: Can you differentiate? If I have a friend, basically I had a friend back then who was asking me, man, should I do a certificate and directly get a job? Or would I get a job by doing that certification? So my question to you is that if a candidate is experienced enough, would you pick that candidate, or would you pick a candidate who just has certification with no experience?
Maria: I think there’s value to both. What’s nice about a certificate. is that training is the same. It’s congruent. You know, I don’t know what you did in your experience per se, but I know what’s on that test. you know, so there’s consistency, especially in tech certificates are very important.
Most of my roles are at higher levels. So most of the candidates I’m speaking to have a bachelor’s. Masters doctorates, what have you, but certificates are really important. Especially right now, I’m hiring some technical project managers and some product managers. So having your PMP having to be a scrum master, knowing those methodologies, and being able to speak to those that are that holds a lot of weight.
Allin1hub: Higher the position higher, the experience, and the certificate should come along with it.
Maria: Right. Yeah, I would say in general, if you’re talking to a more junior candidate, that just, got out of college or something. Yes. But something else I’ll, I’ll highlight is not to get too off track here, but is internships.
A lot of tech companies, including the one I have paid internships and it doesn’t have to be just after your senior year. So even after your freshman year start getting that experience. I know a lot of people struggle with getting that internship. An excellent way to do that. I can speak to SE2.
We even have some remote internship opportunities and a lot of them are paid. And that’s gonna help you you know, have that trajectory of success, of getting, further interviews if they don’t decide to keep you which they very well might. Meaning that the candidate should try for interviews, meaning their practical, practical experience before even trying to apply for a job.
Allin1hub: If, you’re trying if you’re recruiting some time in the game and you come across a candidate who is not on the par, of the job and you wanna deliver negative news or that tells him that he’s not being selected. So how do you deliver that?
Maria: Tough news is hard.
Nobody wants to give it and nobody wants to receive it. I think leading with kindness is important leading with empathy but also being direct. You don’t wanna beat around the bush too much. So being direct, thanking them for the time. Even some coaching skills, maybe it’s in the interview.
Maybe it’s, Hey if you would have this skill set, this job could have been yours. So giving positive feedback, being kind, but also being direct is the, I have found the best way to give not the best news to someone.
All1inhub: Means being kind and direct, not beating too much time and giving one, giving one solution to them that could have been yours, but if just because you don’t have this, that is why you need to improvise giving the solution.
Maria: I think feedback is vital. How are they gonna improve? If they don’t know, what, why they didn’t get the position. And, maybe for like a first interview, I might not give as detailed feedback, especially if someone’s been with us through 1, 2, 3 interviews, and they were one of the final candidates.
I think feed feedback is vital. After going to two, or three rounds, the candidates should understand. Okay, where did I go wrong? What was the point that they liked, I couldn’t get a job? Yeah, we’ve all been there and that’s what I think we’ve all been in those shoes. There are very few people that get every job they’ve applied for or interviewed for.
So, put yourself in their shoes and let them know, Hey, this is what the candidate had that dot the job. So, these are some things you can work on or just, positive coaching and feedback to help them succeed in further roles. Fair point.
Allin1hub: Are you a lone worker or do you prefer to work in teams? Which one is it?
So I’ll tell you what, when it comes to being a recruiter, you have to be able to speak to your business. You have just to speak to your funnel. The number of applicants, the number of candidates you have in the pipeline.
So you very much have to speak to your own business, but teamwork is vital. At SE2, it is key. I have an amazing team. I have an amazing talent acquisition team amazing leadership, and not to be cliche, but, teamwork makes the dream work, and we, bouncing things off of each other, support each other.
It is vital. For, for our success and my success specifically. But you have to be able to pull your weight. Don’t give me wrong, but, you have a great team that is gonna, what’s gonna knock it outta the park.
Allin1hub: So having a great team is important, but I sometimes get on the other, side that being alone is sometimes preferred. The candidate sometimes has that. Leave me alone. I can work alone just give me some space. I’ll work alone on this. And then I’ll get back to you with a clear example or clear solution
Do you come across this? Because I happen to come across these kinds of situations every time, very much in my daily experiences. Leave me alone for five, 10 minutes, or just give me some. I’ll come back with a good solution. I don’t need everyone to come back and tell me that. Yeah, I am doing good.
