OT: Career advice

[Ail]

If these new fangled fancy stats were around 10 years ago when I first joined these boards when my life consisted of school and the gym, I would likely be a fancy stats nerd.

The bold is exactly what you want though. Many people forget their audience.



The best way I can describe it is: Rangers lose in OT, Game 7 of the SCF due to one of the worst calls ever seen. Mr. Machine H. goes on a rampage all over HF and gets banned. Gardner M. expresses his/her frustration in a socially acceptable manner. (Sorry J. You were the first person that came to mind )

Emotional intelligence is the ability to trigger the appropriate response based on the setting and not necessarily what your emotions tell you. More companies are interviewing with a lot of questions based on how you handle conflict.

At my company it is an entirely different interview from the job interview. They tell you straight away you'll have the normal "why are you the guy for the job" interview and also a second one right after which is basically just a psychological evaluation.

Example question: "Have you ever had conflicts before in the workplace? Can you give an example and how you resolved it?"

Incorrect answer: "Yeah this guy kept taking my documents from the copy machine and throwing them out because he printed something after me and I hadn't gone over to pick them up yet, so I went to his desk and poured coffee all over everything."

Incorrect answer: "No."

Correct Answer: Just make up some elaborate story about how there was a struggle between you and another employee, or work-group and although it was sometimes frustrating you worked together as a team to resolve the issue because it is important to stay focused and make sure the job gets done rather than be involved in petty arguments or distractions from work.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

At my company it is an entirely different interview from the job interview. They tell you straight away you'll have the normal "why are you the guy for the job" interview and also a second one right after which is basically just a psychological evaluation.

Example question: "Have you ever had conflicts before in the workplace? Can you give an example and how you resolved it?"

Incorrect answer: "Yeah this guy kept taking my documents from the copy machine and throwing them out because he printed something after me and I hadn't gone over to pick them up yet, so I went to his desk and poured coffee all over everything."

Incorrect answer: "No."

Correct Answer: Just make up some elaborate story about how there was a struggle between you and another employee, or work-group and although it was sometimes frustrating you worked together as a team to resolve the issue because it is important to stay focused and make sure the job gets done rather than be involved in petty arguments or distractions from work.

That's not an uncommon type question. You get questions like that for MBA type roles all the time. They're called behavioral questions.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

If these new fangled fancy stats were around 10 years ago when I first joined these boards when my life consisted of school and the gym, I would likely be a fancy stats nerd.

The bold is exactly what you want though. Many people forget their audience.



The best way I can describe it is: Rangers lose in OT, Game 7 of the SCF due to one of the worst calls ever seen. Mr. Machine H. goes on a rampage all over HF and gets banned. Gardner M. expresses his/her frustration in a socially acceptable manner. (Sorry J. You were the first person that came to mind )

Emotional intelligence is the ability to trigger the appropriate response based on the setting and not necessarily what your emotions tell you. More companies are interviewing with a lot of questions based on how you handle conflict.

Well then I'm ****ed.

 

[Machinehead]

I just got a bunch of business cards from Staples.

Very reasonable and good quality.

 

[HatTrick Swayze]

http://www.hult.edu/en/events/2017/...rketing-yourself-in-todays-job-market-030917/

 

[NCRanger]

Well, I'm now titled for the role I'm in. Guess that's officially a promotion.

 

[Vinny DeAngelo]

Well, I'm now titled for the role I'm in. Guess that's officially a promotion.

Yay!!!! Congrats man lol

 

[NCRanger]

Interview Advice - If you are doing a phone screen, do not make it obvious that you are reading from notes.

There is an opening on my team. The manager, developer lead, and me (systems analyst lead) conducted a phone screen for a guy with a very impressive resume.

The guy spends 5 minutes going over what he does in his current role, 3 minutes in, it was obvious that he was reading it directly. I asked him to explain in detail what he was actually doing. He couldn't, but he kept reading away.

Manager asked him about some design details and strategies - couldn't answer, even though he had just talked about documentation.

I asked him about resolving conflicts (Time, Steps, and Results) - Didn't understand what I asked him.

All during this time, you could hear papers rustling.

Just please don't do this if you are ever interviewed.

 

[Trxjw]

Hah! I'll never understand why people insist on trying to BS their way through interviews. I conducted an interview with a developer and after I would ask them a question, there'd be about 10 or 15 seconds of "Ummm.. hmmm.. uhhh..." and furious clicking on the keyboard. Then I'd get a very badly paraphrased version of the top result on Google.

 

[HatTrick Swayze]

Just had this article sent out by my career center. Think it's some of the most concise, actionable advice I have ever read in one spot:

https://medium.freecodecamp.com/how...h-with-no-connections-6eed0de26ea4#.cwsvmncbb

 

[Ail]

Just had this article sent out by my career center. Think it's some of the most concise, actionable advice I have ever read in one spot:

https://medium.freecodecamp.com/how...h-with-no-connections-6eed0de26ea4#.cwsvmncbb

There's a lot of good advice in there, thanks for sharing. I don't know that I could ever go through with the first section, personally. Bad news for me because I do not network, don't work in a field I want to stay in, and don't know anyone in a field I want to work in currently. I guess I also do not care about working at a place like Google either though.

