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I just went from a company that was mostly 20somethings to being the only 20something in an office of middle aged people. I find I get more done because I have nothing in common with any of my coworkers so there's no distractions or going off tangent with bullshit conversations.
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Jul 22, 2014 17:53
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I think my resume is looking fairly good at this point thanks to all of the feedback from this thread, but one question I'm running into is how specific is too specific? I looked back at the work I've done at my current company over 3 years and quantified all of it, but is the deluge of information too much? Approach 1 Developed electronic and written corporate communications for a wide range of clients spanning non-profit organizations to Fortune 500 companies.
Interpreted technical subject matter to reach target audiences ranging from 4 individuals to 1.4 million users in corporate and public online education.
Approach 2 Developed electronic and written corporate communications, including marketing materials and global newsletters, for a wide range of clients spanning non-profit organizations to Fortune 500 companies. Interpreted technical subject matter in the fields of [blah blah blah] and designed training materials for in-house and publicly-available online education programs targeted at audiences from small groups of vendors to millions of consumers.
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Jul 22, 2014 20:00
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Mak0rz posted:
Guy was late 20s, so young enough to know better; he had a decent CV and is in a fairly white-collar space, so nothing that screams illicit activities to me but I guess you never know? My take was that he was ducking work for the interview and wanted to claim he was working remotely as opposed to taking a personal day and sending up the "hey boss I'm looking for new opportunities" flag. Still, seems very short-sighted; was the first genuine  moment I've had happen in during interviews I've been involved with.
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Jul 23, 2014 14:23
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Have a ballpark guess of how old this guy is?
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I've always remembered to turn my phone actually off beforehand just so I don't have this problem, but if I forgot I imagine I'd really quickly reject the call and turn it off right there while apologizing. Don't know what that guy was thinking.
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Jul 23, 2014 14:56
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I just leave my phone in my car. There's zero reason I'd need it during the interview and if it goes off I can check it when I get back to my car afterwards.
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Jul 23, 2014 18:32
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I ended up talking to my boss about an outside position. I've worked my rear end off for this guy for four years and decided to take a chance telling him that I was interested and see what he said. Turns out he said that he appreciated the poo poo out of me as an employee and everything I've done for him over four years and that he'd go to bat for me as a reference. With that in tow I got an offer for a kick-rear end position today based largely in part that I had my boss as my primary reference and my skillset is interchangeable. I think the hiring director was impressed that I had built up such a relationship that I could talk to my boss about new opportunities and not have to approach the subject in an underhanded way. Also, the conversation she had with him went a long, long way. This thread was fantastic in getting an idea on how to prepare for the interview and how to relax (a big deal for me). It's great to hear about other people and how they approach problems and interviews and gauge that against my own strengths. Thanks thread!
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Jul 24, 2014 02:57
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Yeah having a boss willing to go to bat for you as a reference carries weight. I did some heavy work for an early stage startup that couldn't pay me in the end (  ) but the founder is totally understanding and throws out references when I ask explaining how much effort I put into that team (exactly as much as everyone else, it was a hell of a team  )
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Jul 24, 2014 03:06
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Is it appropriate to ask an internal member of the recruitment team why a position is still vacant during a phone screen? Backstory: I applied for this job early 2014 and heard back from them in April. At this point, I'd already accepted a summer internship and told them I wouldn't be available until September. They said they wanted to fill the position immediately, but wanted me to contact them closer to when I was available because they were impressed with my resume. It's almost August and I've gotten back in touch and I have a phone screen for that same position tomorrow. I'm just wondering why it's still open if they were looking to fill it immediately.
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Jul 24, 2014 03:10
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I doubt you'll get a useful answer and it may rub them the wrong way, so I'd say no.
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Jul 24, 2014 03:13
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Those were my thoughts too, but I figured I would throw it out to the goon mind. Thanks!
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Jul 24, 2014 03:19
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They're not going to tell you "because we pay for poo poo" or "well! our workplace environment is really hostile you see..." Best you'll get some fluff about how they want to make sure they have the right match for the team yadda yadda.
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Jul 24, 2014 03:46
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Yeah there's no way you'll get a meaningful response. If you get further into the process and see a terrible offer that would answer it. Otherwise check places like Glassdoor to see if it's a hostile place.
