[olug] Re: Getting an interview

[Rod Hurley]

I agree with the resume/cover letter to-do's that I'm reading.  I think
one major step has been left out:  The invterview and all communication
that goes along with it.  Most companies that are hiring will narrow
resumes down to a handful and interview those.  If you are not one of
the handful, chances are VERY high you were not qualified, or you had an
unimpressive resume or cover letter.  If you are contacted for an
interview, chances are also high that someone is more qualified than you
are, and you have to do some impressing.  (Notice I didn't say B-S ing.)
 

Here is my take on how to overcome not being the most qualified in an
interview(yet qualified enough to perform):
1.)  Be prompt, prepared, and polite to everyone.  We didn't hire a guy
because he interrupted our receptionist while she was on the phone, but
he was very polite to us in the meeting.  It didn't take 10 minutes
after the meeting to find that out, and that was the kicker....he was
hired until that point.  Don't ask to borrow a pen, don't have your
cellphone turned on, and don't look at your watch for any reason.  If
you don't have time for them, they don't have time for you.  AND MOST OF
ALL, never ever ever ever interrupt the interviewer or overspeak your
place.  You are not there to impress them to the point of making them
feel like they are more stupid than you.  

2.)  DO NOT use slang, or double negatives.  Everybody says they "don't
have no problems with Linux".  But that is lazy, and should not be used
in an interview.  KNOW the company you are interviewing for.  If they
have a website, study it.  They want to believe that you are interested
in their company, not just any old job.  After all, they work there, and
knowing a little about the company will stick in their mind.  

3.)  Here is the very best one I can think of.  Offer a small (keyword
small) suggestion to them on their network.  Not a FIX, not a complaint,
not a major change, but a suggestion.  I.E.  "I know of some software
that might help with your backup systems."  Or "I have some great ideas
that I could share with you on whatever pertains to their network." 
This shows you have insight, and if you were paying attention in the
interview they have divulged some things about their company systems. 
If they have not, you should ask.  It shows you want to work on their
systems, not just ANY systems.  I will bet a dozen donuts this step will
stand out and help a great deal.    

I could go on for ever on this, since I have seen, or been involved in,
or administered numerous interviews.  No doubt job seeking is a pain,
but speaking from experience all these tips from everyone are not just
hot air.  They work.  

I guess I would say it all this way:  You won't WIN the job with a
resume, cover letter, or interview alone.  But you sure could lose it
with any one of them going awry.  

Good luck.

Rod Hurley
PC Specialist
Tenaska Marketing Ventures
ph:  402-758-6187
cell: 402-981-9561
fx:   402-758-6275
rhurley at tmvgas.com


>>> cjwolf at mpsomaha.org 03/02/04 01:33PM >>>
Wow, impressive email!  You hit everything on the head with your
statements.  These are pretty much everything that I was taught when I
got out of the Air Force over 4 years ago.  The only thing that I did
not see was if you ARE lucky enough to be interviewed, send a Thank You
letter right afterwards, or within a day.  That is one of the reasons I
got called back to and offered another job at one company.  Interviewers
appreciate the recognition for the time and effort they put in to
looking into you and that DOES count for something.  
I just wanted to put in my 2 cents on this great email.  


Craig Wolf
Linux Web Server Support
Desktop/Network Specialist
402-894-6283

>>> bbrush at unlnotes.unl.edu 03/02/04 10:46 AM >>>

This e-mail prompted me to impart something I've learned over the last
few
years.

I've had the rather unique experience of being on several "hiring
committees" over the last couple of years.  Where I work we follow
University hiring policies which means that for each permanent position
we
have a 3-5 person committee that reviews all the resume's and compiles
a
short list of interview candidates.  This list is submitted to the
Equity,
Access, and Diversity department to assure we're not being discrimatory
and
also to the hiring authority.

Two of the  last  three committee's I was on I chaired so I was
responsible
for the short list and setting up the interviews.  In short I've been
as
closely involved with the hiring process as possible without actually
being
the hiring authority.  The two committee's I chaired reviewd 97
resume's
for one position and 56 for the other.

Here are some things to vastly improve your chances of getting an
interview.

   Do NOT use the electronic submission through careerlink.org.  It
   horribly mangles the formatting and makes them painful to read.
   Consequently they are not read as thoroughly and rarely make the
cut.

   Personalize the cover letter and resume'.  Write the cover letter
and
   resume' specific to the position.  If the ad mentions "requires X"
then
   for damn sure have X mentioned prominently in both your cover letter
and
   resume'.  My recommendation would be to mention everything listed in
the
   ad if possible.

