So I had a job interview today with a super-secret Internet startup that they couldn’t tell me what they did, following up from one of the phone interviews I did earlier in the week. I met with the guy I talked with on the phone, that went well enough. Met with another guy, that seems to go pretty well also. Then I met with a third guy, who kept interrupting me when I was talking, got to a certain point in the interview, asked me “do you know [Technology X]?” Which I didn’t. He then asked “do you know [Technology Y]?”, which I didn’t either.
At that point the interview was over, I’m sorry, they do everything in those two technologies, they’d really like to hire someone who knew them well.
I didn’t have those on my resumé anywhere… if it’s that important to you, why did you bother bringing me in?
The problem I knew I was going to have is rearing its ugly head. I learned a little bit about a lot of different things in the last eight years, but everyone wants to hire a specialist.
Funny. I was just thinking the exact same thing. I’m a former English teacher with a degree in international business and a long technical background. All together these things add up to nothing. Well-rounded people are worthless.
you are suppose to lie and say yes and after the interview you go home and buy a book on it and start cramming. 😉
just kidding.
not really.
Seriously, lie your ass off if you need to and can get away with it. You are smart enough to learn enough stuff to fake it for a while; if anyone seems overly suspicious just say “I’m a little rusty, I’ve been doing blah a lot recently.. maybe I should go buy HTML for Dummies, hah hah”
Anyhow.. job hunting sucks; hopefully I can keep my somewhat underpaid, but really funly awesome job for a while.
time for you to go back to school !
Common Problem
Recruiters DONT CARE what’s on your resume. They can’t find these “specialists” very often and see that you are familiar with a wide variety of technologies. The recruiters’ job is to shotgun ppl at a post-it note and hope that something hits. The interviewers dont even look at the resume until an hour before the secretary tells them it’s scheduled. You want a job? Tailor that resume for every job. Lie. You say yes to everything and give the best BS answers you can, drawing on your experience. Not all of them will be good enough, but you’ll be surprised by how much you can get paid and who will hire you for something you know NOTHING about (to start). You want a job you LIKE and will stick with? You better have a year or two to keep looking and be prepared to be living on microwave dinners again.
Chances are that you’re as smart and innovative as the next cubicle monkey, in a random company, so don’t be afraid to simply say “I can do that for you.”, regardless of your actual experience. You learn a lot about a lot of things, because you’re GOOD AT IT. You don’t need someone else to tell you that you’re right for them. The super-secret BS companies you need to stay away from (porn companies and questionable “streaming/voip/spyware startups are very secretive since they are often re-startups).
Another thing about recuiters. A good one will work with you and for you. These guys calling up dont care about you. They wont be calling you every 6 months to see how you’re doing. The good ones will. The good ones will call you up every month to see how you’re doing and say “hey I got this job available that’s just like the one you have, but it pays 30% more and is closer to your home”. I have met with 2 or 3 good recruiters, out of 50 or so. If you just want contract work that pays well, go to a temp farm like Aquent or what-have-you. They have work almost every month for 1-6 month at great pay.
*PLUG*
FYI, my company has a contract we cant fill right now. Pays 35$ an hour + travel to go around to 21 bank branches from Ventura to San Diego and configure client machines with new pop server info over the next 2 weeks. We’re short on manpower to continue servicing our _current_ customers, so there’s no way we can fill that. AIM Jack9HC :p
Re: Common Problem
Of course, yahoo is hiring to fill your type of position right now, as well.
Title:- Software Engineer
Duration:- 3 Months
Location:- Sunnyvale,California
Job Description:-
We are looking for an experienced, resourceful, jack-of-all-trades contractor to join the Autos engineering team. In this capacity, you will work closely with product managers, user interface designers and other engineers in a collaborative development environment to build end to end web applications. This is a senior level contract full-time position lasting 3 months and may be extended or potentially convert to a permanent position. The ideal candidate has a broad development background including PHP, CSS, DHTML, XTHML, C++, Perl, and a RDBMS like MySQL. The candidate has experience using these technologies to build and deploy scalable web applications in a Unix/Apache environment. As a member of the Yahoo! Autos team, you will become part of Yahoo’s rapidly growing Search and Marketplace division within the most trafficked Internet destination in the world. You will play a key role in fostering Yahoo’s growth as an online leader in the critically important automotive vertical, the largest worldwide marketing category. Yahoo! Autos is an extremely effective business with clear priorities, top-tier talent, and an entrepreneurial environment. You’ll work with great people, exciting technologies, and contribute to the success of an innovative Yahoo! property. Qualifications: * BS in Computer Science or equivalent experience required. * 4+ years experience in building complex, reliable systems and applications on a UNIX platform. * Good process foundation, along with excellent teamwork, communication, and problem-solving skills. * Solid experience with PHP, CSS, DHTML is required. * Good understanding of Web technologies like HTTP, Apache, XML/JSON is a plus.
Re: Common Problem
I’ve actually seen this listing. 1), it’s temporary, not permanent, 2) it’s contractor not employee, 3) I don’t want to work for Yahoo!
Re: Common Problem
All jobs are temporary.