In the last six months since Sprout has kicked off, I’ve noticed it’s actually quite easy to differentiate yourself as a candidate. Forget experience, background, personality, competencies etc… focus on the basics first and your application will stand out.
First impressions count
“You have reached the voicemail of 027 xxx xxx, please leave a message…”
Ummm okay. “It’s Brien from Sprout, I am calling you about a job that you applied for… I’m not entirely sure it is you, but if you could call me that would be great”.
Personalise your voicemail greeting – it’s really weird leaving a message when you don’t know the person’s name.
Then when ‘Jonty’ (not his real name, but I was a big Jonty Rhodes fan) does call back, and I ask ‘what interested you about the role?’, to hear they’re not quite sure isn’t the best start.
Yesterday I even got an angry response from someone when I asked the same question. “Isn’t it obvious on my CV?!” Trust me, it wasn’t obvious - but even if it was, build some rapport. Be nice. We speak to quite a few people, so let’s have a proper conversation.
The small things matter
I include my name, email and contact number on every advertisement I write.
On average I have my name spelled incorrectly 50% of the time. It might sound silly, but when I see an application that addresses me; Brien, versus ‘sirs / to whom it may concern / dear hiring manager / recruiter’ - I actually get excited that this candidate could be the real deal. Or at the very least is a real person!
Attenttion to Detail
Notice anything wrong with the above??? It is quite scary how many times I see ‘close attention to detail’ on someone’s CV, right alongside a typo. So be careful what you put out there as a strength and make sure you practice what you preach. All it might take is to use a spell check and ask a friend to read through your application.
In the first instance your CV/application is all we have to base an initial opinion on you - so take your time and make it count.
The covering letter
A lot of recruiters and hiring managers never actually read the covering letter, which understandably leads to people not bothering to write one. I always read them.
Why? First off it shows me that you are genuinely interested in the role. You can often assume those that haven’t sent a tailored covering letter are submitting blanket applications online with minimal thought or effort.
It also gives me some context. Why you are interested, what your situation is, anything else that is relevant from the advertisement that might not be obvious in your CV.
I don’t just look at the content, but how the letter is structured. Most covering letters I do get, look like they could be sent through Twitter.
Forget recruiters and candidates, people are people
At Sprout we do our best to avoid the word ‘candidate’ and you’ll notice on our website we use the word ‘people’. So, when you speak to a recruiter or a hiring manager, remember that they are also people.
Don’t be scared to be a human – we make mistakes! I had someone this week, who realised they’d sent the wrong covering letter. They contacted me immediately, letting me know and resent the correct document. No biggie. I was actually really happy about that this – it showed me they are accountable, responsive and like me, a human that sometimes makes mistakes.
So before clicking that apply button; set up your voicemail, spell check that CV, work out if and why you are actually interested in the role and write a decent covering note that illustrates why.
If it’s a role with Sprout, I can guarantee your application will get the attention it deserves.