Or I’m doing, yeah, this is the right solution. Do you, what, what do you prefer at this? I mean, a lot of my work is individual. I mean but we’re supported as a team, so, you know, I’m the only one, you know, sourcing for my candidates for the most part. I’m the one that’s calling the candidates, interviewing the candidates.
You have touchpoints. Not micromanaged in this role, you know, SC two is all about top talent, seeking top talent, and keeping top talent. So we’re not a micromanager type of company. So yes, there’s value to working on your own. And I would say a lot of what I do is, is individual work, but that team atmosphere and being a team player, and what I mean by a team player is supporting your team.
So if you come across a candidate that might be great for an operational role. Sending that to your candidate, go ahead and interview them, always asking for referrals for the rest of your team. So that’s, that’s kind of what I mean by teamwork, but yes, a lot of what I do is, is on my own.
And, again, you brought your success as a recruiter, but I would say it’s a little bit of both.
Tip #1 On Preparing For Interview
Allin1hub: It’s important to be able to, work individually with very little, management but it’s also really important to have a team to help support you as well. Yeah, preferably having a mixture of both is important, right?
Because sometimes, I agree that being a team player is important because a team will only be able to win the, longer game and the individual might only be able to win one short, specific goal. I agree with that point of yours. And the point that every candidate should remember is that it is always the team who wins and the candidate who is just another thing, another part of being the bigger game. Yeah. I understand that point as well. I agree.
Allin1hub: Can you tell, what you look for on a resume when looking you’re when you are trying to gauge
Maria: If you could put your skill sets at the top, that would be awesome. So I don’t believe in those conventional rules that you, you know, don’t have your resume go on to two pages.
I don’t think those rules apply. They certainly don’t apply to me, but you need to grab my attention. So at the top, put your skill, sets your qualifications, and even bold things. For instance, if we’re looking for a specific software engineer and we’re looking for.net, you know, C#, Java, whatever it is.
Put that at the top you know, the top two or three bullet points, grab my attention. And once you have it, I will happily read through all two pages of your, your resume to find out more about you. But if you don’t have something that grabs me at the beginning, I have so many resumes. I have to screen hundreds a week.
You know, it’s, it’s really important to grab the attention at the top would be, would be my suggestion.
Allin1hub: Which platforms do you use basically. Like, like an applicant tracking system?
Maria: LinkedIn. So most of my positions come from LinkedIn.
And so that’s something else I wanna mention, please have an updated LinkedIn. So I would say that half of my candidates are passive candidates. So what I mean by passive candidates, is they didn’t apply to the job. Right. I found them. So I find you first of all, by referrals, referrals are key. That’s something I cannot tell you about how important referrals are, but beyond that is having an updated LinkedIn profile.
So I’ll do a LinkedIn search and if your LinkedIn profile isn’t updated, then I’m not gonna find you. Do you know? So I’ll look for certain locations, certain skill sets, and certain job titles of certain companies they’ve worked for years of experience. And so if you aren’t updating that LinkedIn, isn’t gonna do it for you. Keep an updated LinkedIn profile, cuz that’s how I find about half my candidates. I’ll use something called the LinkedIn recruiter. I’ll do a search for skill sets and then I start sending out those, those emails, you know, to see if you’re interested and, and want to connect.
So one of the most important things you can do is have an updated LinkedIn profile. We also use indeed for some roles we’ve of course have company websites. There are a lot of things that a candidate should look after this. Who, who, who, who is going to listen to this podcast, they will understand that having a LinkedIn profile is a must. When you’re trying to get a job, that’s a golden point for you. Yes, absolutely. And not just applying from LinkedIn again, keeping your profile, and updated skill sets, and being active on LinkedIn.
That’s something I’ll look at for, from a candidate, you know, are you posting, what are you posting? What are you liking? I wanna see that movement. I wanna see that you’re, you know, really Wanting a job, you know, and, and sometimes that’s how I find my candidate. A candidate will comment on, you know, one of my posts I’m like, and I’ll go look at their profile.
I’m like, wait a minute, she fits my profile. Perfect. I’m gonna send her a message. So just being active on LinkedIn can help get you you know, build your footprint. You wanna build a digital footprint of you, you know, your brand. And being on LinkedIn and being active on LinkedIn is a great way to do it.
