Resumes and Interviewing for tech jobs

Resumes and interviewing for tech jobs. Given at Milwaukee BarCamp 6, October 1, 2011.

Transcript

1. Resumes and Interviewing Andy Lester, Land The Tech Job You Love http://petdance.com/ andy@petdance.com 1 Saturday, October 1, 11
2. Awesomeness 2 Saturday, October 1, 11
3. Y! are a unique & beautiful snowflak" 3 Saturday, October 1, 11
4. ... but this is my desk. 4 Saturday, October 1, 11
5. Your awesomeness is not self-evident! 5 Saturday, October 1, 11
6. Hunting 6 Saturday, October 1, 11
7. Start networking NOW 7 Saturday, October 1, 11
8. LinkedIn is not networking. 8 Saturday, October 1, 11
9. Facebook is not networking. 9 Saturday, October 1, 11
10. BTW, what's your Google footprint? 10 Saturday, October 1, 11
11. Leland 11 Saturday, October 1, 11
12. "I'm not good talking to people." 12 Saturday, October 1, 11
13. "I'm not good talking to people." Tough. No better time to start. 13 Saturday, October 1, 11
14. Talk to a stranger here at Barcamp. 14 Saturday, October 1, 11
15. Talk to a stranger here at Barcamp. Conferences are a goldmine of contacts. 15 Saturday, October 1, 11
16. Resumes 16 Saturday, October 1, 11
17. Resume questions • Should I put skills first, or education? • Does it have to be only one page? • Should I list extra-curriculars? • Should I leave off ... • Should I tell about my ... 17 Saturday, October 1, 11
18. 18 Saturday, October 1, 11
19. Why you write a resume 19 Saturday, October 1, 11
20. There is no Resume Police. 20 Saturday, October 1, 11
21. You do not have a resume. 21 Saturday, October 1, 11
22. Master resume 22 Saturday, October 1, 11
23. One page? Two page? 23 Saturday, October 1, 11
24. "No good movie is too long and no bad movie is short enough." -- Roger Ebert 24 Saturday, October 1, 11
25. Lose the clichés • Professional • Industrious; hard worker • Good people person; team player • Motivated; self-starter; makes things happen • Strong communication skills 25 Saturday, October 1, 11
26. Give examples! Let the reader decide. 26 Saturday, October 1, 11
27. The resume • Summarize at the top • Tailor it to the job • Emphasize what's important 27 Saturday, October 1, 11
28. NO! NO! NO! • No lies • No fudging • No "objective" or "references available" • No salary history • Nothing illegal 28 Saturday, October 1, 11
29. Emphasize what's important 21 years professional software development, most recently in Perl and PHP • Manager and senior engineer for e-commerce site (3+ years) • Develop object-oriented Perl and PHP, interfacing with Oracle and MySQL (8 years) • Create intranet database applications with ColdFusion, Access & VBA (5 years) 29 Saturday, October 1, 11
30. July 2001-present Night Operations Technician, Bug-Be-Gone Corp. * Maintained insect population by applying insecticides with truck-mounted sprayer. * Precisely tracked assigned paths through areas served. It came from my inbox 30 Saturday, October 1, 11
31. Cover letters 31 Saturday, October 1, 11
32. Rule #1: Write one. 32 Saturday, October 1, 11
33. Rule #2: Write one for the specific position. 33 Saturday, October 1, 11
34. Dear Prospective Employer, Your Advertisement on jobs.perl.com for a Sr. Prog. for library book wholesaler caught my attention. I would like to apply. I am confident that I can perform the job effectively. My background and career goal, seem to match the job requirements well. It came from my inbox 34 Saturday, October 1, 11
35. I am much more than a programmer. In my long and varied work history, I have performed such jobs as knife salesman, manager of a hardware store, extracting retinas from bovine eyes as a neurological lab assistant, flower delivery driver and retirement home activities director, all of which make me a well- rounded candidate. It came from my inbox 35 Saturday, October 1, 11
36. I am much more than a programmer. In my long and varied work history, I have performed such jobs as knife salesman, manager of a hardware store, extracting retinas from bovine eyes as a cow eye sucker, cow eye sucker and cow eye sucker, all of which make me a well-rounded cow eye sucker. It came from my inbox 36 Saturday, October 1, 11
37. Your cover letter • In plaintext in your email. • Explains relationship with contact, if any. • Explains what you're looking for, and what you can bring to the company. • Shows that you care enough to send a personalized cover letter. • Shows that you know about the company. 37 Saturday, October 1, 11
