Posts filed under 'candidate'
Andy Lester has written a great book about finding a job you love in any market. He thinks it’s just for technical people, but he’s wrong. It’s for anyone who wants to find a job that he or she can love.
The first section is all about preparing to interview: knowing what you want in a job, creating your resume, building your resume in Word, html, and text. Yes, your potential employers may want more than one version, so write it and make sure it looks good in all three versions. In the section called “Finding Your Job,” Andy says,
“Your most important tool in finding a job is relationships with other people.”
He’s right. And, the chapter about building your network, creating and building relationships has great ideas about how to build your network in a variety of ways.
I love the section called “The Interview and Beyond.” Andy’s advice shines here. From clearing your schedule, to all the other preparation (selling the interviewer on you, answering tough questions, compiling and bringing a relevant portfolio, which questions you want to ask), the idea is that if you are prepared, the interview is now on your terms. (He’s got a great sidebar on how to shake hands.)
Chapter 9 is called “Handling the Tough Interview Questions.” Here, Andy delves into what to do and, especially, not do. In the section, “The Tough Questions”, Andy provides examples of what not to say and what to say when you encounter the “Tell Me About Yourself” question. With Andy’s empathy for the hiring manager and the candidate, his advice is targeted for candidates to prepare in ways that make sense.
Andy doesn’t stop there. The chapters “After the Interview” and “Staying Hirable” are gems, too. In fact, you should buy this book and Chad’s The Passionate Programmer, as part of your New Year’s actions to improve your overall skills.
You can buy Land the Tech Job You Love
on Amazon in hardcopy only. Or go to the Prag site and buy it in hardcopy or a variety of softcopy formats.
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December 27th, 2009
A colleague is putting his resume together for the first time in several years. “I’ve been at the same desk, working for the same boss, on the same projects for the last three years. But my company has changed names at least four times in that time. What do I say?”
Here’s the way I like to see the company names on a resume:
month/year, CurrentCompanyName, city, state. (Previously known as CurrentCompany-1, CurrentCompany-2, CurrentCompany-3) YourJobTitle.
Unless your responsibilities have changed, you’ve had one job.
Hiring managers: don’t ding candidates on what looks like job changes. It isn’t the candidate’s fault the company management sold/bought the company.
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December 24th, 2009
Heather pointed to How to Use LinkedIn in Your Job Search. Holy moly. I had no idea.
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December 14th, 2009
A few colleagues have had this experience. They get a call about a job. It looks like a great fit. They apply. They go through all the interviewing. It takes forever. And, they don’t get the job.
One asked, “Is it ok to ask why?” Sure, it’s ok to ask. Just don’t have a fight about it.
When you ask why you didn’t get a job, it’s a form of feedback. And, the people providing feedback may not be very nice about how they provide feedback. They may not be nice about it. If you are lucky enough to get this feedback, say, “Thank you.”
No matter how these people phrase it (one hiring manager said, “I don’t trust you to not look for a job once the economy improves), they are providing you valuable feedback. The colleague who heard this was astonished. “I wanted that job. I wasn’t going to look for a new one.” We discussed ways he might be able to use this experience to preempt a future hiring manager from thinking this way.
Something about your interviewing situation has created the rejection (maybe not you). Take the feedback, learn from it, and think about ways to apply it. Say, “Thank you,” and stop. Do not fight with the person giving you feedback. Who knows, that person might think of you in a while and re-open discussions. Stranger things have happened.
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July 17th, 2009
Now that it’s a hiring manager’s market, I’m hearing that a number of interviewees are hearing questions such as “Why do you want this job?” or “Why Should I Hire You?”
Hiring managers: that’s a shorthand question. You know what it means, but your candidate may not. You’re looking for ways to know if this person will be successful, or what they want to do this job. Remember, some people just want a paycheck. That’s fine. Don’t assume they will be out the door as soon as the economy picks up–the economy has to pick up darn fast for them to be out the door soon. Instead of asking a shorthand question, ask the question you really want to ask. That question might be:
- “What specific talents, skills, qualities, preferences do you bring to this position?” I prefer to analyze the job myself and ask questions about those things based on what I need, but you might hear interesting insights from candidates. One candidate told me she had the maturity to work with a relatively young team, and the young-at-heartedness to not hold them back from insightful ways to solve problems. She was right.
- “Tell me about the things you’ve been learning recently.” (Wait for an answer.) “How does this job fit into your learnings?”
