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Cognizant
Is there anyone from Human Resources here?
1) How do you feel when people are demanding and getting 20+ lakhs for just 4-5 years experience? Have you considered switching jobs?
2) What is the highest pay and bonus you've got any candidate?
3) Any interesting and out of the ordinary story when hiring?
:)
I got a call from the Google recruiter about my L7 em interview Google She said I did overwhelmingly good on all interviews except one had mixed feedback on a system design. No surprise because it was not a good interview. The recruiter said i had a choice to go to hiring committee, give referrals they could call about my system design or take another system design interview. I’m not confident about the system design because of the bad experience I had with the previous interviewer. What should I do?
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Know of any agencies hiring?
Soooo can we cancel work tomorrow???
Not me though
One thought on “tailoring”- use the words from the job posting if you have that experience. It helps get your resume in front of someone or a screener interview. Yes, picking and choosing what you’ve worked on to fit the posting is helpful, but it isn’t always an exact match. So try to use the posting keywords and you’ll see more success than if you just try to base it off your experience in your own words
I think it’s a little of both. The software won’t pick it up, but HR often has no idea what to hire for, or the nuances of your experience and how it fits because they aren’t attorneys. So I use the keywords to at least get a screener and prove I’m relevant to the job or personable at least
No specific advice, but I applied for four roles at my company before I got an interview. Don’t be afraid to apply multiple times!
Did you tailor differently for each role though?
I applied to 10 different roles before getting an interview with one company. The market is hot right now and getting your resume noticed is a task in and of itself. If your experience is relevant and you would like the job, apply. Don’t apply to things that are way outside of your wheelhouse but it’s ok to apply to multiple positions.
Apply even if you don’t tick all the boxes of what they want, or have a little more or a little less experience than they say they want. If you get a screener with the recruiter then you can suss this out further but sometimes there is more flexibility than the descriptions make it seem. You will probably need to find a role where the GC or other supervising attorney has the “athlete” perspective that if you’re smart, can draft, and are adaptable you can pick things up.
This seems to be rare. My CV screams adaptability ie practised different areas and in different jurisdictions without loosing seniority but can’t seem to get a look in for anything outside me straight up current wheelhouse.
I’d highlight any transactions involving companies in the same or similar field as the company to which you are applying. Everyone wants tech transactions experience because you will absolutely be touching tech contracts, no matter the industry. If you don’t have direct experience, did you manage any due diligence involving tech agreements? Could you take a CLE or something to show you’re at least conversant?
Any public companies/SEC reporting compliance experience. It feels like every role I can apply for there’s no chance I’d get an interview and I fear applying to a company and then a better role comes along and they think, does this person just apply to everything and hope something sticks? I’m admittedly feeling a bit lost in the process. Any tips on how to find a suitable role to apply to, tailor the resume appropriately and approaching the application process would be tremendously appreciated.
My work is hiring an assistant general counsel with M&A/corporate filling experience, if you're looking in Boston. Feel free to send me a pm.
That sounds awesome! Unfortunately I am based in the west coast and am not in a position to relocate but thank you!!
Chief
Read lawyer whisperer blog and goinhiuse.com. Ask your career center for mid career resumes and deal sheets.
Thank you all for your insights! These have been incredibly helpful!
One thing you should try to do separately from the job search proper is to try and get more involved in tech trans work. Ideally your venture clients will already be working with your tech trans folks on those docs; if so, you can just wiggle your way onto email chains and calls and try to learn as much as you can.
As others have noted, commercial contracts are a fact of life for west coast in-house gigs, so you need to get as much ancillary experience as you can and fake it til you make it.
They’re really not that hard, which is why you see so many junior positions available.
Resume tailoring isn’t about finding directly applicable experience for each role: it’s about highlighting how your skills are transferable. All those tech trans positions? They’re looking for someone who can negotiate a licensing agreement for their product with a big customer. Do you have drafting and negotiation experience? Try to think of it that way.
I definitely appreciate this advice. I have tried to do this as much as I can however unfortunately at my firm this work is very siloed off. I do have some experience with commercial contracts (at least baseline familiarity/have done a number of them) because it was less siloed at my old firm and those of us on the corporate team often took on first cuts/overflow work since our tech trans folks were often slammed. At the rate it’s going, I’ll very much have to be in the boat of, have some familiarity/experience albeit not a ton, but have good contract drafting ability/experience via my corporate transactions, many of which have been complicated and am a quick learner, adapt quickly and am the type to consult other resources (ie a hornbook on drafting licenses/software agreements) to get to where I need to be as quickly as I can
And I appreciate the hell out of that insight. That context makes me feel more comfortable with the idea that if I can convince one of there companies to give me a shot, I can do the work and figure things out (definitively agree on the more complicated, life-sci ones, I got roped in some years back to basically fumble my way through one with limited supervision and it was not fun)
Thank you! That’s a super helpful way to think about it
I once applied for a tech job I had zero experience in and got it. My experience didn’t match the specifics they wanted but I have noticed that for in-house roles, culture, fit, business acumen and willingness to learn are (most) important to them, at least when you aren’t the GC. The experience I had at least could show them I had transferable skills. I can’t lie and say I wasn’t shocked to get an interview, I was. But it shows, anything is possible.