Tuesday, March 17, 2015

"...I have not done interviews for quite a while was hoping to get some guidance/advice from you on the best approach."



I am well and hope you are too!

Here's my general approach when I'm looking.
  • First thing I do is pull out a copy of Programming Interviews Exposed and work through the examples. Makes my mind sharp for interviews and helps substantially when I'm asked coding questions. 
  • Update LinkedIn & resume with current position, including all the latest appropriate buzzwords. 
  • Update past work in resumes & LinkedIn so it uses cutting edge words that weren't in use at the time, like 'big data' in 2005 or something like that. 
  • Update LinkedIn every day in some way so it comes up in recruiter searches (LinkedIn is actually a first stop for most recruiters at this point). 
  • Look at what contacts are doing and ask about opportunities. Probably have to ask a LOT of people, and honestly the careers page of their company's website is probably a better source of information. May be able to get a referral in though, getting through the first step of the gauntlet automatically. 
  • Look at the start-up scene in the Seattle area, several ways to do this. 
  • Check out the major companies with local presence such as Facebook, Twitter, etc and see what they are up to, submit to anything looking good. 
  • Contact any recruiter who's written to me or I've worked with before and let them know I am available starting soon or now (they love immediacy). 
  • Look at the boards i.e. http://careers.stackoverflow.com/
  • Sign up with TheLadders. See if they still have a free resume assessment service, that was useful (cursory, not the whole assessment, but a gloss that I found useful).
  • Consider getting a premium LinkedIn account. Seeing everyone who visited me and the like was nice when I was looking.
  • Stay relaxed and focused during interviews. People are there to judge you, yes, but you never have to see them again. Who cares what they think. You're getting interview practice, free coffee, and the possibility of a new job. All good things, no downsides that you don't bring to the table yourself.
  • Consider practicing an interview with someone, even a family member.
I always consider the first interview I have when i'm looking to be a loss - it's rarely a good outcome. Just getting into the groove of it. So maybe interview at a place you're not terribly interested in, for a job you're overqualified for, if you can get such an interview.

People look for 'passion' as much as for skills. I don't know why or what this means, except showing some excitement for new techniques and talking about ways you innovated or at least really cared about working on some product. Highlight all the best things, there's no reason not to. Think about this ahead of time.

That's all that comes to mind. I wish you luck! There's a killer market for great devs out there, so as long as people recognize that you have the skills and a passion for making products awesome, I suspect it will work out well.

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