 

[Trxjw]

Working at Google is fantastic if you're in your early 20's, have few hard-and-fast social commitments, and don't mind dirty looks if you leave before 6.

As an aside, is anyone here in recruiting? I've had a number of them reach out to me this week about the same position and they're all beating me up about knowing my current compensation level. Apparently being polite and responding with "I'm not willing to share that information at this stage" isn't going over so well. Anyone have suggestions?

 

[Gardner McKay]

Working at Google is fantastic if you're in your early 20's, have few hard-and-fast social commitments, and don't mind dirty looks if you leave before 6.

As an aside, is anyone here in recruiting? I've had a number of them reach out to me this week about the same position and they're all beating me up about knowing my current compensation level. Apparently being polite and responding with "I'm not willing to share that information at this stage" isn't going over so well. Anyone have suggestions?

I was an agency recruiter when I first started out. They want to know your rate because they get a bill rate from their clients.

If their bill rate is $75 an hour and you are wanting $40 an hour, your total cost to them on W2 is between $47.50 - $50.00 (if you are in a tax hell state like NY or CA it could be much higher). Their margin is the difference, $25.00 - $27.50 an hour. If they have a comparable person who wants $10 less an hour, that is a significant margin difference to them and are likely to submit that person as their primary and you as their secondary.

 

[Trxjw]

I was an agency recruiter when I first started out. They want to know your rate because they get a bill rate from their clients.

If their bill rate is $75 an hour and you are wanting $40 an hour, your total cost to them on W2 is between $47.50 - $50.00 (if you are in a tax hell state like NY or CA it could be much higher). Their margin is the difference, $25.00 - $27.50 an hour. If they have a comparable person who wants $10 less an hour, that is a significant margin difference to them and are likely to submit that person as their primary and you as their secondary.

Hmm. Interesting. They were coming at it from the angle of the client having a percentage cap on what they would offer a new employee over what they were previously making. I.e., they'd only give me 10-12% over my current salary. Sounds absurd to me, but 4 recruiters from 3 different firms all had the same bit.

 

[Gardner McKay]

Hmm. Interesting. They were coming at it from the angle of the client having a percentage cap on what they would offer a new employee over what they were previously making. I.e., they'd only give me 10-12% over my current salary. Sounds absurd to me, but 4 recruiters from 3 different firms all had the same bit.

Oh. That is a perm gig. So yeah. Thats why they need to know. If you are 20k over the clients budget they won't want to submit you. The salary really isn't really a deal breaker for the recruiting firm per se but it is for the client. The recruiting firm will get anywhere from 10-20% of your base as a fee. The company probably uses a vendor management system like ATOS or something. It goes out to multiple recruiting companies at once.

That is a world I have no desire to ever be a part of again. Agency recruiting for IT sucks.

 

[Trxjw]

Oh. That is a perm gig. So yeah. Thats why they need to know. If you are 20k over the clients budget they won't want to submit you. The salary really isn't really a deal breaker for the recruiting firm per se but it is for the client. The recruiting firm will get anywhere from 10-20% of your base as a fee. The company probably uses a vendor management system like ATOS or something. It goes out to multiple recruiting companies at once.

That is a world I have no desire to ever be a part of again. Agency recruiting for IT sucks.

Well I asked for a range, and the high end of what they could offer was well over 10% of what I'm making now. Closer to 20% actually. Weird situation overall but not one I had come across before.

They were all pushy *******s though. So I'm skirting them and reaching out to a friend who works at the company they're recruiting for.

 

[silverfish]

Working at Google is fantastic if you're in your early 20's, have few hard-and-fast social commitments, and don't mind dirty looks if you leave before 6.

As an aside, is anyone here in recruiting? I've had a number of them reach out to me this week about the same position and they're all beating me up about knowing my current compensation level. Apparently being polite and responding with "I'm not willing to share that information at this stage" isn't going over so well. Anyone have suggestions?

Bolded is my least favorite thing about the current environment in marketing/advertising.

 

[Gardner McKay]

Well I asked for a range, and the high end of what they could offer was well over 10% of what I'm making now. Closer to 20% actually. Weird situation overall but not one I had come across before.

They were all pushy *******s though. So I'm skirting them and reaching out to a friend who works at the company they're recruiting for.

They usually are. It is a really competitive business. Going directly to the source is probably the best idea. I hate to say it but, it is.

Bolded is my least favorite thing about the current environment in marketing/advertising.

I will never be at an office until 6:00. That doesn't mean I stop working at 6 but I would rather get home at 4:30 and work till 7:30 then stay at the office until 6:00. It is an unrealistic expectation in 2017. Everything is accessible as long as you have your laptop.

 

[Crease]

I will never be at an office until 6:00. That doesn't mean I stop working at 6 but I would rather get home at 4:30 and work till 7:30 then stay at the office until 6:00. It is an unrealistic expectation in 2017. Everything is accessible as long as you have your laptop.

