The Google Resume (4 page)
Authors: Gayle Laakmann McDowell
Tags: #Business & Economics, #Careers, #Job Hunting, #General
Will Code for Food
Dear Gayle,
I’m a freshman in computer science and I know I need some real work experience. I could get an internship at a start-up, but I also need to earn a bit of money. And that’s where the problem comes in. The companies that will hire me don’t pay, and the ones that pay won’t hire me.
I don’t need a ton of money—just enough to pay for basic expenses like dinners and stuff with friends. Am I out of luck? Plan B is to work as a waitress, which I know won’t exactly do wonders for my résumé.
~U. B.
Dear U. B.,
I suppose it wouldn’t help if I said, “Look harder,” would it? OK then. If you can’t find a paid internship in your area, why not look outside your area?
Outsourcing does not just mean shipping projects off to India. People outsource stuff
within
the United States, too, and you can get on the favorable side of that.
Sign up on a site like
odesk.com
,
elance.com
, or
rentacoder.com
and bid on some projects. If you win a few smaller contracts and do well on them, you can gain the credibility to get a more sustained summer contract.
You’ll get paid, and you’ll get résumé-building experience. It’s everything you wanted, right? The smaller projects can be listed in your “Projects” section, while your longer projects can be listed under “Employment.”
Remember that because your goal here is to get experience for your résumé, be sure to explain the situation to your temporary bosses. You may need their permission to list the project on your résumé, and to potentially ask as a reference.
~Gayle
The Un-Manager
Dear Gayle,
I’m currently working at large software company in Southern California. Things aren’t going so well at the company (layoffs, etc.), so it doesn’t look like a management position is in reach anytime soon. That’s OK, though, sort of. I’ll likely be leaving the company in a year, and relocating to northern California, where there are more career opportunities.
Even if I switch companies, though, will I be able to get a management position without prior experience?
~W. H.
Dear W. H.,
It depends. What do you call prior experience?
It’s certainly much easier to get a new position when you’ve already held that title. Otherwise, you need to prove not only your value to the company, but also your ability to accomplish something new.
However, you may be able to get much of the experience you need, even if you can’t win the title. Ask your current manager for more leadership responsibilities. You can even take advantage of the poor situation—explain that you recognize the company and the team are under some stress, and you’d like to help out by leading a subteam to do X. You won’t get the title for that, but you’ll get the experience. And ultimately, that’s more important.
When it comes to applying for new jobs, you can’t lie about your title, but you can tweak things to show what you
really
did. Your cover letter is a great place to emphasize the management-like responsibilities you took on, while the bullets under the job should focus on your leadership-related accomplishments.
~Gayle
Getting in the Door
Think companies like Microsoft, Amazon, and Google are getting tons of great applicants? Think again. “Hiring managers at Amazon are spending so much time recruiting these days that they barely have time to actually, well,
manage
,” one technical program manager at Amazon told me. Employees from other top companies echoed similar concerns:
- “There aren’t enough good engineers in the United States. Period. We’re like vultures fighting over what little there is to eat.” (Apple employee)
- “We’re always hiring great talent. Always.” (Google employee)
- “It’s not that we don’t get enough good candidates. It’s that we just don’t know who they are.” (Facebook employee)
It’s true. While you’re banging down their door to get in, recruiters are running around trying to find you.
You might be able to just stand still, dutifully submitting your résumé online. With a bit of luck and an outstanding résumé, they just might bump into you and ring you up. Most candidates, however, find that they must get a bit more creative.
The Black Hole: Online Job Submission
I won’t sugarcoat this for you; we call it a black hole for a reason. Applying online does not exactly have the best track record for yielding interviews.
But it happens. I got my job at Apple by applying online—of course, I had three prior internships at Microsoft. Kari, a financial analyst at Amazon, applied through Amazon’s web site and promptly received one of
those
e-mails—“blah, blah, blah . . . we’ll keep your résumé on file.” And they did, and later offered her a job. Philip got his job at Bloomberg LP through applying on
Monster.com
.
I can personally attest to the fact that Google
does
look through its online résumé submission, because I’ve been previously drafted to screen such résumés. We essentially played a recruiter’s version of Duck-Duck-Goose: reject, reject, reject, call!
As random as the process is, you can do a bit to shift the odds just a bit more in your favor.
Making the Best of the Black Hole
To increase your chances of getting a call, make sure you follow every instruction. Needle, haystack: you do the math. With so many applicants to wade through, recruiters and hiring managers may look for any excuse to toss your résumé. If they want your transcript, submit your transcript. If they want your top three desired teams, answer their question. Little mistakes can be fatal.