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Jul 24, 2014 03:56
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Grouco posted:Would anyone mind taking a look at my resume? Here is a very basic critique. Hope this helps!  Direct link to the critique: http://postimg.org/image/vi4y3anmv/ Goon Approved Resume and CV Writing Service
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Jul 24, 2014 20:33
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Shugojin posted:Yeah there's no way you'll get a meaningful response. If you get further into the process and see a terrible offer that would answer it. Otherwise check places like Glassdoor to see if it's a hostile place. Yeah, I ended up not asking. So, another question. In the last few phone interviews I've had, "salary expectations" have come up. When asked I've responded by saying that without knowing the full compensation package, full scope of the position, and doing research on the cost of living in the area, I can't know what my expectation would be and then asking if they have a strict pay band or number they were considering for the position. This led to one company disclosing their pay structure and the other one to say they based on experience and such. Is this a good way to go about answering that question or is there something better I could be saying?
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Jul 24, 2014 22:24
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I'm pretty sure that is a textbook ideal response to the pay question for early stage interviews. You're doing good!
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Jul 24, 2014 22:42
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Had a second interview today and I think I hosed it up. Didn't sleep well last night and spent way too much time talking about why I'm leaving my current place. Ah well, maybe the first interview and qualifications will carry me through. Hurrah for ridiculously narrow specialization.
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Jul 24, 2014 23:14
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Online job app has a text box that asks "We want to make sure this position is a great fit for you and our organization. What are your salary expectations/requirement for this position?". Do I put in the line from the OP saying roughly "I realize that compensation is tricky to come up with exact values for, and I understand that there's a lot more that goes into an offer than salary. I'd like to hear what you're willing to offer and the details of the components of the package and then we can discuss specifics further." or do I give them a number? I'm worried that not giving a number will just piss HR off.
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Jul 25, 2014 01:46
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How desperate are you for a job? How much leverage do you have? Does this look like a decent opportunity? Hard to say but usually I slap something along the lines of 'negotiable' in. Some places won't even look at your resume without salary expectations so take that in mind. If you like the posting and you need some work, maybe bite the bullet and give a number after some research on Glassdoor in your area. Generally though you do not want to give a number first, there is no reason to. But if you have no leverage anyway, all stonewalling is going to do is get your resume thrown in the trash. I realize that's kind of contradictory and sorry, but it's difficult to gauge when your background isn't know. v  v
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Jul 25, 2014 03:14
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I think the only time I've said a salary requirement was when I already knew the salary range they paid for the position so I just said some figure that was in there and even then it was probably a mistake.
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Jul 25, 2014 04:01
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Mak0rz posted:I'm pretty sure that is a textbook ideal response to the pay question for early stage interviews. You're doing good! Good to hear. I'll just keep trucking with that answer then. Hopefully for not too much longer. I've got a few in-person interviews scheduled. 
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Jul 25, 2014 04:08
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I found a position that I'd like to apply for. In reviewing the website, it seems there's actually two positions: Chocolate Teapot Analyst and Chocolate Teapot Technician. The Teapot Analyst is a higher grade and pays more, but given my current job status (none), I might be interested in either position, but I'd prefer the Teapot Analyst over the Teapot Technician position. Is it a bad idea to apply to both, despite having a preference for the higher position?
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Jul 25, 2014 18:34
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Anecdotal, but I was in a similar situation very recently and I applied to the more junior of the two roles in order to get a higher chance of a callback. I did get a callback, and after the first interview, the recruiter called and said they were impressed and would like to move forward with my application but for the more senior position instead. So if your interviewing skills are stronger than your resume, maybe it's not a bad tactic to apply to the more junior position?
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Jul 26, 2014 11:14
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Whats the general goon consensus about getting a job in retail with a BS. Should I simply not include my BS and just put my AA? I am worried that people won't give me a job because they might feel that I am over qualified(my BS is in Eng). I am sure at least one goon has to have experience with this. Also how should I explain my breaks in employment if I am not including my BS?
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Jul 26, 2014 19:07
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Xeom posted:Whats the general goon consensus about getting a job in retail with a BS. Should I simply not include my BS and just put my AA? I am worried that people won't give me a job because they might feel that I am over qualified(my BS is in Eng). I am sure at least one goon has to have experience with this. Leave your BS off and get one of your friends to say you worked for them PT in a different area of retail than you're applying for as a reference. So if you're applying to stock shelves, say you were a cashier. If you want to be a cashier, say you were a sales associate. Then make up some poo poo why you were PT for four years (taking care of ill parents, going to community college, whatever). There is like a 1% chance they'll check anyway and surely you put in apps to every retail place in the area right? Your college degree will not help you get poo poo retail jobs in anyway. You'll have to blatantly lie. Its not fair or honest, but neither is the world.
