IB Boost Blog

Why would you want to work for IB Boost, and what do we look for in our people? This blog is the second in a two part series. In part one we told you a bit about us, and now we're going to tell you what we look for in our perfect candidate.

A few things you should know if you plan to apply for a role

We're picky about who we hire. We get lots of bog-standard CVs come through and we're pretty good at weeding out the people who probably don't have what it takes to work with us. Hiring is not a box-ticking exercise - the right ambitions go a long way, often further than expertise in a specific area.

So what do we look for then? Here are some hints and tips for applying for a role with us...

• We look at every CV we receive. IB Boost may be all about automation, but not when it comes to our hiring process. It's bespoke - the role, the candidate, and other demands mean that the hiring process is never the same for each candidate. But there is one step of the process that is the same regardless of the role - we open every CV we receive and review it by hand (err, by eyes?). So you don't need to cater to an automated sifting system by including every keyword in the book.
• So yeah, about those keywords... We're tired of reading about 'team players' who are able to 'multi-task' and have 'excellent communication skills'. These are pre-assumed qualities - what company wants to hire someone no one gets along with who can only focus on one task at a time and can't formulate a coherent sentence? Use the space for more important information.
• Your CV is not a short story. You're writing about the topic you probably know the most about - yourself - but that doesn't mean we need to know every little thing you did in every previous role. 34 bullet points to explain what you do in a role you've been at for one year is just ridiculous (true story). Don't take the easy way out by shrinking your font size and eliminating margins. Summarise things!
• Make it pretty. Your CV should be error-free - this is a given. Avoid typos, make sure your formatting is consistent, your font remains the same and you use punctuation correctly. If you include a link, make sure it works. Make sure there is order, make sure it flows. You probably (we assume) write clean code - you should be capable of writing a clean CV as well.
• Achievements not responsibilities. We want to know what you've achieved in previous roles that will make your time at IB Boost a success. Tell us about those processes you improved, those new technologies you introduced, those times you went above and beyond your role. Make yourself stand out.
• Personal projects > Education. It's not all about your degree. Win us over by telling us about that app you built, those hackathons you attend. Link us to your GitHub profile and to some websites you've created. We want people who take initiative and are passionate about technology and develop themselves outside of the work environment. If you don't touch technology outside of the office, you probably don't have the ambition we're looking for.
• Modern day workplace. We need people who keep up on the latest and greatest. Make sure you call out all those new and exciting technologies you use, even if on your own personal projects. If you're still using the same technologies you learned 10 years ago, we probably won't give your CV a second glance.
• It's more than just the CV. Cover letters are the perfect opportunity to get our attention, and despite the fact all our job adverts request candidates to send one, they rarely do. Including a cover letter or an email alongside your application will make us smile, but make sure you use it correctly. Don't just summarise your CV. Tell us why you're the best person for this role. Show us that you looked into what we do. Show us you read this blog. In fact, mention the code word "Badger" for some extra bonus points. If you're hired we'll let you in on the inside joke.
• Understand 'start-up life'. We do our best to keep a great work-life balance, but don't expect to clock out at 5pm every day. If you want clearly defined responsibilities with minimal variation in your day-to-day tasks, you may want to reconsider. Working for a start-up is unique, and you should be ready to take on lots of different tasks, including those outside your comfort zone, and take responsibility for your work. Show us you'll be able to handle this.
• Be creative. Show personality. Put in some effort. Tell us what makes you smile. Tell us what makes you tick. Cultural fit and passion are huge.

My application was rejected; why?

Hiring is an expensive, time-consuming activity and we have to try to minimize the chances of spending time on a process for someone who evidence suggests won't be a fit

To put it another way, the cost of false-negatives (not hiring someone who would have been perfectly fine) is a lot less than the cost of false-positives (hiring someone or spending a lot of time in the hiring process on someone who isn't a good fit).

As such, our process is geared towards trying to avoid these mismatchees, for everyone's sake, even though we appreciate this means some great candidates will slip through our fingers.

Common red-flags for us that we see see most commonly:

• A faceless CV. If your CV puts us to sleep as it can't be distinguished from the hundreds of others we receive, it's far harder to differentiate and organise someone for short-list interviews. We simply don't have the time to interview everyone and, related, if candidates aren't situationally aware enough to know how to highlight their selling points, that in itself is a weakness.
• You give us a book to read. A CV shouldn't be a life story. It's a trailer; an introduction that piques interest and sparks a conversation. When we have a lot of candidates to go through the process often boils down initially to a few key data points, so making the best impact with the attention given is the optimal strategy.
• We don't know what you were looking for. We get an eclectic range of CVs. This is actually a positive! We've hired from a range of surprising backgrounds. However, if we advertise for a junior web developer and we get a senior DBA with 20 years experience or a cover letter suggesting someone wants a CTO position, well, we just can't afford to spend more time resolving the apparent mismatch.
• Typos. We give people a lot of responsibility and that means we need to trust them to deliver. Part of the trust is that work will be of sufficient quality and, particularly, that when it counts (like in dealing with clients) the quality will be there. This is such a process where it counts. One doesn't make CVs every day so make sure they're correct as we have to extrapolate off a small sample size.