   Have both a cover letter and a resume neatly printed on resume paper
and
   mailed in.  This isn't a requirement but it will be noticed by the
   people reviewing your resume's and while they can't officially use
that
   as a point for or against you it leaves a positive impression that
will
   make them favorably disposed towards you and will get you the
   tie-breaker over someone who doesn't.

   This should be obvious, but no typos.  They get noticed and they
will
   count against you.  Same goes for grammatical errors and not
signing
   your cover letter.  The worst I've seen was someone who mentioned
being
   "sure they could do a good job for Ameritas" on a cover letter sent
to
   me.  My thought was, "Buddy you don't even know what company you're
   applying for or you didn't take the time to thoroughly proof your
   letter".  Either way he didn't make the cut.

   This is a very simple rule but oft-abused.  Your resume' should be
ONE
   page.  Two pages if you REALLY REALLY have a lot of experience you
want
   to get across.  Any more than two and you're hurting yourself. 
I've
   seen 6+ page resume's and never once has one of those people made it
to
   the short list.

   This ties in with rule two, but make sure you're applying for the
right
   job.  If you're resume is filled with programming experience, don't
send
   it in for a position which is a network admin position.  While you
might
   feel qualified to do the job, there are going be people who have
   actually been doing network administration also applying and
they're
   going to get the nod because they've been doing the job.  Now if
you've
   been doing both programming and network admin, write your resume for
the
   position highlighting your admin experience.

   Don't BS on your resume'.  Terms like "working knowledge of" or
   "familiar with" come across as "I've heard of it" or "I saw the box
   once".  If you actually possess the skill it's enough to put it
down.
   If you're a novice at a skill then you'd better hope it's on the
"nice
   if they have it but not required" list.

   Be responsive to call-backs.  Just last week I was calling people
for
   interviews, and I called each person twice.  Once on Thursday, and
once
   on Friday.  On my second message I told the candidates if I didn't
hear
   from them over the weekend I was removing their names from the
list.
   From a hiring standpoint, if you can't be bothered to call us back
we
   don't want you to work for us.  The worst example was a guy had put
his
   cell number as a contact number and I left several messages and
never
   heard back.  He finally called me the day we wrapped interviews.
   Apparently his phone had been broken and he hadn't checked his
voicemail
   for a week.  I was sympathetic, but he still didn't get an
interview.


I think the days where you could shotgun your resume'  out there and
have
someone pick it up are pretty much over.  There is a glut of IT
"professionals" out there and not all of them are going to be able to
continue to be in the IT field.  If you want to stay in the IT field
you're
going to have to differentiate yourself from the masses.

As far as interviewing goes, I'll tell you the one thing that will
impress
them more than anything:  demonstration of initiative.  This means
showing
that you have the capability to see a problem and fix it without being
told.  We had one interviewee that was missing experience with an
application we use heavily.  He was strong otherwise so we interviewed
him.
During the interview he said he hadn't had experience with the app,
but
since it was on our list he had gone out to the Net, downloaded it and
installed it so he could get his feet wet with it before the
interview.
This greatly impressed us as it showed a level of initiative and
technical
aptitude.  He ultimately was offered the job but did not accept it due
to
salary demands.

I hope some of you found this helpful.

Bill


olug-bounces at olug.org wrote on 03/01/2004 06:19:17 PM:

> <quote who="02fun-u2">
> >
> > so whats the current omaha IT job market like?
> > are thing do you think from your contact with others better or
worse
> > than the rest of the US.
> >
> > is your bis picking up or the same.
>
>
>
> In one word: ick
>
> Any positions you do see & apply for expect to hear nothing back; or
they
> do send the rejection letter to let you know they already hired the
> internal candidate. A few that I know who scored a position had an
inroad
> with the company - so network & start smozing.
>
> I'm stuck in the Government realm right now, so our biz is not
picking up
> either (not like we have a 'biz') - in fact with my company loosing
some
> contracts they fired some back office folk (supposedly because they
do
not
> have the funds to pay them).
>
> My contract is firm; in fact I/we will be looking to hire a person
for a
> new part time position in about a month. When the paperwork is
finalized
I
> will be sure to post the announcement to the list for ya all.
>
>
> --
> Timothy "Irish" O'Brien
> Publicity & Social activities chairperson
> Omaha Linux User's Group (OLUG)
> ----------------------------------------------
> A: No.
> Q: Should I include e-mail quotations after my reply?
> =====================================================
> An often repeated quote on news.admin.net-abuse.email:
> <I>
> "Spam is not about content, it is about consent".
> </i>
> --------------------------------
> Microsoft: Where do you want to go today?
> Linux: Where do you want to go tomorrow?
> FreeBSD: Are you guys coming or what?
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> OLUG mailing list
> OLUG at olug.org 
> http://lists.olug.org/mailman/listinfo/olug 


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