Second, if the job opening is fresh, apply quickly. Waiting three days to think things over just increases the size of the haystack. Companies may even stop looking after a certain point so that they can make decisions on the early birds.
Third, put yourself in the shoes of the hiring manager. If she does a search through the Applicant Tracking System (ATS), what keywords will they use? Make sure to list these on your résumé. For example, if the role encourages an MBA, you’ll want to make sure that you have “MBA” written on your résumé rather than just “Master of Business Administration.” You may want to list your education as “Master of Business Administration (MBA), 2010” to make sure your résumé gets picked up by both searches.
Fourth, remember that just because you discover the opening through a job web site doesn’t mean you have to apply through it. “If the application mentions the recruiter’s or hiring manager’s name, you might be able to track down his name to send a personalized note,” advises Barry Kwok, a former Google recruiter.
Getting a Personal Referral
Sure, Kari, Philip, and I wiggled our way out of the black hole, but all of our other jobs? Referrals. The same goes for almost everyone I know (with the notable exception of those who came through college recruiting).
Personal referrals are, hands down, the best way to get a job. Not only will a company be more likely to consider someone who’s been referred, but you’ll also be more likely to find a position that matches your skills and interests. It’s a win-win.
Tell Your Friends
When I left Google, suddenly people came out of the woodwork. Start-ups, bigger companies, recruiting firms, positions I’ve never had (or wanted to have)—they all came calling. I ended up taking a position as VP of engineering at a venture capital–funded start-up without a résumé or formal interview.
My situation is far from unique. If you have a highly valued talent and strong credentials to back it up, you may only need to let your contacts know what you’re looking for. People
want
to help.
If you use social networking web sites like Facebook or Twitter, a simple message asking if anyone can connect you to your dream company might do the trick. Otherwise, you can be a bit more aggressive: ask your friends who might work at closely connected companies. You can bet, for example, that your Googler friends know a few Microsofties. It can never hurt to ask!
Make Yourself Known
Got your sights set on a dream company, but can’t find a path in? Find an employee at the company and make yourself known. Does she have a blog? Comment on it—or better yet, follow up her blog posts with posts of your own. Does she tweet? Tweet back. If she is asking for assistance, help her in any way you can. Immerse yourself in her community.
Even after leaving Google, I’ve continued to refer candidates to the company who have done just this. After all, if a person has shown himself to be intelligent, generous, and interested, why wouldn’t I return the favor?
Don’t go overboard, of course. No one likes a stalker!
The Informational Interview
The informational interview is an informal discussion with a company that is conducted before the recruiting process has even begun. Usually, you approach an employee of a prospective company and seek their advice about the role or company. Though it’s called an “informational interview,” don’t mention the word
interview
when you talk to the employee.
Part of the value of the informational interview is that it’s low pressure. An employee can meet with you and offer advice, regardless of whether the company is hiring. They get to “vet” you a bit, and you get to evaluate them and their company.
These informational interviews are very common across tech companies, both for external applicants and for internal candidates wishing to transfer teams.
Make sure to come with good, well-researched questions. The person will not be evaluating your skills extensively, but they will evaluate your personality, communication, and interest. Make sure to write a note thanking them for their time.
After this conversation, they may invite you to apply to their company and even offer to refer you. If not, you can follow up after the interview and ask them what the best way is to apply or to get in touch with a recruiter. If they don’t respond with an offer to help, then they are probably not comfortable doing so for whatever reason. You will simply need to use alternative avenues to apply for the position.
Reach Out to Recruiters
In college, I decided that if recruiters didn’t want to approach me, then I would just have to approach them. Luckily, recruiters don’t exactly hide their e-mail addresses. A quick Internet search with a query like
Don’t e-mail your résumé yet, though—that’s just the first step. “Recruiters can tell if they’re being spammed,” Kwok reminds us. “It’s quality, not quantity. A sincere, well-researched letter that’s tailored to our company will go much further than a generic one.”
You should always try to contact the most relevant recruiter you can. If you can’t find someone who recruits for your desired position, state what position you’re interested in, and ask them to put you in touch with the appropriate person. If you know the name of the person you need to speak with or the exact position, even better. The less of a burden you are to the recruiter, the more likely he is to help you.
Alumni Network and Beyond
Personal referrals may also be found in alumni networks, or other “official groups.” If you’re a student or recent graduate, your school’s career services office may be able to help you with searching the alumni directory for a connection.