Allin1hub: Having a digital footprint showing your work, and most importantly, being active and engaging with the community is one short way to get the eyes of a recruiter. Great point. I fully agree.
Allin1hub: Can you tell me or set some sample copies of a good resume?
Maria: So examples of a clear resume. So please have your contact information at the top. Your LinkedIn, your email, your phone number. I cannot tell you how many resumes I’ve seen that don’t have phone numbers. When I’m looking at hundreds of resumes if I have to struggle to contact you.
That’s it’s gonna be tough. So having your contact information, and keeping it updated at the top we don’t need your address anymore. Maybe if you wanna add a city-state or like a Metro area at, at the very top, you might wanna put a qualification. So, I’m a leader in my industry.
I led my team to do a lot of action words at the beginning and again, having skills and qualifications at the top you know, speaking to technology if you’ve. Things you’ve got over the finish line projects you’ve worked on you know, things like that. And then also quantitative data.
So I had a marketing budget of a million dollars. I came in under budget. I increased me, you know, sales revenue by 20%. I came in, you know, 20% under my timeline for my quality testing. Having, those qualitative things will grab my attention. And then make sure, you know, you have all, I mean, gaps and resumes.
I know. Sometimes people worry about that. I don’t worry about that as. As long as you can speak to it. And that goes back to what we were talking about before. That resume is a reflection of you, it’s a mirror. So make sure it, it accurately represents you and that you can speak to it just like you could you know, talking about your favorite food, you know, make sure you, you know it and understand it.
Don’t just throw it together. Have people proofread it. And then again, be flexible with your resume. Don’t be afraid to look at that job description and move things around. So what we’re looking for is at the top, it, it just makes sense to do that, and I know that takes time, but that’s, what’s gonna get you in the door and pass that next stage.
Allin1hub: There are a lot of things that you. And it is very, very keen for everyone to understand on this point that when you’re trying to do an as build a resume, first thing is that you should be able to, the recruit should be able to contact you easily and immediately. So the contact information should be clear.
Second, you just told me that a candidate should be able to showcase his skills on the top so that the recruiter can understand whether you are the right fit for the job or not immediately. And third, I kind of got you, but can you just reiterate on the third part where. Said that qualitative measures versus quantitative measures.
Maria: So quantitative data. I led a marketing budget of $1 million or I increased productivity by 20%. I created a platform that saved, the company 30% and, and saved the company, maybe a million and a half in revenue, you know, really specific examples.
And, that qualitative data numbers, you know, numbers are gonna stand out on your resume. You’re looking at a bunch of words, numbers stand out. So that’s exciting. Talks about what you’ve done. Yes. You could be a hard worker. Yes. You could be great communication skills, but I created an air table platform that helped, save communication, for our team by 15% or, some sort of number that you can speak to money you’ve saved you’ve saved, what you can do, what value you bring to the business and what you have done before? That’s something I like to see too.
Allin1hub: I guess that means the candidate should be able to showcase his quantitative skills, right? The numbers on the table, as you said, the numbers don’t lie. So the numbers should be on the table very quickly. Yeah.
Maria: Yeah.
Allin1hub: What other trends you’re trying to see, currently there are multiple trends, in the tech industry. So which one is the one that you are mostly into and what are you following trends?
Maria: It’s a great resignation, so people are moving positions.
So I have seen that a lot. Are you talking about trends, like technologies that we’re hiring for?
We know that it’s, it’s on the news. So what SE2 does is, pour a lot of money into, not just attracting top talent, but keeping top talent. But overall trends, I would say there’s a lot of movement going on overall in, in the tech industry. For sure. So again, if you are not in the tech industry now is, is a good time.
I think because of COVID. The digital spike and then the need for more digital platforms has increased tenfold. So everything from mobile apps too, you know, platforms, like we’re building, is just increasing. And I think also markets are going global. So SE2 is a global company. We’re located you know, in India, Ireland, Canada, United States.
Also, our trend is, is growing. Where our talent is, you know, not everything needs to be in, you know, within 50 miles in a commutable distance anymore. So it’s so awesome to be able, to talk to people all over the world and to recruit people all over the world. So I think that another trend that I’ve been seeing is more global recruiting.
