Job Searches
Ξ February 12th, 2008 | → | ∇ Blog |
As a consultant I’m in the job market more often then most people. Because of this, I have learned a few tricks to get my resume noticed and to zero in on the right job I’m looking for. I’ve decided to post some of that information here.
1- Post your resume on-line. I use Dice.com, Monster.com, Careerbuilder.com and Computerjobs.com
2- Change your resume every week .. add a space or something. Editing your resume keeps it at the top of the search results recruiters see.
3- Never meet with a recruiter unless they have a specific job that you are interested in and they have already submitted your resume to an employer (because you both agreed that it would be a good match). There are MANY recruiters that will ask that you come into their office to meet first. Don’t bother. In all the years that I’ve been in the industry, not a single one of these recruiters was effective. While I don’t blame a recruiter for wanting to screen a canidate before sending them in for an interview (they make sure you don’t have a green mohawk or facial piercings), it is important for you not to waste your time dealing with a recruiter that simply wants to get people into his office. There are a lot of recruiters that are like this, so here is some advice on how to avoid it:
- Talk with the recruiter on the phone. See what kind of positions he sees you in. If you agree with him/her then we can assume that the recruiter “gets” you.
- Keep in mind that many recruiters don’t understand the industry that you’re employeed in. This type of recruiter simply scans through reqs for keywords and matches the keywords to resumes. So if you’re a systems administrator who once copied C++ code to a machine and compiled it for a developer, you’re resume may pop up to the recruiter looking for a developer because ”C++” appeared. In most cases this is fine; as a systems administrator it’s important to show that you’ve been around source code and are used to compiling code. A good recruiter will understand this and feel that this is a positive thing in presenting you to a company. He won’t try to limit you to roles he sees listed as a Systems Administrator, he may try to discuss roles working on integration or applications support. I view this as a positive thing. They understand the industry and realize that there are many positions out there that require multiple skill sets that you may have.
A bad recruiter will try to submit you to software engineering jobs because the phrase C++ appeared. They won’t understand your potential because they simply see candidates in terms of “network administrator”, “software developer”, “systems administrator”. Not knowing the industry, they don’t realize that many jobs are hybred positions that require experience in multiple areas.
Appications support for instance .. is an application running slow because of the nested database calls it’s making? Because the network is running slow? Because there isn’t enough memory or CPU’s to support the load? Does the Operating System need a patch? Should the application should be multi-threaded? Perhaps it should be a multi-process application?
Someone who views candidates as of “network administrator”, “software developer”, “systems administrator” will never be able to place someone in a position like this. Talk to the recruiter .. make sure that they understand the business and the value that you can bring to a company. If they don’t, add them to the list of recruiters you won’t deal with
- You may be a software developer, but you may specialize in network programming or investment banking applications. A good recruiter will understand the subtle differences and understand that you have industry knowlege in a particular area. Staying in the same industry gives you a great chance to move up the food chain to bigger and better jobs. The assumption is that you’ve picked up things along the way and can apply them to another job. Good recruiters will use this to make a good deal for you. A bad recruiter will simply see you as a software developer and want to submit you to every software development job that crosses her desk.
If you’ve worked at companies like JP Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers, and a recruiter that calls you about a hot position running systems at Kmart or a law firm, realize that this recruiter is not someone that is interested in your career.
- If you clearly have 10 or more years of experience on your resume and a recruiter calls you about an entry level position. Just hang up. Sometimes they don’t even try to pretend that they’ve read your resume.
- Don’t be wishy washy about what your salary expectations are. This should be spoken about within the first conversation. Have a number set in your mind about what you think you are worth, and never go below that number. It may take a little longer to find a position that will pay that number, but you don’t want to go to a company that won’t pay you what you are worth in the market. Companies that low ball you are typically bad places to work.
4- Interviews. Take interviews even if you have no intention on taking the job. Fielding the questions keeps you sharp. Its like dateing, the more you date, the better you are at it.
5- don’t fixate on a single job. Take the approach that unless there’s an offer on the table, you’re still listening to pitches and still talking to potential employeers
6- indeed.com is perhaps the best search engine to use when looking for positions to apply to. indeed.com takes all the jobs off dice, monster, careerbuilder, and what seems like hundreds of other job sites and pulls them all into one place. So .. remember, post your resume on the other sites, but use indeed.com to search yourself.
7- apply to lots of jobs with lots of different recruiters. Talk to them all. Something always comes out of it. Explain your situation and what you are looking for. They may have reqs on their desks that are a better match then the one you’ve applied for. While in search mode, you should speak to no less then 8 recruiters a day while you’re looking, and you should apply for no fewer then 10 jobs a day. With your online resume, and job boards, this shouldn’t take very long.
I’ve been a little harsh on recruiters in this posting. The truth is, there are a lot of hacks out there. That being said, there are a lot of good ones too. Some of the ones I’ve worked with take a real interest in my career. They want to make sure I’ll be going to a job that I’ll be happy with. It’s up to you to ask questions and figure out who the hacks are and who aren’t.
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