You are looking for a job? Impress me!

21. Oct 2006.

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Let’s make one thing straight right now – this article has nothing to do with the fact that more and more girls and guys are contacting us and ask for a job. Really! However, if you’re the one looking for a position, maybe these few tips would help.

The scenario is always pretty much the same – you are sending an e-mail to jobs@somecompany.com. Let’s see what would I look for if I’m the one who’s hiring…

All positions

CV is a must. Short, but sweet. It should tell me anything I might be interested in, but only the relevant stuff. Give me the facts, not the story:

Name and contact details are mandatory, the rest of your personal information should be reduced to a minimum.
Education – including all relevant courses, seminars, books read (very desirable) etc. I don’t digg formal education when it comes to a new media.
Experience – provide links, even from the early work – I’d like to see your professional development.
An impressive fact – employers like pleasant surprises. The most surprising application usually wins. If you’re a designer, show me your single best project. If you’re a developer, tell me about the concept you never had a chance to use in practice.

Check your spelling. There’s no second chance.

The CV should be well designed. I’m not saying that you should have your personal logo or anything, but the typography should be well though and it should reflect you as a person and show me that you clearly understand what you are applying for. You are going to work in web design industry, so I have to be sure you understand the media and its priorities.

PDF is always more professional, than MSWord document. Don’t send both.

Don’t push it within the e-mail message text. Something like…

“I’d love to work for your company. In case you are looking for some young guns, I attached my CV.

Regards,
John Smith”

… is perfectly fine. Don’t be too cheesy. In fact don’t be cheesy at all.

You have to know about the web standards and their importance. You don’t have to be a guru already, but you should show me a strong desire to become one some day.

Last, but, by any means, not least – getting along with your co-workers is the most valuable trait you can possibly have.

Designer/illustrator

Designers are usually the first ones when it comes to actual project production. However, as a designer, you have to understand other people’s responsibilities and the problems they are facing (i.e. difficulty to slice PSD file into a well structured HTML/CSS document). You might be the queen, but a good queen always appreciate her knights.

Understanding of the technological limitations on the web is the most crucial.

If you’ve got bags of talent, and you are also familiar with web standards – you’re most probably in.

Client-side developer

You have to understand the importance of visual details – every layout can be done. One way or another. As a comfort, at least you’ll have a chance to push the limits by creating a new techniques. And I know you are highly motivated.

Accessibility understanding is a must and the applicant has to convince me that a visitor is really, and I mean really, in the first place.

Server-side developer

Besides unmatched programming skills, you have to understand the usability and the HTML specs. You’ll be the one who will deliver content from a database into web standards compliant HTML documents.

If you’re going to show me a great web application you’ve made, I’d be probably looking for:

simplicity
clean, well commented and well structured code
clear and understandable application interaction
graceful application fallback

Marko Dugonjić is a designer specialized in user experience design, web typography and web standards. He runs a nanoscale user interface studio Creative Nights and organizes FFWD.PRO, a micro-conference and workshops for web professionals.

Interested in more content like this?

Follow @markodugonjic

15 shouts to “You are looking for a job? Impress me!”

abeja
001—2006.10.23.14:55

I’ll take those tips under consideration the next time when applying for the job…
I hope it will be successful!
Michel Bozgounov
002—2006.10.24.14:26

Nice post! Very clear!

I once have won a “battle” for a webdesigner’s position, by writing a rather standard CV and a motivation letter which defeated any standards in writing such letters, and was really motivating:)

BTW, you’re right, “books you have read” is a nice thing to add, never thought about it. Also, one may add any certificates from real tests/courses completed (example: Brainbench are not bad in assessing one’s proficiency in a specific field).

My $ 0,02 :)
marko
003—2006.10.24.14:58

Michel, yes the ‘books read’ is maybe the most significant indicator of a developer’s personal motivation.
Michel Bozgounov
004—2006.10.24.15:43

Marko, you’re right!

What I have learned on webdesign, standards, CSS coding, etc., I have learned from books, and (I avow that, even much more) from reading blogs of other designers ( Doug Bowman, Dan Cederholm, Eric Meyer, others, no need to mention them all:) ) and experimenting myself, creating and modifying code and just continue reading and reading and reading! It’s how all has started long ago :-)

Times are changing, I do not have a diploma for what I do right now (XHTML/CSS coding) and I work in this field successfully for more than 2 years. Some time ago, a diploma would be required, but not anymore. The media is new, and developing very fast… What you do is more important now than a piece of paper:) And this is definitely a good thing!

I just never thought that mentioning books on design/code one may have read would be a good thing to include into a CV. Now you gave me an idea! :-)

Greets, Michel
paul mcguillicutty
005—2006.10.24.23:12

love how you tell people to mind their spelling, then continue to use broken english in your post. :)
marko
006—2006.10.24.23:25

Paul, you’re right, my English is far from the best.

Still, every employer would like to see correctly written CV. Even if that means the applicant would send her CV to a professional translator.
Michel Bozgounov
007—2006.10.25.10:59

Paul, Marko,

It all depends on the requirement how good must your English be for a certain job position:-)

Spelling and grammar should be close to perfect, but one typo in 2 pages of text wouldn’t matter much, I think. 10 typos will, though:)

So it all depends.

On the other hand, sending your text to a professional translator (in case you know the language very well but not perfectly) is maybe not so good an idea. Your letter will show how good are you with the language. No need to make it like an “icon” and pray on it:-) Double-check your spelling, but write everything with your own words… Even englishmen can make mistakes from time to time:)

If I am the employer, I would much more prefer to see an imperfect letter written by the job candidate than a letter, translated and optimized by a professional translator… :)

IMHO, of course:)

Michel
Maleika E.A.
008—2006.10.25.20:21

Very nice summary. I have to say that making mention of your own book material has never crossed my mind. Now I know why so many webdesigners have a mile long list of book recommendations … I think I’m off to create one for my site as well. :)
marko
009—2006.10.26.08:33

Yes, a smart applicant would look for such lists : )
yellow bulldozer
010—2006.10.31.01:01

CV ! That’s what always discourage me. For designer or programmer, I think, will be enough to have a portfolio of recent work.
marko
011—2006.10.31.08:28

Buldozzer, portfolio is certainly a must, but good CV is an advantage.
Lekke
012—2006.11.05.18:05

If I was to come in for an interview, this is what I would want it to be like.
Dat Nguyen
013—2006.11.08.02:56

That’s a great write up on CVs. I’m going to include a reading list in the next iteration of my CV.

As someone that’s currently looking through CVs for potential hires, I have to emphasize your point of having it short and sweet. I have more important matters to tend to such as meeting deadlines so sifting through your CV isn’t my top priority.

CVs should show how great you are in the least amount of words. If you’re not great, just tell me exactly what you do and what you’ve done. Don’t try to pad it — after looking at so many CVs, I can sniff bullshit very quickly. Its much more beneficial for both parties when the hirer can quickly determine how to apply your skill-set. Sometimes your skill-set could match another position that isn’t advertised.
Burne
014—2006.11.17.13:06

What if I said – I can beat the whole web.burza team in Quake single handedly with a Gauntlet… TWICE! – would that show my experience, and it’ll prolly be an impressive fact.
:-)
Hi hi
Monkey
015—2006.11.19.23:39

Thank you very much for this tips, very useful stuff! :)