How companies hire and what you need to know to achieve job search success

EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of Chan With A Plan, host Max Chan speaks with Joseph Kim, the Director of Talent Acquisition at Kira Systems where he has led growth efforts to scale the company by more than 500%. We talk about job search strategies in general and what recruiters look for in selecting a candidate from 1st round screening to sending out that coveted job offer. In addition, we also dive deep into Kira Systems’ hiring process to get an inside look at how his company evaluates candidates so you can get an idea of what companies such as his, looks for in a standout application to increase your odds of engaging with more companies that want you as their next hire. 

QUOTES

“I’ll tell you right now, many Talent Acquisition professionals are very biased towards you having done the role before, or the job before, unless you are applying for an early career job, they will want to have seen you do something similar in capacity as opposed to taking a chance.” - Joseph Kim [23:57]
“[When it comes to finding proper salary information] I think what you need to be doing is asking other professionals in your network who are in a similar role, if I want to be let’s say a senior accountant on a finance team what’s the kind of compensation I should expect to ask, or what I should be expecting in terms of compensation.” - Joseph Kim [1:01:17]
“[When it comes to reaching out to recruiters] I feel like a lot of people send those notes without doing the leg work involved to prepare for those conversations or do the work that makes me want to engage with you.” - Joseph Kim [1:28:01]

TIMESTAMPS

[0:05] Meet Joseph
[4:44] Difference between a 3rd party/agency recruiter compared to an internal company recruiter
[10:01] The importance of LinkedIn as part of your overall job search strategy and what to do to optimize your LinkedIn profile to increase messages sent to you from recruiters for potential job opportunities
[16:24] An overview of the Applicant Tracking System (ATS) and what it does as part of a company’s recruiting process
[20:01] The process of creating a job ad for a new role
[23:16] How close of a match you need to be with the job ad in order to apply and have a good chance at getting an interview
[26:38] Discussing if ATS systems auto-reject resumes that don’t fit a certain criteria outlined by the recruiter
[28:53] How much time on average does a recruiter spend looking at a resume
[32:28] Joseph’s tips on writing a good resume to increase your response rate for online job applications
[37:44] Does Kira Systems emphasize on cover letters for their online job applications and Joseph’s opinion on cover letters for your job search
[39:22] Additional documents you should upload as part of your online job application to strengthen your candidacy
[41:45] Resume tips for recent grads 
[47:31] Average amount of candidates that get selected for a 1st round screening at Kira Systems
[50:33] Reference and Background check process at Kira Systems
[54:29] How Kira Systems competes for top talent against the big companies that everyone knows and wants to work for
[59:12] How compensation is crafted at Kira Systems and why some companies ask salary expectations at the 1st round screening call
[1:00:58] Finding good accurate salary information for a role you are interviewing for to not eliminate yourself out of the running for an opportunity
[1:04:23] Discussing Kira Systems interview process and what they look for in a candidate 
[1:14:24] Joseph’s thoughts on thank you notes and follow up Emails from candidates
[1:15:57] If a candidate doesn’t get the role at Kira Systems that they interviewed for, is it ok to apply to another role in the future, how soon can you apply again and how many can you apply to at once
[1:17:47] Would Kira Systems be proactive in reaching out to a candidate that’s on file that didn’t get the job they apply for to apply for another role at the company
[1:19:09] Joseph’s thoughts on 1 way video interview screenings 
[1:20:53] Joseph’s opinion on professionals job hopping for a better opportunity
[1:23:04] The advantage of being a referral candidate for a job opening compared to going in completely cold and tips from Joseph on how to network properly to get that referral
[1:27:17] Best practices when wanting to reach out to the recruiter who posted the job ad on LinkedIn
[1:32:06] Joseph’s opinion on sending your LinkedIn profile as part of your online application if you apply to a company’s job through LinkedIn directly
[1:33:04] A major roadblock that Joseph has faced and what he did to overcome it to move his career forward
[1:35:08] Best practices on how older workers can collaborate and work well with younger professionals that are part of the Gen Z and Millennial generation 
[1:38:03] Contacting Joseph
[1:38:48] Outro

RESOURCES & RELEVANT LINKS

Kira Systems
Joseph Kim on LinkedIn
Chan With A Plan
Max Chan on LinkedIn