The job market in IT and game development is currently very challenging. We are all going through a crisis together, so we are focusing on the right solutions that will help us emerge from this crisis as winners. My job is to find the best specialists on the market. We are looking for people to join our team to create great products that will contribute to the development of Ukrainian businesses, scale them up, and make them successful.
Every day I review hundreds of CVs and communicate with candidates from different fields who want to join our team. Sometimes communication turns into a fiasco, mainly because the candidate is not ready for a job search or does not quite understand how this process works. People cannot find work for several months, and I am sure this is not always due to a lack of skills or experience. Very often, big mistakes lie where the candidate does not expect them.
I love people very much and I want to help them find a great job, but not all recruiters are so motivated and humane. I have collected a few tips that may seem obvious but still not taken seriously in the era of digital etiquette.
Finding a job is a huge project.
Don't shift the responsibility for your job search to the recruiter and follow international rules:
Prepare your space and gadgets. People still come to interviews with their phones. At the first moment with the candidate, we are faced with poor image quality or the camera constantly moving because the candidate is holding the phone in their hands. Sometimes, the Internet may drop during the meeting or the courier may bring someone food. Be sure you have everything you need for self-presentation: a laptop, charger, good lighting, neat clothes, a quiet place, and don't smoke e-cigarettes during the interview. All these items are the basic set that will help you make a decent first impression. The first interview with a recruiter is an investment in your career. You are selling your services and showing a teaser of how comfortable it will be to work with you.
Play the company's games. The games we create reflect our skills, development vision, design, style, etc. Your work depends on your understanding of how it works. I always add links to our games in the vacancy description, but unfortunately, out of 20 responses to the position, only two people download and play our games. We all find time to chat and get to know each other better. Out of respect for the candidates' time, we do not ask them to complete the games to level 80, but to go through and click on everything — this is simply a must-have.
Recharge your energy. I understand that times are tough, and I see many candidates who are already desperate and have a lot of experience of rejection from previous interviews. In addition, the general situation on the market and their circumstances can pressure them. Invest this time in meditation, books, and anything that will give you back this energy. Every team wants a mentally stable person who is ready for challenges and knows how to deal with them.
Create a structured portfolio or CV. If your portfolio or CV is called "final version 34", I will never find it quickly in the database. It also takes a lot of time to request a CV with a portfolio. In the modern world, there are already a lot of free resources for creating a digital presentation of yourself. You can put everything in one document: the main facts about you, your portfolio, and everything you need to know about you as a specialist.
In today's fast-paced world, recruiters are often pressed for time, having just 5 seconds to scan your resume and decide if you're a good fit for the job. Make the most of those precious seconds by making your resume easy to read and scan. Help the recruiter get everything about you, and structure this information so you will easily find yourself among the favorites.
AI or not AI — that is the question. Artificial intelligence has come to us to simplify our work processes, but not to do it for us. I can recite all the cover letters that ChatGPT can write. This is not of interest to the company if you have not paid separate attention to creating a personalized message. You can write something from yourself so it has your style and your thoughts, and use AI for editing, not ask it to create this post for you.
Finding a job is a challenge, but I believe you can cope with it, and I will periodically help you understand how to do it even better.