Hi Habr! My name is Marina Mogilko. I have been living in the USA for four years and developing LinguaTrip.com, an online platform for booking language courses. Basically, we help with studies - learn English or enter a foreign university, but from time to time they ask for help with work abroad. We do not deal with employment, but we know how to get into a good company in the USA. In general, the secret is simple - upgrade your LinkedIn profile, sell yourself through a resume, and make a good impression in an interview. How to do this, we tell under the cut.
90% of recruiters look for candidates on LinkedIn
Before looking for a job, you need to perfect your LinkedIn profile. Create an account if you don't already have one, and choose English as your primary language because you won't be able to change it later. Come up with a short name to share your profile on social networks. It is better not to write a nickname or year of birth, but to indicate real data. I have Marina Mogilko.
My profile on LinkedIn
A LinkedIn profile is a professional business card, so post business-style photos on it - at work, school, conferences. Put a strict portrait photo of 400x400 px on the avatar, and a neutral one, 646x220 px on the cover. In the title, indicate the position, profession or field of activity.
Add work experience and professional skills. The main thing is that we must write not about what we did, but about what we did. Specifically in figures and facts. Find a LinkedIn profile for each company you've worked for and link to it from your page. If the company does not have a profile, create it yourself and fill it out. If there were several promotions or transitions at the same place of work, be sure to indicate this. Add places of study, projects and volunteer work, as well as links to GitHub and Behance, if any.
Fill out a summary, in which briefly tell about yourself and achievements. It should answer the question: “Why exactly should you be hired or invited to the project?” You can add a couple of keywords to the text to make your profile show up better in search results. However, the key words should be small, and they should be inserted in the right place. LinkedIn also has skills or “skills” from which you need to choose those that you own. The minimum is three, the maximum is 50.
Check all text for errors. To do this, use the Grammarly extension or let's proofread by native speakers. For example, I created a fluent.express service that has English-language editors. Small texts can be checked for free.
After completing your profile, download it. If it takes more than two A4 pages, cut it down.
HR spends an average of three seconds perusing a resume
In top Russian companies, recruiters look through about 200 resumes a day; the situation is similar abroad. To quickly grab attention, you need to make a well-structured, neat and succinct resume. The rules for filling it out in the United States are slightly different from those in Russia. For example, a resume does not include gender, date and place of birth, and does not include a photo, because this information violates discrimination law in the United States.
The title of the resume is the name and surname, they are highlighted in large print. Nearby indicate contacts: phone, email, sometimes instant messengers, as well as a link to a profile on LinkedIn. Then fill in the last 10 years of work experience block in order from last place to first place. For each company, indicate the name, period of work, position, responsibilities. Focus on the results you have achieved - preferably in numbers. If you have ever worked outside your specialty, it is better not to indicate this, especially if such experience is not suitable for the tasks ahead.
My game got 100 downloads in the first week, and a month later it was in the top 10 in its category.
My game was downloaded 100 thousand times in the first week, and one month later it was in the top 10 in its category.
Specify professional skills and competencies. Ideally, they should match the requirements of the job, so for significant employers, it is better to create a separate resume for their request. Unfortunately, many competencies from resumes - “learnability”, “stress resistance”, “multitasking” - have turned into a stable cliché, so it’s better not just to list them, but to decipher them.
Multitasking: I was working on two new projects at the same time, and both were delivered on time.
Multitasking: I worked on two new projects at the same time, and finished both in time.
In the "Education" section, list the names of educational institutions, specialties and terms of study, from higher education to short-term intensives. You can indicate academic performance if you graduated less than three years ago. Additionally, give links to certificates and diplomas.
Fit all the information on 1-2 A4 pages.
Use popular fonts - Arial or Times New Roman.
Font size — 11–12 pt.
Desired formats - PDF or DOCX (DOC).
Do not add information to headers or footers because it may not display or print.
HR makes an opinion about the applicant in the first 10 seconds
The main task of the interview is to show that you are an excellent specialist and a pleasant person at the same time. To do this, follow simple rules: dress cleanly and neatly, smile and be friendly. Before the interview, find out more about the potential employer - the history of the company and its founders, the scope of activities, mission, values and achievements, major clients. So you can show interest in this particular vacancy and stand out from others.
How to pass an interview in English
Start the interview with a small talk - an easy conversation about simple things. Often HR starts it, but the candidate can do it too. Say hello, make an appropriate compliment to HR or the company in which you are interviewing. You can gently joke on neutral topics or at yourself.
Then briefly tell us about yourself - a few words about education and work experience, what projects you like and what tasks you like to solve. It is not necessary to report in detail about all the places of work and projects, especially if they have nothing to boast about. Also, do not talk about hobbies and hobbies that are not related to work.
To illustrate competencies and personal qualities, give examples of work situations. For example, on a previous project, two developers suddenly fell ill, and you and your team leader had to spend the night in the office for a week in order to meet the deadline. So HR will see that you are responsible and root for the result. Think in advance that you will answer a frequent question from recruiters about your weaknesses. It would be nice not only to name minor shortcomings, but also to tell how you deal with them. For example, in order not to be late, you move all the clocks 15 minutes ahead.
Where do you see yourself in 5-10 years? - Another private interview question that allows HR to determine the ambition of the candidate. In Russia, the question is sometimes surprising, because our life is unpredictable. But abroad, for example, in the USA, it is necessary to plan career and personal steps for many years to come, so consider in advance what to tell the employer. In extreme cases, you can simply answer that you want to grow professionally even more and acquire new skills.
Be sure to ask questions yourself, which you divide into two groups: for HR - general and organizational, for the immediate supervisor - technical. As a rule, after an interview with HR, there will be a technical interview, where you can learn more about upcoming tasks, technology stack, principles of interaction, and more. And ask the recruiter about the company, work schedule, salary, team and the like. All of this will help you make an informed decision.
Total
- Create and complete your LinkedIn profile in English. Include all important professional information, but make sure the profile fits on two A4 pages. Add keywords to the summary to better show up in search results. Choose skills — HR will evaluate skills and competencies based on them.
- Resumes in Russia and the USA are different. For states, you do not need to provide gender, date and place of birth, or insert a photo, but you must include a link to LinkedIn and information about achievements.
- Prepare for the interview in advance - find out information about the employer, prepare answers to tricky questions and compose your own for interviewers. Dress neatly, be polite and friendly.
And finally, a short video instruction on how to get into top companies in the USA:
Source: habr.com