What if in only a few minutes, you could drastically change your chances of
getting noticed, getting an interview and getting the job you deserve, interested?
Hi, my name is David and I'm here to pass on my 20 years of
experience as a software developer.
And more recently, years as a recruiter interviewing
thousands of software developers.
Lots of developers are not keen on LinkedIn.
It's the place where recruiters hang out, and developers are just too cool for that.
LinkedIn's not about your enjoyment.
You don't get that much enjoyment from your resume, right?
It's a tool, a means to an end.
So let's use it for its intended purpose and attract those recruiters and
employers and get you that dream job.
I want you to think about your intended audience, the recruiter.
They don't have much time.
They probably don't know that much tech.
And more importantly, they're lazy.
I know, I know they're going to get upset, but the truth is we're all lazy.
So why don't we prepare for that fact?
Now the thing about these lazy people is they don't tend to read, certainly
when they're pressed for time.
They scan.
So what we need to do is to make certain elements of our CV or our LinkedIn
profile stand out to that lazy reader.
So next, let's start thinking, why is this person here?
Why are they reading my profile?
What do they want?
So, to illustrate this, let's imagine a scenario.
The recruiter is looking for a full-stack developer with Node and React and the
nice to have is something like AWS Lambda.
So the recruiter arrives at your profile and what do they see?
They see a headline that says software developer or programmer
or something similar to that.
But what does that mean?
Are you the kind of developer they're looking for?
Maybe, maybe not.
But you're now reliant on this lazy person putting in more
effort to see if you're suitable.
Now they might put in that effort.
Who knows?
It's really going to depend on how many other candidates they've got that
have applied for the role and what sort of things they put on their profile.
But consider, if they now have enough candidates who fit the bill, they might
skip you purely based off you're not stating your case in the headline.
Harsh, I know, but that's life.
Now we hope that recruiters put in a little bit more effort than that.
And for the sake of this discussion, let's give them the benefit and the doubt.
And let's move on to the About section.
Now, hopefully you've put a lot more information into that hadn't
you did in your headline, right?
Probably not.
Now, if I know you, the developer, you've probably got some eloquently written
passage about your passion for problem solving and taking on new challenges.
Great.
You don't get an interview, but good for you.
Your about section should detail who you are and where you're going.
And if I, the recruiter, cannot establish your skills and your
passions from the headline and the About section, you're on thin ice.
So you're gambling, you're now hoping that the recruiter who's already put
in more effort than they would like to is going to delve deeper, deeper into
that minefield of your experiences.
The goal for the recruiter at this stage remains the same.
They need to confirm you've got the right skills.
And whether you're worthy to move into this stock pile of candidates they've
got that are worth spending more time to find out more, maybe in an interview.
Most developers don't make it into this pile for the reasons we've just stated.
And that sounds really trivial, but they've got to find some way of
narrowing down the numbers from the hundreds that might apply to a role to
who are you going to spend half an hour to an hour talking to an interview.
The recruiters now going to scan through your experiences and read a
little bit more to try and find out where you've used those technologies.
Having to click on the see more link to expand that experience section is a
pain and likely a step too far, unless they're desperate for candidates.
So what are they scanning for?
They want to establish three things.
When did you start using the technology?
Are you still using the technology?
And how consistently have you been using it between those two points?
Therefore, we need to place that description of all the technologies you
use during your experience at the top.
Not at the bottom.
Make it easy for the recruiter.
If you tick all these boxes, you're going to end up on a shortlist.
This is a list of people who warrant more time.
So the recruiters now going to read through those profiles in a
little bit more detail and decide who should I interview first?
Interviewing takes time, so prioritization is key.
Those that tick the most boxes get the first interview.
So if your skills or what they can establish as your skills are only a
vague match for the role, you're now at the mercy of those preferred candidates.
And it's only when they fail that they'll consider you for interview.
This is probably different to how you thought recruiters
viewed your profile, right?
God.
When you think about it, it's all about confidence and you need
to build that confidence in the recruiter that they believe you're
worth spending more time with.
So you need to consider, are there any more ways on your LinkedIn
profile to build confidence that you're the right candidate?
There's a few more sections on your LinkedIn profile that you can
use to bolster this confidence.
Uh, but I talk more about that in the blog post, which I'll put
a link in the description below.
But for now, what else can you do to build confidence?
How can you add a little bit more sugar?
I don't know.
The activity section on LinkedIn is usually quite weak for a developer.
and that makes sense.
You're probably not actively using LinkedIn in that way.
It's probably more like an occasional like or share something like that.
What if you did use LinkedIn?
What if you posted a few short snippets about things that you're
currently working on, keeping client confidentiality of course.
We don't need to write big, long blog posts, just a paragraph or two.
Maybe you could talk about the tech challenges and problems that
you're facing on a daily basis.
Now when a recruiter sees your profile, they can see not only do you have
the skills and see them peppered through your experiences, but you talk
about this subject on a daily basis.
It's like putting your passion on a page.
That, my friends builds confidence.
Confidence that you might be the right candidate, so let's
get you in for interview.
So what do we need to do?
One, be clear.
State the technologies you use and the ones you want to continue using.
Two, don't make recruiters or employers read or search for the
information they're trying to find.
Three, make sure you pass the paper sift and get moved to that yes pile.
Give yourself the best chance of getting that second more
in depth read of your profile.
Number four, add some icing.
Show them that this is not just a job for you.
This is a passion.
You live and breathe this.
So thank you for watching and joining me in this discussion.
I hope you got some value.
If you liked the video, please give it a like.
And if you want to see more then please subscribe and don't
forget to hit that bell so you get notified about new content.
And I'll see you next time.