 Hello There's actually quite a lot of people here more than I expected for this very Non-technical talk on this Europe high sense So I guess that some of you just were too lazy to leave because they had a lot of whiskey yesterday So you're welcome to stay and maybe you'll learn some things So I have to mind the timing a little bit And I hope I can convey you some new things and some tips and tricks to how do you get the job? I want so I suppose that some of you are maybe right now looking for a new job or maybe at some point in your career sooner or later will have to be on the job hunt and If your main motivation is something like this You just want a job and not starve to death I think especially as an engineer or a scientist you will have very good chances to find at least something that pays the bills But what if you actually want a job that you enjoy doing and that also gets you somewhere and that you like to go and to work every day then I Can tell you a little bit more How to get that job and you might wonder Who the hell am I to tell you I just want to wait until the newcomers arrive My name is Francisca or Francie or funny so my actual you might wonder a little bit about that my actual name is Francisca my Nickname is Francie so my friends and my family is calling me Francie and as I applied for trust you We had a HR team of one That girl happens to be named Francie So to Francie is in a team of two people was a bit awkward That's why I introduced the name funny And I'm very aware especially in this country that this name is a little bit controversial But I was thinking there are also people called dick So I think it's just fair to have a female version of this if there's anyone called dick I think you will make a great team. Let me know so you can call me any of those three names and I'm Speaking beginner. This is the second talk I ever get to hold at a conference So I'm very excited to be here and that so many of you are here to listen to me today And I'm also a beginner in Python. So I'm learning right now a little bit, but I'm not an engineer I work in HR and I'm here at this conference to recruit people and I hand it in a talk and I was thinking I might share a little bit of knowledge with you To how to get to how getting the job that you would like to have All right, I am a recruiter for three and a half years and I specialize in tech recruiting So this is pretty much what I do every day Despite also doing the payroll, but that's sexy. So not talking about that So my dream job was being a chick-nugget scientist as a kid. I'm kidding. It's still my dream job. I Never got to the point so maybe you will think a little bit about what your dream job is and I Hope that I can get you some tips for that So we will start this journey at the point where you already Found the job you want to apply first. So we're not talking about how to find the job There are a lot of portals out there. I guess the majority of you knows where to find good jobs It's also very country-specific. So we will start a journey today at the point where you will actually have to send out an application and Some of you might think oh cheese an application form once I had to fill out one hour along of Psychological intelligence test for an internship. That was really not cool But if you want to get the job you will not get around the point where you have to fill out an application form But first things first I Want to walk you through a little bit through that typical application process structure that you have it's Probably similar in every company that you apply to this is the process that we haven't trust you Did I mention that I also work for trust you? It's every promise. It's not a commercial session here We just happened to be Elisabeth and I after one each other. So this is not about trust you This is about recruiting in general But normally you will have to fill out an initial application at some point Of course either via this infamous application form or you will have to send an email or you just can apply via LinkedIn So you will have to apply at some point, right? And normally when you apply for a tech job, there will be a technical test very likely You will at some point encounter one of us the HR people that's also very likely that will happen to you and normally you'll also have a tech screening at some point and Also very likely you will be invited to an onsite visit So I wanted to give you a little bit of an overview How likely it is That you get to which step So the initial application about 70 percent of applications are filtered out already and When it comes to the technical test that we send out for example, you will have about 60 percent of application filtered out So from the 70 percent right the ones that are staying and that then again 60 percent. I know math I Should train a little bit more in that subject But so once you manage to go through the technical tests you get accepted You encounter the infamous HR people like me and we filter out about 50 percent of you sorry and Then you will encounter one person of the department probably or more where again about 30 percent of people will be filled it out and Through the onsite visit you will have still about 20 percent that not will make it that will not make it grammar All right, just to give you a little bit of a context So maybe some of you think that well sure my I just got to attach my LinkedIn profile should be fine Right or just I can send an email send a link with my LinkedIn profile. I think that should be fine Maybe not Again, actually we counted this the percentage that gets filtered out. So these are two actual jobs that we had and trust you The first one is a data engineering job the second one a full-stack role and you can see that from 434 candidates we ended up hiring two or respectively 570 candidates we ended up hiring two So you're not one out of ten. You might probably end up being one out