Job Hunt in Tech: 8 Practical Tips that Get You from CV to Interview

Here are 8 tips to think through: what to do to make it to the interviews and, once in that stage, how not to screw it up.

#1 How does your CV make me FEEL?

Yes, normally a resume contains hard facts about your educational and professional background, a list of skills, etc, however, have you ever thought of how your CV makes the person on the other side of the table feel?

Your CV gives the first impression about you not only as a professional but also as a person. So have a look at yours and feel if it reflects the person you are. Did you throw something on the paper in 5 minutes, or did you take time to present yourself in the best possible way? If you are not sure, then send your CV to 5 people in your network and ask them if it represents you fairly.

#2 Where do you apply?

Oftentimes I get job seekers writing to me with a request to review their CVs, and when opening the resume, at least 50% of the time it’s hard to tell what the person is actually looking for.

For example, recently there was a candidate with a professional background in customer service, now aiming to switch to the QA field. However, it wasn’t seen in the CV at all and appeared only after I asked her: “I’m happy to review the CV, but what is your goal, where are you applying to?” Needless to say, it should be clear the first second I open your CV.

#3 The first 10 seconds say it all

It’s not because recruiters are cold-hearted brutal people, but the truth is that, on average, we will make a decision within the first 10 seconds if we want to keep digging into your CV. There are days when we look through tons of resumes and we are trained to make a fairly quick assessment if the profile is a fit or not. How can we do that?

We are looking for keywords that match the position we are hiring for. To make it simple, when we are looking for a Java Developer, we want to see the word “Java” in your CV. Don’t get me wrong, we go much beyond that — but only when we have a match of your skills and technology stack within the first seconds.

So please don’t be scarce with relevant keywords (technologies, programming languages, frameworks, databases, work methods) when applying to technical roles.

#4 Personalization — make the hard facts interesting

Your CV is full of hard facts, but don’t underestimate the first “about” section. Instead of bluntly listing hobbies, think about how you can say something interesting about yourself in the intro.

Browse other LinkedIn profiles to see what intros you find engaging and why, also what intros don’t spark any interest in you and why. Responsible, hard-working, and quick learner — these are very generic keywords that most candidates use in their resumes. Think about what makes you unique and express it.

#5 Your attitude is everything!

You decided to switch your career to IT because a) you have read that there is a huge need for IT professionals and it is easy to find a job, b) you have heard that you will get paid well in IT, c) you are curious about how things work and you would like to solve real-world problems with technology.

Whereas all three are more or less true (note: nailing your first role in IT might not always be that easy breezy), keep in mind that companies are interested in hiring people who tick the option “c.”

We want to see your eyes glowing when you speak about IT, you can show some examples of the projects you have worked on by creating a portfolio website or GitHub repository, and you constantly keep an eye on what’s happening in the field by being curious to test out some of the latest tools yourself (for example ChatGPT).

#6 Do you have an elevator pitch?

I know interviewing can be the hardest part of the recruitment process because you never know what to expect. Even as a recruiter, experienced interviewing candidates daily, I have felt that when I have been on the other side of the table in a candidate’s shoes, it always takes an extra effort from me to think about how and what I want to say to present myself in the best possible way.

The question I often start my interviews with is: “Tell me about yourself.” It says a lot about the person since it’s completely up to them what they want to tell about themselves, how much time they take, and how clear they are when passing on their thoughts.

I’ve seen candidates completely freezing to the question, barely able to say two sentences about themselves. On the contrary, I’ve also needed to make a hard stop after a 20-minute monologue by a candidate.

In reality, I’m interested to hear a concise overview of your professional background and career interests in 2–5 minutes. For some, two minutes go like a second, for others, it feels like forever. If you are not sure, then take a timer and practice your elevator pitch!

PS: it’s not something you can learn by heart or read from a paper but make sure you have bullet points that you can present depending on the context and person on the other side.

#7 Ask questions during the interview

Yes, you should definitely come to an interview prepared to ask questions from the company. As a junior candidate, you may feel that you need to sell yourself a lot and agree with everything that’s offered as YOU need this job. It’s not the whole truth.

Interviewing is a two-way journey where both need to validate whether they see a mutual fit and want to commit to each other. Meaning that, in additionally making an impression of the great candidate you are, you also need to find out if you want to work in the company.

So make sure you do your homework on what the company is about (maybe you can even try out a free trial of the company’s product?), and use the interview time wisely to ask about their business, working methods, culture, teams, etc.

#8 Some quick fixes

Let’s wrap up with some ABC. Make sure your CV fits onto 1 page (or max 2 pages if you want to add relevant case studies about your projects). Feel free to pick a nice template using Canva but choose something with mild colors and rather minimalistic.

Avoid typos and double-check everything with Grammarly. Use bullet points to describe your work experiences — it’s much easier to catch relevant information (remember the 10-second rule!). And finally, send your CV in pdf format so that the formatting remains the same.