Employment / CV / Interview tips

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xpd

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#78083 26-Feb-2011 16:45

Recently I’ve noticed a lot more people who have just completed courses etc. and now looking for employment within the tech/IT sector and being turned down for employment.

Some have wondered if it’s them personally the employers have a problem with (attitude etc.) or their CV or their certificate/education.

To be honest, who knows what goes through some of these potential employers minds....

I’ve assisted a couple of people with hints etc. but figured I might as well make my views/experience/tips public to hopefully assist others on their way into employment in the sector they want.

You can find my hints etc here

Hopefully somone will find them helpful

Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

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#443681 26-Feb-2011 17:09

Agree with most of it but not with the earlier section about Computer Science.

Computer Science is not practical implementation of IT equipment - I have no idea why you would ask a Computer Science graduate to do this, unless you are an IT company - in which case, why was he trying to get employment there?

No COSC courses teach practical computer assembly and the like. It's a science. It's the fundaementals of computation, which is theory. The most 'practical' part is programming, which is the type of career the degree leads to, not working at a shop building PCs. The pay may be better doing practical IT but that's for the IT qualified person.

An IT graduate should be able to do the above, since that's their degree.

Good interview tips. Sometimes you can do everything right (like I have many times) and just get declined because they like someone better, or they have a higher level of experience or education. It's an unfortunately reality of the real world.

ieatservers

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#443974 27-Feb-2011 22:40

The competition for I.T roles is really high, if you apply for a I.T role the employer will get 100s of resumes.

Torque

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Ultimate Geek

#443978 27-Feb-2011 23:05

Never been in the tech/computer industry, mostly the public sector, but I got a professional CV writing company to do my CV a few years ago (unsure if I can plug Tom here - www.cv.co.nz ) which was awesome.

I don't tailor it much to suit the position, other than my strengths. I use a nonstandard font to look different,a graphic down the side and high quality, light beige/cream coloured paper, which has a different feel.

It's noticable when going through lots of CV's, is easy to read and more memorable than something that's been done in word and is in Arial or Times New Roman on plain copy paper.

Interview I wear nice, proper dress/suit pants, polished leather shoes, shirt & tie. Cleanshaven, smelling good, smiling etc. I can be a bit anxious/anti social at times, and do find it hard to look people in the eye, but make a hard effort at it.

ieatservers

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#443984 27-Feb-2011 23:45

From what I heard, it was not a long time ago where you can get into a I.T without any quals or experience and they were willing to train you up. Not the case now, IT is so common and everyone does IT. I am not too sure if this is true because I was not doing IT before the recession.

nate

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#443987 27-Feb-2011 23:54

ieatservers: The competition for I.T roles is really high, if you apply for a I.T role the employer will get 100s of resumes.

Not just limited to IT - there are a lot of people looking for work at the moment.

ieatservers

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#443989 28-Feb-2011 00:20

nate:
ieatservers: The competition for I.T roles is really high, if you apply for a I.T role the employer will get 100s of resumes.

Not just limited to IT - there are a lot of people looking for work at the moment.

Yeah I guess so, I do not know why the job market is so flooded. But people do manage to find something even though it is flooded, it just takes time.

I know a lot of people who went to university and they came out and got jobs (IT) almost instantly and at high end companies too, don't know how but they did it, so it will turn out one way or the other. Just keep your heads up and don't lose faith and do not give up!!!

Jaxson

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#444036 28-Feb-2011 10:08

Torque: Interview I wear nice, proper dress/suit pants, polished leather shoes, shirt & tie. Cleanshaven, smelling good, smiling etc. I can be a bit anxious/anti social at times, and do find it hard to look people in the eye, but make a hard effort at it.

+1

Had to laugh reading that as that's me completely too.

I reckon if you're not getting rejection letters you're not trying enough. Get used to them.

Work experience talks so as mentioned above, take the job, even if it's 'below you'. Better still is be doing some of this work alongside your studies. And don't think you stop learning just because you've left the course and graduated.

It must be hard for people leaving Uni etc these days thinking they are well trained up, unique, have such a leg up on everybody else, are ready to be valued by an employer and are now qualified so are completely armed and capable of doing the big jobs right now.

