Don’t Want Your CV
This weekend RjDj had a stand at Silicon Milkroundabout and presented our company, our vision, and perhaps most importantly, ourselves as individuals. I enjoyed the event very much, it was well organised and well attended. The majority of the attendees were students, new grads, or young professionals with only a few years experience. It would have been nice to see some more people with more experience, but the event was marketed to the former so I’m not complaining. The RjDj stand was busy for the whole day and by the end I was hoarse and just tired.
What struck me as a representative of a company and also someone with the power to hire was the informality of the event and also the total lack of CVs. Back when I was in high school or even university, any recruiting event meant hours of slaving over the perfect CV and also some manner of formal dress, all the way up to suit and tie. We were on our best behaviour. Fortunately it seems that these things have been done away with. Attendees came to our booth and we spoke with them directly, told them about our company, asked questions, found out about their qualifications, and answered any of their questions. At the end of every conversation I gave them my card and simply said, “If you’re interested, send me your info and we’ll talk some more”. I did walk away with a few CVs, but very honestly, I won’t look at them. If the candidate is interested at all, they will follow up with the same information in digital format, which is the only useful format. The conversation will continue from there.
Perhaps one person came to us in what I could call formal dress. He was a new grad and looking for a management position. kthxbye. No person at RjDj ever wears a suit. And no person at RjDj wants to sit next to a person with a suit (in our internal day-to-day). No person at any other company in the Silicon Roundabout wears a suit. If you’re wearing a suit anywhere around here, well, I can smell a VC a mile away ;)
I remember, my own RjDj interview took place in a diner. As all interviews should :-P
