The Working Geek

There are hundreds of ways to ruin an interview, but here are 15 that are dear to me, or that candidates have pulled on me in the past.

• Show up late

  • It's inexcusable. Drive there the day before to make sure you know you can get there in time.

• Be unprepared

  • Your first assignment at this company is to show up prepared. Don't fail it.

• Smoke, or smell like smoke

• Have bad breath or body odor

  • Nobody wants to smell your smells. Eradicate them.

• Shake hands like a fish

  • Don't shake hands with a death grip, but don't wuss out, either.

• Come underdressed

  • If you find yourself asking "Do I have to do X?" for the interview, play it safe and do it. That means wear a suit.

• Speak ill of anyone, especially past employers

  • If you complain at the interview, you'll complain all day at work, too. No boss wants to deal with that.

• Complain; discuss your problems

  • Your boss has his own job-related problems to deal with. He doesn't want to hear about yours.

• Bring up your needs, such as money or benefits

  • Your interview is all about what you can do for the company, not what they can do for you.

• Lie

  • You'll be found out, and you'll be worried about it until you are.

• Appear uninterested

  • No boss wants to hire someone who doesn't care about the job she's going to be doing.

• Fail to ask your own questions

  • The best way to show that you care, and that you have a mind for business, is to ask your own questions about what you've discussed during the interview.

• Appear desparate

  • Enthusiasm is one thing. Desperation is another.

• Leave your phone on

  • There's no way you could be expecting a call that's more important than this interview.

• Cut the interview short

  • Allocate adequate time for an interview. A longer interview is always better, so plan for the good. Don't try to squeeze in an interview on a long lunch hour. Make sure your kids are adequately covered and you don't have to say "Sorry, I have to leave, my sitter can only keep my kids 'til 4:00."

A recent poster to reddit asked I just slammed out 300 resume applications for which I am more than qualified for this week, I doubt I will hear from even one.....any advice for [engineering] job hunting?

If I'm hiring people, the slammed out resumes mean nothing to me. You want to know the number one way to attract my attention? Write a cover letter that says that you've actually done some research into the job for which you're applying.

It's a buyer's market out there. You're putting your resume out there with, say, 500 other applicants. Wading through that much shotgunned resume crap is daunting at best. Give me something to grab hold of. Give me a reason to say "Hey, this looks interesting."

Don't waste your time applying for 300 positions. There are not 300 positions out there for which you are qualified, and that you would be happy doing. Instead of shotgunning them, work on two or three or five and really get into understanding the job. Research the company. Research what they need. Find out everything about the company that you can, and spend the time figuring out what you bring to the table that will help the company the most.

Finally, those 300 applications came from where, Monster or some job site? Less then 10% of jobs get filled through job boards. Personal networking accounts for about two thirds of job placement. Instead of wasting time with shotgunning resumes that are obviously shotgunned, work to talk to everyone you can and find pointers to other people who can help you find a job. The jobs are out there, but you have to know where they are.

These links are collected from The Working Geek's Twitter feed. If you have suggestions for news bits, please mail me at andy@theworkinggeek.com.

• Job hopping is career crack for losers: (corcodilos.com)
• Sometimes you just suck it up for an hour: (askamanager.blogspot.com)
• New programming jargon (via @sachmet) (globalnerdy.com)
• Seven reasons you may not be getting a job (usnews.com)
• The job hunting paradox (tompeters.com)
• Find the job before it even exists (karenburnsworkinggirl.com)
• How one sentence can make or break your job search (freelancefolder.com)
• You don't need anyone's permission to get work experience in software (atalasoft.com)
• When was the last time you were thanked? (theworkinggeek.com)
• My June column in PragPub: How to get fired correctly (pragprog.com)
• How to get a job in an awful economy (consumerist.com)
• @punkrockhr nails it again: Job Search 101: Interviewing (punkrockhr.com)
• Slides from Josh Berkus and Ian Dees' Give a Great Tech Talk at Open Source Bridge (slideshare.net)
• How to do a web resume right (theworkinggeek.com)
• Interview rule #1 in my mind: "Make it easy for us to hire you" (punkrockhr.com)
• So you think you want to be a consultant? (unixwiz.net)
• RT @scalzi: "The failure mode of clever is 'asshole.'"
• Ten signs you probably don't want that job, anyway (punkrockhr.com)

I'm humbled checking out the web resume for my friend Julian Cash. It hits all the right buttons.

• Catchy domain name, hirethisgeek.com.
• Strong bulleted overview of his skills on the front page.
• Links to key points in the margin on the right, and at the bottom of each page
• Subpages about important areas of interest (project management, programming, etc)
• Contact information at the bottom of every page
• Testimonials page, although I'd put some information about each person to give weight to their words.

If you can get your web resume to be even one tenth as interesting as Julian's, you're way ahead of your competition.

Seth Godin's blog entry today sums up so much of my frustration with much of what I see on the Net:

Yes, I know you're a master of the web, that you've visited every website written in English, that you've been going to SXSW for ten years, that you were one of the first bloggers, you used Foursquare before it was cool and you can code in HTML in your sleep. Yes, I know that you sit in the back of the room tweeting clever ripostes when speakers are up front failing on a panel and that you had a LOLcat published before they stopped being funny.

But what have you shipped?

What have you done with your connection skills that has been worthy of criticism, that moved the dial and that changed the world?

Go, do that.