Do you prefer to be flexible on remote work versus hard and fast? No. No. You have to come to the office. Which one do you prefer? It depends on the position. So I would, we have something called work from anywhere policy, so we don’t care as much where you work. We care about the quality of your work.
The caveat to that is, is leadership. We have some, you know, project managers that have 60, 70–80 different staff strong, they’re cross-functional. So some of our leaders need to be there so they can put a face to a name. I do think there is value, in having face-to-face conversations and building rapport, but I don’t think it needs to be every.
We also wanna be flexible and, and give you that, that you know, time back of not having to commute. So I would say SE2 two is progressive. We want to give you that, that flexible work-life balance. And as long as your productivity is, is meeting the metrics again, we care about the quality of your work and, and the timeliness of your work.
Not so much about where you work, but we do understand and value the importance of being in the office sometimes and building rapport.
Allin1hub: So you are focusing on both that are flexible, but there is one caveat that you will be facing on leadership and not being able to be around your team.
So what you are telling about the great resignation and how is SE2 being able to tackle that? Can you just go in-depth a little? Yes. So we have a fantastic benefits package.
Maria: We recently just rolled out unlimited PTO. And so we want, we don’t just wanna say, yeah, we want you to have a flexible work-life balance.
We want to pour money into it. And I always say, look where the money goes. That’s what matters. And S E two is pouring millions of dollars into our employee benefits package. And that shows me that they care. So they, want you to take a minimum of time off, a minimum of four weeks off that’s that’s crazy.
That’s nothing that I’ve run across before. We also have progressive maternity and paternity benefits. 13 weeks is paid off for the mother and the father. We know that time’s crucial. We know you can’t get that time back and we care about you having that time, because we know if you’re happy and healthy you’re gonna be a lot more successful at work.
We also provide lots of assistance programs, everything from legal services to mental health mental health is something that’s been a buzzword. And again, we are putting money behind us. To offer mental health services free gym memberships, wellness programs everything down to pet insurance, we don’t want
Different leadership staff and tell you about what they’re doing, what their goals are. You know, where they’re at on their goals. Even down to the granular detail about OKRs and things like that and our leadership is approachable. They’re not on some sort of pedestal in the sky, right.
Tip #2 On Preparing For Interviews
You know, they’re in front of you, they’re talking with you, they do these things. Our CEO. Michele Trogni does this thing, ask me anything, she wants you to get to know her again. We know if we have happy, healthy employees, our business is gonna be productive. And we pour into our employees so they can be as happy and healthy as possible.
So I think that is one way SE2 does. And also being competitive with compensation is key as well.
Allin1hub: Great points over here that SE2 is being able to tackle all of this. I believe that SE two is growing rapidly and rate trade short at the next million mark and whatever the next goals are.
Maria: Yes. Absolutely.
Allin1hub: Do you have any advice or do you prefer to give any advice on how to negotiate? Yes. Do your research. Do your research to be able to speak confidently about what you’re needing in compensation, whether that be a bonus, whether that be base or that be profit sharing, 401k. Know you’re worth and do market research. So you can confidently say, I would like to make a blank? And don’t be afraid to negotiate.
It’s not taboo. I would say the worst thing, the worst thing we could say is no. So I would say maybe 10, 15 years ago, not a lot of people would negotiate, but I would say nowadays, about 80, 70 to 80% of my candidates negotiate, whether that’s.
It’s not just compensation that can be negotiated. We have unlimited PTO, but for other companies, you could ask for more PTO, you could ask for higher profit sharing, you could ask for a higher bonus understand the bonus structure and the benefits, and things that. Also, look at things as a total comp you know, and ask to see the benefits package.
If they’ve not already emailed it to you. So you can look at, I pay $200 a month in healthcare? Am I paying a thousand dollars a month in healthcare? Look at things as a total package. But yes, do not be afraid to negotiate and speak confidently about it. And that’s gonna get you the best results.
Allin1hub: I guess there is one more thing that I would like to ask what do you look for in a candidate, ideal candidate apart from his technical skills. What do I look for in an ideal candidate?
Maria: I would say someone personable. Because again, you’re gonna be on my team, you know, so I am an in-house recruiter.
