Re: Seeking computer-programming job (Sunnyvale, CA)
From: George Peter Staplin
There is such an online auction site, or at least was. It was
overrun by people that didn't know what they were doing, and the
quality was often questionable from what I've heard of the work.
Perhaps things have changed by now.
Robert Maas, http://tinyurl.com/uh3t wrote:
Can you please try to find it and show me where to find it?
GIYF.
But such skills as needed to hussle [sic] a job under the current system
are irrelevant to many kinds of work, such as computer programming.
It really sucks that good skilled people with lots of other skills
are neglected for employment because they don't have that one
specific skill job-hustling and none of the employment agencies are
willing to do their supposed job.
Wow. I'm not sure exactly what you're saying here, but I read it as a
complaint that you have to hustle in order to find work. I got news for you -
lots of people have good computer skills; it's the hustle that distinguishes
them and makes them better than other candidates. If I were a hiring manager
hearing your pitch, which sounds awfully petulant, I'd look for another candidate.
A few days ago, on recommendation from someody who claimed DICE was
good, I tried a job search through DICE. I found only a very few
jobs at all in my category and nearby, with only one that I
qualified for per the requirements section, which said *nothing*
except that I needed 4 years experience software programming,
Do you have such experience?
nothing specific at all, although the job duties section was full
of stuff I had not the slightest idea how to do them, but just to
If you don't have the slightest idea how to do them, there's a high likelihood
you are not qualified for that particular position. And saying that it had a
"job duties section ... full of stuff" is the exact opposite of that it "said
*nothing*".
harass them for posting such a stupid ad I applied anyway. I also
That you confess readily that you wanted to harass them, and condemn their ad
as "stupid" is evidence that you have what any hiring manager would consider a
bad attitude and make them very unwilling to hire you.
applied at a company that is two blocks from where I live despite
the fact it requires a security clearance plus lots of experience
with military specs etc., only because they are so very very
conveniently located that I've been wanting to get my resume to
them just in case they have some job not requiring security
clearance, and this was my first chance, a shot in the dark.
You get a job by demonstrating that you have what they want, not by hoping
that they have what you want.
As for jobs I really qualify for, I haven't seen one in more than a
dozen years.
"Would you like fries with that?"
I neither, but when I'm willing to work at the legal minimum wage
but the company says i'm [sic] too expensive so they'll hire the
foreigner instead to save money, it totally pisses me off, either
that they are breaking the law, or they are simply not listening to
me that I'm really highly skilled but after 17+ years unemployment
I'm desperate to find a job even if I have to work at minimum wage
to "get my foot (back) in the door".
Anyone who's been unemployed for 17 or more years has a perception problem
they will need to overcome, as most hiring managers will be very, very
skeptical of someone with such a gap. They will want to know why a person has
been unemployed - have they been ill, a homemaker, independently wealthy?
That kind of thing. They'll want to see what a person has done recently to
make themselves more attractive to prospective employers - have they gone to
school, done research, taken an internship, worked in a volunteer capacity?
Someone without appropriate answers to these kinds of questions, who complains
bitterly, even if accurately, about why it's other people's fault, who readily
admits to "harassing" prospective employers, who simply states that they're
"really highly skilled" but has no verifiable skills relevant to the employer,
who asserts that they're "desperate to find a job" but also says that they're
unwilling to hustle - that person will almost certainly not get hired. There
are too many people with verifiable skills, a solid work history, and a
demonstrably positive attitude with hustle who are competing for those positions.
Time for some tough love, Robert. Project a positive attitude, even if you
have to fake it. Take courses; get certified. Develop the skill set you see
advertised in the help wanted. Don't ever let them hear you complain about
"foreigners" or whining about the circumstances. Develop hustle.
I know that I repeated some things that Patricia Shanahan said. You should
listen to her. And get a better attitude.
--
Lew