How to Review CVs
of IT Specialists: Guide
In the tech sphere, the CV reviewing stage is somewhat different, so it's important for an IT recruiter, especially for someone who is just starting their professional career, to understand how to work with candidate CVs so that the initial selection of candidates, as a result, turns into an accepted offer. Let's talk about this issue in our new article
Developers' CVs: Specifics
1. Demand Exceeds Supply
2. Outdated Data
3. Lack of Execution
Girls are constantly faced with the peculiarities of compiling a CV, daily processing hundreds of CVs of specialists.
CVs of IT specialists differ in that they are not compiled according to currently accepted rules. Since IT professionals are rarely looking for a job and in most cases, they receive offers from recruiters (and not vice versa), they are not motivated to pay careful attention to their CVs. Some employers think that if a person can't skillfully compose a CV, then most likely such a specialist is an irresponsible employee. In the tech sphere, such a belief is false: because of the industry realities, the content of the CV doesn't reflect the real abilities of the candidate.
The most obvious distinguishing feature of an IT-specialist CV is its absence :) Unlike specialists working in other areas, where the gap between supply and demand is not so noticeable, developers don't need to put detailed information about their skills in their CVs, at the best case listing the companies they worked for and the technology stack.
Key Mistakes When Working
with IT Specialists' CVs
When working with specialists' CVs, some IT recruiters pay too much attention to how a candidate's CV is created or composed. If a specialist has a more or less relevant technology stack, but, for example, there is no information about the last years of work, this doesn't mean at all that the candidate hasn't worked anywhere. Most likely, he or she simply hasn't updated the information.
It seems to me that the main mistake is focusing on years of experience of a specialist. If a candidate has 20 years of work experience, this doesn't mean that he or she is a "star" candidate and vice versa: a short work experience doesn't define a specialist as a novice specialist. It's much more important to pay attention to the specifics of the projects in which the specialist was involved. Given the technology and variability of the industry, with the proper level of diligence and hard work, in one and a half to two years, a specialist can become a Senior-level professional.
How to Review CVs of IT Specialists
At the same time, an experienced IT recruiter doesn't seek to make a decision about the relevance of a candidate, based only on the quality of the CV. Often, all that is required is to find a few keywords, among which are the appropriate technology stack, relevant projects, candidate's experience.
When working with CVs of developers, first of all, I pay attention to the experience of a specialist. It's important that there are no gaps in the candidate's professional biography. I also study the candidate's technology stack and projects in which he or she had a chance to work. And, of course, I look for the "contact details" column and I am very glad if I find not only the email but also the candidate's phone number in order to contact a specialist in Telegram. Studies show that now this method of communication with specialists is the most suitable for all parties.
When working with candidates' CVs, I pay attention to the companies and projects where the specialist worked, study the periods of work in each project and, of course, look at the candidate's technology stack. This is the information that will help to form a more or less complete vision of a specialist.
Remember, IT is a candidate market, and the lack of a "perfect" CV is a completely natural and logical consequence of the current situation in the industry. The most important thing is how the specialist acts during the interview.
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