Right on, Seth. To that list of "so you can..." I'd add

• You're a master debater on Slashdot and Reddit
• You're quick with a link to letmegooglethatforyou.com
• You correct people in the ways in which they ask questions in IRC

The tough part is that most of the things that you do "with your connection skills that has been worthy of criticism, that moved the dial and that changed the world" require you to get off your ass and get out from behind a keyboard.

Ever given a talk at a user group meeting? Ever organized a conference? Or lined up a speaker for a user group meeting? Written an article or blog post where people say "That's changed the way I look at things?" Or created software where people say "I don't know how I lived without this?"

When Seth talks about "moved the dial and changed the world," I'll even set the bar a bit lower. When was the last time someone thanked you for downvoting someone on reddit, or being an oh-so-clever snark poster on Slashdot? Ever received appreciations for pointing out what you perceived as someone's shortcomings in a flame war?

Which is more likely?

• "Thanks for telling that guy your negative opinion of him."
• "Thanks for that presentation on Ruby modules."
• "Thanks for reaching level 75 on Farmville."
• "Thanks for putting together this group. I learned a lot."

Get out there from behind your keyboard and do something that builds rather than tears down.

When employers are looking for candidates, the fact that you can tie your shoes and not pee in your pants are just assumed. You'd never see a job for a computer professional advertising:

• Able to get to work on time
• Knows to go to bathroom and not wet self
• Can tell ass from hole in ground

So why do candidates put these sorts of filler bullets at the top of their resumes in sections called "Summary of Qualifications"?

• Able to work well with others
• Strong work ethic
• Attention to detail
• Quality-oriented
• Dependable
• Responsible
• Results-oriented
• Problem-solver
• Interested in improving efficiency
• Able to find innovative solutions
• Proficient in Microsoft Office and the Internet

If you are a professional in the computer field, every one of those bullets is assumed . Those are the price of admission, not selling points. Putting such vague mundane "qualifications" as the first thing in your resume says to the reader "I am completely average."

Instead, tell about what makes you awesome, not average. Instead, your summary of qualifications should have bullets more like these:

• Eight years experience in web development, using Perl, Java and Ruby on both Windows and Linux environments.
• Expert in SQL databases, especially data migration between MySQL, PostgreSQL and MS SQL Server.
• Designer of seven different e-commerce websites both with HTML/CSS and Ajax.

Bullets like those give specifics. They apply specifically to you, not just anyone like "detail-oriented" does. They make the reader take notice and want to know more. The details grab the attention.

These links are collected from The Working Geek's Twitter feed. If you have suggestions for news bits, please mail me at andy@theworkinggeek.com.

• Resume advice from Savage Chickens: (savagechickens.com)
• You are hereby recruited into the ongoing battle against fear (punkrockhr.com)
• Why you should ask at the interview about the fate of your predecessor (askamanager.blogspot.com)
• The Ten Commandments of being the junior programmer (chadpluspl.us)
• Why you are always unfailingly polite to everyone on an interview (youtube.com)
• What makes a tech book a classic? (pragprog.com)

I've been writing a column for PragPub, the free monthly magazine of the Pragmatic Programmers, for the past few months. The latest column is part two of a discussion of how to give informative talks, such as to your local user group.

PragPub is on its ninth issue, and is available in four different formats. You can download the entire magazine as a single document in PDF, ePub and .mobi, just like every Pragmatic book, and it's also newly available as HTML. The archives of all nine issues are available as HTML as well.

Here's a list of my columns in past issues:

• How to Give a Tech Presentation, Part Two
• How to Give a Tech Presentation, Part One
• Resolutions For 2010
• Keeping the Job You Don't Like
• The Layoffs Are Coming!

Every issue has something of interest to me, and I think you'll find something for you as well.

These links are collected from The Working Geek's Twitter feed. If you have suggestions for news bits, please mail me at andy@theworkinggeek.com.

• Don't forget that your public library is a great source of job hunting help (nydailynews.com)
• Ask The Headhunter: Do I have to have a one-page resume? (corcodilos.com)
• I discuss business cards, resumes and how you want to be remembered in my latest column (pragprog.com)
• Asking for the job is crucial at the end of the interview. Ten ways to do it: (usnews.com)
• "Is it good that they asked for references?" Perhaps, but why try to figure it out? (askamanager.blogspot.com)
• My slides from #posscon, "What schools should be teaching IT students" (theworkinggeek.com)
• Don't confuse "qualifications" with "skills assumed of everyone" (theworkinggeek.com)
• How to say it: "Is this a good place to work?" (corcodilos.com)
• Use Google Alerts to monitor your online presence (theworkinggeek.com)
• More career resolutions, this time from Working Girl (usnews.com)
• How to say it: I don't have a degree, but hire me anyway (corcodilos.com)
• The skill of interviewing (insideria.com)
• The skill of interviewing part 2 (insideria.com)
• Career advice part 1: Don't settle (greatleadershipbydan.com)
• Via @sachmet, a startup where each developer gets his/her own house (developertown.com)
• Experienced programmers, which common mistakes do you see those of us with less experience make time after time? (reddit.com)
• Geek behaviors present during conversations (stanford.edu)
• Social tips for geeks (stanford.edu)
• #milwaukeejobcamp is only two days away, and there are sessions on everything: (milwaukeejobcamp.org)
• It's always interesting to see what from the book resonates with readers: (estravizhausen.tumblr.com)
• Milwaukee Jobcamp on the TV news (fox6now.com)
• Video from my talk at #milwaukeejobcamp is here: (ustream.tv)
• Get to the point first (blog.webnet-it.co.jp)