Your CV from a recruiter's perspective: Andreea Lungulescu
This is a new series of articles, and we are starting with Andreea, a good friend and an experienced tech recruiter. Ten carefully selected questions will help you understand how recruiters look at your CV.
Who is Andreea Lungulescu?
In her 14+ year career in tech and engineering recruiting, Andreea has seen thousands of CVs, interviewed 9,000+ candidates and finally hired 250+.
She is a founder of one of the largest talent communities in Berlin, Talent Crunch - Berlin and in received two Global Innovation awards with Zalando and Wayfair. Her most notable feats are a Tech Hub India launch for Wayfair, revamping Zalando’s Product Management Job Family and pioneering Internal Mobility programs. She is also into cars, architecture, music and acrylic painting.
If you want to talk about all things talent, she’s your go-to!
You can connect with Andreea on LinkedIn or visit her website.
How much time do you typically spend reviewing a single CV?
Depends. It can be 30 seconds to 3 minutes if I need to uncover things or if the role is more specialised and I need to dig deeper – e.g. find out what the companies actually do, seek alternative socials, check for authenticity.
What are the first three things you look for in a CV?
Relevance, clarity, conciseness.
How important are formatting and visual appeal when reviewing a CV? What makes a CV easy or difficult to read?
In: Keeping it simple, clean, bullet points, following the reverse chronological order (from freshest to oldest) of events – is, for me, ideal.
If you held multiple roles with one company, it is simpler to name the company and the entire length of your time there and then break down the roles per year. This way, I have an immediate overview and can decide where to dig deeper.
Also, maybe add 4-5 words about the company or the industry/domain so I don’t need to research it.
And if you were laid off, or if the contract ended, write it down, helps save time in interviews asking “why XYZ?’”.
Out: Photos, complete address, marital status, religion, overly bombastic explanations of how much you achieved for the company – it kind of begs to be questioned in a lot of detail.
Detailed history of education, job roles and awards from over 15 years ago.
What common mistakes do you see in CVs that immediately turn you off?
Overselling oneself – the use of very flamboyant terminology in an attempt to explain how many wonderful things one did in their career, if not well managed, can come across as not genuine.
Spelling mistakes and typos can indeed happen to anyone; however, if the role truly requires attention to detail, then it is an issue.
Length – related to overselling. Completely fine with two pages, maybe even three (though many people will say one page suffice); however, what goes beyond is a red flag. It shows that one cannot be concise in their communication; it also shows that one cannot synthesise and understand what is truly important to highlight from their career in relation to the role they apply for, and they want to “sell” everything.
How has technology (like Applicant Tracking Systems) changed the way you review CVs?
I have used applicant tracking systems since the beginning of my career in 2010. Better or worse systems, but still. The poor ones take a lot of time to actually go through CVs, mainly due to very poor UX and sometimes slow processing. This means that if a CV is, on top, very intricately written and has photos, graphs, images, etc, it adds to the tiredness of reviewing.
These systems enable you to access CVs and cover letters in one place, with a very smooth transition, which allows more time to distil the information.
How much weight do you give to a candidate’s online presence (LinkedIn, GitHub, portfolio websites, etc.)?
It depends on the role I hire for.
For a UX/UI or Product Designer, a portfolio is a must – in some shape or form. For an Engineer, it is usually a good idea to be present and contribute on GitHub, but I would never make this a “must” after all; it is a very private decision how much you expose yourself to any social media and other platforms.
How important is a cover letter in today’s job market? If a cover letter is included, what key elements should it contain?
I appreciate cover letters, and I read them.
If they write one and submit it, it should NOT be a repetition of the CV, but a mix between the following: answering the question “Why do I apply for this job?” or “Why do I want this job?” and “here’s why I think that I can do this job”.
I suggest keeping it up to half a page.
How do you view gaps in employment history?
I personally don’t care. I will ask to understand what happened.
But I’d advise proactively explaining them in the CV or cover letters. Avoids unnecessary questions or heartache.
What advice would you give to someone trying to stand out in today’s job market?
It’s not what you know but who you know (not my saying, of course, but very true).
Engage in community work of some kind, give back to others, help those around you, ask for help, get mentored, and get out of your echo chambers as much as possible.
Are there some common misconceptions about CVs that you’d like to address?
For any point I make here, there will be another X number of recruiters saying the exact opposite.
- You CAN have a CV longer than one page, please do.
- Pictures should not be attached.
- You should be open and transparent if you are on a VISA, you require sponsorship, etc.
- An idea that “Design CVs” are appealing to the eye. No. They are not.
You can connect with Andreea on LinkedIn or visit her website.
