I always had such questions cross my mind whenever I used to apply for a job. I know that these sound like basic queries, but they play a crucial role when getting hired. Now, I know I am not the only one with these confusions.

Hence, I sat with ScoopWhoop’s HR and noted down all the information I could, for our readers. These tips will not only help an individual to get closer to their dream job, but will also assist in attracting more opportunities.

Now, the first question in our mind is how can we make sure that our resume gets noticed in the first place. The easy answer for that is: hiring managers primarily look for years of experience and the previous companies a candidate has worked for. She revealed that they receive various specifications from the hiring managers for a specific role and since they receive more than a hundred applications in a day, they need to get into the specifics to know what they are looking for.

“We need to know what we’re looking for specifically. Primarily, I see the years of experience and the kind of companies you come from. Sometimes, there are also preferences for a particular gender, depending on the kind of audience that a company has, along with the set salary bracket.”

The cover letters don’t matter, a candidate’s personality does.

We often see many companies asking the candidates for a cover letter along with their resume. However, according to the HR, the content doesn’t really matter. She said that how a candidate presents themselves face-to-face is much more important than how they write in their cover letters.

“The HR department doesn’t have the time to read long applications. So, cover letters don’t really matter because we don’t want to know how nicely you can write down essays or copy them from the internet. We want more practicality and when it comes to a job interview, we want you to be more presentable and better in communication.”

Be creative with the resumes, but don’t make it lengthy.

We usually write long paragraphs in our resume, intending to lure the hiring managers. However, it’s the creativity that matters and not the lengthy paragraphs.

“We are a millennial-based organization and we want the candidates to be very creative. When I get creative emails, I get very excited because they’ve put in a lot of effort – even in the subject line. I think creativity always wins. Also, one should keep the email extremely short. Sometimes, people send their decks along with their portfolio resumes and that works too. Whatever you do, don’t make the resume extremely lengthy, and never forget to put your email and your number.”

Always research about the company before the interview.

After a candidate’s resume is selected, the hiring managers will get back to them if they match the criteria in terms of the salary bracket, years of experience and good communication skills. Additionally, they expect the candidate to have basic knowledge of the company.

“For the next step, I want them to make some effort. They should read about the company and do a little bit of website and social media research. If they do end up doing it, the hiring managers are extremely happy in the first round of interviews that they did do their homework. Whenever this advice is given, they usually perform well. Research and homework are very, very important.”

Salary negotiation in start-ups is easier as compared to the bigger companies. 

For a candidate, knowing their package is one of the most important things before starting the job. The HR talked about how it’s easier to negotiate in small-size companies.

“If you go for smaller startups, it’s easier to negotiate. But if you apply to an extremely huge organization, it becomes difficult to negotiate because we are more process-oriented, organized, structured and have annual budgets.”

Salary negotiation is rare, but it does happen.

While the hiring managers mostly let go of the candidates who ask for higher packages, sometimes, they do negotiate – it all depends on the need.

“It’s rare because I get a budget from my hiring manager and they’ve got it from the head of the team. There are a lot of times when we’ve had to let go of a lot of great candidates because we can’t go beyond that budget. But sometimes, there’s also a desperate need and in those times, we figure it out. Even then, we make sure that it’s adjusted somewhere else.”

A few quick tips.

To conclude the conversation, she shared some additional tips for the candidates.

“The most crucial thing is to keep your LinkedIn extremely clean and put down a minimum of four to five KRA’s. When we are taking your interview, we will go through your profile and if it’s very shabby, you won’t be selected. The same goes for your resume. The hiring people get disinterested because they can see that you’re not even making an effort in these areas which are so professional. Additionally, keep the resume very systematic and clean so that it looks nice and appealing. You should also have good knowledge about the company.”

Disclaimer: Please note that the information provided in this article is based on our creative-based company and could differ for other industries.