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When You Go To The Interview – Part Two February 12, 2006

Posted by Gary Slinger in : Uncategorized , 3comments

A couple of days ago, I wrote “When You Go To The Interview“, and I’m very happy, and lucky, that Mark Horstman of “Manager Tools” added two great comments to the post. For the folks that only see this stuff via RSS, I’m copying those comments below (with Mark’s permission), and then adding some more comments of my own at the bottom.

Gary-

GREAT POST! Really like your thinking.

I don’t know if I’ve ever made it really clear on our show, but I spent 7 years recruiting for major corporations. I have interviewed tens of thousands of candidates, and placed thousands. So, I come to my perspective honestly (and, frankly, painfully).

I am going to check out the posts on answers you’ve got, and see what suggestions I can add.

I do want to add one comment, regarding resumes. You mentioned that some of your readers may not “get along with” the one page resume idea. If they don’t, they’re indulging a mistaken personal belief that more is better. Folks, there’s just no way those second and third pages are getting read. PERIOD. Even for tech jobs, the number of resumes received is such that the decision is made in MOMENTS. And, for those of you hiring managers who might prefer them, remember – resumes’ purpose is to get the interview. The vast majority of resumes that are too long (>1 page) never get to you. This may make recruiters and HR bad people, but it doesn’t change the reality.

When I get a multi-page resume (and I get 50 resumes a week, unrequested), I IMMEDIATELY think two things: (1) uninformed job seeker, and (2), limited upside career.

One other thing: I LIKE multi-page resumes. Yes, you read that right. BUT, I like them for their ability to CAPTURE all that I have done. I use them to review what I’ve done and choose the best stuff to go on the one pager that I SEND OUT to companies/recruiters.

Okay, I’m off my soapbox! Watch those multi-pagers, folks – they’re hurting you and you don’t know it.

Mark Horstman
Manager Tools

PS: I’ll post again once I’ve checked out the sites!

OK – that’s the first one. Here’s the promised second post, from a little later that evening:

Gary-

Went to the answer sites you posted. The first site has some okay answers, and for someone who hasn’t ever interviewed, it would be helpful. If you’ve got 7+ years of professional experience and can only do that well, all the interview answers in the world won’t help you.

The way to answer weakness questions is patently offensive. Chocolate? Seriously – this is rude.

Here’s the right way to answer the weakness question. First, you should assume you’re going to get this question, and therefore have analyzed the job to understand what the core strengths are that are required. DON’T choose to talk about a weakness (we all have more than one!) that is a core job requirement.

Once past that, your answer should have THREE PARTS. (1) Qualify your answer, (2) State the weakness, (3) Describe what you’re doing to improve.

For instance: “On occasion (qualifier), I procrastinate (weakness). I’ll push a task back as long as it’s not critical, in deference to some other work. What I’ve started doing lately (improvement) is posting my project schedules, as well as setting up reminders to keep me on track.”

Or, “Every once in a while, I jump into a project to make early progress, rather than taking time to get a sense of the various issues. What I’ve started doing is simply adding tasks on the front end that are about level setting and relationship building, and that’s made a big difference.”

Their mouths will hang open, I promise.

One more thing – both sites have too many questions.

You really need to be exceptionally ready for TWO: “tell me about yourself”, and “give me an example of an accomplishment (which shows blank)”.

If you handle these two well (and btw, tell me about yourself should be 3-4 minutes long, not 1 minute), the others can be forgiven.

(Relatedly: be VERY careful about following ANY guidance from Haldane (cited on one of the sites). They’re a fee-based firm, and my experience with them is consistently unprofessional.

Hope this helps.

Mark Horstman
Manager Tools

Well, I think my first thought is that I hope I’m never in competition for a job with Mark! :) That said, some more thoughts and responses to the above.

(more…)

Handwritten Notes After A Job Interview? February 10, 2006

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Following up both on my post yesterday, and on Doug’s post “10 things to help you get hired“, because of this comment:

Doesn’t a hand written thank you card make you look like an incredible suck-up? Sure maybe some hiring managers get off on that sorta thing, but… I’d consider that overdone.

I’d send a hand-written note. I do that for a few different things anyway though – I like pen-and-paper, as a change from the electronic life. That said, if I was interviewing now, it would be for a manager/director/VP type role, and that sets the expectations somewhat. If you’re fresh out of college, and you’ve just interviewed at Yahoo! for instance, would a note be appropriate?

It’s really going to depend on your own level of comfort with these things, as well as the “vibe” you got from your interviewer. I don’t believe it’s ageist to say that you might get a different reaction to the note from a fifty-something manager than you might from a twenty-something one.

