job-seeker contacts/advice

[CheezWizHed]

As a hiring manager, I'll give a few bits of advice as I've seen it (from a software engineering perspective - other industries might be different):

 

1) Cover letters: Few people use them anymore. The few that do rarely do it well or add value to the resume. If you do it, make sure you write one for the job you are applying for and it should detail succinctly why you are a fit for THIS job. It should show me that you did some research on my company and/or my position/product and connect it to your experiences. Don't give me a summary of your resume or a generic cover letter.

 

2) Focused Search: The fact that Indeed, Monster, and other hiring tools allow you to spread a BROAD net of applications out there does not mean you will have success finding a job you like. Quantity does not equal quality.

 

Examples of how to do a focused search:

- Read and understand the position you are looking for and know it is a position you want.

- Read up on the company and know if this is a company you want to work for.

- If you lack of experience in something they want, do some research on it and have a plan for how you would address it (i.e. need training, willing to take classes, request a mentor). I never expect a new hire to fit perfectly for what I'm looking for (I'm a little suspicious if they do). I love seeing someone that can evaluate themselves and has thought through how they will meet my needs as an employer.

- yes, it is easy to broadcast 1000 resumes and hope someone bites (and someone probably will), but there is a good chance you will be walking into a bad situation or one you simply don't fit well.

 

Bad examples:

- Someone mentioned to me as I was interviewing him, "Which job was this one again?". We talked longer, but the interview ended there.

- Another applied for an "Embedded Software Engineering" position with a resume that did embedded 10 years ago, but more IT work since. When my recruiter asked him if he wanted to do Embedded Software Engineering again, like he did 10 years ago, he responded, "No".

 

3) Know what type of job you want to do. I realize this might be hard for some of you thinking about changing careers, but you have to know yourself and how your strengths. If you have an interview, you should have a good idea that you actually want the job. Certainly, not all information is available initially - don't be afraid to say this job probably isn't a fit for me. I gave someone an offer recently, but was very open as to the expectations of how I would use him. I told him that I was confident he could do my job, but unsure if he'd be happy doing it. I let him make the decision on if he'd be happy...he declined the offer. And that was probably best for both of us.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

I handled the hiring of a proofreader at the print media company I work for several years ago. We received quite a few applicants, including one who was very much qualified for the job. He was also someone I knew personally and considered a friend. But as I began reviewing his resume, I noticed a glaring misspelling in the first sentence of the Objective section.

 

Mind you, he was applying for a PROOFREADER position. Unfortunately for him I didn't continue reading the rest of the resume.

[CheezWizHed]

Grammarly, Grammarly, Grammarly!

 

As an engineer I'm bad at grammar. Which is why I have Grammarly installed on my personal PC (can't use it at work unfortunately). The basic (free) part will even grammar check your BF.net posts! *hint*, *hint*...

[nate82]

Grammarly, Grammarly, Grammarly!

 

As an engineer I'm bad at grammar. Which is why I have Grammarly installed on my personal PC (can't use it at work unfortunately). The basic (free) part will even grammar check your BF.net posts! *hint*, *hint*...

 

Me fail English? That's unpossible!

 

For my previous position I never looked at grammar or anything really. No need when it is writing SQL queries. Current position definitely need grammar which I have to read and re-read everything my boss writes. So many spelling and grammar errors.

[GAME05]

I used to be a proofreader, and yeah, that was definitely always a concern that I might misspell a word in my letter and not realize it.

 

I'm at a job now as well as that proofreader job where there was an HR rule that we had to call all references. I've known of some terrific candidates who couldn't be hired because we could never reach their references.

[madbad2000]

I used to be a proofreader, and yeah, that was definitely always a concern that I might misspell a word in my letter and not realize it.

 

I'm at a job now as well as that proofreader job where there was an HR rule that we had to call all references. I've known of some terrific candidates who couldn't be hired because we could never reach their references.

 

That's an interesting policy because I've seen the trend going away from references. I have never had a bad reference from either my personal applications or for hiring actions I have been involved with. I have only had a couple in the past year where references were even contacted at all and none had any impact on the selection because it was simply procedure to contact them via email whether they responded or not didn't matter.

[OldHeidelberg]

Yes, I don't think my last 2 jobs ever contacted my references, for sure my last one didn't. Maybe it's just that I have a longer work history now and a lot of stuff is now verifiable in other ways but generally I would think you get a pretty good feel for a person and their skills from interviews and no one is going to provide a reference that would say anything bad about them. It's probably not a great tool to use in the hiring decision process anyway.

[igor67]

Just to clarify my comment was about networking to find a job, not references.

[nate82]

Just to clarify my comment was about networking to find a job, not references.