of hundreds So I advise you To put a little bit of an effort in it So your LinkedIn profile might not actually be enough So it can work of course. So in general today, I'm giving you a more of a So to say a mean of how things can happen like how it's very likely to happen Of course, you can you encounter different people you encounter different companies you might very likely encounter a company that says Okay, I just need your LinkedIn profile. That's fine But I think it's always best to be on the safe side and just assume it won't be enough So even if you have this one click apply thing on LinkedIn I would if I were you and I would do it myself I would ever look for a new job never of course if I might That you will look for a ways to distinguish yourself So for example find out the contact person on LinkedIn that's responsible for the job send an email or Send an email to them because you will probably find an email address somewhere on the company website So just that they have Seen you already a little bit more than just one out of this 500 LinkedIn profiles. They will be getting I Advise it to a generally attach a CV This is a controversial topic. Probably some of you might say well CV is without data, right? I have the data. I have my cycle overflow. I have my LinkedIn. Why do I need to put effort in a CV? It's very likely the company still require it and it creates much less noise than just a LinkedIn profile So if I look a LinkedIn profile look at a LinkedIn profile I will see a lot of other people. I would have to log into LinkedIn It's just very convenient to have a well-structured nice CV to get out the data that we need to have from you and to Give you a little tips about the creation of the CV Keep it short but informative. I'm encountering CVs that are five pages long in block form We do not gonna read it Sorry, but it's we don't have the time to read through five pages of CV So I would say that more than two pages are already a bit critical So if you're a data scientist for example, and you want to attach your publications I think it makes sense to attach it in the third page, but in generally a two pages should be fine and the What's a really nice thing about having a CV is that you can adapt it to the company you want to apply for So you can maybe emphasize a little bit more machine learning or emphasize a bit more Python depending on the job requirements Pay attention to the visuals if you're applying as a UX designer Then this should have really a lot more gravity But also if you're applying for as a full-stack engineer, please pay attention. It looks somewhat nice It doesn't have to be crazy fancy super nice-looking CV but at least some would orderly and easily readable and This should be common sense, but please have it proofread It's not that common sense that you might think so spelling mistakes a lot of spelling mistakes in the CV are really not that's painting out the grade of a picture and Also an advice I would give you is to list your site projects So not just what you have been doing at work at your previous employee, etc But also something that you might have done on the site. Maybe you created an app Maybe you are contributing to open source mentioned that because it paints a very good picture of you being a commotivated and cool person Also speaking of motivation, I will repeat that a couple of times Find a way to stay your motivation just a little bit of well I have looked up your company online It looks like a nice place to work because I like this and this and I'm also worst in in our case would be for example NLP and and machine learning I would like to work for your company looks interesting. That's enough. You don't have to write again five pages I have it with the number five five pages of your your life story in there But just a little sentence on why This particular job caught your eye All right, and it's always good to inform yourself of the company So I would like to give you a little bit of a worst case practice here This is our application form that you will encounter if you apply to trust you So that guy or girls who ever apply there probably likes adventures But he also doesn't know she doesn't really think about why they're the right candidate for the position. So We did not proceed to the next round here. I Was not 100% convinced of that person's motivation. I wonder why Might be too judgmental But I also have a very good example of someone filling in this Question why they want to join us So something that I would like to mention in the job descriptions that we're having we have exactly this I love Python with a little heart and that person obviously read the job description picked up the I love Python thingy and adapted it and Also, we are writing there that your ideas will be heard and implemented and this person picked up this as well And they also stated why they think there will be a good candidate for the position and what they're passionate about in case you are here Who wrote this? I didn't get back to you yet. I will I'm sorry Approach me outside, but this is a very good example for Yeah, just a little bit of effort to set your motivation So you can see this didn't probably take three hours, but it's just a little bit of effort, right? so there will also be a Test probably we're using qualified Just to give a little hint of what might coming up to you when it comes to coding tests Coding tasks that you will have to solve before someone will actually speak to you or a later point depending on the company's process But this is a very nice tool where you will have a couple coding questions. They run unit tests right through your code you can say that like this and There's also a time tracker So the percentile you can see is the the time they spend on it This is also not a very good example cause yeah, first thing gave up at some point. Normally these tests should take around an hour All right, so you