Tech-support Hall of Shame

[Paul Taylor]

I'd like to toss my two cents in regarding the "job market". *Getting on
soap box*

First, a few acquaintances were laid off at Sprint. They were roughly
the same age (26-30), sex (males), race (Caucasian), and basically the
same skill sets on paper.

Two have been without a job for 4+ months. The other two were employed
within 2 weeks at two different companies, one made a lateral move in
pay, and one got a $8,0000 a year raise plus he likes the job more. Both
make over $50,000 per year.

The basic difference, the two who got jobs had better personal and
communication skills.

>From the information some of you pour out in this forum, most of YOU
have much more experience than my friends above. My only conclusion is
either sub-communication skills or not so great personal skills.

Paul's rules for employment:

Communication and personal skills are important.
Experience is important.
Who you know can be important.
Higher education is a nice plus.
Certifications are a plus.

I formulated those rules based on the last 10 years working in
telecommunications and networking with additional input from a lot of
close friends.

I'll close with this humble recommendation; don't neglect your
communication or personal skills. YOU have to sell yourself to the
potential employer. They only know about the things you write to them
(resume) or tell them (interview).

I pray everyone gets a job and is happy.

Paul

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-kclug at marauder.illiana.net
[mailto:owner-kclug at marauder.illiana.net] On Behalf Of Hanasaki JiJi
Sent: Thursday, September 19, 2002 9:13 AM
To: kclug at kclug.org
Subject: Re: Tech-support Hall of Shame

I have been where you are now and have NOT forgotten what its like.  In 
this economy any of us could be looking anytime.

Remember there are many ways to write a resume`  Some folks "fluff" 
right <and hopefully get found out at the tech interview>?  So, while 
not lieing, you can dumb yours down to what you "think" the job 
needs+-1%.  Excel in a few areas and come close in others.  At the 
interview do the same.  Then just kick A when you get the Job. How many 
companies would try to get away with firing you for doing a really good
job?

Fluff = questionable
Dumb it down abit = go for the job vs "hey I know alot"

Hope these thought help you out.
Good luck!  Let me know how things go.

Kurt Kessler wrote:
> You want hungry? I will redefine your definition for
> you. Where shall I send the resume? :D
> 
> --- Hanasaki JiJi <hanasaki at hanaden.com> wrote:
> 
>> From my personal HR Dictionary:
>>OverQualified def:
>>needs a job bad so will take this in a pinch while
>>looking for another 
>>job that will pay more for all the skills.  RED FLAG
>> Hire someone 
>>hungry and pay them a bit more than they are worth,
>>or less, and then 
>>they have nowhere else to go.
>>
>>zscoundrel wrote:
>>
>>>Yeah, me too!  It really bites when you go for a
>>
>>job interview and 
>>
>>>instead of just looking to see if you are
>>
>>qualified, they get all hung 
>>
>>>up becasue I am over qualified.
>>>
>>>Gee, thanks for looking out for my carreer, but if
>>
>>I wanted to do what I 
>>
>>>did in my last job, I would go work for IBM in
>>
>>Atlanta or where ever 
>>
>>>that office is that handles that particular
>>
>>micro-specialty.  I/T is 
>>
>>>supposed to be a dynamic industry, why can't the
>>
>>employee's be dynamic 
>>
>>>too???  Perhaps I WANT to take a step back and
>>
>>take my career in a 
>>
>>>different direction because the niche I was in
>>
>>REALLY SUCKED!!!
>>
>>>Sheesh!  If I didn't want the job I was
>>
>>interviewing for - I would be 
>>
>>>out playing Pool or riding the bike!
>>>
>>>Note to petential interviewers:  Over qualified
>>
>>means having MORE 
>>
>>>QUALIFICATIONS than what is required to do the
>>
>>job.  It does NOT mean 
>>
>>>'unable to do the job'!
>>>
>>>If I bring more skills to the job than a
>>
>>minty-fresh MSCE right out of 
>>
>>>school, that's my problem.  Pay me what the job is
>>
>>worth and I will 
>>
>>>decide if I want to do it.  That is the cool thing
>>
>>about experience.  It 
>>
>>>means I know how to do a lot of cool things, and
>>
>>can choose to do what I 
>>
>>>like to do.
>>>
>>>Michael wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>>>I have recently sent an email reuest to a
>>
>>"nameless" Computer company
>>
>>>>>down in the bottoms...  What I need is a BIOS
>>
>>update, what I got, was
>>
>>>>>information on how to reseat my IDE cable. I'm
>>
>>happy to know that these
>>
>>>>>talented people are employed.
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>What bothers me is that I'm unemployed and
>>
>>practically homeless (well in
>>
>>>><2 weeks) and these ass monkeys can find work.
>>
>>I've done hundreds of BIOS
>>
>>>>updates and would know exactly what people were
>>
>>talking about but I can't
>>
>>>>even get a job at Taco Bell. Seriously stuff like
>>
>>this almost makes me
>>
>>>>want to cry. All I can think of is the theme song
>>
>>to MASH.
>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>KC Linux Users Group -- to unsubscribe send mail
>>
>>to majordomo at kclug.org
>>
>>>>Enter without the quotes in body of message
>>
>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>KC Linux Users Group -- to unsubscribe send mail
>>
>>to majordomo at kclug.org
>>
>>>Enter without the quotes in body of message
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>majordomo at kclug.org
>>Enter without the quotes in body of message
> 
> 
> 
> __________________________________________________
> Do you Yahoo!?
> New DSL Internet Access from SBC & Yahoo!
> http://sbc.yahoo.com
> 
> 
majordomo at kclug.org