[thelist] Head Hunters, Staffing Agencis and Job Hunting Tips

Hassan Schroeder hassan at webtuitive.com
Sun Jan 26 14:08:00 CST 2003


Andrew Finger wrote:

> A very negative approach to job hunting makes it that much harder.  Get the
> guts and walk into a corporation uninvited.

Since it was my quote that started this, I'll jump back in here --
this is not about "guts", it's about effective use of your time.

Note: my perspective is on Silicon Valley, from small (< 10 people)
to large (> 20K people) companies, and as both employee and hiring
manager.

> When Mr. Evil Security Guard
> stops you, ask him if you may drop off a resume to the receptionist in the
> main lobby.  If he's as mean as you feared, he will take the resume and
> deliver it to the receptionist himself after you leave the premise.  He may
> throw it away, in which case you've wasted a whole of thiry seconds in the
> building.  Move on.
 >
> Chances are, you'll get to the receptionist desk.  You can ask questions
> while handing over the resume.  "Who will review my resume?  How often does
> he/she look at resumes?"

And this is just silly. Someone staffing a reception desk in a
lobby has *no idea* what to do with your resume. None.

Send it to HR? News flash: HR doesn't want it.

HR processes the paperwork for new hires when an offer is made and
accepted. Individual groups deal with filling positions. You need
to know *who* to talk to. The receptionist can't tell you, because
s/he doesn't know, and has no way to find out.

And since you had to drive to this lobby in the first place, park,
walk in, your "wasted thirty seconds" is actually more like a half
hour, forty-five minutes, at least. Regardless, time wasted.

> Note: Not all DBA's and lead IT's use secret elevators to escape the
> building.  They use the main lobby.

Except that, other than very small startups, most companies have
more than one building. Many of those *don't have lobbies*, though
they do have multiple doors. Sorry.

> You may even run into a friendly CEO.  When the DBA
> talks about hiring people at the next corporate meeting, CEO says "Check
> that college kid.  He seemed alright."

Friendly or not, executives at any size company are busy *running
their business*, which means tight scheduling of their time. And
the CEO really expects the IT people to figure out who to hire on
their own...

> If you know the company is looking for somebody to fill a position, you may
> even get an interview on the spot.  Be ready for it.  A lull during the day
> makes for a great opportunity to get your foot in the door.

In reverse order -- there *are* no "lulls" in the day. And you will
*not* get an interview on the spot. An "interview" consists of you
talking to *several* people -- potential manager, peers -- whose
time needs to be scheduled, and who want to see your resume first
so they can ask intelligent questions.

> Get comfortable dealing with
> head honchos.  The best jobs don't want timid personalities.  Show your
> future boss you've got guts.

As a hiring manager, I'd like to see someone with a clue about how
business works, first, thanks :-)

And BTW, I'm not trying to be negative here, I'm trying to give a
job-seeker a /realistic/ understanding of the job search environment,
at least here in the Valley. Other places may be totally different.

So how *do* you find a job here?

1) talk to your personal contacts (or make some)

2) respond to job postings in the paper, company websites, etc.;
    this hardly ever works, but it's less timeconsuming and slightly
    more likely to bear fruit than just wandering around...  :-)

FWIW!
--
Hassan Schroeder ----------------------------- hassan at webtuitive.com
Webtuitive Design ===  (+1) 408-938-0567   === http://webtuitive.com

                           dream.  code.






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