Recruiters Blog

The Don'ts of Interviewing: 9 Big Offenses That Could Cost You the Job

Mon, 05 Nov 2012 09:26:46 +0000

By: Melissa Cardiff

Sometimes, focusing on what not to do in an interview can be as instructive -- if not more so -- than guidelines on what to do. By being clear on what is out of bounds, you clarify your sense of where you need to be in no uncertain terms. The following are my nine don'ts -- make sure you are never guilty of these interview misdemeanors!

1. Don't act desperate. If you've been looking for work for a while, it can be difficult to hide your anxiety in an interview.

As a matter of fact, you may be acting desperate without even realizing it. Tread carefully with this, as you don't want to turn off prospective employers and ultimately blow your chance at a job offer. Keep yourself in check and focus on demonstrating your worth! You have to believe in yourself before your interviewer can.

2. Don't talk poorly about past employers or work experiences.

Keep your comments positive! When describing your previous experience, if they were not all great, take an approach that shows you have learned from the more zchallenging ones. Also make sure to avoid using terms that describe current and previous experiences as totally dire or amazingly awesome, because either extreme can be discounted as unrealistic and unbalanced.

3. Don't highlight your inadequacies, whether professional or personal.
Interviews are an opportunity to sell yourself. Making comments about your lack of skills, confidence or self-worth will not accomplish this. This goes for personal as well as professional -- understanding your issues is not your interviewer's responsibility.

4. Don't be sloppy.

Dress well, even if the potential workplace consists of people who wear jeans every day. In most cases, you should be wearing a suit! There will be plenty of time after you start working to be yourself and dress casually, but during the interview stage you can't afford to give a sloppy impression. Your clothing needs to be neat and ironed and your hair needs to be completely dry.

5. Don't show up empty-handed.
Bring pen and paper -- you should be taking notes during an interview to demonstrate interest and engagement.

6. Don't give a limp handshake.
I am surprised that people, especially women, still don't offer a firm handshake. The handshake is more important than you might realize. First impressions are an important factor in interviewing and a good handshake is definitely a part of your first impression. Always stand when shaking hands, look the other person in the eye and shake firmly!

7. Don't forget that YOU control the content of the interview.
Be prepared with examples and stories about your career. In preparation for your interview, write out your strengths on paper. This will help you to identify which ones are relevant to the job you're interviewing for.

8. Don't distract everyone in the room with the way you smell.
Don't smoke before arriving to an interview. The smell lingers on your clothes and hair. Also, do not wear heavy perfume, as it can be off-putting.

9. Don't ever be late to the interview.
Nothing more needs to be said!

Have I missed any? What don'ts have you learned as part of your interviewing process?

From Resume to Research: An IT Recruiter Gives Job Seekers Practical Advice

Tue, 16 Oct 2012 10:39:18 +0000

By: Christine Kahn

Want to avoid rookie mistakes in your job search? Continue reading for the top pieces of advice I've handed out over the years -- especially if you've been passed over for a job you thought you were perfect for. Warning: While many of these tips might appear to be common sense, you'd be surprised at how often candidates flub them.