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Jul 26, 2014 20:28
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Hello there, from the department of #firstworldproblems, I need help with something: I'm a reasonably experienced/competent software developer but I sort of rushed into my last job earlier this year just because the company I worked for disappeared from under me with barely 2 weeks notice (these things happen). Basically I ended up taking a salary a fair bit below the market rate for what I do. As far as I can tell, my current employer really just can't afford to fork out much more than this, so I would very much like to trade up as soon as possible (I gave them a shot for about half a year, and although it's not a bad place to work, yeah no it doesn't come close to making up for the pay difference). I will of course just straight up ask for a raise at some point before leaving them, but it is always best to do that when you actually have other offers ready. So my problem is that the vast majority of career advice out there is for people that just need a job, any job, as long as it's not criminally underpaid and still within their general field. If the position actually matches my skillset I have no trouble at all getting my foot in the door with a resume and have no problems at all in interviews. Like, it's not getting the position I have trouble with as such, it's actually just finding them. Most of your usual craigstlist/stackoverflow postings are a crap-shoot at best. I have a feeling that I'm getting close to the point in this career where you actually have to "make a name for yourself" so big-name employers call you, or do the dreaded "networking" thing. So what I'm asking is, what is a time-efficient way of finding & applying for quality jobs (instead of just the jobs I can probably get), and how do I break into the sort of companies that want high quality applicants and thus don't usually bothering sifting through craigstlist and the like. Would talking to a recruiter maybe help? Do I just need to grid my teeth and start attending local tech events to shake hands and such? Should I just start spamming all my contacts in the industry?
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Jul 27, 2014 22:55
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Sounds like you should probably get networked on LinkedIn. If you're a software developer and reasonably experience the recruiters will usually come to you instead of the other way around. Either way you can't lose just getting out there and putting your face in the crowd.
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Jul 27, 2014 23:08
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Sooo with linked in, I'm a bit worried that my current bosses are likely to find out I'm shopping around which is probably not a good thing if things don't pan out. I imagine this isn't that uncommon a situation though - can you hide from specific people or some such?
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Jul 28, 2014 00:53
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Tons of people have a linkedin, including your bosses I bet. It doesn't necessarily indicate you're looking for a new job, unless you put on there that you're looking for a new job.
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Jul 28, 2014 00:54
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If in this day and age your boss would give you trouble for having an active LinkedIn, I would advise you leave sooner than later. It's extremely common. Either way there's options to say if you're looking for a new job or not.
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Jul 28, 2014 00:57
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I'm sure they don't care I'm on it - but they might if I say "ACTIVELY LOOKING". Anywho, so I logged in for the first time since for ever and it turns out I actually had a whole stack of offers from my stackoverflow and github activity. Fancy that. So I guess this is the way to go? I don't need to say "ACTIVELY LOOKING", just sort of, show some leg and walk suggestively until a nice gentleman from Microsoft drives by with a generous offer?
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Jul 28, 2014 01:08
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A bit of a weird question: I work a retail job at a Japanese clothing store that has a few locations in the US. My manager, knowing that I'm the only Japanese-speaking associate at my location, put my name in for a position at the store's US Corporate offices, with the recommendation that I also apply on my own through the company website. After working through the application, I've come to a rather silly roadblock: I have no idea what my expected salary should be for the position. Should I just google the job title (Learning & Development Coordinator) and find numbers that seem to make sense? I've never been considered for any kind of corporate job, so this is a scary new world I'm headed into. Another small fear is that my Japanese isn't good enough (missed JLPT N3 by three points when I tried it, am pursuing N2 this year), but I fit the other requirements, and I don't want this to turn into E/N bullshit on my linguistic insecurities. EDIT: Also I should have reread the OP because I forgot there's a whole lot of advice there re: this sort of thing. Ignore me, I'm a nervous fool. Lost Rivell fucked around with this message at 03:29 on Jul 28, 2014 |
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Jul 28, 2014 03:24
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Just tooootally hosed a phone interview up within like 3 seconds because I couldn't even remember what the goddamn company was since the recruiter referred to it only by acronym. I figured it out and it turns out it was in New Jersey so I don't even know why I applied  Fortuitousfuck-ups.txt
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Jul 28, 2014 16:35
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Once again, I'm applying to the exact same job title I have now, but in a different department. And unlike the last time, this is a different department within the same sector of the university, so I cannot talk about how I want to do more work with undergrad students, or work in a clinical department, or other stuff that makes the other department radically different from the one where I work now. I don't know what to say in my cover letter, much less in an interview, where past experience has taught me I am definitely going to be asked why I'm leaving my current job. I know what you're going to say, but be serious...I can't blather about how I am so excited! for new opportunities! for an hour.
