CloudTalk hiring process and tips on how to boost your CV

We understand that applying for a new job comes with a lot of uncertainty. You may ask yourself questions such as, ‘How many steps are there in the hiring process?’ or, ‘How can I best prepare to successfully land the job?’ We’ve decided to answer all of these common questions in one place.

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The hiring process at CloudTalk

Because we want you to succeed, we have broken down our hiring process into individual steps. The average length of our hiring process is about two weeks and it progresses as follows:

#1 Application

Regardless of whether you apply via a job board or our Careers page, your application lands in our system matched with the correct position. All of the applications are reviewed by real humans (like, for real) – our Talent Acquisition (TA) team.

If your profile matches the job requirements, our TA team will reach out to schedule a phone interview with you.

We recommend that you narrow down the number of positions that you apply for at one time. The more the better isn’t always the key to success.

Choose only the positions that truly match your experience and your passion.

If you love what CloudTalk stands for but don’t see a position that suits your skills, reach out to us anyway.

If it doesn’t feel like a match, you’ll receive an email informing you that you haven’t made it to the next round. We are, however, continuously building and managing our candidate database and if there’s a new role for which you’d be a good fit, our recruiters might reach out to you in the future.

#2 Recruiter Interview

A recruiter schedules a 30-min. phone call with you during which they’ll want to know more about:

you as a person
your career path
passions
achievements
your motivation for joining CloudTalk

You will also have a chance to ask questions about the job, our company, or anything that interests you. After the phone call, the recruiter will send your profile (along with the call notes) for evaluation to the hiring manager.

#3 Assignment

The next step is to complete a written assignment sent to you by the recruiter. This comes with a pre-agreed deadline. Assignments reflect not only your hard skills but also your ability to face a challenge and learn new things along the way. Do not be discouraged if you don’t know the answer to a question. Look it up and expand your knowledge.

#4 Video call/ Personal Interview With the Hiring Manager

The Hiring Manager is a person that is seeking to enlarge his/her team by hiring someone new. It is usually also the person you’ll be reporting to. During this meeting, you’ll have a chance to present your assignment findings and will have an open conversation about the expectations of both parties. Your team fit is also evaluated during this time.

#5 Offer

Voilá! Kudos to you for making it to the finals. Expect a call from our recruiter, who will announce the good news and share our offer. He/she will send you a written offer letter via email as well. If you accept the offer, the People Operations Manager will prepare your contract for signature and the onboarding process will be initiated.

How to write a good CV/Resume

The golden rules for writing a stellar CV vary per continent. Even the name itself — CV (Curriculum Vitae) — is a name used specifically in Europe; American applicants call this document a Resume. There are, however, general rules which will increase your chances of getting noticed among hundreds of other applicants, regardless of where in the world you may find yourself.

Keep your CV length down to a minimum of pages

The right formatting will ensure that you can fit everything into one, max. two pages. Put yourself in the shoes of a recruiter sorting through countless CVs. You need to work quickly and efficiently. How would you choose the best one?

Suggested structure:

Name and contact information at the top, including your social media or portfolio link
A short paragraph summarizing who you are as a professional and as a person
Professional experience
Education
Awards, courses, and training
Personal: hobbies, languages, skills

Tips for writing CV/resume

#1 Make it easy for recruiters

Make sure to organize your professional experience in chronological order, with the most recent experience first. State the duration of your experience clearly, including the months. We recommend that you mention what the company you worked for does and in which industry it operates. You’ll save the recruiter a few minutes of Googling, which they always appreciate.

#2 Claim your experience with real data

The most valuable advice that we, as recruiters, can give to anyone seeking to perfect their CV is to support your claims with real data. What do we mean by that?

Oftentimes, we notice claims such as :

“…I helped develop a successful app.”

“…I played a huge part in growing the company revenue.”

These are vague statements with minimal informative value. Instead, try saying: “With my team of 3 people, we developed a food delivery app which achieved 30,000 downloads in the first month of its release.” Or: “Together with my sales team of 3 people, we increased the revenue of the company by 15% by closing a client in value of 20,000 MRR.”

The more specific you get, the better. Remain honest at all times; a short-term win of landing the job through dishonesty will most likely lead to disappointment on both sides in the long run.

#3 Photo or not?

That’s the question. If you ask someone in Europe, they’d probably say Yes, why not. It is, however, not common to see a candidate photo on American resumes. This has a rather subjective answer but, if you decide to include a photo in your CV, make sure it’s professional and representative.

#4 Format

Submit your CV preferably in a PDF format and title the document as name_surname.

If you still do not feel confident about formatting your own CV, give it a quick Google search and use one of the many free CV templates you can find online. It’s better to be safe than sorry.

Overall, your CV is your business card — a door opener into the business world you’re seeking to join. It represents you as a person, so let your personality shine through that one sheet of paper.