 

As a teacher I think that would be an easier task than most. The parents are basically your networking, I know a few people who were able to get into a nice role in a financial company by just going to a church function. Charities are also really good networking opportunities as you can normally find a lot of different organizations at the events and can easily network.

 

One of my friends in college who moved out to Boston was able to get a new job through meeting someone at a local school board meeting. Everything is a networking event and you have already made the connections just need to put the strings together.

[igor67]

I do in fact have networking access to a rather diverse group of professionals as a teacher, but I've never heard any of my colleagues network in such a way and given my position I get 1 ask before everyone knows. Ultimately seeing some of the barriers was useful to be able to pass along to my students, and made me comfortable sticking with teaching.

[nodakfan17]

I mentioned in a previous post that I decided to use Fiverr for an inexpensive resume review (I’ll report back once that’s complete). While on Fiverr, I noticed there were multiple postings along the lines of ‘I will apply for 100 remote jobs on your behalf.’ That might help explain why some candidates don’t even know what job they’re interviewing for.

 

https://www.fiverr.com/saba_expertise/search-and-apply-100-remote-jobs-for-you?context_referrer=search_gigs&source=main_banner&ref_ctx_id=625ca781de902db2edf31db0359f63b8&pckg_id=1&pos=7&context_type=auto&funnel=625ca781de902db2edf31db0359f63b8&fiverr_choice=true&imp_id=788cb9ac-653a-48f4-9b09-85caa50ce7f3

[nodakfan17]

Another update from the job search trail:

 

I’ve noticed at least half the openings in the Business/Finance space are for low- to mid-level accounting positions. I don’t know what I was expecting (probably greater variety). If a person has at least an associate’s degree in accounting, there appears to be a strong floor to their wages and they’ll never need to hit the bread line.

[nodakfan17]

Do people still wear suits and ties to interviews or do they skip the tie and rock it in the pocket?

[OldSchoolSnapper]

Suit and tie is major overkill unless like, director at F500 or something. Even then, everything is so much more anything goes now. A nice clean shirt and pants are fine.

[MrTPlush]

Usually wise to figure out what they tend to wear at said company. Anything extra is unlikely to impress them.

[GAME05]

My work has now stated that no clothing choice can be held against a candidate. You could go in your underwear and still get the job, no joke.

[jerichoholicninja]

A couple weeks ago I was having lunch at Noodles and a woman probably in her early 20's was getting interviewed at a table near us. She was wearing sweatpants and slippers.

[ewitkows]

I always wear a suit to an interview. If your going for anything other than entry level you should at least wear a shirt and tie. The employer wants to know that you can be presentable when needed.

[nate82]

I think the old saying of dress for the job is still appropriate.

 

Also I always look at the company’s policy or ask HR what the dress code is. While coming in all professional is a good idea over dressing your interviewer to me is worse than under dressing. If they are business casual and you come in a suit that is not really a good match or look IMHO.

[logan82]

My work has now stated that no clothing choice can be held against a candidate. You could go in your underwear and still get the job, no joke.

I think I did do my last job interview without pants. Video interviews are kind of nice for that.

 

I don't care what the policy is, if you dress like a schmuck that is going to give at the very least some influence on the decision. All things equal, the person who did not dress appropriate is probably not going to get the job.

Edited February 27, 2022 by logan82

[igor67]

I teach in a shirt and tie, put me in the camp of you should show up in at least that for any type of white collar work. On a completely different note my wife just tested the job market and got a response from the hiring manager saying when they would close the position and start scheduling interviews 6 minutes after applying. I consider it a good sign that her potential boss is actually acting like there is a shortage of employees.

[nodakfan17]

I’m interviewing with a bank next week (with the CFO and Controller). The instructions from the recruiter said the dress code is business casual. I was planning on wearing a suit and pocket square with no tie. I think this still presents a very professional (but less rigid) image.

[GAME05]

Nice thing about suit jackets is you can take them off and suddenly you're more casual if needs be. Just hang it over the chair.

[CheezWizHed]

I just interviewed two people in person this week. I honestly couldn't tell you what either one was wearing (except for the mask). I know it wasn't a suit and tie. But this position is for someone that works in the lab most of the time, so there are no expectations s/he would be doing presentations or customer interactions where a bit more formality is expected.

 

Certainly, the expectations have dropped a bit, but if I were interviewing (management positions), I'd still do suit and tie or dress shirt and tie in the winter (I hate wearing a coat on top of the suit coat). But that is also me... I like ties.

[nodakfan17]

I’m with you on the suit coat / winter coat combo. It’s a bad look. If you suit up in the winter, you almost have to go with a long dress coat. That just takes the formality up a notch.