walk through the effort of creating a nice application Uploading your CV no spelling mistakes in your CV and you stayed a little bit of your motivation so far so good We might consider you for the next round if you like adventures, you guess maybe not But if you're really passionate about adventures, then yes, and you will encounter the HR screening Yeah, nobody ever gets this question really well, but don't worry. So yeah, just don't say like oh I really work a lot like work life balance is I have a great weakness. I work all the time I really want to work on this. Please don't say that nobody will believe you. That's the thing But what is the HR interview actually for you might wonder oh geez why do I have to bother with these people? We're actually sometimes really nice people but besides that It's really about finding out of expectations match so It's really more about what do you want? What do we want is it a good match because for a single sample in terms of seniority, right? We can see if this is a good match already Again, we want to find out your motivation. We want to check if this is a cultural fit and In this case, I'm really not talking about do I want to hang out with a person having a whiskey Which also plays a part but it's more are you more of a corporate person a startup person? Do you like structures? Are you fine with wearing many hats like what's the the kind of corporate? company environment Atmosphere that you would like to work in and this is something that we can offer it makes no sense to Really like structures and really like processes ending up in a startup So it makes sense to a kind of clarify this beforehand. We can check for element experience We can that's something people that don't trust the age are people And it's also to already check salary expectation because if this differs a lot it makes no sense to continue for both sides We don't want to steal your time, but we also don't want to invest time if this just won't be a match All right, I will give you a bit of an overview about don'ts Please don't assume. We have no technical knowledge at all. This is an extra thing that someone once said to me in an interview When I was asking if the person has any further questions He's he said in this case it was a he another for he and she think he said I Really don't think there's anything that you could answer me. It was like well You will not get the chance to actually ask anyone else in our company any questions. So tough luck But that obviously went bad But also a lot of people tend to say well I'm not sure if you're the right person to ask this or I'm not sure if you know this which is okay It's totally not a reason to kick anyone out of the process But it's better to just not assume that we have no technical knowledge Because for example, I really try to like learn some coding to learn the language and I'm very interested in the subject And I do know some things So it makes sense to just skip the very technical questions right away and You can ask the high-level questions if we don't know we will tell you Very difficult is also talking non-stop especially product managers tend to do that for a reason no offense No offense, but they do where it says one word answers It's also a bit of a drag if we have to drag out every word of you out of you But also if you cannot actually ever ask any questions, so both of this there should be a right medium Same with constantly interrupting Please don't talk very badly about your previous employer had someone saying was well these guys were so dumb so dumb That's the most stupid company ever. It's like oh God, please don't say that you can be honest, but don't be rude and Also tricky is to show that relocation is your only motivation So if the entire interview consists of how much you would like to relocate to Germany or Munich in our case It's good to mention it But maybe shouldn't be the the main motivation even though if it is just lying Comes to the next point Don't be obviously dishonest If you say if my colleague likes to ask the question What have you been criticized for in the past and if you say well, I have I have never been criticized for anything That is not true probably. I mean and if it's true, then that's tough luck for you because we will never believe that's true So it makes no sense being very obviously not honest Be honest you can see this talk follows a lot of good structure, right? So please be honest We want a mutual match so it makes no sense to to come up with something. That's not true or just say yes I totally love structures. I I like really strong hierarchies. That's totally my thing If you will be unhappy, we won't be happy either. So it makes sense to really this is the main message I want to give you Actually for this talk Know what you want Make really be sure that you know what it is that you want and what it is what you don't want Because it helps no one if you come into a company and it's just not a match at all and you will be leaving after two months So make sure to also communicate what it is that you want if you're want to be in a dynamic environment If you want to wear many hats, but if you're also fine with frequent changes With some sort of uncertainty, then that's fine Just communicate it and if it's the cases the other way around also communicate it again show interest and motivation for the company you're applying to and Very important is to prepare some questions beforehand it paints a very negative picture if you have no questions at all and If you actually have all your questions answered in the process, that's perfectly fine Just say then something like well, I had this in this question prepared But you already answered it in your explanation of the company of the team etc So I have no further questions. That's fine. But then the recruiter knows, okay You prepared a little bit and you had some questions in pedal It's also for you very good to