Other groups might include relevant industry groups, many of which can be found on
meetup.com
. Get out there—you never know whom you might meet!
Career Fairs
Before talking to Microsoft at the career fairs, students in the know would watch the line for a few minutes. Each employee had his or her own system. Some would put a little mark (which was at times as obvious as a smiley face) to indicate his invite/don’t invite decision. Others separated résumés into good and bad piles. Either way, an observant person could learn the system. It didn’t do them any good, of course, but it sure was nice to know the decision earlier.
Some candidates walk up with their elevator pitch all prepared: here’s who I am, here’s what I’ve done, here’s what I’m good at, and here’s what I’d like to do.
Other candidates walk up, hand a recruiter their résumé, and just wait for the recruiter to ask them questions. When asked what they want to do, they shrug. “Well, what kind of jobs do you have for my major?”
“When a candidate can’t tell me what they want to do, or what they even like doing, that’s when there’s not a good fit,” Raquel Garcia, a senior Microsoft recruiter, says. “Basically it’s like I’m giving you a ticket to go anywhere in the world, and you can’t even tell me what continent you want to go to.”
To maximize your chances of getting an interview invitation, follow these suggestions:
- Do your homework.
Research the companies you’re interested in and know which roles you’d be a good fit for. What do they look for in candidates? How can you address those skills in your conversation with a recruiter? - Prepare questions.
Part of your job at a career fair is to show your passion for the company and the job. You should prepare a few open-ended questions to ask the company. This will facilitate conversation, as well as offer both you and the recruiter the chance to discover if there’s a good fit. - Prepare answers.
A company might ask you basic questions about your background. You should be able to talk intelligently about your biggest accomplishments and challenges. - Practice your elevator pitch.
The first 30 seconds with the staff at a career fair is your opportunity to impress. A strong candidate will be able to succinctly communicate their value-add. - Tailor your résumé.
There’s no rule that says you can bring only one copy of your résumé to a career fair. If you’re applying for different types of positions, create tailored résumés for each position. - Dress appropriately.
I once had a candidate wear a T-shirt to a career fair with a sexually themed phrase on it. If he can’t act appropriately at a first meeting, what will he be like on the job? Your attire at a career fair should be more or less the same as what you would wear to an interview. - Follow up.
If possible, get the business card or e-mail address from the person you talk to, and follow up immediately after the career fair. You should reiterate your interest in the company, explain what you’d bring to the company, and attach a copy of your résumé.
After speaking with hundreds of candidates at career fairs, most blend together in a giant mix of résumés. One candidate, however, stands out: Alex, a precocious sophomore, who brought a portfolio of his project work with him. On two additional sheets of paper, he provided screenshots of his four biggest projects, with lengthier explanations that would head off some of our questions: How did he build it? What did he enjoy? What did he learn? What was the hardest part?
Raquel Garcia loves it when younger students like Alex approach her. “Whenever a freshman comes up to talk to me, I always thank them for doing so. They showed guts in talking to me, and I appreciate that. And they get early feedback on how they can start shaping their career so that, in a year or two, they’re ready for Microsoft.”
Professional Recruiters
Though usually not open to recent graduates, professional recruiting agencies (a.k.a. headhunters) can assist a more experienced hire in connecting and landing jobs with the right firms. They can add value in five key ways:
1.
Connections.
A good recruiter will have relationships with many companies. This will mean not only that the recruiter can convince someone to pick up your résumé, but he may also know about unadvertised job openings. Before hiring a recruiter, you should assess which companies he works with. Where have his recent candidates gotten offers?
2.
Matching you.
A good recruiter will understand your background and interests, as well as the culture and expectations of her client companies. She may do a better job matching you with a good fit than you could do yourself.
3.
Feedback.
A good recruiter will be able to assess where your weaknesses are with respect to each individual job. By knowing this in advance, you can be better prepared to reassure the company of your qualifications. They can also help you prepare by suggesting questions you should or shouldn’t ask or telling you what questions to avoid.
4.
Handling issues.
Once you land the offer, your recruiter can help you with anything, from understanding if an offer is fair to actually helping you negotiate your offer. Because recruiters get a percentage bonus of your salary (from the company, not you), they have a strong incentive to help you get the best offer you can.
5.
Reopening a door.
Sometimes rejections don’t mean that you weren’t a good fit for the company; you just may not have been a good fit for the position. “A professional recruiter can sometimes reopen a door in these cases,” says BJ Bigley from Big Kind Games.