from Gergely Orosz | by Gergely Orosz

An eng created a fake CV with Instagram, Zillow, LinkedIn, Microsoft and Berkeley on it, all details being nonsense. Got 60% response rate. Reddit is going wild. Me, as a hiring manager: what is surprising about any of this. It’s exactly how recruiting works. Let me explain: t.co/FVaFUiPtYG

1. Big tech gets hundreds of inbound applications per listing. So-called “inbound sourcers” filter each of these. Inbound sourcing is the least fun type of recruiting. Tons of noise. They filter based on pedigree and relevance. As soon as they see similar companies: ✅

2. The next phase is a recruiter call. This is with a more hands-on recruiter. Joke resumes like this would be typically caught at this stage. However, recruiters are still not technical and assume your CV is truthful. So they’ll gloss through engineering jokes.

3. The first time a technical person sees your resume is after the recruitment screen, on the phone screen. This is where they would call BS and reject you (or cancel the interview). The takeaway is this:

4. Getting into big tech is much easier if you have a strong pedigree (past, similar tech companies worked at, or top universities). Failing this, an employee referral can have a similar impact. Fair? No. Reality? Yes. I made a video on this: t.co/gdfLSgNaI0

Here is the Reddit thread: t.co/vgxhG8zBIR Anyone surprised that it’s easier to get a high-paying/prestigious job when you already had one will be surprised at how the world works. Pedigree makes differences in any professional or social setting. Always has done.

And to close this thread: is *all* tech recruiting like this? No! Apply to small companies & startups who barely see any interest and people *do* read your resume and very often reply. “But I want to work at a well-known company, not an unknown one.” Well, then it is like this.

I know a lot about big tech recruitment is both because I was a hiring manager at Uber, and I interviewed 20+ HMs and recruiters when writing a book about engineering resumes. If you already work at big tech: you prob don’t need this. If you’re out of a job, it’s free: t.co/Vp50pAqa4u