Job Seekers Play Off-Beat Tunes
at Startups' Doors
QUIRKY CVS: As competition builds up, candidates
try everything from posting YouTube videos to drawing up business plans
If there was ever a resume that stood out from
the crowd, it had to be this one.
Delhi University student Harneh Sachdeva
recently emailed cashback and coupons site CashKaro with the subject line:
`Application from an unemployed'. Sachdeva wrote about how he was unemployed
because CashKaro was where he wanted to work and he would wait till the
opportunity arrived. For greater effect, he attached a YouTube video featuring
him dressed as Arvind Kejriwal, telling people about how CashKaro.com was a
great site to save money.
“His attention to detail was impressive. He wore
an American Swan jumper which was a best-selling product on CashKaro.com at
that time. He had Kejriwal's scarf, cough syrup, the works,“ says Swati
Bhargava, cofounder, Cashkaro.com.
There was no immediate opening for a fresher but
Sachdeva chased the company for two months. “In the end, we decided that
someone who is so passionate about CashKaro has to be a great addition to the
team.We created a role for him in marketing and operations,“ says Bhargava.
Job aspirants are adopting quirky, creative, and
attention-grabbing approaches to get their foot in the door of startups amid
intense competition. Startups including TinyOwl, Cashkaro, Housing and Jombay
have been seeing a steady flow of unique job applications including a cover
letter drafted as an imaginary note to a future husband conveying the
candidate's passion for her career.
“Traditional presentations are for tightsuited
9-to-5 people,“ says Bhargava of Cashkaro.com. “Since the average age of people
running the show at startups is between 30 and 35 years, youngsters feel
approaching them in unusual ways will create a positive impression as they are
more receptive to unconventional methods.“
More often than not, they are right.
“Startups are fun and irreverent environments.
Targeting them with the staid resume is becoming a part of the
clutter.Therefore, in comes the quirky resume, the colourful resume and the
senatorial resume,“ says brand consultant Harish Bijoor.
Besides out-of-the-box approaches, attention to
detail is a major draw. Mohit Gundecha, CEO of talent analytics startup Jombay,
says a psychologist applying to the product team had sent her resume as a
psychometric profile, knowing that was an area Jombay worked in.
At realty portal Housing.com, CHRO Ajay Nair
received an application from a failed entrepreneur who sent them a business
plan of a product they could expand into. “A wellwritten, creative CV grabs
attention, espe cially if the content specifies the value addition you bring to
the function or industry,“ says Nair.
In the fast-paced startup space, showing you're
able to think ahead also helps. Food service TinyOwl received a video from an
applicant who seemed to know every question an interviewer might possibly want
to ask and addressed them, making the actual interview process a formality.
Needless to say, he was hired,“ says Tanuj
Khandelwal, one of the co-founders of the Mumbai-based startup.
“Out-of-the-box resumes are indeed a good way to
attract an employer's attention,“ says Vivek Madhukar, COO, Timesjobs.com.
A recent TimesJobs.com survey showed that nearly
58% of employers felt traditional resumes were under threat. While candidates
across sectors have, for some time now, been experimenting with infographics
and even pictorial CVs, the kind of applications startups get are hardly ever
seen in traditional industries.
“Solving problems like badly entangled ipod
earphones are among the things I'm superb at,“ wrote a candidate applying for a
job at price comparison portal MySmartPrice.
Another candidate sent a link to a site on himself.
A part of his bio read as follows: “insert lies here>Give me a task related
to digital marketing, social media, writing, and I'll get it done. Just give me
some coffee.“ In the experience section, he talked about his previous roles.
Under the subhead, `Next Job Role', he said: “A really lucky
companyorganisation.“ He was hired.
“Resumes give us an insight into the person's
abilities as well as personality. For the candidate, it is a great way to stand
out from the crowd,“ says Ashwin Sreekumar Nair -head, marketing at
MySmartPrice. “Being a startup of young people, we strive to keep that young,
creative spirit alive and it helps us to know that the applicant has the same
youthful spirit.“ The unique approaches, however, don't guarantee success.
Rajat Dhariwal, founder and head rat of
Bangalore-based MadRat Games, had to turn down a candidate because they were
looking for more experienced hands, but the person impressed them nonetheless.
“We were hiring for the post of senior
copywriter, and received a really witty mail from someone hoping to join. He
had sent in his portfolio -which detailed his projects in a rather innovative
way. We've seen designers building presentations around their resumes, but a
copywriter doing so was quite new to us. What we liked most about his
application was his injection of humour,“ says Dhariwal.
Atleast sometimes, it keeps the candidate on the
radar.
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Sreeradha D Basu & Brinda
Dasgupta
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Mumbai|Bengaluru:
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ET1MAY15
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