Greetings from the middle of the Schibsted Connect program

It’s almost 4 months since we kicked off the fourth edition of our mentor program Schibsted Connect, so why not take a halftime break to see what’s happened since then? We also share some highlights from our last common event; a CV- and personal brand course.

Background

Schibsted Connect is a mutual mentorship program where we match students with Schibsted employees. The pairs are matched based on their expertise and interest areas, and the idea is that through monthly meetings, they mutually share thoughts, ideas, and experiences. The connection lasts officially from November to April, however many buddy pairs keep in touch also after the program ends. We currently have 112 participants in total this year, 56 students are matched with 56 employees from 5 different countries.

Kick-off and meetings

After the matches between students and employees are done, the program starts with a digital kick-off event where we gather all participants. The students are introduced to the Schibsted family, get familiar with the schedule and goals of the program, and meet their very own mentor for the first time. After the kick-off event, the two buddies are responsible for booking monthly meetings based on a suggested agenda.

Besides the regular meetings between buddies, we also want to aid students in concrete ways to boost their career paths by offering activities such as CV courses and lectures. 

Let’s see how the CV course session looked like the last time we had it and what key learnings we got from it! 

Highlights from our past CV course session

The CV course was hosted by Jelena and Clayton, who both work as Talent Acquisition Partners at Schibsted. 

Since the participants are based in 5 different countries the CV course was held digitally via Google meets. We started with an entertaining poll about how all were feeling. Many seemed to be happy like a cheesecake, which sure was a good starting point for learning more!

In the first half, Jelena explained the essentials in a CV and a cover letter – what is important to include, how to customize them for the job, and some additional tips for tech and non-tech roles. We also dug into some ATS-related (applicant tracking system) tips upon request from the students, and if AI is used for scanning applications. Jelena explained that the recruiters at Schibsted are going through the applications manually. However, if you believe ATS is used in one of the companies you wish to apply for, you should pay attention to the keywords in the job ad and job description to better match your skills. 

Below you can find a summary of Jelena’s top 4 tips for CV and cover letters:

• Focus on the content of the CV
• Tailor your CV to that specific role and company
• Showcase what you have achieved, your impact and your contributions – not just your responsibilities. 
• Dare to stand out! Share your motivation in the summary section of the CV and cover letter, and showcase how you’d go about the challenge or your portfolio.

After a brief CV and cover letter recap, we moved towards how to work with your LinkedIn profile. Jelena provided answers to burning questions such as; why it matters to be on LinkedIn, how to expand your network and get referral opportunities, and how to stand out. 

Below you can find some takes on why LinkedIn is such an essential tool for job seekers today:

• 87% of recruiters use LinkedIn to check candidates
• Build your network
• Get noticed and contacted by recruiters/managers for jobs
• Increase chances of getting referred for a role
• Find jobs

After this Clayton, our ‘LinkedIn brand specialist’, took over the stage and explained how to build your brand on LinkedIn. As Clayton said: “LinkedIn is not only for job seeking but, more importantly, for building your network”. 

Below you can find a summary of Clayton’s top tips for building your brand:

• Your personal brand differentiates you from others, so talk about you and your personal journey both in and outside work. People follow people.
• Building your network through these habits can create more opportunities for yourself and your networks.

At the end of the course, we got to look closer into the recruitment processes at Schibsted. Do you know how many applicants Schibsted received last year? Over 50 000! Clayton walked the students through how we choose the right fit from this number of applications.

We closed the course with a Q&A session, where our recruiters were happy to answer many questions from the students to help with their concerns. The questions were about preparing for a tech interview, and how much experience one should have in a CV. One student also asked how important GPA referring to grade point average, is. Our recruiters explained that GPA could be relevant. Still, you should be able to demonstrate how you could be a match for the position through your skillset and relevant experience.

A big thank you to Jelena and Clayton who boosted us with information and inspiration on how to take the job search to a new level!

Are you interested in joining Schibsted Connect?

Keep your eyes open during the autumn when we open up the application. Click here for more information about the program, or reach out to us if you can’t find what you are looking for: [email protected]