Thursday, October 26, 2006

Joel on Software - The Guerrilla Guide to Interviewing

I saw this article mentioned on popurls and, after reading it, thought you all would want to check it out(Aside: isn't that how it usually goes? lol):

Joel on Software - The Guerrilla Guide to Interviewing

The article approaches interviewing from the perspective of an interviewer for a software development position, but, hopefully you can look beyond that to see the more general application.

Related tags:

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Phone Number-Phone Location Lookup

I received an e-mail yesterday from a recruiter. In his signature he included his office phone number, but he didn't mention the city where he was located. I found this website that lets you search a phone number to find the city. Pretty cool.

Related tags:

Friday, October 20, 2006

In Lieu of a Real Post...

cartoon from www.weblogcartoons.com

Cartoon by Dave Walker. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.



Related tags:

Thursday, October 19, 2006

Reasons Why You Need to Be Reading Scott Adams's Blog

For lack of a better title of a post... Here are some reasons why job seekers should be reading Scott Adam's blog:

Related tags:

Not Alone in the Job Search

Last night we were at a meeting with some people from church, and a group of us went off to pray. We went around the room, each sharing what's been going on and what our prayer needs are. I found it interesting that a number of us have job changes going on, details that follow after the jump:

  • K., who is trying to get his family here to the United States and is concerned because he is a temporary worker;
  • S., who is interviewing with a direct competitor of his company, and so is needing to keep things "on the down low" for time being;
  • C., who is looking for a lateral move in her company, just to get away from a negative job situation; and
  • Me, with my eyes open and ready for whatever opportunities lie in store, either through independent contracting or a full-time job at a company
Each of these needs is real and very personal. Knowing that we're all in this together, that we can understand and relate, is very encouraging for me. I want success not just for myself but also for others.

Related tags:

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

I Hate Cover Letters

Seriously. I do. All the effort taken to write one just for the slight chance that it might get into a hiring manager's hands and convince him or her to read the resume just doesn't seem worth it.

I'd rather just do what I just did. I sent my resume via email with something along the lines of the following (after the jump):

I've attached my resume for the _________ position, confident that I can help fill the need you have.

Please contact me at __________ so we can discuss further how I might be a match.

THANKS!

Dan Johnson
Resumes and cover letters only tell one side of the story, and I can understand that they have their purpose from a hiring perspective. I hate just blindly sending something into an unknown individual. It feels like I'm flushing it down the toilet.

Am I being too cynical?

Thursday, October 12, 2006

What I Love About Searching for Work, cont'd

In a previous post, I talked about how much I've come to enjoy networking, not only for a job search, but just in general.

Someone commented at that post, asking two questions, which I'll try to address as best as I can, hoping you other readers can contribute (tap, tap, is this mic on? ;), after the jump:

Even though I am completely comfortable asking for ideas/help about a problem I'm working on at work "Has anyone else ever hit this error?". I simply can't bring myself to make me,myself or I the topic of the conversation, as in "I'm thinking of trying to start...." I am just completely uncomfortable with it. I can do it over the Internet, but not face to face with friends/relatives.

I'm not sure why I feel that way, but I think it's because with people I already know I'm worried that they will either feel obligated to ACT interested/enthusiastic OR that if they are in any way negative before I've gotten off the ground with my idea, that I won't have enough momentum to keep going.

Any suggestions?
Some people are introverted and some are extroverted; it's just how we're all made. I think in general I'm more extroverted than introverted. I believe it's important to have enough confidence in yourself that, when around friends and relatives - others with whom you're close - to be able to bounce off your ideas, even just to ask them for their opinions. I'm learning that I need to be my own biggest fan, because I know what I have to offer others better than they do, and it's my responsibility to convey that.
My second question is, can you give me an example of why you like LinkedIn? I just wasn't inclined to type in a pile of info about myself unless I had a more specific example of how I might benefit.
I like to use LinkedIn to connect with colleagues and friends professionally, especially recently as I've found myself back in the job market. I'm letting my contacts know what I've been doing and what I'm looking for, and they can search their networks, too. I've been able to strum up a few job leads, as a result.

Dan's GTJ e-mail address at Gmail.com

Hope this helps, and let's keep the conversation going!

Related tags:

, , , , , , , ,

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Counter Offer Letter

Just saw this on the Twitter public timeline:

Does anyone knows how to write a counter offer letter for a job?? -- Alysha
I've never written one of these before myself, have any of you?

14 Dec 2006 Update: This post has generated a lot of traffic, so I thought I'd direct you all to the Google search results for "sample counter offer letter", which look to be very helpful.

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

What I Love About Searching for Work

Hey guys. Just wanted to chime in here and share about the one thing I really love about searching for work. That almost sounds oxymoronic to me because my nature is to want to get done with the job search as soon as possible.

But I love networking with other people, not only just for job searching but also for any type of connecting purpose. You never know who you'll be able to help and who can help you. If you know someone looking for a specific type of job or with a position to fill, you can help find that.

With that in mind, I'm open to connecting with you readers. I've been using LinkedIn, which in essence is a community for professionals to connect with each other, a sort of professional, albeit boring version of MySpace. I say that not to demean either site; each one serves its own purpose.

So, if you'd like to invite me to connect with you, feel free: http://www.linkedin.com/in/dajohnson

Update: Reader Jason noticed I'd omitted my e-mail address from this post. Good point. Here it is, disguised for the spam robots.

Dan's GTJ e-mail address at Gmail.com

Related tags:

, , , , , ,

Thursday, October 05, 2006

Unconventional Job Search Success Stories Needed

Hey folks, I've been contacted by a reporter for a well-known online career-related website, and she wants to know about unconventional career search strategies that have worked for you, especially if you're in your twenties when you got the job.

Here at GTJ, I'm always interested in your success stories because your sharing helps encourage others.

So let's get the sharing on!

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Resume Tips for Teleworkers - Resume Writing Services & Free Resume Advice from Monster.com

I've been "teleworking" for over a year now, and I suppose it's easy to take it for granted. This article from Monster reminds me that I might want to mention certain things in my resume or during the interview with respect to my success at "teleworking".

Resume Tips for Teleworkers - Resume Writing Services & Free Resume Advice from Monster.com

Current Openings from a contact in my Network

Dennis, one of the contacts in my LinkedIn network, has some openings he's trying to fill:

Automotive Electrical Engineer - IN
Business to Business Sales - IN
Chemist - IN
Application Engineer - CA
Information Technology Manager - GA
Information Technology Manager - IN
Logistic Professional - IN
Machine Maintenance Technician - IN
Mechanical/Project Engineer - WA
Automotive Production Supervisor - IN
Automotive Auto-Cad Designer - IN
Food Mfg Production Supervisor - WI (bi-lingual HUGE plus)
Sales Account Representative - OH
Human Resources Executive - IL
Bi-Lingual HR Generalist - IN
If you want more information, please let me know.

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

How To Get People To Trust You

Interesting slide show thingy (is that the technical term?) from Forbes about establishing trust.

via GMail Web Clips