38. A good cover letter Dear Mr. Lester, My colleague Richard Dice referred me to the job recently posted on jobs.perl.org. I believe that I can help Elsinore Publishing with my skills, including: • 4 years of database apps for MyCo, including.... • 3 years Perl experience, including two CPAN modules (http://...) that extend DBI.... • A BS in CS from UIUC, with a 3.7 GPA. • Experience in the book industry, and a natural love of books. I look forward for a chance to meet with you to discuss your needs and how I can help you and Elsinore. 38 Saturday, October 1, 11
39. Interviews 39 Saturday, October 1, 11
40. 15 ways to kill an interview • Show up late • Be unprepared • Chew gum, smell like smoke, bring a drink • Shake hands like a fish • Have bad breath or body odor 40 Saturday, October 1, 11
41. 15 ways to kill an interview • Come underdressed • Speak ill of anyone, including especially past employers • Complain or discuss your problems • Bring up your needs: Money, benefits • Lie 41 Saturday, October 1, 11
42. 15 ways to kill an interview • Appear uninterested • Appear overenthusiastic or desperate • Fail to ask your own questions • Leave your phone on • Cut the interview short 42 Saturday, October 1, 11
43. Interviewer + candidate want the same thing. 43 Saturday, October 1, 11
44. Hiring manager's task • "Can this guy do the job?" • "Do I want this guy working for me?" • "Do I want this guy on my team?" • Convince candidate that yours is a company to work for. 44 Saturday, October 1, 11
45. Candidate's task • "Can I do the job?" • Convince the HM you can do the job. • Get a job offer, or move closer to it. 45 Saturday, October 1, 11
46. After the offer • "Do I want to work for this guy?" • "Do I want to work on this team?" 46 Saturday, October 1, 11
47. Conversation, not interrogation. 47 Saturday, October 1, 11
48. Your interview is your first day on the job. 48 Saturday, October 1, 11
49. Preparing the day before 49 Saturday, October 1, 11
50. Preparing the day before • Clear your schedule. • Prepare to get there. • Prepare what you're going to take with you. • Include a portfolio of work if you can. • Prepare your own questions. 50 Saturday, October 1, 11
51. Questions you'll have to answer 51 Saturday, October 1, 11
52. Tell me about yourself. 52 Saturday, October 1, 11
53. Tell me about yourself. • Did she do any research? • Is she prepared? • How does she speak? • Does she take pride in her work? • What else should I ask about? 53 Saturday, October 1, 11
54. Where do you want to be in five years? 54 Saturday, October 1, 11
55. Where do you want to be in five years? • Does he have any sort of plan? • Does he work on self-improvement? • Will I have a place for him? 55 Saturday, October 1, 11
56. What is your greatest weakness? 56 Saturday, October 1, 11
57. Why do you want to work for us? - and - What do you know about our company? 57 Saturday, October 1, 11
58. Why do you want to work for us? • Has she done research? • Is this just another job for her? • What drives her? 58 Saturday, October 1, 11
59. Tell me about a project that didn't go well. - or - Tell me about a teammate you've had trouble with. 59 Saturday, October 1, 11
60. 60 Saturday, October 1, 11
61. Tell me about a project that didn't go well. • Is he a blamer/whiner? • Can he learn from mistakes? • How are his personal skills? 61 Saturday, October 1, 11
62. Candidate questions 62 Saturday, October 1, 11
63. What's a day like? 63 Saturday, October 1, 11
64. What sorts of projects will I be working on? 64 Saturday, October 1, 11
65. What will the first day be like? First month? 65 Saturday, October 1, 11
66. Is this a new position, or are you replacing? What happened? 66 Saturday, October 1, 11
67. Tell me about the team I'll be joining. 67 Saturday, October 1, 11
68. Can I meet the team I'll be joining? 68 Saturday, October 1, 11
69. Show you can do the job. 69 Saturday, October 1, 11
70. Show you can do it. • Diagnose a dead PC. • Write some code. • Assess design problems on a web page. • Participate in a code review. • Critique a network diagram. 70 Saturday, October 1, 11
71. Closing 71 Saturday, October 1, 11
72. Always ask for the job. 72 Saturday, October 1, 11
73. Debrief after. • Thoughts • Impressions • Stories • Follow-up 73 Saturday, October 1, 11
74. Recap • Your awesomeness is not self-evident. • Think like the hiring manager. You both want the same thing. • Speak of value in terms of time & money. • Interview is first day on the job. 74 Saturday, October 1, 11
75. andy@petdance.com http://petdance.com @petdance on Twitter 75 Saturday, October 1, 11