Insider's Guide to Landing a Software Engineering Job: Advice from Dani Unsworth

Dani Unsworth is the Head of Talent at incident.io, a leading incident management platform and a company I have admired. I asked Dani to work with me on this newsletter because of her impressive background and I know that to be Head of Talent at a company like incident.io you need to be good, really good. I don’t pick newsletter guests lightly, Dani is an expert in her field and has actionable advice that can help you on your journey. 

Dani didn’t fall into recruitment, it was by design, a pursuit. She got her start in agency recruitment before moving onto work at Checkout.com, responsible across London, Berlin and Paris scaling from 250 to 1,500 people in just over 2 years. From there she has specialised in smaller companies as the Head of Talent, landing at her current role with incident.io.

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I asked Dani a series of questions, designed to give you actionable insights into putting your best foot forward when navigating the technology hiring market. I want to firstly say that we understand no one thing or group of things will be the ticket to get you a new role, currently the market is a bit of a lottery, however, these tips will help you to put you in the best position possible.

Dani and I went deep into conversation around exactly how we can optimise our search and give us the best chance. I have listed the questions and answers below from that chat, so you can easily find the ones which resonate with you. 

Q: Are there any common mistakes or misconceptions candidates make during the application process that hinder their chances?

Not partnering closely enough with your recruiter, your recruiter can be your biggest advocate. If an interview didn’t go as intended, they might fight to get you a chance at the next stage. If you need to expedite the process, they might work calendar miracles. Finally, provide you with tips, insights and invaluable feedback.

Scheduling can definitely taint a candidate, especially if they are actively on the market. Provide a variety of slots in a timely manner. Refrain from needing to frequently reschedule or give a heads up of likely last minute cancellations. This acts as a reflection of how you might be as an employee, showcasing skills such as organisation, reliability and communication. I mention ‘actively’ because there is more flexibility if the candidate is passive, we as an employer have more of a ‘sell’ to do.

Lastly, you know it’s coming, but lack of preparation. Incident.io provides a 4 page interview guide, outlining the process, preparation tips and sometimes even the specific questions. You’d be surprised how many candidates don’t utilise this! Take time to look at the company website, LinkedIn, articles/blog posts and of course the job description.

Q: What advice do you have for candidates who are trying to stand out in a competitive market?

There is no need to reinvent the wheel, ensure you’ve customised your CV and you’ve done your research into the company, the role and who you’ll be speaking to. Connecting via LinkedIn with the recruiter post application and connecting with the interviewers throughout the process is a great way to be remembered. Previously I’ve seen people suggest sending LinkedIn messages, however inboxes are now overflowing and the technique is becoming standard, so therefore lacking it’s uniqueness. Ultimately, creativity is key, maybe a video/voice note or just going slightly above what the average candidate does, gets you a chance of being noticed. 

Q: How important is it for candidates to tailor their CVs and how might they do this?

Incredibly important! Remember the average recruiter takes 7 seconds to review a CV. I always recommend creating 2 documents, one that’s your official CV and then one of all your key achievements. This should be a live document you use throughout your career and add to frequently. Then when it comes to updating your CV, you’ve got a tonne of content to develop. This is also the page that you then use to switch in and out bullet points. Take a job advert, review the required skills and responsibilities and ensure the first page of your CV is confidently showcasing these. Remember 7 seconds, are you showcasing your skills? 

Q: How would CVs differ at each level and are cover letters important for everyone?

Firstly, the length of the CV, if you’ve only had placement experience or one commercial job, your CV should be 1 page. Any longer and I would argue that the content isn’t concise enough. However from Mid through to Senior you’d be looking at ideally 2, maximum 3 pages. If you have lots of experience, spanning 10+ years, make sure the most recent positions have the most detail and feel free to lightly touch on positions/companies that go back further than 5. 

When it comes to content, I’d expect to see from Juniors > Mid referencing the team in their work, they might not have been given the responsibility to own or lead on tasks/projects, whereas with Seniors I’d expect to see the use of ‘I’ more frequently, looking to see ownership.

I have seen cover letters as a great way for junior candidates to stand out and showcase their passion and skill set if they don’t possess much commercial experience. However, when it comes to more experienced candidates, your CV should be enough. Cover letters have become incredibly generic and the majority I see are copy and pasted (a lot with the wrong company mentioned!). We’ve replaced the need for cover letters with a simple application question ‘What excites you about incident.io?’, while this is optional, we see some great answers. 

If you would like to see more advice on how to stand out and level up your job search, reach out to me and let me know and we might just be able to get Dani back. 

I want to give a huge thanks to Dani for taking the time to help us with this edition of the newsletter. I appreciate you and the time and insights you have given us.