So I’m not an agency. So if you’re gonna be working for me, you know, being able to. To build rapport and then to have a good personality and good are, is, is not a quantitative term, but you know, being able to show who you are, which can be tough in an interview. But again, I can’t tell you the value of building a good rapport with your recruiter.
Oftentimes for most companies, recruiters are the gateway to the next step. I cannot tell you enough how important that is to build that rapport, get to know your recruiter, and know don’t be afraid to ask questions. Those are some of the things I suggest nice points over there as well that the candidate should be able.
Allin1hub: See what the recruiter is and a great way to do that is by going through their LinkedIn profile or any social profile, they have built and seeing what they are trying to build and what the company is trying to do. As you said, do your research one line answer is do your research.
Maria: Yes. Do your research, about the company. When I’m interviewing somebody, what do you know about SE2?
And if they can’t, they can’t give me anything. Then that means they’re not invested in this process, which shows me that they are, might not be invested in SE2 or the job they’re doing in the future. So what you get in the beginning is oftentimes the best that you’re gonna get. So if you’re not showing your best in the beginning, then you’re probably not gonna move on to the next step.
Yes. Being able to do your research on the company look at their profile on LinkedIn. What are they doing? What are their initiatives? I had an intern, she blew me away. We have recently acquired a couple of new companies. She went back and read old press releases, and she could speak confidently about what we did and why we did it, and our business.
And she got the job. I was ready to give it to her before we even hung up. Because she took initiative, she was proactive. She was able to speak to it, all those things that are important when you do your job. And if you’re showing that from the beginning, then I know you’re gonna do that in the end.
Allin1hub: What you get at the first is what you get at the last as well.
Let’s say, a candidate has a job that requires a 10 let’s say a job requires 10. And a candidate has eight to nine let’s say six to seven. Would you be able to pick that candidate and or would you be letting go of that candidate because, or a better question would be, are you willing to sacrifice two for eight skills in a candidate when you are looking for a job when they’re looking for a candidate?
Maria: So it depends on the skill, so if we’re looking for a Java developer, if you don’t have that, probably not. It depends on the skill, but I would also say as a recruiter, I would be more apt to hire a junior candidate that had all the skills than a senior candidate who is lacking some that’s been, been my experience to have more success with that, but yes, we can be flexible, showing that you’re coachable showing that you are excited to learn showing that, professional development is, is important to you being able to speak to that and don’t hide it.
If they ask you about a specific skill set, be like, no, I don’t have that now, but you know what? I’ve looked into these programs I’m excited about taking this online course. I’m excited to learn more. This is the research I have done on this subject. Again, don’t hide it. Be transparent, but be able to speak to it about what you want to do and how you can overcome that or how you can get that skill in the future.
Something I see a lot in our domain is, insurance, you know, insurance techs, fintech. So somebody might have been a project manager for a different type of role. So they might not know the industry, but they say, Hey, I’ve done research on this, or I’m excited to learn more. It’s really all in how you phrase it.
So to answer your question, yes. If they don’t have all the skill sets, we could be flexible as long as they show a willingness to learn. And again, especially for junior candidates, we are not afraid to look at any field level. If we think, they’re gonna be able to, to get the job over the finish line.
Allin1hub: That is interesting enough, I can take your point on that. I agree. But do you think that this is across the HR domain or is this what SC two only follows?
Maria: That’s a good question. It depends on your hiring manager, to be honest. It depends on the position, I think for an operational role you know, accounting, and finance, there might be some more flexibility, but in the tech industry, it’s, it’s a little bit more finite.
It’s a little bit more rigid. And like you said, you don’t have to have five college degrees, you can get different certifications, just showing initiative that you have done that. I think helps. But overall I would say, they’re willing to be flexible. Like again, right now everybody’s seeking top talent.
So I think people are becoming to be more flexible. I can encourage you. If you do not check all 10 boxes apply to the job, apply for the job. You never know what else you might have. Something else people don’t realize is recruiters have a whole list of requisitions they’re working on. You might have found one job, but I might look at your resume and be like, you know what?
She doesn’t fit this role, but she fits this role. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve pivoted. I was looking for a software engineer. He applied for a software engineer background, but I noticed he had a huge finance background. Just hired somebody as an investment staff accountant that didn’t apply to that role, so even if you aren’t super confident or maybe the requisition isn’t even posted yet, right.
