Apr 21, 2009 14:01
Today I was reading an article by Jia Lynn Yang from the April 13th Fortune Magazine titled, "HOW TO GET A JOB".
Well, Jia, I think you're full of shit, and your suggestions are unethical and most only really apply to senior directors and such(whose unethical behavior caused the problem inthe first-place). What else should I have expected from Fortune.
One suggestion, and if you've read it (I tried to find the entire article to link, but only snippets are up on the website), but you might disagree with me, and/or think I interpreted it wrong, but when they say you should try to get interviews with competing companies and then basically go to each competitor and tell them what you learned that the other company is doin and/or looking for. I.E. if Company A is rolling out a new program, how is Company B goin to respond. So you're supposed to tell Company B all about what you learned Company A is doing. Ummm, this is a bad example, but I really find that behavior to be shady and unethical.
If I were a hiring manager and someone started to assert they had privy info on our competitor, I would ask them to leave. They obviously cannot be trusted and are dishonest.
This is what it says to ask in an interview:
'"I understand your competitors are such and such. What is it about ABC Company that makes you guys nervous?" Take notes, and when you get to your car, pick up the phone and call those competitors: 'I just left an interview at XYZ Corp. Apparently you're doing this and this, and it's keeping them up at night. Do you have time for coffee."'
the article also said:
"To score an in-person meeting, don't just ask for a job; offer something in return, like intel on the competition."
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Another tidbit from this article was on, well, I guess now-adays, you're supposed to bring a Power-Point presentation explaining what you are goin to do for them in the first 30 days?? Then again, being a gov't hack, none of this shit really appplies to my field.
But the examples they give of people who weathered the storm are people who mention, "oh, well, I just called all my hedge-fund buddies and networked" (not an actual quote mind you). Ummmm, so what if we don't have hedge-fund buddies?
The article also points out that you shouldn't apply to a plethora of jobs, but be more focused. SOOOO, the stat I hear batted around is that you might get 2 calls per 100 applications. SOOOOO, probability says apply to a shitload. An application, with gearing your coverletter(which they say to not even waste your time on anymore) can take from 5 minutes to an hour or more sometimes.
Plus, which sucks, the article does make some good points, not hopeful points, but true nonetheless. If a company is looking for 5 things, and you have 4 of those 5, then you are screwed. It gave an example of a women who had worked with lawyers, but the hiring manager said she had no direct experience, but she stated if she can work for high-strung lawyers than she can work for...ummmm, whomever it was.
It says be creative, and the example given is a girl who made twittershouldhireme.com, so it worked for 1, one, uno, eins, un, iti, person.
ok, my head's going to 'splode.