Resumes and Interviewing

Andy Lester, Land The Tech Job You Lovehttp://petdance.com/andy@petdance.com

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Awesomeness

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Y! are a

unique & beautiful

snowflak"3Saturday, October 1, 11

... but this is my desk.

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Your awesomenessis not self-evident!

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Hunting

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Start networkingNOW

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LinkedIn is not networking.

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Facebook is not networking.

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BTW, what's your Google footprint?

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Leland

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"I'm not goodtalking to people."

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"I'm not goodtalking to people."

Tough.No better time to start.

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Talk to a strangerhere at Barcamp.

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Talk to a strangerhere at Barcamp.

Conferences are a goldmine of contacts.

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Resumes

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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 ...

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Why you write a resume

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There is noResume Police.

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You do not havea resume.

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Master resume

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One page?Two page?

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"No good movie is too long and no bad movie is

short enough."-- Roger Ebert

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Lose the clichés

• Professional

• Industrious; hard worker

• Good people person; team player

• Motivated; self-starter; makes things happen

• Strong communication skills

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Give examples!Let the reader decide.

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The resume

• Summarize at the top

• Tailor it to the job

• Emphasize what's important

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NO! NO! NO!

• No lies

• No fudging

• No "objective" or "references available"

• No salary history

• Nothing illegal

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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)

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July 2001-presentNight 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

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Cover letters

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Rule #1:Write one.

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Rule #2:Write one for the specific position.

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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

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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

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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 eyesas 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

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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.

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A good cover letterDear 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.

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Interviews

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15 ways tokill 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

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15 ways tokill an interview

• Come underdressed

• Speak ill of anyone, including especially past employers

• Complain or discuss your problems

• Bring up your needs: Money, benefits

• Lie

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15 ways tokill an interview

• Appear uninterested

• Appear overenthusiastic or desperate

• Fail to ask your own questions

• Leave your phone on

• Cut the interview short

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Interviewer + candidate want the same thing.

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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.

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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.

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After the offer

• "Do I want to work for this guy?"

• "Do I want to work on this team?"

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Conversation,not interrogation.

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Your interview is your first day on the job.

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Preparingthe day before

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Preparingthe 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.

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Questions you'llhave to answer

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Tell me about yourself.

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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?

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Where do you want to be in five years?

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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?

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What is your greatest weakness?

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Why do you want to work for us?

- and -What do you know about our company?

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Why do you want to work for us?

• Has she done research?

• Is this just another job for her?

• What drives her?

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Tell me about a project that didn't go well.

- or -Tell me about a

teammate you've had trouble with.

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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?

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Candidate questions

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What's a day like?

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What sorts of projects will I be working on?

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What will the first day be like? First month?

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Is this a new position, or are you replacing?What happened?

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Tell me about the team I'll be joining.

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Can I meet the team I'll be joining?

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Show you cando the job.

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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.

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Closing

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Always ask for the job.

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Debrief after.

• Thoughts

• Impressions

• Stories

• Follow-up

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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.

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andy@petdance.comhttp://petdance.com@petdance on Twitter

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