Crescent Solutions’ own expert IT recruiter, Jocelyne Capil, joined the LA chapter of the Salesforce User Group for an event at BRÜ HAUS in Westwood—a night full of free drinks and food, networking, and talks on technology and cloud computing.
Jocelyn Capil giving her presentation to the Salesforce User Group.
Capil, along with the Vice President at Marketo—the creator of major marketing automation software—and web-conferencing company and sponsor of the event, ReadyTalk, each enlightened the 60 attendees at the group meeting on their unique experiences. Our IT recruiter educated the crowd on her expertise on building a top-notch and polished resume, bringing insider knowledge on what IT hiring managers look for in those sometimes difficult-to-master CVs. After all, as Capil pointed out, generating a technology resume is unlike any other resume, and hiring managers take on average only six seconds to pass or move forward with a resume.
Six seconds. Better make that good impression…and quick.
She pointed out some of the major pitfalls of tech resumes, which included hard-to-read and unformatted ones. Unlike the famous saying, “Don’t judge a book by its cover,” hiring managers do judge people based on the look of their resumes. Another pro-tip Capil gave was that candidates often included an “objective” in their resumes, which tech employers do not want to see; instead they prefer to see a “summary” that shows a high-level overview of a person’s career as well as a “technical skills” section highlighting a proficiency level in software applications and computer programs.
Members networking at the event over drinks and food.
Another common flaw in tech resumes is that oftentimes contenders list too many irrelevant details about themselves, such as hobbies, personal interests, and the eye-sore, “references available upon request.” On top of that, resumes need some meat to them and applicants usually don’t include enough details or specifics. Paragraphs should be changed to bullet points, experiences need to be quantified (i.e. details on how many users were helped), and the type of work environment needs to be described (i.e. entertainment company).
Capil also stressed the importance of including ROI statements. Candidates need to show employers how they’ve made an impact at their previous companies, how they completed an implementation ahead of a schedule or budget, and how they streamlined processes. She encouraged members to use LinkedIn to beef up a resume—like a person’s involvement in groups, a list of skills, and endorsements from coworkers.
“People approached me after the event with questions,” Capil said. “One had a question about what if you’re applying for a job you know you’d be a good fit for, but your background qualifications don’t meet the qualifications.”
She explained to the member that in all honestly, hiring managers don’t usually give people chances due to their average six-second resume review time, but IT recruiters do because they take the time to market candidates.
Best of all, for fans of TV sitcom Arrested Development, Capil used a mock resume belonging to George Oscar Bluth, Jr. (GOB, the magician) as her main example during her presentation.
After the talks, members of the User Group stayed back to chat with the presenters and members at the bar during the casual networking portion of the night. The LA Salesforce User Group, which has 650 members, organizes these events once a quarter (and is trying to increase the frequency of the get-togethers). The events are free and anyone can join. Salesforce, the company itself, provides cloud computing solutions in customer relationship management (CRM). Sum-Sum Chan, who is a CRM, business, and marketing consultant, is the leader of the Salesforce User Group and has been for the past five years.
“Our User Group fosters a community of Salesforce users, administrators, developers, partners, and basically anybody who is a part of the Salesforce space,” said Chan. “It’s a great way to meet all the players out there who are movers and shakers, and people who attend are all in the know.”
She encourages people in the IT community to join the Salesforce User Group—which also has chapters in other cities like Orange County and San Diego—to add color to their resumes, to learn about CRM processes, network for job opportunities, and develop collaborations with other members. Her group is always looking for members to help present at their events—a way for people to increase exposure and personal branding. More information on how to become a member can be found here.