Ask Devex: How can a diversified professional 'hack' a recruiting process focused on specific skills?

Kate Warren, executive vice president at Devex, returns to answer all your career questions in this month’s Ask Devex. The event kicks off with an overview of our 2018 Hiring Trends report based on a survey with 100 global development recruiters in 22 countries. The report offers insights to help job seekers know where to expect the most hiring and what recruiters are looking for in candidates, says Warren.

Warren also tackles a wide range of common job seeker challenges, including how best to explain or utilize an employment gap, how to create a general CV that applies to different positions, and how to transition to a career in global health.

One of the biggest challenges for candidates is that while employers and hiring managers almost always say soft skills are key to organizational success, “the recruitment process is very much built around identifying more technical, objective competencies,” explains Warren. This creates a bit of mismatch she adds and it can be challenging for candidates to quantify and describe experiences in their CV in a way which helps them get past these filters.

Candidates should make sure they are contextualizing their soft skills through actual results advises Warren. Instead of simply saying they are a team player or skilled in diplomacy, they should provide examples which demonstrate these skills and the impact it had on their work and the organization she explains.