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Lessons Learnt: Over 70 Interviews in Just 5 Weeks

Lessons Learnt: Over 70 Interviews in Just 5 Weeks

5 weeks, 39 unique companies, and over 70 remote interviews. In this talk Josh will be sharing some of the lessons he learnt, and mistakes he made while searching for a job in the UK. He will present some interesting data on the interviews, discuss what he did right and wrong, the pain points he suffered, what he enjoyed, and finally - offers some advice for hiring managers and job seekers alike.

Josh Michielsen

November 28, 2018
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  1. Lessons Learnt: Over 70
    Interviews in Just 5 Weeks
    Josh Michielsen
    jmickey | jmickey_ | jmichielsen | [email protected]

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  2. About Me 2
    jmickey | jmickey_ | jmichielsen | [email protected]
    • Background: Web Design, Software Dev,
    Sysadmin, DevOps
    • Previously Senior DevOps Engineer @
    Bankwest
    • Relocating to Cambridge, UK on Dec 3rd 2018
    • Meme dog owner

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  4. 4
    Agenda
    1. Context: Why?
    2. Methodology
    3. Reviewing the Data
    4. Honourable Mentions
    5. Lessons Learnt
    6. Things That Make My Blood Boil
    jmickey | jmickey_ | jmichielsen | [email protected]

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  5. 5
    Context
    • Relocating to Cambridge, UK on 3rd December 2018
    • Joining Condé Nast International as Senior Software
    Engineer, Infrastructure & Operations
    • About 1 hour from London by train
    • Long-term partner completing a PhD at Cambridge Uni
    • Fully-funded!
    • Moved to Cambridge in March 2018
    • Started PhD October 2018
    • Cancer Research UK “Grand Challenge”
    jmickey | jmickey_ | jmichielsen | [email protected]

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  6. 6
    Methodology
    • Applied for DevOps Engineer, Platform Engineer, Site Reliability
    Engineer roles
    • Looking for: Cloud, Kubernetes, Golang, Scale
    • Single 3-page CV
    • Standardised Cover Letter
    • Didn’t fill out applications with long, fluffy questionnaires
    • Interviews between 6PM and 1AM
    • Phone and teleconference
    • Recruiters limited to 2 companies
    jmickey | jmickey_ | jmichielsen | [email protected]

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  7. 7
    Reviewing the Data
    Status Progression:
    • 39 unique companies
    jmickey | jmickey_ | jmichielsen | [email protected]

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  8. 8
    Reviewing the Data
    Status Progression:
    • 39 unique companies
    • 20 rejected by me before an offer
    jmickey | jmickey_ | jmichielsen | [email protected]

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  9. 9
    Reviewing the Data
    Status Progression:
    • 39 unique companies
    • 20 rejected by me before an offer
    • 8 rejected me
    jmickey | jmickey_ | jmichielsen | [email protected]

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  10. 10
    Reviewing the Data
    Status Progression:
    • 39 unique companies
    • 20 rejected by me before an offer
    • 8 rejected me
    • 6 ”ghosted” me
    jmickey | jmickey_ | jmichielsen | [email protected]

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  11. 11
    Reviewing the Data
    Status Progression:
    • 39 unique companies
    • 20 rejected by me before an offer
    • 8 rejected me
    • 6 ”ghosted” me
    • 5 offers!
    jmickey | jmickey_ | jmichielsen | [email protected]

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  12. 12
    Reviewing the Data
    SECOND INTERVIEWS
    23
    FINAL INTERVIEWS
    9
    FIRST INTERVIEWS
    39
    TAKE HOME ASSESSMENTS
    8
    TOTAL INTERVIEWS
    79
    jmickey | jmickey_ | jmichielsen | [email protected]

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  13. 13
    Reviewing the Data
    SITE RELIABILITY
    DEVOPS
    SENIOR
    LEAD
    23 % 56 %
    63 % 25 %
    Seniority Role Type
    jmickey | jmickey_ | jmichielsen | [email protected]

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  14. 14
    Honourable Mentions
    jmickey | jmickey_ | jmichielsen | [email protected]

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  15. 15
    Lesson: Time Management
    • Use a calendar service – e.g. https://calendly.com
    • Saves a lot of time going back and forth scheduling an interview
    • Schedule your breaks! There were nights where I didn’t have time to eat
    jmickey | jmickey_ | jmichielsen | [email protected]

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  16. 16
    Lesson: Time Management
    • Use a calendar service – e.g. https://calendly.com
    • Saves a lot of time going back and forth scheduling an interview
    • Schedule your breaks! There were nights where I didn’t have time to eat
    • Stick to you schedule
    • Don’t feel bad for keeping interviewers on time
    • Don’t accept interviews outside your time window
    • Don’t forget to consider the time required to speak with recruiters
    jmickey | jmickey_ | jmichielsen | [email protected]

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  17. 17
    Lesson: What’s Important
    • What I considered important changed over time
    • In the beginning:
    • Limited search to Cambridge & remote
    • Priority on salary followed by tech
    • It didn’t take long for that to change
    • Extended to London
    • Priority changed to culture, then tech, then salary
    • Diversity, inclusion, and flexibility took precedence
    jmickey | jmickey_ | jmichielsen | [email protected]

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  18. 18
    Other Lessons
    • “Trust your gut”
    • I was able to reject companies quickly by trusting my initial
    reaction after an interview
    • Saying no!
    • Be honest and upfront
    • Ewww, startups…
    jmickey | jmickey_ | jmichielsen | [email protected]

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  19. 19
    What Makes My Blood Boil
    • Bro culture
    • Take home assessments with no relevance to the role
    jmickey | jmickey_ | jmichielsen | [email protected]

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  20. 20
    What Makes My Blood Boil
    • Bro culture
    • Take home assessments with no relevance to the role
    jmickey | jmickey_ | jmichielsen | [email protected]

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  21. 21
    What Makes My Blood Boil
    • Bro culture
    • Take home assessments with no relevance to the role
    • Take home assessments that require more than 8 hours of work
    • Long, fluffy questionnaires in application forms
    • Won’t discuss salary upfront
    • No/low investment in the process by engineers
    • Companies that require on-site interviews
    • And then expect you to pay to get there!
    jmickey | jmickey_ | jmichielsen | [email protected]

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  22. Thanks!
    Questions?
    jmickey | jmickey_ | jmichielsen | [email protected]

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