It's been said before I completely agree. Often the course content and qualification get you the job but it's up to you to then develop the job skills required yourself. Degrees etc often unlock doors to jobs but there are very few jobs that have exactly the same content as what you studied.

Short of being a Doctor/Structural Engineer/Dentist etc where you really do need that degree to know what the heck you're doing.

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ieatservers

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Master Geek

#444044 28-Feb-2011 10:22

Jaxson:
Torque: Interview I wear nice, proper dress/suit pants, polished leather shoes, shirt & tie. Cleanshaven, smelling good, smiling etc. I can be a bit anxious/anti social at times, and do find it hard to look people in the eye, but make a hard effort at it.
+1

Had to laugh reading that as that's me completely too.

I reckon if you're not getting rejection letters you're not trying enough. Get used to them.

Work experience talks so as mentioned above, take the job, even if it's 'below you'. Better still is be doing some of this work alongside your studies. And don't think you stop learning just because you've left the course and graduated.

It must be hard for people leaving Uni etc these days thinking they are well trained up, unique, have such a leg up on everybody else, are ready to be valued by an employer and are now qualified so are completely armed and capable of doing the big jobs right now.

It's been said before I completely agree. Often the course content and qualification get you the job but it's up to you to then develop the job skills required yourself. Degrees etc often unlock doors to jobs but there are very few jobs that have exactly the same content as what you studied.

Short of being a Doctor/Structural Engineer/Dentist etc where you really do need that degree to know what the heck you're doing.

Very true, but does anyone know why the market got so flooded?

NonprayingMantis

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#444064 28-Feb-2011 11:05

I have also found job agencies to be rather useless.

About the only thing that makes them worthwhile is that they tend to be a bit more forthcoming on the likely salary of the position whereas the prospective employer is a bit more cagey.

Jaxson

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#444067 28-Feb-2011 11:13

NonprayingMantis: I have also found job agencies to be rather useless.

Sleazy little monkeys trying to make money off selling you. Like professional pimps really when I think about it.

NonprayingMantis: About the only thing that makes them worthwhile is that they tend to be a bit more forthcoming on the likely salary of the position whereas the prospective employer is a bit more cagey.

Ha true, this is such a laugh here in NZ. I know in the UK they are far more up front about it all.

It's like a taboo subject, like you're not allowed to ask how much money you'll get working there. You're supposed to appear like you want to work there for the love and joy of it all and any income is just a bonus.

nate

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#444078 28-Feb-2011 11:44

ieatservers: Very true, but does anyone know why the market got so flooded?

Not too sure.

My partner recently advertised for two new positions in her cafe. She had 80 odd applications in three days.

One of our design firms advertised for a new junior level designer. They had 1200 applications over a week.

nate

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#444093 28-Feb-2011 12:10

NonprayingMantis: I have also found job agencies to be rather useless.

+1 oh +1!

(and I'm speaking from an employer's view)

redjet

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#444119 28-Feb-2011 13:27

Always send a cover letter with your CV. A lot of the time I learn more about the person from the cover letter than their CV. I recently advertised on TradeMe for a part-time position and less than 10% of responses had cover letters.

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miamiheatfan

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#444122 28-Feb-2011 13:31

Well i'm a Computer Science major at UoA in my last year (graduating nxt year if everything goes well).

I'm mostly comfortable in the software field (SQL , C, C++, C#, java (most comfy) , xHtml etc etc)

I know i have to start from the very bottom and work for companies that are not that well known when i jump in the market for the 1st time, but eventually i'd like to work my way up to say .......GOOGLE etc

Big dreams I know, they already a high amount of competition over at Silicon Valley .....but i just gotta keep oonnnn keeping onnnn lolz.

Oh yea shameless advertising but if anyone knows someone that needs intern or slaves for software related stuff for wednesdays and weekend ......plz holler at me XD XD

Jaxson

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#444132 28-Feb-2011 14:03

redjet: Always send a cover letter with your CV.

+1, great point.

The letter should express that you formally want to apply for the position, explain why you want the job, what you think you can offer, that you look forward to meeting them and thank them for taking the time to consider your application etc.

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