Think about this though – one of the key points in what Doug’s writing about, and what I was touching on as well, is that you need to differentiate yourself.  Initially in your resume, and then in your interview, and then finally in their memory of you while they’re deliberating.  If the interview process has run over four or five days, and they’ve seen ten, fifteen, twenty candidates, and in the middle of this your note turns up – think you might stand out a little bit from the rest of the crowd now?

Not directly related to job hunting, but on paper notes in general, there’s an article from early January over at “paper notes in a digital world” that might be worth a read.   It’s worth taking a look at the comments on that as well, and then judge for yourself how a handwritten note might be received.

When You Go To The Interview February 9, 2006

Posted by Gary Slinger in : Uncategorized , 8comments

I already pointed out Doug’s post “10 things to make sure you don’t get a job offer“, and it’s receiving favorable attention – one of those “been there, done that” things, I suspect.

In any event, I think Doug could just as easily have titled it “… don’t get invited to an interview”. It happens that I’ve been helping counsel someone over the last couple weeks, for an interview he had this week. Given that the interview went pretty well, I thought I’d offer up my thoughts on what to take with you to the interview, and a little bit of the interview prep. Maybe Doug can pick it apart in the comments ;)

I wrote all of this down in summary on a 3″x5″ card for the person in question, but I get to go into a little more detail here.

1. Two or three extra resumes. One of them is for yourself, to read before you go into the interview. Interviews are “high-stress” environments for most folks, and while there’s no doubt that you know everything that you’ve put on your resume (unless you’ve been really creative!), it doesn’t hurt to remind yourself of not just what you’ve written, but how you’ve written it – that’s the only exposure the interviewer has had to you so far, remember. Additionally, you may find that the interviewer brings one or more of their colleagues into the meeting with them – now you’ve got a resume ready and waiting for them, without having to mess around getting copies made then and there, if the interviewer hasn’t already done so.

On the subjects of resumes, there’s a great podcast over at the Manager Tools site, which is worth listening to. They have a sample resume up as well. They sell the idea of the one-page resume, and it’s definitely a good idea. I can see some folks not getting along with the idea though, so – if you’ve sent in a two- or three-page resume, you may find mileage in taking along a one-page version. You can always leave it as a “leave behind” after the meeting, can’t you? Conversely, if you sent in the one-pager, you could have a more detailed resume available. It’s not always appropriate to do this, I think, but you’re not going to know until you get there. Having options is always a bonus.

2. A list of your training, conferences attended, speaking engagements, etc. etc. Anything you think appropriate that you might want to reference, that you didn’t include in your resume. It’s there for you, if you need to refer to it; it’s there to leave behind if it becomes appropriate. Not appropriate for all positions, certainly, but isn’t it nice to be prepared?

3. Your 90 or 100 day plan. I “stole” this idea from Bren’s Slacker Manager site. He originally wrote about it here, , and followed up on it here, along with the observation that he’d got the job he’d interviewed for. . This is the only thing that I’m writing about here that I haven’t done personally in earlier interviews in my career. I can say quite definitely that I’ll be doing this for my next interview, whenever that may be. I think it’s a great idea. I’m going to also observe that for the last few years, I’ve been a hiring manager, and sat in on more interviews than I can remember, either as the primary interviewer, as part of the technical screen, or as part of an overall interview panel, and no-one has ever offered up one of these plans in a session I was in. It would have stood out, quite definitely. I want that when I go interviewing again. So, read Bren’s posts – and read the comments on them as well, and then have a think, and try it yourself.

4. A list of interview questions. Actually, there’s two lists you need to have, I think. First, either or both of the lists at these two links:

http://purana.csa.iisc.ernet.in/~gkumar/Questions.html
http://spaces.msn.com/chiefskipper/Blog/cns!A59D550BCED8263B!780.entry

The first link has some sample answers. The second, just a list of questions. You’re going to get asked some of those questions. Absolutely, without a doubt. Not all of them, I certainly hope, but some of them. Print them out, think about them, maybe come up with some sample answers on paper yourself – whatever works best for your own style. I am certainly not advising that you take these lists out at the interview and read from them! But it’s all part of the preparation – things you can read the morning of the interview, en route to the interview if you’re not driving, in the office lobby while you wait, and so forth.

The other list of questions you should take is one you’re going to have to make up yourself. You’re almost certainly going to be asked at the end of the interview “and do you have any questions for me?”, or some variant thereof. Have some ready. Preferably not about the pay and vacation policy, at least not yet! But, tied in to items five and six below, there’s going to be something you’re going to want to know about. If there’s any risk at all of you feeling the stress of the interview and answering “errr, no… thanks…”, then why not have the questions listed out ready? In this instance, I think it is OK to bring the list out, and refer to it. It’s vaguely possible all your questions will have been answered in the interview, but at least you’re going to show that you put the time into thinking about it. You can probably expand on one or more of them anyway.

