They look for opportunities in the tech labour market, prepare candidate’s CVs so it leads to an interview, prepare candidates for the first meeting with the in-house recruiter and help them in everything that concerns the negotiation stage so that talking about salary does not turn into anxiety.
Regardless of what people want to call them, they are agents, right-hands or talent facilitators, in a world where people are increasingly in control of their careers. Sónia Trincheiras, Maria Rodrigues and Ânia Sá joined Future.Works Talent Agent pool with a common mission to help those who are undergoing a professional change.
“People can call upon us if they are in a job that they are not enjoying their jobs, if they are looking for new opportunities and find nothing that excites them, and also those who are at the beginning of their careers and need guidance or even those entering the final stages of their careers. And, of course, also those who want to change areas, cities or even continents. Basically, if the person feels lost or needs support, they can count on our help and assistance”, explains Ânia, Talent Agent.
Talent is in charge
Talent Agents Ânia, Sónia and Maria exchange the culture of “go with the flow” for a “thoughtful and almost surgical career strategy”. Organization, planning and strategy are, for them, the mottos when looking for work.
“Although there is still not much of a habit of planning, people are increasingly shaping their careers instead of letting it go with the flow”, says Sónia. “People start to know better what they want and, with that vision, they will be owning more of their careers than they have been until now”, she states.
To outline a successful job search strategy, although it always depends on the person’s industry, age, experience and other relevant factors, it is necessary to analyze the target country, as well as several other factors.
“Recruitment is a living organism; trends are changing and what recruiters ask for also differs over time. There is no magic solution”, explains Sónia, adding that, even so, there are three aspects that are crucial to consider.
First, the definition of the person’s purpose, which includes knowing what area, position, type of company and location — which may even be remote — the individual wants to achieve. After clarifying these topics, according to Sónia, it is crucial to do a market analysis. “Investigate what the market is asking for and make an inventory of personal skills, that is, identify candidate skills and gaps”, she says.
Finally, and as a third step to complete the job search strategy, the curriculum and online portfolio should be updated. A step that should not be overlooked, since it acts as the first impression that can — or not — open doors.
CV, the gateway to the interview
“The curriculum is the way candidates have to present themselves to the company, keeping in mind that the recruiter or hiring manager reading it examines dozens or hundreds of resumes per day. For this reason, it is necessary to catch the recruiters’ attention so that they want to meet”, begins by explaining Maria.
Although the goal is clear, achieving it can be a little more complex. For a curriculum to stand out among others, Maria advises to organize and clarify the tools used throughout the academic and professional path, as well as the developed projects.
Ânia agrees but adds that it is essential to place the responsibilities performed in each professional experience.
“It is not a matter of writing a book, but of providing a summary and objective information so that the recruiter understands exactly what people have done during their professional career”, Ânia explains.
Another advice to keep in mind is to always have personal websites updated, as well as the skills and professional experiences mentioned in the personal profile on platforms such as Landing.Jobs and networks like LinkedIn.
If the first impression is positive, the recruiter is very likely to want to know the candidate. With the first stage successfully completed, comes the interview, which is also prepared by the agent and talent.
“What I usually do is, in one of our sessions, without warning, tell the person that we are going to do a small theatre in which we simulate an interview from beginning to end”, tells Sónia.
The greatest asset of these roleplays is the behavioural analysis that is done by the Agent. “It is important that they [the candidates] understand how they behave and what kind of speech they have, since it is very rare, unfortunately, to have the opportunity to receive feedback from those who have just interviewed them”, Sónia adds.
When preparing her clients for the interviews, Maria says that she attaches special importance to issues related to emotional intelligence, especially when it comes to projects outside the country. “When we are talking about companies abroad, recruiters want to understand how the person reacts under pressure and in a multicultural context”, says the Talent Agent of the company that expands Landing.Jobs’ initial vision to revolutionize the way of thinking and manage tech careers.
Negotiation: objectivity, flexibility and balance
Preparing for a job interview also includes negotiation, a topic that remains somewhat uncomfortable for many. “Talking about the salary is always a delicate topic, but we have to undo that. It is normal to negotiate, so I try to make the candidate feel free to negotiate with the company for which he/she is applying”, says Ânia.
To negotiate with confidence and success, there are also some tips and tricks that Talent Agents have up their sleeve and are keen to share. “Candidates must be objective and clear about what value they want; they have to be flexible, because the company can agree or not with that value; and finally, candidates have to look for a balance between responsibility and value”, suggests the Talent Agent at Future.Works, adding that having an arrogant attitude can determine the downfall of the interview.
For Maria, the answer to the usual question “What are your salary expectations?” must be a range of values and not an exact value.
“I recommend saying that the salary that would suit the job in question is between A and B. This range of values shows, on the one hand, flexibility to negotiate and, on the other hand, interest in the project”, Maria explains.
Even on platforms such as Landing.Jobs, where gross annual salary ranges are often shared upfront, there must be some kind of negotiation.
“The tech world has no unemployment, but it is not enough to code”
If planning and organizing have always been fundamental tasks to outline a successful job search strategy, at this moment, when due to the global pandemic the degree of uncertainty is much higher, it becomes even more important. There are several challenges facing the labor market and those who do not know how to adapt can be left behind.
Candidates are increasingly looking for flexibility in schedule management and remote work, but working remotely also has its challenges and, in an increasingly asynchronous work culture, there are skills that are beginning to have special importance. “The tech world has no unemployment, but it is not enough to code. There are other skills, namely at a personal and organizational level, that also have to be worked on”, says Maria.
Critical thinking, creativity, collaboration and communication are, in fact, the four “C’s of 21st-century skills”, which should be part of the academic training of future talents to enter the labour market. This means that people should not only focus on technical skills, but also on versatile life skills, the so-called soft skills or real skills.
“In the tech world, professionals, in general, are trained to solve problems, but it is also necessary to communicate, share information, work as a team, cooperate… And, paradoxically, although there are thousands of tools, many tech professionals do not communicate. This cannot happen, employees must share information, not keep it”, continues Maria.
“When a company pays an employee a salary, it requires a return on investment. The professional must know how to get the job done, but also must know how to ‘behave’. Curiosity to want to know more and to develop skills is also a skill. Those who ‘sit tight’ are not to go very far. They can grow to a certain position within the company because there is some sort of shortage, but they won’t go any further because companies are increasingly demanding and specialized” concludes the Future.Works Talent Agent.
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