When you apply for a job at a highly competitive tech company, chances are you will not get it. Not many jobs get only one applicant, and the competition is intense. You could be competing for a role with hundreds or thousands of applicants. Some companies hire less than 5% of the people who apply (even with referrals). Let’s discuss a couple of the most important factors you should consider when identifying your application targets.
#1: Do I fit these qualifications?
This may not be the first question you ask yourself, but it is the most important one for assessing your chance to get the job. Most job descriptions list minimum and preferred qualifications, and you need to be *nailing* those qualifications to get a good look from recruiters and hiring managers. If you DO fit the qualifications but it isn’t immediately obvious in your resume, you know you have resume work to do. Don’t forget that those resume bullets won’t mean much without clear results or impact statements.
Don’t do like I did. When I was first applying to jobs I made too many assumptions that people would “connect the dots” from my experience. I also thought being a veteran would confer some kind of “bonus” like it does for government jobs. Those are not true assumptions. If you find that you don’t have the right experience for your ideal job, look for lower-level jobs that will get you that experience for the future.
#2: Do I understand & like these responsibilities?
If you ask me, Tech company job descriptions are somewhat less “accurate” than in other industries, because there is much more ambiguity and constant change. If you are looking for a job where you have very clear guidelines for everything, you probably wouldn’t be on this website. That said, you should be as clear as possible on the job responsibilities that are listed, and hopefully you like them. Any high-performance tech job has many challenges; your goal is to find your preferred challenges.
Understanding the approximate responsibilities may be critical to having strong interviews, should you get beyond the recruiting stage. If you are struggling to comprehend some of the listed responsibilities, you could try learning through your network contacts, or other job descriptions.
Example
Here is an excerpt from a job description for User Experience Program Management:
Notice in the responsibilities, it lists some specific things this job will do: scheduling, resource allocation, coordination of teams. You can plan on these activities being a major part of your routine. The next bullet mentions delivery of multiple projects simultaneously. This hints to you that the job is like spinning several plates. These bullets combined should help you anticipate what kind of questions might come up in a later interview. “Tell me about a time you had to deliver different projects with a limited amount of resources?”
Take a look at minimum qualifications. This job has the pretty basic/standard requirement for a BA/BS degree or equivalent practical experience. I would not rely on the “equivalent practical experience” in most cases. I have seen someone get to the interview stage without a 4 year degree… but it took a LOT of repeated trying, and internal referrals, and some luck. Remember, these jobs are extremely competitive.
Now we get to the preferred qualifications. The first requirement is “Familiarity with design, user research, and innovation processes and experience working with design, research, and engineering professionals.” That seems simple enough, but there is a lot contained here. There are three different processes here: design, user research, and innovation. Are these popping out on the resume? There are also three collaboration partners listed here: design, research, and engineering professionals. A good resume would make it clear that you’ve collaborated with personnel who operate in these roles (to measurable effect).
The next preferred requirement is a little less complicated, asking for demonstrated program/project management skills, and ability to lead complex initiatives. This is, after all, what a program manager does, right? Any good program manager resume would show how you performed while managing programs and projects. So it may help to demonstrate how you were better than peers at such tasks, wherever you are able. Just like the Men In Black, these companies are looking for the best of the best, of the best, with honors!
So if you like the job you see, take these things into account because they will help you spend your effort effectively, and update your resume appropriately. If you aren’t matching up for the qualifications, at or nearly 100%, then adjust your expectations accordingly. If you need more credentials then you get to do what troops do well: make a plan & get the job done.