Work on your resume
Even if it's just cleaning up typos, always look for ways to improve your resume. This includes making it easy to find the most important information and skipping the fancy formatting -- online programs can't read it anyways. If you need help, don't hesitate to ask your recruiter; we are usually more than happy to help with this!
Make your resume easy to read
This means bolding job titles, company names and dates and putting responsibilities and accomplishments in bullet points. Remember to highlight items that are required for the position. For example, if a certification or college degree is required, put that on the first page. It is OK to tailor your resume to specific jobs as long as you are truthful and don't embellish.
Make your resume complete, chronological and concise
A manager should be able to look at your resume and quickly see what you've done and accomplished at each company you've worked for. However, this doesn't mean arbitrarily keeping your resume to one page. If you are a senior engineer or project manager with 10 years of experience, one page will not adequately list your experience or accomplishments. The same goes for functional resumes wherein responsibilities and accomplishments are grouped by position type or industry.
Handle yourself with class
Behave professionally no matter where you interview. I work in the Silicon Valley and sometimes it's casual, but I always advise: don't go overboard. One of my candidates dropped the F-bomb during an interview and that didn't go over well. He was well qualified and did land another job, but only after he cleaned up his vocabulary.
Research before you interview
Learn about the company and what they do. Read press releases and their website. This will help in asking relevant and intelligent questions -- and answering them. I had a manager who was very disappointed when a candidate came in and couldn't answer the question, "Do you know what our company does?".
Use the STAR system when answering questions
STAR stands for Situation, Task, Action, Result. Enacted, it means giving specific examples of a situation, what your task was, what action you took and the end result. Keep your answer short and well articulated. If you see the interviewer staring off into the distance, you may have gone on for too long!
Research interview questions
Aside from technical knowledge or how well the role is suited to you, you need to be able to handle curveballs. Everyone has heard about Google's riddle-type interview questions such as: If you were an animal, what would you be? Be prepared to give an answer that matches your work ethic. For example, if you have a good memory, you could say that you'd be an elephant, or if you are a hard worker, you could say you'd be an ant. I had a manager once reject a candidate who couldn't answer why a manhole cover was round. Even if a candidate didn't know the answer, he wanted to see that they could be creative in their answer instead of just saying they didn't know.

To wrap up, at the end of the interview, ask the interviewer if you've answered all of their questions and what the next steps are. Show your interest in the position and let them know you want the job!

How to Get Your Technical Resume Noticed: 5 Tips From an IT Recruiter

Wed, 03 Oct 2012 11:43:32 +0000

By: Kathryn Davidian

There are mountains of advice and truckloads of suggested best practices out there on how to produce a winning resume. However, when it comes to resumes for IT professionals, many of these guidelines are an ill fit. Here are five of the biggest mistakes -- or advantages forfeited due to lack of knowledge -- I most often see:

You don't always have to stick to one page
Contrary to what many believe, in the IT field keeping your resume to one page isn't always the way to go. Technical recruiters and employers want to see your work history along with descriptions for each job you've had. Do not sacrifice the breadth and depth of your work experience in favor of fitting everything onto one page.
Keywords, keywords, keywords
When a technical recruiter is seeking a candidate, they search different job boards using keywords that pertain to the position in question. Be sure to include plenty of those keywords throughout your resume to increase the chances of it showing up at the top of their search.
The summary is your chance to grab their attention
The summary at the top of your resume is your chance to grab a hiring manager's attention. Rather than a general statement about how you'd like to apply your skill set to a certain kind of company, this should be a preview of what the rest of your resume will entail. Keep in mind that recruiters and employers sort through an abundance of resumes for each position -- make yours stand out and entice the recruiter to continue reading.
Make education front and center
While the placement of your education is usually thought of as a matter of preference, in the case of technical resumes, you want your education and certifications at the top. Often times an employer is looking for someone with a specific certification -- make them look too hard for it and you may lose their attention.
Keep your resume updated and honest
Technology advances quickly. It's important to show that you have advanced with it. Keep your technology expertise updated on your resume and clean out the old stuff. Also, be truthful about how well you know a particular program or technology. You don't want to waste your potential employer's time -- or yours for that matter.

Remember, always submit the best resume possible. Although your resume may not be the best match for the position you are applying for right now, most recruiters keep your information on file for future job openings. So, even if the position at hand doesn't end up being a good fit, it is your ticket to being called when a better fit does come along.

Move Over Silicon Valley, San Francisco is the New Tech Capital!

Tue, 07 Aug 2012 21:35:57 +0000

If you are in technology, San Francisco is increasingly the place to be. As USA Today reported recently, "San Francisco is fast becoming a technology hub."

Having lived in San Francisco for most of my life, I saw the first tech boom and am aware of all the attractions the city has to offer. So, it does not surprise me that the technology community is taking notice all over again. Startups are once again blossoming and established companies are moving up from Silicon Valley.