eliminate those no goals that you might have in mind That's what you don't want right so you could ask so how You could ask for example About the road map like how would the company create the product roadmap and you can see if they if they have a Three-year plan if they have a 10-year plan about the vision of the company like these kind of things It will show you how frequently they change like if they have a good plan if it's a stable company So just make sure to prepare those questions and prepare an informed salary expectation That's a reasonable salary expectation It's it's fine to be a bit ambitious with a salary But it helps no one if it's completely out of hands because then something like this could happen that they say well Okay, we have these three great candidates. This one is really really good But it's it's really the salary expectations is really high. So we will settle We will take the one with the less high salary expectation So it makes sense to inform yourself on Glaster's salary and come up with a reasonable number And don't be afraid to write a follow-up email if the response takes some time All right, I know that I am taking my timers. So I have to walk a little bit fast I could have you I could tell you so many more tips and tricks But 25 minutes is actually really short yesterday. It took me almost 45 minutes walking through my talk So I had to cut a little bit them things. I would like to tell you Who of you knows this though hands up if you know the scene if you know what it about nice cool Okay, thought it like you're a python make a python conference, right? Monty Python had to be this is really funny I wanted to show a video first, but it's very risky showing videos and took a long time. So If you encounter a tech screening like this leave don't don't work there. Just as the hint if you don't know this is this Monty Python case some people didn't raise their hands and Just Google interview Monty Python you will find this and it's very very funny All right, these are a couple of tips that are VP of engineering actually prepared for me So it makes sense to try to find out of the tech stack of the company beforehand You can ask the recruiter in the previous interview we might know So at least we can read through the list that somewhere right so this should be fine As I mentioned before mentioned some projects that you contributed to like open-source project like a private pet project anything That could be interesting for the job and just generally shows that you're a motivated person Also very interesting in the tech part is that you can collaborate with your team members right working in an engineering team Requires a lot of collaboration With your teammates and we want team players So it makes sense to prepare a couple example where you successfully worked on this and also for you I am sure that you all agree with me staying up-to-date is very very important in the tech industry So prepare a couple of sources where you will get your your knowledge from for example like blogs Any books that you have been reading any podcast you're following? Like yeah, any forums etc. So that makes a very good impression. All right, and last but not least You will at some point have an on-site visit probably except for when you live very far away It's always Skype But you will have to talk to people there I'm telling you even if talking to people might not be your thing It's also not always my thing which sounds weird working in HR, but it's true But you will have to make an effort to actually talk to people at this point. Don't ask just wing it If you don't know what the interviewer's name is Doesn't matter It's makes sense though to prepare beforehand Which people you will be talking to and to ask the recruiter who will prepare the on-site visit for you whom you will be speaking with Maybe you could even look them up on stack overflow. Whatever see what they're working on This is something that I really shouldn't be telling as an common sense again, but please be punctual And in case you're running late that happens like it could be flight connection Trained is delayed whatever Please make sure to call someone or write an email say I'm really sorry. I gotta be late Nobody is going to be mad, but if you just show up two hours later the real-life case someone showed up two hours later It's a bit odd Didn't get the job. Please make sure to inform someone also That's not less common sense though But please don't show up super early because we won't be ready if you show up half an hour earlier It will be very awkward for you sitting somewhere and very awkward for us Having to finish what we are doing Knowing that you're sitting somewhere so ten minutes five minutes earlier is perfectly fine But if you are earlier at the premise just walk around the building one million times It's less awkward than awkwardly sitting somewhere It makes sense to ask what to bring if it's not in the instruction and also That's again interact with the team because it will probably go for lunch with them You don't have to be super all over the top with talking non-stop and being the most outgoing person ever But make sure to show a little bit of an interest in your future colleagues and listen to their conversations ask some questions And mind the company's dress code. I know that for engineering Applicants, this is normally not Super important that you don't have to show up in a suit normally if you apply in a bank You might have to show up in a suit. So check a little bit the The the company culture that you are applying for and see what makes sense how to go there It's not super important, but it just shows Yeah, again some effort that you inform yourself and also if you have a Like a test or a task or something to work on you will have a presentation Maybe some feedback. Please react appropriately So don't get super defensive and be like well I didn't have the time to do