5. Anything and everything relevant to the position you’re applying for. The job advert, if there was one, a copy of your application letter (and form, if there was one), copies of any additional correspondence, everything. Getting a job is a job in itself, and this is the kind of detailed preparation and planning that will show out – and stand out – to your advantage.

6. Finally, whatever research you’ve done on the company. Reports on it from the internet, or from your local newspaper. A copy of their annual report, maybe. This is the stuff I leave showing at the top of my binder, folder, whatever I’m carrying it all in, when I set it down on the desk. Sometimes garners a question, sometimes not. If they ask, “so, what do you know about [company name]?”, don’t you want to be the candidate that doesn’t answer “er, not a lot, actually”?

Put all the above in a binder, portfolio, padfolio – whatever you’re comfortable carrying that doesn’t look like it had last night’s groceries in it. Take a pad and a pen as well. Sure, you might not need it, and they might provide some when you get there, but like I said – getting a job IS a job. I don’t doubt for a minute that there’s a number of folks reading this going “well, DUH!”. But I don’t exaggerate when I say that I’ve seen dozens of folks go through interviews completely under-prepared. And you know what? An interview is a meeting. If you’re not prepared, and not capable of handling that, then that is the impression that I’m going to get of how you’re going to handle meetings when you’re at work. Not the impression you’re going to want to give really, is it?

Anyway, all the above is, as they say, just my two-penn’orth. Hopefully the links at least are worth the price of admission.

Good luck.

RIM Releases Blackberry Workaround Information February 9, 2006

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As always, Blackberry Cool has the latest and greatest. Key bit at the end:

“Web Site: RIM will make the software update available at a later date on a
special web site: www.blackberry.com/workaround.”

BlackBerry Cool » RIM Releases Workaround Details

Go read the article – it has all the various operating modes, opinions, etc.

links for 2006-02-09 February 9, 2006

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links for 2006-02-08 February 8, 2006

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New Blog: Doug Hampshire February 7, 2006

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As might have been guessed if you followed yesterday’s link (not many folks did, but that might have been because of the way I did the link in snipurl, and I deliberately didn’t put a lot of information in the post), Doug Hampshire has started a blog here.  I know Doug as a manager, a techie and as a friend, and I am very glad that he’s started writing – his first post is “10 things to make sure you don’t get a job offer“.  Go check it out, and leave him a comment or two letting him know you’re there, what you think, and maybe suggest other aspects of this topic that he could write about.

Oh, I’ve been guilty of #7 on his list (and it was a server room, not a restaurant!)

links for 2006-02-07 February 7, 2006

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Calling Out… February 6, 2006

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Hey Doug!

Write your first post already ;)

links for 2006-02-04 February 4, 2006

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RIM-NTP Lawsuit – The Timeline – Updated February 3, 2006

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Back on December 15th, I posted a timeline image of various facts and happenings around the RIM/NTP patent dispute/lawsuit.

With the announcement earlier this week that the USPTO had rejected the fifth and final patent under dispute, I thought it would be worth updating the timeline. If you click on the image below, you’ll get the full version – you’ll have better success with it if you save it to a local disk and use your image viewing application of choice to zoom in on it, however!

RIM/NTP Lawsuit Timeline

Two Ben’s and An Ant… February 3, 2006

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While I finish getting things ready for the next batch of “real” posts here, I thought I’d take a moment to draw the attention of the three or four readers I have (;)) that don’t work with me to, well, the blogs of three guys who do. All three are techies of various flavors, and I recommend both their work, and their writing.

The first of the Ben’s, is Ben Stokes, over in the UK, and he writes “Open Source Heaven (Mainly Linux)” – you can probably take a wild guess at what his focus is! Here’s his last five posts:

b2evolution e-mail notifications
b2evolution
Qube LCD Panel RPM’s
Why the Linux security model works
Make your own Linux live CD

Next up, we have Ben Christian, this time from Australia, with a self-titled site at www.benchristian.com. Needless to say, I approve of the naming scheme! Ben’s most recent posts are:

PowerToys for XP
Commonwealth Games Daylight Savings hotfix
Compiling study notes using Mind Manager
How reliable is email?
SOHO Backups with Ghost 10

And finally, we have my good friend and colleague Ant Drewery, again out of the UK, also with a self-titled site, tagged “Technical Musings…”. You can find him here. Here’s his five most recent items:

File level AV scanning on an Exchange server
Exchange POP3 mailbox access in a front-end/ back-end topology
Alternative firmware for Linksys WRT54G router
To DMZ or not to DMZ?
MWSnap – screen capture utility

And there you go – three of the guys I work with, and three sites I read regularly. Go check them out, say “hi” in their comments, and if you like what you see, add them to your RSS feeds.

‘course, you could always ask them questions, as well…. ;)

links for 2006-02-02 February 2, 2006

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