Words of advice re job hunting
Just had a slightly tragic interview night for my team. Not going to go into details but just wanted to re-iterate a couple of tips if you’re looking for a job :
1. Tailor your resume to the job you’re applying for.
Most of the time, you’re being hired to fill a need. If you have a bunch of unrelated experience on your work history, it mostly just comes across that you just want a job and aren’t really particular about what you’ll do. If you’re applying for a job to be a hot dog cooker. I don’t care about your experience in fixing cars.
2. Research the company you’re applying for.
This isn’t just so you can answer questions to see if you’ve done said research, it’s because YOU need to know if that is a company you’d actually want to work for. YOU need to know about the culture of the company and if it aligns with your values. YOU need to know about the type of work that is done there. YOU need to know about the potential time commitments. The job is not going to change for you, you need to know if it’s something you can fit into. The interview should go both ways. Are you a fit for us? Are we a fit for you?
3. Don’t apply to jobs you’re not qualified for.
A few things can happen happen.
1. Your resume will get thrown in the trash.
2. If you get past HR, your functional interviewers will eviscerate you in a technical interview, cutting into your confidence.
3. If you get hired, you’ll promptly be let go because the demands are more than you can handle…and the company will blame you for not living up to the expectations you didn’t really pay attention to.
Guys.
Your career is what you make it. Nobody is going to look out for you, you have to be strategic about it.
Figure out what YOU want to do. Zero that down first, then tailor your package to those opportunities, both in presentation and building your skills.
Not hiring you off of what you say you can do.
Hiring you off of demonstrated experience.
Doesn’t even have to be professional, could be something you did on your own time.
The proof is the work, not in the vapor.
