Table Of ContentThe
Perfect Fit
This pandemic, find out how you can be the perfect fit
for that IT job you have been eyeing for!
By Jo Sevilla
Table of Contents
Tell me something that is not in your resume!
Chapter 1: The Soft Skills
Communication
Customer-centricity
Business acumen
Chapter 2: The Hard Skills
Cloud Computing Engineers
Computer Network Specialists
Computer Support Specialists
Database Administrator
Information Technology Analysts
Information Technology Leadership
Information Security Specialist
Software/Application Developer
Web Developer
Chapter 3: Everything In Between
How bad do you want this job?
Why did you choose that company?
Did you pray for this job?
About the Author
Tell me something that is not in your resume!
This is usually the way I ask applicants to introduce themselves. I often ask
them to tell me something which is not found in their resume. Why? Because
most applicants would just prepare for and memorize what is in their
curriculum vitae/resume. You better just ask us to read if that is the case. We
want to get to know you as a person. We want a real conversation. We expect
you to tell us a bit about your family perhaps, what you love doing during
your spare time, what your pet peeves are, etc.
The way managers screen applicants for whatever position, may vary, but the
intrinsic qualities that they look for are similar, one way or another and, guess
what — most of them are not found in the resume either.
As the hiring manager, we make an initial assessment whether you will be a
good fit to the team or not. And because you will most likely be part of our
reporting line, we want to know if there is a professional jive between us, as
early as the interview process.
According to Jim Collin’s book Good to Great, the old saying “People are
your most important asset” turns out to be wrong. People are not a company’s
most important asset. The right people are! So it is indeed critical to get the
right people in the bus.
Given the current pandemic, most, if not all interviews are conducted
virtually. This is an extra challenge for both sides to determine chemistry, but
really, it can be done. With the numerous video call platforms, face to face
interaction can easily be replicated.
This book will unravel key considerations in short-listing candidates for an IT
post. Well, the soft skills part is applicable to any post, in fact. These are
based from my actual experiences and observations in screening applicants
for level 1 and support roles (some internal, a lot external) for the past ten
(10) years.
So, what are you waiting for? Read away and find out how you can be The
Perfect Fit!
© 2020 Jo Sevilla
Chapter 1: The Soft Skills
S
oft skills, according to Wikipedia, are a combination of interpersonal
people skills, social skills, communication skills, character traits,
attitudes, career attributes and emotional intelligence quotient (EQ)
among others.
Do you need all of these in IT? Certainly! But how do you show the
interviewer that you have just the right amount of the important elements to
excel in the IT position you are applying for.
Let’s just say that during interview, about 80% of the deciding factor would
be the soft skills because hard skills would entail doing the actual job before
fitness is proven.
In determining “the right people,” the good-to-great companies placed
weight on character attributes than on specific educational background,
practical skills, specialized knowledge or work experience...not that they are
unimportant but they viewed these traits as more teachable/learnable,
whereas they believed dimensions like character, work ethic, basic
intelligence, dedication to fulfilling commitments and values are more
ingrained. (Good to Great, Jim Collins)
Communication
There are two types of communication skills: verbal and written. Well, there
is a third type which is non-verbal/body language. This should also be
considered. You need to show acceptable competency levels on all fronts.
How?
For the verbal type, there is no need for perfect grammar nor to prepare a
speech likened to a valedictory address. Being conversational and getting
your thoughts across are all that matter. You should be able to express
yourself comfortably and in an organized way to the interviewer.
“...dimensions like character, work ethic, basic
intelligence, dedication to fulfilling commitments and
values are more ingrained.”
Be very ready to answer behavioral questions. What are they? They are an
interviewer’s manner of questioning that aims to bring out the “how” in a
specific situation. They do not only reveal your innate abilities and skills but
also help assess whether a candidate can enumerate concrete examples of
experiences that relate to the thrown question or not. And more importantly,
your answers to these questions bring out character traits and career attributes
to the surface. indeed.com has a good article sharing some of the most
common behavioral questions asked in an interview.
