I was reading Must-Have Job Skills in 2013, and I was struck by the skills Mantell says job-seekers must have: Clear communications Personal branding Flexibility Productivity improvement Here’s what these mean for great geeks: Communications mean you have to be able to discuss what you mean with and without the correct jargon. With jargon, you […]
I have a post, What’s the Culture on Your Project? that discusses the project issues of the Romney campaign. But there is a deeper issue. On a post that no longer exists there was an insightful comment from someone named redcal: who you hire to do the job DEFINES how well you do your job
I have the pleasure of introducing a guest writer for today’s post, Tina Underhill. Take it away, Tina! The Road to the CBAP is Not Paved by Applied Knowledge The glorified CBAP credentials have been a desire of mine since their inception. How awesome it would be to stand up and say, “Yes, I am
I was talking with a client recently, who was professing his desire for younger candidates. “Can anyone older than 35 or 40 really know anything?” was his concern. I sat there, a little nonplussed. “How old do you think I am?” I paused. “No, don’t answer that. Just remember that age is not the issue.
If you’re a candidate and you are looking for a job, it can be difficult to deconstruct a job ad, especially if it’s a laundry list of technical tools. A lot of hiring managers use a form of shorthand to identify their needs. Here are some common themes that might be their shorthand: What the
There’s a question on one of the forums, about how to ask questions in a phone screen for junior developers. I thought I would answer it here, and then post a link. These tips work for junior developers, testers, writers, BAs, whatever. In a phone screen, you first want to ask elimination questions; then essential
It’s easy to hire for a “normal” kind of job, where you say, “Developer” and everyone knows what you mean. But what if you are looking for a new kind of role, say, “knowledge management” or “social media guru”? Those roles are new. They mean different things to different people. Well, if you’re like my
One of the ways I organize and plan for interviews is to use an interview matrix. I take the essential skills from the job analysis and use them in the interview matrix to decide who will ask which questions. No, I don’t make those decisions—I ask the interviewers who wants to ask which questions. Now
I spoke recently with a senior project manager who is looking for a new job. I offered to review her resume, and she told me she didn’t think she needed it. She had the “secret sauce” to a great resume: every single line on the resume answered the “so what” question. If she has some
You may have noticed my most recent post was back in October (ouch). That’s because of the past 6 weeks, I’ve been out of town 5. With that much travel, something has to go, and some of my blogging is it. In any case, I hadn’t stopped thinking about hiring issues, I just momentarily stopped