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Got this text this morning, via e-mail, for an application I've made and I couldn't exactly figure out what the recruiter meant by this:

"Please, provide us with a full range of your technical skills in Web Development.
Include also your own level system."

I was wondering if maybe something like this is what he meant, what they might want:

Photoshop ....................... Expert //(maybe use the term "Senior" here, instead, not sure which one is better)
MYSQL ........................... Expert
PHP ............................. Expert

I was afraid I might sound dumb if I ask this to the recruiter so, I decided to ask it here first, hope it's the right place at StackExchange to do so. I really appreciate any pointers here as to if this is what he meant by that, thanks in advance.

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    I'd encourage you to just reply to the recruiter, Douglas' answer is a a good interpretation but in the end only your contact can say for sure what he meant. Not asking for clarification and proceeding on a shaky assumption would be the dumb thing to do.
    – Lilienthal ♦
    Aug 21, 2015 at 15:01
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    Good point @Lilienthal, especially if the recruiter is external they will do anything to make sure everything goes to their client smoothly and they do everything they can to place you (or well...someone)
    – salad_bar_breath
    Aug 21, 2015 at 17:24

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Recruiters (internal or otherwise) use a keyword based system. So more than likely he or she is not really too interested in the subjective leveling you give to your skills but the skills in themselves and your comfort in them.

So if his client/hiring manager is in need of a MySQL developer, whether you consider yourself an expert, senior-level developer, or cyborg isn't important. Just that:

  • You have that skill when they search their database for it
  • You have the confidence and/or experience behind that skill so that you will be successful at that position they are hiring for.

So what you have now is great. Also remember that recruiters aren't always in understanding of the jobs they recruit for. So write out your skill set very liberally. For example, if a recruiter get's an e-mail from a hiring manager saying:

Can you send me a PHP developer to work in web application development in a Linux environment?

Then a recruiter is more likely to set up there interview for someone who has the keywords Linux, Web Application, and PHP then just PHP. Even though most hiring managers know that

  1. Obviously anyone who has experience in PHP has worked in web application development for the most part.
  2. Most PHP developers are comfortable with Linux, worst case scenario is might take them a tad bit of adjustment getting used to a new distro or something...

Moral of the story: Use as many keywords as is applicable

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