1. Tell me about a time when you handled a challenging situation.
2. Tell me about a time when you made a mistake. What did you do to
correct it?
3. Tell me about a time when you were in conflict with a peer and how
the situation was resolved.
4. Tell me about how you work under pressure.
5. Give me an example of how you set goals.
6. Give me an example of a time you made a decision that was unpopular
and explain how you handled implementing it.
7. Share an example of how you were able to motivate a coworker, your
peers or your team.
8. Tell me about a goal you set and reached and how you achieved it.
9. Tell me about the last time your workday ended before you were able
to get everything done.
10. Tell me about a goal you failed to achieve.
Please get the link at the Reference section if you want to read the full article
as they also provided suggested answers to the questions above.
Red flags:
*Jumper - someone who consistently jumps from one company to another
without significant tenure. You would hear various reasons from not being
regularized to project ending fast to not liking the salary/benefits/work
arrangements etc.
*Bad-mouther - someone who talks ill of current employer or boss. There
is a way to communicate the reason for wanting to leave such as desire for
growth, limitation on span of control, wanting financial progress, etc, without
bad-mouthing anyone. And concerns for current employer should be settled
off the bat.
The second type which is focused on the written part can quickly be assessed
two ways: thru how your curriculum vitae (CV) or resume is written and the
result of any written assessment the company asks you to complete.
In case you do not know the difference yet. Curriculum vitae gives a whole
run-down of your work experiences together with the tasks you performed
under each position. While resume only lists down roles/experiences that are
relevant to the position that you are applying for.
For example, if you are applying for a Technical Support Representative role,
a CV lists down your professional history including perhaps your first work
as an attendant of a fast food chain. Or your short stint as a freelance
copywriter. While a resume would only list down previous work which is
connected to being a Technical Support such as perhaps a prior experience as
Customer Service Rep, IT Support, Field Support, etc.
Green Flags:
*Minimum to no spelling/grammar mistakes found.
*Use of a professional looking template.
*Sequence of work experience is from most recent to oldest. This eases
discussion and will not confuse the interviewer.
Now the third or the often-unspoken part is the non-verbal form of
communication or body language. Before we forget that we are in the middle
of a pandemic and may be doing all of these the new normal way, the
interviewer might prefer a full-on video call or just an audio chit-chat,
whatever the case may be, you need to be prepared.
For a video interview, needless to say, you have to dress the part. Choose a
location at home where the internet is good, there are no possible distractions
and well, the background is presentable enough to be shown or shared. I am
not even kidding. I have attended a webinar where one of the participants is
in the middle of an unruly kitchen, all untidy dishes in sight and everyone at
home seem to have passed by. Just use a virtual background if it cannot be
helped. As for the non-verbal cues, it will be easier to tell if your hiring
manager is dozing off with your long explanation. Or if you spot a frown
every time you talk over his statements.
For a simple call or audio interview, this type I have done several times this
pandemic. The thing with no video is that the interviewer has a tendency to
focus on every single thing that you say making mistakes magnified. I guess
a good sign would be if the interview is getting less of a question and answer
format to a more conversational dialogue. If the manager also starts sharing
with you his plans and how he can use your expertise in the team or
recognize your experiences as a good contribution to the team he is building.
Customer-centricity
Big word huh?! What is customer-centricity and why is it important in
everything that we do for the company? Customers are simply the ones who
pay the bills that’s why!
According to Harvard Business Review’s 6 Ways to Build a Customer-
Centric Culture written by Denise Lee Yown, the 2nd of the 6 ways is to hire
for customer orientation.
During the interview process, hiring managers are required to ask every
candidate, regardless of role, a question to gauge their customer orientation.
Kirsty Traill, the company’s VP for Customer, explains that this practice not
only assesses candidates and ensures that every new employee is aligned to
customer-centric thinking, but also sends a clear message to everyone —
recruits and hiring managers alike — about the importance of customer
experience at the company.