Allin1hub: Like I know it’s coming like, I know we’re gonna have this role is planned, but it’s not posted yet apply to other jobs that are even similar just to get your resume in front of those recruiters so they can start flagging and tagging those. And then have you been on their radar? Pivoting the job role and not needing a particular type of role.
Keep applying, keep applying and keep applying. That is the, one motto that anyone can follow when trying to get a job.
Maria: Yes. You have to be, I would say for every 10 to 20 jobs you apply for, you might get one interview. So think about that on a large scale. So that’s hundreds of jobs, that you’re probably gonna have to apply for.
Allin1hub: What is the one thing that a candidate should be aware of when he is trying to apply for a job with any company? Not just SC two or any other thing, just on a basic level, that one thing that is your advice to the candidate.
Maira: The one thing to advise to candidates When they’re applying for jobs again, beware of their digital footprint, you know, so also think about other social media to make sure.
You know, those are up to par and professionals applications to a lot of jobs. I will tell you bigger companies have bigger budgets, right? So they can promote jobs on LinkedIn and indeed, and that cuts thousands of dollars to do that. I guess this is more of a sourcing technique about where to apply for go to the company’s websites and apply there too.
Not everybody has a large budget to do things like that. And when they’re applying again, make sure that their resume is matching this. Skillset, and the order that it’s listed on the job description, that’s, what’s gonna catch the attention and also realize it’s, it’s not always them, when I’m on my third interview, for a candidate.
Yes. The job’s still posted, but. You might meet the skill sets, but if I’m already at the third interview with the candidate, the likelihood, of getting that position is gonna be lower. So don’t let it hurt your morale, that you didn’t get a job. Maybe it went to an eternal candidate. Maybe we decided not to fill the role.
There are a million different reasons why you didn’t get the job, focus on you, why you are right for the job. Those are some things that I would suggest as well enough.
Rapid Fire:
Allin1hub: What is one book that you would recommend everyone should read?
Maria: Giver.
What is the one movie that everyone should watch?
Maria: Giver. I loved there was the movie. It was cool. I liked that book. Let’s talk about social change and government and, and looking at things through different lenses and different societies.
Allin1hub: What is the latest habit that you picked up?
Maria: The habit that I picked up I started using one note and that has been such a time saver to have a digital cuz piece of paper get lost or not organized.
You could spill water on them, you name it. And I also started doing that in my personal life, using the notes section on my iPhone. And that’s, that’s helped a lot too.
Other habits I’ve started exercising in the morning versus at night, at night. That’s easy to find excuses, but in the morning, if you knock it out you’re more likely to do it.
Allin1hub: Any YouTube channels that you will follow daily?
Maria: I listen to a lot of NPR news talk radio. Again, my degree’s in biology, so I love anything by David Edinborough. He’s a conservationist that I love, I’m passionate about you know, the earth and, and ecology and, and things of that nature global warming.
So I would say David Attenborough, he’s probably one of my favorites to listen to. Okay, interesting that you would listen to NPR.
Allin1hub: Sunday morning or Saturday night?
Maria: Saturday night
Allin1hub: Family evening or Friends night
Maria: Family
Allin1hub: Podcast, or Audiobooks.
Maria: Podcasts.
Allin1hub: Biggest surprise that you have in your life recently.
Maria: Biggest surprise. Recently I would say I had a set of twins a couple of years ago, so twins were a big surprise.
Allin1hub: What keeps you excited?
Maria: Getting to talk to people all over the world and expand your knowledge of their culture.
Allin1hub: How can people find you on the internet?
Maria: I’m on of course LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram flicker.
Allin1hub: What are the new things that you’re doing daily, any new things that I’m doing daily?
Maria: I would say being mindful of my time and organizing my day in the beginning. If you go into your day and you don’t have a plan, then you are not setting yourself up for success. So taking a few moments the day before to plan at my day, block, time off thinks time, focus, time, what I’m gonna do at this time, but also being able to pivot, you know, when high priority things come up.
But I would say planning my work day and even my personal life has been something that is something new I’ve been doing.
Allin1hub: Nice. Nice
End!
You can connect with Maria Wittenberger on Linkedin here.
You can apply for jobs at SE2 here
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