According to Henrik Lenberg, 30, vice president of platform at the Berlin-based SoundCloud, which just opened its first U.S. office here in September, "If you're a coder, you go to San Francisco. It's just like moving to Los Angeles, if you're an actress."

For a recruiter, these are exciting times, but also challenging ones. With the new tech growth-spurt comes a shortage of qualified resources. Fortunately for us, it's not hard to sell San Francisco as the place to be. Unfortunately for us, it's also one of the most expensive places to live in America -- if not the most expensive, beating even New York City in recent polls.

So, what's a tech worker to do? If you are in social, mobile, design or software, it seems pretty clear that San Francisco is the heart of the action. Start by staying sharp on your skills, network for that golden apartment with cheap rent and keep your ear to the ground for the next big thing. Free tip: The Creamery cafe has become a destination for deal making. As venture capitalist Michael Arrington recently blogged, his firm, CrunchFund, "has probably closed ... more deals there than anywhere else."

For technology jobs, do you agree that San Francisco is the place to be? Or are there advantages to living and/or working outside the hub?

Corporate Social Responsibility - what can we do?

Fri, 20 Jul 2012 18:22:23 +0000

"Being a member of the Harvey Nash team means being a contributor to society." As part of Harvey Nash's Corporate Social Responsibility credo, these aren't just words. On Saturday, June 23^rd, Harvey Nash put together a group of volunteers to help the San Francisco Food Bank's fight against hunger.

Led by Recruiting Manager Melissa Cardiff, the Harvey Nash San Francisco team got together with consultants, clients, friends and family to help sort and package 65,000 lbs of fruit and vegetables (in four hours!) for distribution to low-income families, individuals and more than 400 local non-profit agencies. People came from all over the Bay Area including Marin County, San Jose, East Bay and even Sacramento. (Those of you familiar with the Bay Area know that that is 100 miles away!)

In San Francisco, 197,000 people struggle each day to feed themselves and their families. In Marin, just over 40,000 people -- 16% of the population -- face the threat of hunger on any given day. We encourage everyone to visit their website to learn more about the SF Food Bank and all that they do for our children and community.

Interested in Participating?

Our participants overwhelmingly reported a positive experience. For many, it was their first time doing anything like this. For those who had served food at St. Anthony's and Glide Memorial's soup kitchens in the past, it was a whole new way for them to contribute to those in need. Almost everyone indicated that they would participate again.

If you are interested in helping with our next event, please contact christine.khan@harveynashusa.com. We plan to help out again in November during the holiday season.

The Front Lines of Hiring: Tales from our Technical Recruiting Team

Tue, 09 Aug 2011 09:43:08 +0000

Have you ever answered your phone to hear a recruiter on the other end of the line wondering if you're a fit for a job? Have you ever posted your resume online and received an onslaught of calls and emails from recruiters all over the country? Are you sitting at work wondering if there are better opportunities out there but don't know where to start? If you said yes to any of these questions then you're someone we may be calling on one day.

Harvey Nash's San Francisco team of technical recruiters (Chris, Melissa, Eileen and Lisa) are going to use this blog as a way to share our insight and job search information. We spend our days tracking down the talent our clients are looking for and have many stories and experiences to share from the front lines of hiring. We want to help you, and really, it benefits both parties if the opportunity works out for you.

We know a job search is not easy and we'd like to share some of our tips and tools to help you prepare for your next interview - and hopefully - job offer. We'll be working together to post information about situations we encounter and what any potential job seeker needs to know. Together we have 30 years of experience in the industry and one of us started recruiting before the days of email, online job boards and blogs (no need to mention names). All of us come from agency recruiting, which means our company is a vendor to multiple companies. We're considered technical recruiters but this does not mean we have any technical skills. Our skill is in understanding a little about a lot so that we can help find candidates for every type of technical position.

We welcome comments and questions, as well as suggestions as to what you'd like us to discuss on this blog. Do you have a story to share regarding your favorite or least favorite job hunting experience?