So how will your customer-centric abilities surface during interview? Show
your awareness of customer-centered key performance indicators (KPIs) such
as Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) Scores, Net Promoter Scores (NPS),
Customer Retention Rate and others that your current employer is utilizing.
Whether you are an agent or in the ranks, you can make a good mention of
how you did well in your CSAT or how you led your team to improve its
NPS.
You can also enumerate scenarios or situations when you had to put your A
game in handling a customer. It can be turning around the experience of an
irate customer. It can be applying a strategy that is inconvenient to you and
your team but was able to resolve a complicated stakeholder escalation.
Whatever it is, it can help show that you have a heart for our customers
Business acumen
Business acumen, simply put, is understanding beyond your role. This means
that your knowledge goes past your immediate tasks. You know a fair
number of things about your industry relative to your tenure in your current
company. You can confidently speak about your organization. It can be about
its goals, performance, and for leaders, some financial tidbits.
Stakeholder awareness is also a good reference of having business acumen.
Being conscious of the needs of the key resources you interface with
regularly, is a good sign that you do not live under a rock and are only
concerned about yourself. Not that self-awareness is not important. In fact, it
is. Being aware of your place and contributions in the larger organization is
business acumen in itself.
At the end of the day, companies are businesses and their aim is to be
profitable. Sharing projects or initiatives that made your team, department or
the whole company realize savings are worth sharing during the interview.
This adds value to your application as having been part of such projects mean
you have the skills and experience to possibly run the same in the new
company.
Chapter 2: The Hard Skills
H
ard skills are the professional abilities acquired either thru studies or
work experiences. I want you to have an idea of the various
Information Technology roles you can apply for. My suggestion is
for you to research further once you have narrowed down your choices. This
will be helpful not just for fresh graduates but also to those who want to shift
expertise/area someday. I will fully reference the write-up of Alison Doyle
written just last year (2019) entitled IT Jobs: Career Options, Job Titles, and
Descriptions in the website www.thebalancecareers.com.
Cloud Computing Engineers
Cloud computing engineers define, design, build, and maintain systems and
solutions leveraging systems and infrastructure managed by cloud providers
such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure.
• Cloud Architect
• Cloud Consultant
• Cloud Product and Project Manager
• Cloud Services Developer
• Cloud Software and Network Engineer
• Cloud System Administrator
• Cloud System Engineer
Computer Network Specialists
Computer network specialists and analysts define, design, build, and
maintain a variety of data communication networks and systems. They
typically have a bachelor’s degree in computer science or a related field.
Some also have a master’s degree in business administration (MBA), with a
focus on information systems.
• Computer and Information Research Scientist
• Computer and Information Systems Manager
• Computer Network Architect
• Computer Systems Analyst
• Computer Systems Manager
• IT Analyst
• IT Coordinator
• Network Administrator
• Network Architect
• Network and Computer Systems Administrator
• Network Engineer
• Network Systems Administrator
• Senior Network Architect
• Senior Network Engineer
• Senior Network System Administrator
• Telecommunications Specialist
Computer Support Specialists
Computer support specialists and network administrators help computer
users and organizations. Some of these workers support computer networks
by testing and evaluating network systems and ensuring that the day-to-day
operations work. Others provide customer service by helping people with
their computer problems. Some require a bachelor’s degree, while others
need an associate degree or post-secondary classes.
• Customer Support Administrator
• Customer Support Specialist
• Desktop Support Manager
• Desktop Support Specialist
• Help Desk Specialist
• Help Desk Technician
• IT Support Manager
• IT Support Specialist
• IT Systems Administrator
• Senior Support Specialist
• Senior System Administrator
• Support Specialist
• Systems Administrator
• Technical Specialist
• Technical Support Engineer
• Technical Support Specialist
Database Administrator
Database administrators help store and organize data or companies and/or
customers. They protect the data from unauthorized users. Some work for
companies that provide computer design services. Others work for
organizations with large database systems, such as educational institutions,
