B E S T I T / T E C H R E C R U I T M E N T

A G E N C Y I N T H E U K – 2 0 2 1
( H I G H L Y C O M M E N D E D )
The Xpertise
Playbook

www.xpertise-recruitment.com/xelevate
www.xpertise-recruitment.com

@xpertise_rec
 Contents

Creating a world class CV .................................................... 2

Example CV ............................................................................. 4
LinkedIn: what to include in your profile ......................... 5
Preparing for an interview .................................................. 6
Common interview questions ........................................... 7
Additional interview tips ...................................................... 10
Maximise your job search .................................................. 11
Working with a recruiter ...................................................... 12
Building your personal brand / development ................ 13
elevate community ................................................................ 14
About Xpertise ........................................................................ 15
Our markets ............................................................................ 16
Our awards .............................................................................. 17

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 Creating a World Class CV
What should you include?

Name
Email, phone number & address (at least town and postcode)
Links to social media: Github / LinkedIn / Stack Overflow as a single line under your name
Profile: this should ideally be 1 paragraph to outline what you do
Achievements section: ensure these are quantifiable
Career history: chronological order, starting with the most recent
Technologies and skills section: recommended for technical professionals
Qualifications / training courses
Education
Meetups / conferences
Interests and hobbies
Any languages spoken

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 Creating a World Class CV
A few tips on how to stand out Top Tips:

Write a 2 page CV Grab the readers

Be you: attention early
Use the same font
throughout One paragraph profile
It is all about YOU Be clear and concise
Dates and job titles should Under your profile, add a
YOUR experiences Mention some of the align with your LinkedIn list of your top 5 key
technologies / projects profile achievements
Know your achievements you have referred to in
& be able to articulate your skills section Outcomes-focused not just Use quantifiable data and
them functional add business outcomes
Simplify past experiences,
Avoid paying someone to avoid detailing what you Direct us to your LinkedIn Perhaps include a skills
do it, no one knows you did 10+ years ago (they are page to see your box, it’s a great way to
like you know you hiring you for recent recommendations explain where you have
experience), simply add 1 used your tools, skills,
Be honest Check for grammatical and methodologies and
line with dates, company,
job title spelling errors technologies in your CV
Write in 1st person
03 Include tools/technologies
Fill and account for any you have used to bring your
gaps experience to life
 Example
CV:

04
 LinkedIn
What to include on your profile:

Clear summary of who you are, what you do

and what you’re passionate about
Job title and dates that match up with CV
Mention the technologies and projects you’ve
worked with / on
Picture
Recommendations: Avoid:
Ask for recommendations Turn on 'Open to new Listing technologies in which you

Videos of talks you may have done opportunities' have no commercial experience

Links to your Github, Stack Overflow, Join groups Deactivating ability to receive
Create content InMails
website etc
React and comment on posts Treating LinkedIn like Facebook
Relevant keywords to improve your profile
Respond to those who comment on and Instagram
views in search results
your posts
Educational details
Write articles
Contribute to and support your
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network/community
 Preparing For an Interview
Before the interview:
Find out everything you can about the
company from their website, annual
reports and company literature /
brochures
Review your CV and think through
specific questions about which you
may be asked. Be prepared to defend
your success claims and know your
numbers
Practice answers to common interview
questions (examples listed later)
Prepare your own questions about the
company and job
Double check that you have the correct
date, time and location
Consider making a “dummy run” to the
06 location at which you’ll be interview so
you know the route, where to park etc
On the day:
Have a note of the company name,
company address, company contact
details, and a map so you prepared
for any issues (i.e. contacting the
company to let them know you’ve
been delayed)
Take a copy of your CV with you
Dress smartly, arrive early, and be
polite to everyone you meet at
company
Have a notebook, pen and your
questions to hand
When greeted:
Greet the interviewer with a smile
Remember, studies show that the
first few minutes of an interview
count for a lot!
Throughout the interview:
Always answer questions in a positive way
Avoid criticising your previous job, employer or
manager
Avoid highlighting motivations that could be
construed “negatively”, e.g. a desire for more
money, shorter working hours, etc
Follow the STAR technique (see next page)
At the end of the interview:
The interviewer may ask if you have any further
questions. Check your list of questions. If any are
outstanding ask them now
As you leave, tell the interviewer that you are
interested in the job
 Common Interview Questions
Why are you looking to leave?
Try to keep this answer positive, even if
you’ve had frustrations in your previous
role. This is a good opportunity to talk
about your passions and interests for
the future and relate it to how this
company can develop you.
What questions have you prepared?
What do you do outside of work?
Some basic examples are:
iDo you contribute to things like Github,
Stack Overflow, Meetups, etc?
Do you attend Meetups,
conferences, events?
If yes, which ones have you been to? If
no, what sort of Meetups would you be
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keen on attending?
What do you know about the
company?
This is your chance to show that you’ve
thoroughly researched the company, it
will help you stand out amongst other
candidates.
Give me an example of
a problem you recently
had to solve:
What sort of people have done well in this team?
A good technique to use is
What is your vision for the future? What are the plans, if any, for
STAR (Situation, Task, Action,
growth or expansion?
Result). Talk about a time you
What is the next step in the process?
overcame a problem with a
What do you as a manager value most in your team?
positive solution and mention
Can you tell me more about the team I would be working with?
what you learnt about this
Be aware, these are common questions – make sure you have
situation.
some of your own prepared!
 Common Interview Questions
Continued:
Here are a few examples of how competency-based questions are
phrased:

Describe the last time you had to negotiate with someone

Describe a time you were faced with a stressful situation - what did you do?
Give me a specific example of a time when you used good judgement and logic in
Key Competency Areas:
solving a problem?
Give me a specific example of a time when you had to conform to a policy with Team working & interpersonal skills (soft skills)

which you did not agree? Organisation & planning

Talk me through the most difficult project you have worked on. What made it Problem solving (i.e. overcoming obstacles,

difficult and what did you do? suggesting solutions etc)

Tell me about a recent situation in which you had to deal with a very upset Coping with stressful situations

customer or co-worker? Initiative

Tell me about a time when you were forced to make an unpopular decision? Persuasion and influencing
Handling customer complaints
Learning from mistakes
Creativity
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Leadership
 Common Interview Questions Continued:
Factors that could decrease your
chances of success:
Being late
Being unprepared
Having poor Wi-Fi signal
Complaining about previous employers
Lacking enthusiasm
Lack of research on the company
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Summary:
Think of the core skills and competencies related to the job (e.g. man management,
technical skills, team working, organisation, time management, customer-facing, etc)
Think of examples of situations where you have successfully demonstrated these skills
and competencies, or situations where these skills have been tested in real life
For example, think of a situation where you demonstrated team-working skills or
examples of situations where you overcame problems
Think of 3 examples for each core competency or behaviour. Doing so will help you to
tackle the open-ended and non-specific questions that can often throw candidates
during interviews
Permanent interviews, in particular, tend to be more about “soft skills”. Think of example
situations in relation to topics such as:
- Turning around difficult situations
- Gaining buy-in from people resistant to change
- Team leading and team working
- Making unpopular decisions
- Coping with adversity
 Additional Interview Tips:
Look attentive by leaning forward slightly in your seat.
Don’t slouch
Listen keenly, nod and orally acknowledge what you are
told
Be prepared to support your answers with evidence,
facts, and figures
Maintain some eye contact with everyone present
Don't hide your personality, talk about yourself but
don't dominate the interview

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 Maximise Your
Job Search.
Treat your job search like a job:

Set yourself targets

Sign up to relevant job boards
Ensure your CV has been created and updated
Work with a good recruiter
Leverage your network
Keep track of the wins

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 Working With a
Recruiter:

Find and work with a specialist recruiter that recruits in your space
Consider offering a recruiter exclusivity on your profile on the basis
that they agree to go to market with your profile
Keep track of your applications/CV sends (where, who, when etc)
Ensure all recruiters ask for a right to represent with each
submission
Keep a list of the places to which you’ve applied directly

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 Personal development and building
your personal brand:
Online and Physical Events

Events are here to stay and are taking place every

Communities week

Continuous learning: every Meetup is diverse and in

Every sector has a community that has been built fact, no two Meetups are the same
especially for your market and can aid your own
personal development New connections: Meetups are also a great
opportunity to meet new people and network
Xpertise have lots of communities you can join
within the following markets: Promote personal brand: presenting at Meetups can
- Data open up opportunities for collaboration, learning,
- Software Engineering career growth and enhance credibility in your user
- QA and Testing community
- Infrastructure and Cloud
- Project Delivery Free pizza and beer! If you get a particularly nice
- Inclusion in Tech event host, you may even get a free drink and a bite
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to eat!
 Why not join our elevate
community?
Xpertise have helped organise and sponsor 100’s of tech community events over the years.
Our events are designed as learning platforms to upskill the community, alongside being a
networking opportunity for individuals. It is a place where the tech community can come to
listen, learn, explore and connect. These events take place regularly and are hosted by the
industry's leading experts.

By joining the elevate community you will receive:

Email alerts as soon as a new elevate event is added

elevate meeting highlights
Exclusive market insights
Xpertise candidate guides

To sign up head over to: www.xpertise-recruitment.com/xelevate

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 About us:
Xpertise Recruitment are an award-winning specialist IT & Technology recruitment partner
with three core offerings: IT & Technology recruitment, Workforce Solutions, IT Outsourcing.

Our purpose is to help people follow their career aspirations, so that businesses and
individuals achieve more, today and tomorrow.

Through our people, we build long-term relationships with clients and candidates built on
knowledge and trust. We care about people. We pride ourselves as a great place to work. We
build long-term relationships. We know our markets inside-out and upside-down. We make
recruitment easier. We provide ways for sharing knowledge and emerging ideas in our field. We
source the right candidates for the right clients – right in both technical fit and cultural fit.

Xpertise recruit talent from across the UK, with 3 regional offices located in Derby, Manchester
and London. Our consultants specialise in recruiting hard to find IT and Technology talent on a
permanent, contract and interim basis.

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 Our Markets:
The Xpertise approach is to have consultants specialising in each of the following areas of
digital & technology:

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 Our Awards:
Investors in People Platinum Accredited
Winner of Best Specialist Agency of the Year 2021 - Global Recruiter Awards
Winner of the Best Recruitment Company to work for - 2017 TIARA Awards (Finalist in 2019, 2021)
Finalist Best Specialist Recruitment Agency in the UK - 2018, 2019 - Global Recruiter Awards
Winner of the Senovate Client Service Award - 2022

Shortlisted for:
Best IT / Tech Recruitment Agency - Recruiter Awards 2019, 2021, 2022
Recruitment Agency of the year Recruiter Awards 2019, 2021 (Highly Commended)
Best in house training – Global Recruiter Awards 2021, 2022
Odro innovation award – TIARA Awards 2021
Best Specialist Recruitment Business - 2023
Best Client Service Award - 2023

To find out more head over to our website: www.xpertise-recruitment.com

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