Job Searching - I'm Doing It Wrong

[Squidge]

I've heard a few stories before of people getting jobs with other peoples qualifications. They got given a job using a language they had never heard of and left alone. A month later they were asked to turn in there work done so far. They gave in a "Hello world" program they probably downloaded from the 'net. Needless to say, they didn't last long after that, but they did get paid a months wages.

I wonder if they got a good referral though?

(I believe there's some of the above stories on the daily wtf too)

 

[namco]

I usually say that since I've been programming for x amount of years I understand the fundamentals of programming (the use of loops, functions etc etc) which means I can pick up the language itself quite easily.

Any projects (porting or even halfway done) is useful to put on CV's. Half done coding does show that you have an active interest.

Thanks to this community I've managed to get a good enough CV to impress people (yeah the gp2x stuff is on there including some other stuff). So far I've had 2 interviews, one with UKFast for an internet programming position and the other is from CDL for a Software Technician - still waiting on CDL though.

 

[Sphinxter]

Posers always fuck it up eventually. At one of worlds larger mutual funds there was this guy who worked his way up to CIO, was some mags CIO of the year once, did so well the governor picked him for a top spot and cited his accomplishments at the ceremony and the media picked one off as a phony and last rumored working as a prison guard. Got a few other good ones, agency hires some of the lamest posers, never let anybody with a clue interview, craigx's right how they get the foot in the door but most can't hide long when the rubber hits the road, easier to hide in management unfortunately for the poor bastards with a clue they hire.

Thanks for your replies, that gives me a better idea on where to look, but you still haven't told me HOW to look.

Fresh haircut and wear a tie, they inspire confidence for some reason.

Very funny.

Seriously...


I keed I keed.

 

[satanic virus]

Yahoo! in Eastpoint used to be called Overture. They were an Irish web company that Yahoo! took over and are now fully branded as Yahoo! They have almost 300 staff. Double-Click (owned now by Google) is also in East Point.

If you are just desperate to get a job and some experience quickly you should consider the financial services companies. The Irish banks have had limited exposure to the sub prime crisis. Try AIB, Bank of Ireland, Permanent TSB, Anglo Irish Bank, Irish Intercontinental Bank etc. All of these have their own IT departments with their own in-house systems and projects. Also, spend a day walking around the IFSC which has all the multinational banks in it (over 50 companies) and drop your CV into every one! CitiBank, JP Morgan, Chase etc are all based here. They deal with off-shore accounts to avail of Irish govenrment tax benefits so they too are not that impacted by the US crisis.

I recommend simply posting your CV to every company you can find an address for. The most you lose os the price of the stamp. So what of 95% respond saying 'no positions at present but we are keeping you on file ..'. It just takes one or two positive responses to get an interview and job.

This site: http://dublin.sireh.com/ lists hundreds of companies operating in Dublin. The Computers section has over 40 addresses. Years ago I sent over 60 CV's out to companies. From this I got three interviews, 2 job offers and I took one of them. I am still there today so it worked for me.

I don't think you need to wear a full suit for dropping off CV's into companies. The receptionist just takes them, and if you are lucky will send them to the HR Department. Posting your CV however to the HR Department in each company means the right people should see it.

Man, I waffle a lot after a few beers!! Best of luck, Phibsboro is only a short hop into the city centre and from there you can get to anywhere in Dublin reasonably easy.

 

[lizard808uk]

In the testing arena I know of a guy who has been travelling around the world and getting fired from each job for doing sod all and eating pizza all day. (He tried to swipe my dominos discount card once, the buttmunch :angry: ). Its very easy to say something you are not - but eventually your reputation and name will proceed you. Just as well for this example as I believe he is having difficulty getting work now in testing in New Zealand and word is getting round of his previous roles in Ireland and the UK..

To stay on topic.. why not harvest a bunch of HR email addresses for companies and then BCC the lot with you're CV attached. You might get a quicker response that way, rather than the traditional "No positions at present" letter??

 

[A_SN]

Yahoo! in Eastpoint used to be called Overture. They were an Irish web company that Yahoo! took over and are now fully branded as Yahoo! They have almost 300 staff. Double-Click (owned now by Google) is also in East Point.

If you are just desperate to get a job and some experience quickly you should consider the financial services companies. The Irish banks have had limited exposure to the sub prime crisis. Try AIB, Bank of Ireland, Permanent TSB, Anglo Irish Bank, Irish Intercontinental Bank etc. All of these have their own IT departments with their own in-house systems and projects. Also, spend a day walking around the IFSC which has all the multinational banks in it (over 50 companies) and drop your CV into every one! CitiBank, JP Morgan, Chase etc are all based here. They deal with off-shore accounts to avail of Irish govenrment tax benefits so they too are not that impacted by the US crisis.

I recommend simply posting your CV to every company you can find an address for. The most you lose os the price of the stamp. So what of 95% respond saying 'no positions at present but we are keeping you on file ..'. It just takes one or two positive responses to get an interview and job.

This site: http://dublin.sireh.com/ lists hundreds of companies operating in Dublin. The Computers section has over 40 addresses. Years ago I sent over 60 CV's out to companies. From this I got three interviews, 2 job offers and I took one of them. I am still there today so it worked for me.

I don't think you need to wear a full suit for dropping off CV's into companies. The receptionist just takes them, and if you are lucky will send them to the HR Department. Posting your CV however to the HR Department in each company means the right people should see it.

Man, I waffle a lot after a few beers!! Best of luck, Phibsboro is only a short hop into the city centre and from there you can get to anywhere in Dublin reasonably easy.


Wow, what a precious insight! I shall do as you suggested. First I'll need to Irishify my CV a bit tho

To stay on topic.. why not harvest a bunch of HR email addresses for companies and then BCC the lot with you're CV attached. You might get a quicker response that way, rather than the traditional "No positions at present" letter??

Interesting. How do you go about harvesting these e-mail addresses? By simply looking them up on Google?

 

[yaustar]

This is what I did to get my job:

Find the company's website.
Look for the Jobs/Careers section.
Search for an applicable role.
If none exists, find the contact telephone number and ask for HR and then if a suitable role exists (take a note of the name and email of the person you are talking to). Email CV and covering letter with this person's name in the letter.
If one exists, find the contact telephone number and ask for HR and then check the role still exists (take a note of the name email of the person you are talking to). Email CV and covering letter with this person's name in the letter.
If no phone number exists, then prepare to send an email with CV and covering letter and follow the application process on the site.
Wait a few days to a week for a reply, if none arrives then call to chase up on the application and ask when to expect a reply. If no reply is given by this date, repeat.

 

[gruso]

^ Good advice. I did some career training a while back, and picked up some valuable tips along these lines.

You effectively have to cold sell yourself to get known. Whenever you approach a company, try to to get the name of the person in charge of hiring. Just giving your CV to the pleb out the front will almost never work.

Once you know the name and face of the manager/HR manager, make sure they know yours. Sell yourself to them, and stay in touch with them. When you call back, it really helps if you can ask for them by name.

Know the company you're talking to, what they do, why it's interesting to you, and why you're interesting to them. Whether it's a job at Google or the local internet cafe, this approach should be the same.

A very interesting fact I learned was that advertised jobs are basically the last frontier. A company will only advertise when they absolutely have to; they'd much prefer to hire someone they already know. On the other side of the fence, applying for advertised jobs offers the lowest success rate (because you're up against a hundred other strangers with CVs full of bullshit). If your name and face are already known, your foot is in the door. So network, network, network.

(Hmm... sitting here in a job I hate, dishing out advice on job searching. Time to take my own advice. :lol: )