How to turn a tech recruiter off

Photo credit: Guardian Liberty Voice

In the last article, we looked at what tech recruiters look for in candidates. Here, we find out about some things candidates do that turn tech recruiters off.

Mess up the interview

Turn up for the interview unprepared

Among the tech recruiters we spoke to, a majority cited the lack of preparation among candidates during interviews to be a turn off.

“Industries like ours, adtech, are not easy to understand naturally, and it can be intimidating,” said Frederic Bonifassy, talent manager at mobile advertising platform Pocketmath.

“While I don’t expect candidates to know everything, it also surprises me how often candidates don’t do basic research before coming for an interview. I have met candidates who boldly confess that they have never read our company website and don’t have an idea of what we offer. Yes, that is a turn off.”

Victor Neo, senior engineering manager at community marketplace app Carousell, echoes Frederic’s sentiments.

“We give all our candidates an overview of the entire interview process during our first call with them, to help them understand what to expect in the subsequent rounds of interviews,” he said. “Ill-prepared candidates would stumble into a technical interview with no idea what to expect or ask questions that are irrelevant to that particular interview.”

John Hall, head of engineering talent acquisition at ride hailing platform Grab, urges all candidates to do their homework. “The worst candidates are those who show up unprepared,” he said. “Ultimately, candidates owe it to themselves to research and find out if the role and company fit their personality and career journey.”

Turn up late/ fail to show up

Both Frederic and the chief product and technology officer at PropertyGuru Group, Malcolm Fitzgerald, say poor punctuality is a big no-no.

Amanda Tan, regional HR manager at dating app Paktor, also cites the lack of accountability as a possible factor for dropping a candidate — especially when the date of the interview has been confirmed and candidates fail to show up.

“Accountability is an important value that Paktor holds dear, ” she said. “This helps us assess candidates even before the interview, whether this individual upholds the same values as we do.”

Assume it’s all in the resumé

Mess up the resumé

Coming in as boss

Display poor attitude towards current job