The Introduction that would get You the Job in Tech.

As trivial as preparing an introduction for an interview may be, the performant introduction isn't. Intentions, research, and thoughtfulness have to be put in to make it performant.

I wrote and used a number of introductions before now. I can't rate them since I barely remember any, nor do I put intent into them than to copy some template on a quick google search. Given how I went about them, you can bet it must have been horrible.

This time, I am writing one that is better and would love to show you how I got about that.

The Introduction is Important

The first step towards appreciating the need to rewrite your introduction is knowing how important it can be. Ever since I started running a club (Ibadan Techies Club), I have had to make one-time notes to potential sponsors or backers.

Usually, all that it takes to seal the donations or sponsorship is one note introducing the club and myself, and it is all it takes to destroy my chances too. If I cannot convince them with that one note, my chances are down the drain, almost impossible to regain.

As cruel as my case may sound with the Backers, it is the same with hiring interviews too. If the first seconds or first minutes isn't convincing, that job is going down the drain, almost impossible to regain.

Things to take note of: People have interests.

Some words and interests catch our fancy more than others. What this means is some words are more appealing to some people than others. You need to know the words that are appealing to whomsoever you are introducing yourself to and dwell on them.

A Short Story

Let me tell you a story about how Ibadan Techies Club got the Developer Health Funding. At a point, the club was in serious need of funds. I then decided to apply for a fund at the Developer Health Funds. At that time, I never had a drawn out plan nor any specific reason for applying aside from the desperation that the club cannot continually be frozen without funds. So, I reached out to the community director in charge.

While I had a casual chat with her over a call, I realized accessibility is a big deal to her, I ensured my pitch for the funding was heavily around community accessibility. Even though the CEO did not intend to give the fund to communities but to individuals only, the community director went ahead to not only convince the CEO but ensured the club got the funds as quickly as possible.

That's the end of my story.

As I was saying

Back to our talk before my story, the use of the right words and shaping the club to meet this need helped us get the fund. It is that simple, if you catch the hiring manager's interest, everything could just be settled there even if you do not too good in other areas of the hiring process, who knows 😐!

For example, words like "accessibility" catches the soft sides of some people, for some, it is "ability to teach", "entrepreneurship", "Blacks" etc.

In short, always tailor your introduction to fit the recipient's interest. Catch the soft spot, find it, read about them, and check their interactions on Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. Just that word can seal everything, EVERYTHING!

What does introduction mean?

Now that you know what importance it is to your job search, let's define it. An introduction is a statement that tells your hiring manager what you bring to the table. Your resume or cv can't tell what you bring to the table. Only you can.

In conclusion

Your introduction should touch the hiring person soft spot, tell them what you bring to the table, and show how excited you are to work with them. Check out mine.

Hey, I'm Kelvin but popular on the web as Kelvinsekx. I do frontend development, with 2 years of professional experience. On a very technical side of things, I am really passionate and confident with React and Vue with a keen eye for client-side state management and web for everyone, accessibility. On a not-very technical side, I am a compassionate person who loves people and loves to work with them. [ensure this first statement has the buzzword of interest]

I have a strong ability to catch details, lead and help people. This ability was so evident that I was given an additional role of Quality Assurance at my present place of work. I do community engineering at Ibadan Techies Club. The first and only formidable tech community in the state I reside. This club has gone on to become one of the fastest-growing tech communities in Nigeria reaching 70+ attendance in our monthly meetups and receiving recognition from institutions and individuals all around the world.

All this has shown I have the necessary technical and soft skills to not only shine technically but to be a good addition to your team and culture. Presently, I am in search of the next place, and I am convinced that [the organization name] has the right goals and culture I can contribute to and continue my growth.

If you think there is a typo in this article, or something could be better done. I am always open to chatting with you. I will respond as soon as I can. Message me on Twitter at kelvinskx.

Thank you for reading thus far, I cannot wait to see you share the good news of the new job 🎈🧨🎉.