You’re an unemployed agilist. And even if you can find an agile coaching or Scrum Master job, the pay is so terrible, you don’t want to take it. That’s because potential employers think these jobs are staff positions. Your previous managers and potential managers don’t see the value of someone in your position. That’s because […]
This morning, I read For Economy, Aging Population Poses Double Whammy (registration required). If you don’t read the WSJ, here are some interesting takeaways: On average, every 10% increase in the share of state’s population over the age of 60 reduced per capita growth in gross domestic product by 5.5%. … The authors note: “An older
Let me summarize what you can do if you are a person of a certain age—maybe just over 30—and you want to find a job. Prepare for your search in these ways: Look relevant to hiring managers. That means you will do whatever you need to do your resume: Keep the resume to 2 pages
In Part 1, I described your job search planning. In Part 2, I discussed what you can do to help your resume. In this part, I’ll talk about the interview. Any candidate needs to prepare for the interview. If you are worried about ageism, consider these tips for these challenges: Specify your value, first to
In Part 1, I discussed the issue of certification vs. experience. One of the problems in using certifications to discriminate for or against people is that some people might have the experience you want, and might not have the certification paper that represents that experience to you. Here’s an example. I coached a project manager
There are a ton of certifications these days. Many demand only that you sit through a 2-day or even 1-week class and then take an exam. Some certifications demand that you prove you have worked in the field for some number of weeks/hours the previous year or so. Most certifications do not demand that you
Hiring managers who haven’t read Hiring Geeks That Fit are now asking another irrelevant question: Tell me something no one else knows about you. Now, in case you aren’t sure, this is an irrelevant question. It doesn’t directly help an interviewer learn how the candidate can perform the work or fit with the team. It doesn’t
You have an open position. You have two internal candidates. You’re going to hire one of them. (See Two Candidates, One Position.) Now you have a problem. You have one person who will not be happy. This often occurs when you have two candidates for technical leadership or management positions. You might have a political problem.
Have you seen Nick Korbel’s series about hiring techies? See On Hiring Techies. There are several posts: Evaluate Potential, Not Accomplishments. He’s talking about evaluating qualities, preferences, and non-technical skills. Coding Challenge: A pre-interview audition. The cool thing is that they then discuss the audition in the interview. The Team Interview. I dislike panel interviews.
In the blogosphere and in the press, there is an increasing notice about the lack of women in technical fields and management positions. Here is some data: Why women leave tech: what the research says by Sue Gardner. Read Visualizing Silicon Valley’s Lack of Diversity. Notice that tech is overwhelmingly white and male. It does