this or well This was not a rightly phrased question. Even if this is the case make sure to Take the feedback say well, okay. I will work on this the next time just like try to react appropriately Yeah, you have one minute to sum up all the things sum up all the things again motivation It's very important I cannot stress this enough because I have this might be like the main reason or the majority of people that we would reject Because it tends people come off super unmotivated to actually join the company or to do the job So really make sure that you showcase a little bit. You're interested in the company and the job both right? Not just the job, but also the company Prepare take it seriously Just confidence is good being overly confident walking in like everybody was just waiting Is a little bit tricky Exactly don't tip the scale confidence versus arrogance Have realistic expectations about the job, but make sure you have the right expectations and again And this is the message I want to leave you guys with today And I hope that you took some hints and tricks out of it if you want to discuss more. I'm happy I'm also somewhere around later make sure you're very aware of what you want and What you don't want and adequately be able to communicate it All right, oh my timer is done Sorry, I don't even know how to turn it off. Okay, okay awkward ending if you have any questions I think we still have a little bit time for questions, right? Thank you. I have to stay in this thing We have a presentation training at our company and they say don't stay behind the booth Sorry, Katarina, but you have to stay I had to win the white man So I'll okay Great talk, thank you you mentioned in the side projects to Put your blobs at your hub accounts, etc. Etc. But you didn't mention as side projects your If you want to do a sport dance, oh play music. Yeah, okay, etc That's actually a really good compliment. I think your behavior How much is important for you? That's a very good point actually that I completely neglect it But thank you very much. It is absolutely nice to also write in your CV Or mentioned somewhere your hobbies Absolutely because it makes you a little bit more approachable as a person We know a little bit more who you are and it can also be very impressive For example, if you're running marathons frequently this definitely shows that you are someone who's capable of discipline Who's yeah, like just a person that has passion and who's following through with something So side projects as in an interesting sports interesting hobbies anything that's not related to work is Definitely very beneficial to mention Even in the CV already or also in the on-site visit in the talks. Absolutely more questions For me, it would be really important the company culture and yet you don't actually as an applicant You don't see anyone who works at the company other than HR like the people you're gonna be working with until you've gone through HR How does an applicant assess the company culture? That's a really really good question I think on And many companies you can already find out a lot on the internet actually and for example last door We have a lot of reviews on grass store And I think when you read through the reviews it actually gives you a bit of an idea what it is there Like what it is like to work there or there are also other portals like Konuno in Germany Where you can find out what people say about review company people say about the company Also, you might check out the websites So employer branding is becoming bigger and bigger and normally the companies try to paint a realistic picture What is like to realistic but positive but still realistic? So it makes sense to to check on the internet what you can find and it also makes sense to ask the Asia person To explain you a little bit what it is like to work at trust you with some people ask me at the company sorry still no recruiting still no recruiting People ask me what I like especially about the company and I normally answer very honestly what I what I personally like a lot So this is a question you might ask and ask them to explain you a little bit what the company culture looks like Because it also beneficial for them to be honest about it as I said since they don't want a mismatch. I Hope that answered your question a little bit One more question Yeah, exactly like the HR screening would normally be the first content you can ask them there One more question that was very quick comment. So we have one more question Hi, thank you. So I've been in your situation where I've been interviewing people and one of the questions that People have asked me at the end is can you give me any feedback? Oh, yeah on the spot What do you think of that question with an interview process? Oh, yeah, yeah Yes, that's a tricky one. That's a tricky one. You would know probably I Think it's it's a good question It's a good question and it forces the interviewer to answer Sort of honestly, I would say at least I try to answer very honestly because it makes a sense to say well This was amazing greatest interview I ever had and then a week later again by the way we're declining you So it's I think it's a very good question And it gives you the chance to know right away where you stand Because normally the interviewer would give you an honest feedback like packed nicely, of course And like you wouldn't say like that was just creepy, sorry But you would say that I'm not sure if this is like a very good match right now I can see you're looking for something different, but then you already have your answers So and it will never be taken negatively. I would say so I think it's a good question to ask Already in the HR screening, but also for the for the tech screenings. I would say especially because you have very Technical just like non-emotional feedback because this is like very you know straightforward All right, let's thank our speakers again