Joan Thuo, popularly known as Joan the Career Coach, branched out of her human resource job after sitting in many panels as an interviewer and realizing how candidates struggle in the interview sessions. Having started this career in 2019, she shares critical insights on interview preparation and career coaching.
How did the business idea come about?
After revamping my sister’s curriculum vitae (CV), LinkedIn profile and creating a cover letter that made her get a better job with good pay, I saw a niche in the market. Coupled with witnessing so many interviewees struggle with presenting themselves and their documents during job interviews, I branched out from corporate to entrepreneurship.
In a nutshell we try to significantly increase the chances of an interviewee to get a job. This is through revamping CVs, creating and refurbishing LinkedIn profiles and cover letters, preparing candidates for interview sessions and holding career coaching lessons.
So how long does it take for a recruiter to read through a candidate’s CV?
A recruiter has at most six seconds to go through your CV before they decide whether they will continue reading. This being the case, one’s document should be as close to perfection as possible in terms of formatting, no spelling mistakes and not exceeding two pages.
What should an applicant’s CV be like?
It should be tailored according to the organization’s requirements. For a modern resume, ensure it is appealing to the eyes of the recipient in terms of colors used, infographics and photo of the applicant.
For large organizations and multinational corporations, the document should be plain and compliant to the applicant tracking system (Ats). This is because the resume is vetted by a software before landing at the interviewer. For a video CV, a candidate should describe what is in there in under five minutes.
The most important social media handle an applicant should ensure its crisp is their LinkedIn. The profiles should have a professional look from having a professional photo, to the headline which accentuates their job titles.
They can use an application called Canva to create a good cover photo. Thanks to the availability of space, applicants should ensure that the content in their bio is very rich and well detailed.
What do applicants miss when applying for jobs?
So many applicants have only one CV which they send to different organizations. This copy, most of the time, is not tailored to the different job descriptions the applicant is seeking to apply, hence reducing their chances of securing the job.
Secondly, people freelance when going for an interview and do not adequately prepare for both physical and online interviews. This is paired by the applicant not doing research on the organization, hence lacking questions to the panelist when called upon.
Interestingly, some interviewees pose ‘awkward’ questions like ‘which internet providers do you use?’ ‘do you offer lunch?’ ‘is there a boot camp?’ Such questions are not pertinent to the job description and tend to show lack of seriousness.
What does an interviewee need to do in case of an online interview? For an online interview, a candidate should ensure that their devices are fully charged and that there is stable internet connection.
Additionally, they should ensure that their background and environment is plain and quiet. Login 20 minutes before the interview, put on a smile and be smartly dressed. An online interview is as rigorous as a physical one and the basic nitty gritty are always adhered to.
The quotation a candidate gives should mirror research on how much one gets paid for the role. This quotation should be a higher salary but one that gives room for negotiation.
What should one do on the day of the interview?
A candidate should be punctual. They should be formally dressed with ladies’ ensuring their make-up is simple. Be composed and be precise in your responses.
When should career coaching begin?
Coaching begins when a child is young. Identifying their strengths and capabilities spearheads what the child is passionate about and helps them make informed decisions when they need to select courses in the technical colleges and universities.
However, career coaching is a continuous process and studying the trends that are currently available in a job market helps one foresee whether the future will sustain their careers or not.
By Wangu Kanuri
wkanuri@ke.nationmedia.com