Agree. Unless a situation requires me to stay at the office, I leave shortly after 5:00 so I can walk my dog. When a partner gets an email from me at 10:00 pm they know I'm invested in my work regardless of what time I physically leave the office. I've also been caught at the office on the weekend by a managing partner. They don't question my hours.

 

[Roo Returns]

Can anyone here recommend any good job websites besides Indeed, Monster, and all those one that have pretty muted jumped the shark? Maybe something for startups or any places that not every Tom, Dick, and Harry will know about.

My deal: I'm trying to work minimum part-time while I finish school over the next year while also learning programming (Python) and getting good at other languages/packages.

Unless the job is awesome (working for Jeff Gorton ) I'm trying to gain some experience, improve my skills, and eventually head to a warm weather climate or somewhere a little slower than NY.

 

[NCRanger]

Agree. Unless a situation requires me to stay at the office, I leave shortly after 5:00 so I can walk my dog. When a partner gets an email from me at 10:00 pm they know I'm invested in my work regardless of what time I physically leave the office. I've also been caught at the office on the weekend by a managing partner. They don't question my hours.

I'm usually in the office by 7:30 AM, or when I'm working remote from home, I'll usually be logged in by 7:15 if not earlier. And I'm not always the first one in.

So much easier to take care of answering e-mail and getting stuff done before 9. I also eat lunch at my desk.

Being productive after 4 PM is rare for me.

Unless there is a meeting or something, I'm out the door by 4:15. Not many people work after 5.

It's also a cultural thing -- seems like the day starts here a whole lot earlier than it ever did up in NY and NJ.

 

[Vinny DeAngelo]

update on my situation:

I didn't get an offer from the interview i did a few weeks back, but I'm staying positive and continuing to apply other places. I thought i interviewed fairly well, but i still lack experience on my resume and that's the biggest thing holding me back(IMO). I going to try to pull some strings and connections to see if i can get an corporate finance internship back home after i graduate and continue from there.

 

[Gardner McKay]

update on my situation:

I didn't get an offer from the interview i did a few weeks back, but I'm staying positive and continuing to apply other places. I thought i interviewed fairly well, but i still lack experience on my resume and that's the biggest thing holding me back(IMO). I going to try to pull some strings and connections to see if i can get an corporate finance internship back home after i graduate and continue from there.

A lot of companies are hesitant to give out too much information but I would always make it a point to ask some follow up questions: Was it my lack of experience? Was it something in the interview that I said/didn't say?

Keep your head up and you will find something. You seem to be doing all the right things. Best of luck.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

update on my situation:

I didn't get an offer from the interview i did a few weeks back, but I'm staying positive and continuing to apply other places. I thought i interviewed fairly well, but i still lack experience on my resume and that's the biggest thing holding me back(IMO). I going to try to pull some strings and connections to see if i can get an corporate finance internship back home after i graduate and continue from there.

Unfortunately the lack of experience doesn't go away once you've entered the work force. In many cases you still need the exact experience you're being interviewed for or someone to refer you. It sucks.

 

[Rangers2319]

Funny to see this thread pop up.

Got laid off from my job at end of sept, full severance and unemployment, currently unemployed and looking. Its been a rocky road for me, got a job at amtrak when i was 19 (knew someone) and was set for life, worked 70-80hrs in summer banked insane ot, started saving money and got into stocks and it was all downhill from there. I decided to go back to school for finance and went to a state school bc i was cheap and didn't want loans (bad decision). I worked overnights 11pm-7am then went to class straight from work and home by noon to sleep, that lasted for all of 3 months as i was burning out fast. Quit my job at 21 and focused on school, got accepted into the schools investment fund (investing real money) and graduated with a 3.6 (not great in finance field especially at a state school), finished school at 24 and applied to jobs like crazy, never landed what i wanted, had numerous interviews, made it to the 3rd round of interviews at a trading firm, didn't make the cut. This was 2011 when things were crappy thats not to say its any better today.

Finally decided to just settle for a temp position which turned into a full time job as a financial analyst at a healthcare facility. Pay was garbage bc they were nonprofit and relied on government funding but it was a relaxed work environment and i was lucky if i saw my boss twice a day so i couldn't complain. Very small company. I would apply to jobs all the time in the morning, landed interviews but bc i had a job i was being extremely picky which probably lead to me not getting an offer. Every year the company was losing money and at the end of fiscal year 2016 they lost 10 million (most ever), company wide lay offs ensued (sept 2016), at 29 years old.

Still laid off to date and looking. I had a phone interview at the NYSE last month but never heard anything after that and also 2 interviews at sikorksy, nothing there either. I check everyday for jobs and apply to best ones that match. I should use linkedin more (dont much right now, probably stupid of me)

Aside from my ranting, theres a few lessons for you younger guys to take away from this

1. Don't think the grass is always greener elsewhere and do proper research ahead of time. I wish I knew what i know now i would have made better choices and stayed where i was at 19 years old. I was young and dumb as they say

2. Don't wait so long after graduating to get a job, i should have taken anything off the bat, even temporary but i did that too late. I was stubborn and wanted what i wanted and didn't want to settle for a temp job until i had no choice. Wrong move.