- “Tell me about a time when you took a job you didn’t look perfect for. What did you do?”
- “Tell me about a time you took a job you looked perfect for. What did you do?”
- “Do you have any concerns about this job?”
- “Tell me how you expect to help me with this job.” This one is particularly difficult to answer well, since the candidate may not know how she can help.
Avoid using shorthand to the question you really want to ask. If you want to ask “Why will you consider a job that pays 20k less than your most recent position,” ask that. Otherwise, think abou the question you want to ask, and if it’s legal, ask away. That makes you a more attractive hiring manager and the job much more attractive.
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May 18th, 2009
So you didn’t get the promotion. Before you look for a new job, ask why. It’s possible you’re missing something critical for that role.
Many years ago, I was working as a “senior member of the technical staff.” I was a tester, had coordinated beta tests, much of the testing work for the last couple of releases, and was working as the tester-project-manager and helping the project manager realize what her job was. My boss left the company. I was “obviously” the next one in line for his job. I didn’t get the job. When I asked why not, I was told “You’re too valuable where you are.”
That’s a non-answer. But I did talk to my new boss, and told her I wanted to know what I needed to learn to get the promotion. She smiled and said, “people skills.” Ok. Clearly not my strengths, but I figured I could learn. I told her I wanted her to teach me. She agreed.
I put away my resume and stayed at the company another 4 years. I learned how to be a great manager. I learned how to be a great program manager. I learned how to do strategic planning, both the stupid way and ways that made sense. I doubt I would have learned how to do any of those skills that quickly without my new boss’ coaching and mentorship.
Managers, telling people they’re “not ready” or “too valuable” is a cop-out. Provide authentic feedback, offer to teach/coach/mentor, and you will have a loyal employee who will amaze you.
I stayed because I asked why and because I learned what I needed to learn. If you’re frustrated with your job, maybe it’s time to ask why, before you go look for a new one. Ask. What can you lose?
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September 10th, 2008
Before my webinar last week, I was chatting with the organizer, and experienced project manager. He said that when he interviewed a project manager, and hear words such as “I control projects” that’s a red flag for him. No, he’s not an agile project manager–he’s a smart and effective project manager who realize that people control their own tasks. But he got me thinking about other red flag words.
When I hear testers say, “I control the release” that’s a red flag for me. Testers provide information. The release decision is way above their pay level.
When I hear business analysts (or anyone!) say, “I just know what the customers want. I don’t have to go back and talk to them.” Oh yeah? If they’re so clairvoyant, why doesn’t all software work the way I want it to?
When I hear architects say, “I don’t write code. I architect a system.” Oh sure they do. On paper. Or in PowerPoint (full credit to Venkat and Andy for naming these people PowerPoint Architects in Practices of an Agile Developer). Architects who don’t participate in product development are just as bad as house architects who never use the bathrooms they “design.”
Red flag words are an indication that the candidate is not sufficiently introspective about why the company pays him or her. You might still want to hire a candidate with red flag words, but you’ll have to work with that person to make him or her a fully valuable member of the team.
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September 4th, 2008
I’m writing about a post a week for ITJobBlog. I’ve already written a couple of posts about how to develop your interview skills when you’re a candidate, part 1 and part 2. Please join us over there, too!
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August 27th, 2008
I was talking with a junior colleague recently. He can’t find a job. I offered to help network with him. He said no, he’d look for a job himself.
Big mistake. If someone offers you help networking, take it! No matter who you are, how many years of experience you have, how sure you are you can get a job by yourself, take the help.
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August 14th, 2008
Many hiring managers are looking for initiative, especially for agile team members. (In agile, the team members self-organize, which means they are looking for ways to do work better and to solve problems without requiring management’s involvement.)
I was thinking about initiative how to look for it, and I realized that at least some people with high initiative are only one small step away from being entrepreneurs. Sometimes it can be difficult to see where initiative ends and entrepreneurship begins. Should you hire people who have a high probability of walking away?
Yes.
First, there’s no guarantee how long any of your hires stay, so not hiring someone because you think the candidate might leave doesn’t buy you anything. But even more importantly: how much could you take advantage of this candidate’s ideas? High initiative people/entrepreneurs have lots of ideas. Many of them could benefit you, your team, your organization.
Bring on the high initiative/potential entrepreneur candidates. Let’s see them rock!
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July 8th, 2008
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