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Jul 28, 2014 17:16
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I feel like this is a stupid question but I will ask anyway: I recently applied for a position at a large North American railway company and they were advertising 12 openings for this specific position. Today, I received an e-mailed invitation to attend an information session regarding this position, along with a list of all the steps that need to be completed in order to get offered a position. Aside from that, and the fact that the information session is scheduleed to last roughly 90 minutes, there isn't really any other info. Should I dress up like I'm attending a one on one interview or is something more business casual (I'm thinking khakis and polo shirt) appropriate here? Is it acceptable to ask via e-mail what kind of dress is appropriate? The e-mail was sent out to multiple recipients but it closed with a "please free to contact me if you have any questions" if that makes any difference. Edit: I'm aware that it's generally better to overdress than underdress, but my current workplace is pretty casual and the session is scheduled shortly after the end of my workday, so I'd have to change in a restaurant washroom or something if I went formal. This is fine if necessary, but I'd rather avoid that if possible 
ColdBlooded fucked around with this message at 00:22 on Jul 29, 2014 |
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Jul 29, 2014 00:18
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ColdBlooded posted:I feel like this is a stupid question but I will ask anyway: Since they said you could ask questions, I'd just be like "Hey, normally I like to dress up for meetings with potential employers but I don't want to be overdressed. What is the typical dress for this event?" I did the same thing for an interview once and it wasn't a big deal...if anything, it shows you're actively engaged in the process and want to succeed. fake edit: I'm not a hiring manager, purely anecdotal, etc.
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Jul 29, 2014 00:30
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timp posted:Since they said you could ask questions, I'd just be like "Hey, normally I like to dress up for meetings with potential employers but I don't want to be overdressed. What is the typical dress for this event?" Yeah, agreed, just e-mail them and ask if business casual is appropriate for the event. I've asked the very same question for weird events like that before. I've gotten the same question for real 1-on-1 interviews and haven't been put off by it (typically I hire people out of college or 1-2 years out though). I don't know anything about the rail industry but have absolutely no idea why it wouldn't be anything but fine. Not sure of your gender since khakis/polo shirt can be appropriate for men or women. Just make sure to wear the right shoes (i.e. not sneakers or flip-flops) and don't forget to wear a belt and tuck your shirt in (seen both mistakes made). Can't say I'm not put off by them asking you to attend a mandatory information session that's 90 minutes long though. What a waste of time -- why don't they just post the relevant info on their website? If you didn't mention it was a real company my first impression is that it's one of those MLM scam group interviews.
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Jul 29, 2014 01:03
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ColdBlooded posted:I feel like this is a stupid question but I will ask anyway: Is this a blue collar position? Technical? Office?
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Jul 29, 2014 01:05
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timp posted:Helpful stuff Thanks for the input, that sounds pretty reasonable to me seacat posted:Not sure of your gender since khakis/polo shirt can be appropriate for men or women. Just make sure to wear the right shoes (i.e. not sneakers or flip-flops) and don't forget to wear a belt and tuck your shirt in (seen both mistakes made). I'm a guy and thanks for the other advice. Yeah I'm not overly thrilled about attending the session but it stated in the job ad that this would happen, so whatever. It's also why I specified that it was for an international rail company because otherwise, I agree that it does sound like some sort of MLM bullshit. I want to become a rail or air traffic controller at some point, so this is probably a good way to get my foot in the door. I'm going to send an e-mail and ask if business casual is appropriate. FrozenVent posted:Is this a blue collar position? Technical? Office? It's an office position - taking inbound calls, accounts receivable, border services, processing railcar exchanges, etc..
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Jul 29, 2014 02:29
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The information session is probably a "This is the job you're applying to." thing, since they're hiring a dozen people in one go. I'd bet they're trying to weed out the foamers. If I was you, I'd go for shirt, khaki and a tie.
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Jul 29, 2014 02:36
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seacat posted:Yeah, agreed, just e-mail them and ask if business casual is appropriate for the event. I've asked the very same question for weird events like that before. I've gotten the same question for real 1-on-1 interviews and haven't been put off by it (typically I hire people out of college or 1-2 years out though). I don't know anything about the rail industry but have absolutely no idea why it wouldn't be anything but fine. I would guess that this is going to involve a group interview segment and that maybe the position has a history of people not knowing what it actually is. ...also, have you really seen someone not tuck in a dress shirt? Like, I'm not doubting you, but jesus christ  In other news I'm gonna drive off to interview like three hours away tomorrow for a position that pays not that great  (It pays okay for the local living cost for a single dude though, just... not great.)
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Jul 29, 2014 02:41
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