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Category: resume

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Why You Should Work at a Startup

Startup communities are cropping up all over the world. Global News called 2014 ‘The Year of Startup Communities’. Almost every day, a new accelerator program is announced. We prefer the announcements and results coming out of existing accelerators than to hear another one has been born, but still - the spirit of the entrepreneur is spreading. Since anyone with a computer and an internet connection can start a company, and learning to code is becoming cooler than ever; the growth and unwavering hype around everything startups does not look like it’s going to slow anytime soon.

 

If you’re reading this you might already have an interest in startups. You might not have a ‘big idea’ right now, and might not be an innovation leader yet - but have you ever considered working for a startup? Your interest doesn’t need to be as a co-founder, and you don’t need to aspire to be the next Zuck - startups need good people and people need to do work they’re passionate about. You don’t even need to necessarily have experience - fresh grads and startups are a great match.

 

Here’s why we think YOU should consider working for a startup:

 

  1. Startups need good talent arguably more than large companies do. Lets face it, large companies have enough man power to get things done while they are busy looking for more staff. They’re going to get by. But for a startup, every day missing a key skill or knowledge can be crippling.
  2. Second-to-none experience to be gained. In large companies there are teams of people working on key tasks or objectives. You won’t always get a chance to try something new. Startups need confident and ready risk-takers. The best lessons and experiences come from diving in and having a go because there’s simply no time to waste! With your contract you’re handed a lot more responsibility at startups than you might find at established companies, which leads us to number 3…
  3. Maximum impact. Being with a company from its humble beginnings means you get to see your passion and hard work make real impact over time, influencing the outcome of the team’s work. Been chipping away at your established workplace for years, but not feeling fulfilled or like you’ve made an impact? Startups are everywhere and they’re ready for your influence. Alex Lynn of Real Ventures told MTL NewTech last month that people working for startups benefit from seeing the future before it happens - meaning these people are also shaping the future.
  4. Savvy graduates need not be just a number. Large companies are full of faces. Numbers, even. Fresh grads are often lured by well-known brand names and companies with impressive history. But will you be just another number? Choose a startup and you might just skip years of waiting for promotions, waiting to be noticed and waiting to make an impact - for your moment to shine. You can step into high-level positions right away, or maybe even just something closer to the job you really want; you don’t always have to spend years working towards that if you find the right fit at a startup.
  5. Increased flexibility. Although a lot of companies are switching it up to let you work remotely, (P&G major announcement last year, Work From Home Program) many startups don’t have offices yet and working from home or the nearest cafe with WIFI can often be the norm. Plus, if your startup hooks up with a local co-op space, you’ll experience a fresh and new kind of environment. These kinds of shared spaces can spark creativity and innovation just by being surrounded by people equally as passionate from other like-minded companies doing all kinds of different and amazing things.

 

Busbud CEO and Co-Founder LP Maurice, a leader in the Montreal startup community thinks you should work for a startup too. “I think that startups offer some of the most exciting career opportunities right now, partly because you can learn a lot very rapidly, partly because you can play an active role defining your work environment, but mostly because of the potential to have a big direct impact on society.”.

 

Even the PPLCONNECT Co-Founders Jenviev Azzolin and Denzil D’Sa left a large, Fortune 500 company to begin PPLCONNECT. Jenviev shares her view on the appeal of startups;

 

Startups offer very meaningful experience, especially for young graduates eager to learn quickly and accelerate their career. Typically, startups have very little to no hierarchy, which means you can gain a wide-breadth of experience and exposure to complex corporate challenges, which would otherwise be reserved for more senior employees. At the end of the day, you can have a major direct impact on your team, end-users and tackle a worldwide problem.

 

The trending keyword here seems to be ‘impact’. Having an impact in your daily work ultimately leads to fulfilling work. And the best part? The growth of startups means that supply of ready and willing startup employees is always low. If you find a startup you’re passionate about and you’re an intelligent person smart enough to know when to take risks, then the chance to shape the future is yours for the taking.

 

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To Millennials, The Resume Is No More Valuable Than The Paper It’s Written On

The traditional resume helped millions land that “dream job,” or maybe simply “that job to pay the bills.” But, despite its pervasiveness, I have to wonder if it’s time for an overhaul. The traditional written resume simply cannot convey why a person gets out of bed in the morning and what gets him or her excited.

The inability of the resume to communicate this type information also leads to inefficiency in the qualification process and results in bad hires. Yet, ascertaining this data quickly and effectively is exactly how you find the ideal new employee for your company.

 

The decline of the resume coincides with the maturation of millennials who have come to be known as creative, resourceful, energetic, outgoing, and–unlike their baby-boomer parents–they do not plan to stay at one job for the next thirty years. They want to be employed by organizations that support their ambitions, share their passions and work toward shared goals. Most millennials hope to live to work, not work to live.

 

In order to attract this generation of new talent, companies must consider the entire person. It seems trite, but it speaks to the fact that more than 50 percent of professional placements fail. The truth is that, when employees are happy overall, they are more productive and have longer tenure at the company–maximizing a company’s success. But no part of a resume communicates the passions, aspirations, likes, dislikes and other personal dimensions of an applicant. That is why the recruiting process has so many tedious layers, including qualifying resumes, conducting a pre-screen and then holding the formal interview. A traditional interview can take anywhere from four to nine rounds. There has to be a better way to both streamline the process and ensure successful matches between employer and employee.

 

The good news is there are technologies coming to market that can solve this challenge by integrating video and big data analytics to communicate all the dimensions of a job-seeker and the hiring company. A ivdeo of a candidate brings that person to life in a way that a resume simply cannot. Rather than words on a page, with video the jobseeker is suddenly an actual person with facial expressions, cadence and a style. This vital information is impossible to communicate with a traditional resume–even a digital one. Obtaining a holistic view of the candidate prior to the first interview enables employers to determine if this person has the right attitude and energy to work for the company. As a result, it can effectively eliminate the “pre-screen” step in many instances. In addition to saving time, this is important, because phone screens rarely tell the full story considering up to 80 percent of communications comes through non-verbal queues. Such insight is simply not possible with a resume.

 

Additionally, many online tools enable recruiters to spam potential job seekers, which is counterproductive for everyone. A more prudent approach is to contact job-seekers only when they are ready to make a transition to a new opportunity. The same goes for companies looking to hire people.  The vast majority of responses companies get from a posting don’t meet the requirements clearly spelled out in a job description or posting. Candidates and companies should only engage when: 1) A candidate has expressed an interest in transitioning and has clearly articulated what they are looking for in their next opportunity, 2) A candidate meets the requirements the company needs and they represent a strong match based on mutual goals.  Again, this reduces the time associated with wading through and interviewing countless applicants that would never be a fit for the position.

 

This type of technology empowers businesses of all sizes and job-seekers at all levels to find the perfect match with one another. A resume may find a job or a new employee, but it rarely finds a “perfect match.”

 

If recruiters begin to look at all aspects of a candidate, they will attract talent that is a holistic fit for the company - resulting in longer employee tenures. This heightens productivity and maximizes investment. This is particularly important, considering that it can cost upwards of $18,000 to select a new employee. Even worse, the cost of losing an employee can be up to 213 percent of the employee’s salary. Recruiters and hiring managers must look to more robust technology than the resume in order to drill into a candidate’s passion and goals. And job seekers must employ these same tools to sell themselves in a more effective way and let companies know they are passionate not just about the work, but about their personal ambitions.

 

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