Resumes and job interviews for tech jobs

Andy Lester, Land The Tech Job You Love http://petdance.com/ [email protected]

Resumes and Interviewing for Tech Jobs

Two key takeaways

#1

Your awesomeness is not self-evident!

You have to tell me

about your awesomeness.

In detail.

#2

Follow principles, not rules.

What it's like for me

I want to hire you.

You are a

unique & beautiful

snowflake.

... but this is my desk.

My three questions about you

• "Can she do the job?"

• "Do I want her working for me?"

• "Do I want her on the team?"

Don't expect the hiring manager to connect the dots.

Resumes

Common 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 ...

Why do you write a resume?

To get them to call you in for an interview.

Common 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 ...

Common 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 ...

Will it make the reader want to call you in for an interview?

One page? Two page?

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

short enough." -- Roger Ebert

If it's useful, put it in. !

If it's not, take it out. !

That may vary from resume to resume.

There is no Resume Police.

These clichés are worse than meaningless• Professional; business-oriented

• Industrious; hard worker; dedicated

• Good people person; team player

• Motivated; self-starter; makes things happen

• Strong communication skills

Provide evidence, not self-assessments.

Let the reader decide.

How do I get my resume to stand out?

None of these work

• Magic fonts

• Magic colors

• Magic layouts

• Magic "action words"

Nobody will read your entire resume without a reason to

think it will be worth the time.

Start with a strong summary.

This is the movie trailer

for your resume.

List the top 3-5 aspects of your value.

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)

Show me, don't tell me.

Use numbers!

• Numbers draw the eye.

• Numbers give a sense of size.

• Numbers are the language of business.

• Numbers express dollars and time.

Boring & ambiguous

• Provide desktop support by phone or in person as needed to minimize downtime

• Maintained hardware inventory and software licensing for office computers.

Interesting & precise

• Provide desktop support by phone or in person. Averaged 8.2 calls/day with 92% of user problems solved in under 30 minutes.

• Maintained hardware inventory for 120 office computers and software licensing of 45 different applications across the enterprise.

July 2010-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

Principles, not rules!

NO! NO! NO!

• No lies

• No fudging

• No "objective" or "references available"

• No salary history

• Nothing illegal

Cover letters

Rule #1: Write one.

Rule #2: Write one for the specific position.

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

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

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

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.

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.

Interviews

Interviewer + candidate want the same thing.

Hiring manager's task

• "Can this person do the job?"

• "Do I want this person working for me?"

• "Do I want this person on my team?"

• Convince candidate that yours is a company to work for.

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.

After the offer

• "Do I want to work for this guy?"

• "Do I want to work on this team?"

Conversation, not interrogation.

Your interview is your first day on the job.

Preparing the day before

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.

Questions you'll have to answer

Tell me about yourself.

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?

Where do you want to be in five years?

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?

What is your greatest weakness?

Why do you want to work for us?

- and - What do you know about our company?

Why do you want to work for us?

• Has she done research?

• Is this just another job for her?

• What drives her?

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

- or - Tell me about a

teammate you've had trouble with.

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?

Candidate questions

What's a day like?

What sorts of projects will I be working on?

What will the first day be like? First month?

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

Tell me about the team I'll be joining.

Can I meet the team I'll be joining?

These questions show that you are actually interested in the job.

Show you can do the job.

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.

Closing

Always ask for the job.

Debrief after.

• Thoughts

• Impressions

• Stories

• Follow-up

Key takeaways

• Your awesomeness is not self-evident.

• Give evidence, not self-assessments.

• Use numbers to give detail.

• Think like the hiring manager. You both want the same thing.

[email protected] http://petdance.com

Bonus slides

15 ways to kill an interview

• Show up late

• Be unprepared

• Chew gum, bring a drink

• Have bad breath or body odor

• Smell like smoke

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

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