Interview tip: don't rant about your current/last job

Okay, let's start with some preliminaries:

• Your current job doesn't understand your genius (the fools!).  They haven't treated you right, they don't know what they're doing, they're screwing everything up, they couldn't manage their way out of a paper bag, everybody admires you and hates them, and they don't deserve you.

• Your last job was a complete disaster, and they should have listened to you (the fools!).  They were in a complete death spiral, they didn't recognize talent when they saw it, they took and took and took but didn't know how to give, and, let's be honest, they were all sloppy dressers.

Did that feel good?  Yes!  Great!  Now please don't say anything like that in a job interview.

But why?  What if it's the truth?

Okay, let's take the point of view of the person on the other side of the table.  They don't know you from Adam.  (Or Eve.)  They're trying to figure out a few things about you, including [A] do you have the skills to do the job and [B] will you be a good person to work with?

Most people -- probably including you -- want a supportive and productive office environment.  A big part of that depends on management, such as those idiots who should have realized your perfection (the fools!).  But a lot of the office environment... and here's the tricky part... depends on co-workers at the same level.  The person across the interviewing table probably doesn't want to work with someone who screams at their spouse over the phone, who brow-beats their colleagues, or who's constantly complaining about management.  And there's nothing like a 15-minute-long rant in the middle of an interview to make you look like someone who might not bring a lot of joy and sunshine into the office.

Venting is (usually) a good and healthy thing to do.  But you should probably choose your audience a bit carefully.  Friends might work.  Former colleagues are a good bet.  A spouse or partner can be good, but maybe that shouldn't be the main topic of conversation in your household.  ("Hi, honey, I'm home, and you won't believe what that #&@#@* said to me....")

At least one interviewer will probably ask why you're looking for a job.  I recommend that you think a bit about how to answer that simple question.  You don't need to completely avoid negative topics ("I just love my job.  Love it love it love it!!!  I come to work every day with a smile!  But please for the luvva Mike, rescue me!"), but maybe try to strike a balance.

Some things I've said in the past:

"When I first got to the company I really enjoyed myself, and I felt really good about the things we were working on.  I still really like the people I work with, but now the company is doing things I don't feel good about.  It's difficult to say this, but I think it's time to move on."

"I've had a great time, but it's a small place, and I think I need a larger company so I can grow more.  I need new challenges."

"I really liked my last job.  I mean, sure, I was frustrated sometimes, but most of the time I really enjoyed it.  Then the company had some economic troubles and needed to downsize.  2/3rds of the company was laid off in a single day.  It was kind of a shock.  I was part of the 2/3rds.  I wasn't happy about it, but it was nice to know that it wasn't personal."

Your own words and reasons will be a bit different, but you might want to have a friendly and thoughtful answer ready, and do your venting somewhere else.  Or you might find that the company where you're interviewing doesn't offer you a job and doesn't give a clear reason.  (The fools!)

Choosing References

References are really about the "end game" of a job application.  They'll probably only be called after you've passed all the interviews, and they're almost ready to offer you the job.  But it's still worth a bit of thought.

I recommend thinking about references pretty early in your process.  Your resume will probably end with "References: Available upon request".  During one of my job searches, the process went really quickly and they did exactly what I said... requested my references.  And I wasn't ready.  I finessed it by saying that I didn't have the phone numbers and e-mails, and that I'd write back, but I think I probably looked unprepared anyway.  During a job application, you want to seem prepared.

So who will make a good reference?  I tend to line up one of each of the following:

• Someone who used to be my manager, who will hopefully say that I was a joy to manage, got my work done well, and other things that a prospective manager looks for.

• Someone who operated at the same level.  Possibly someone who was on my same team, but also possibly just someone I interacted with; who can say good things about the quality of my work, as a peer.

• Someone who I've managed, if I'm looking for a management position.  I want someone to say that I was a good boss, professional, and helpful.  (And I expect they won't say that I'm overbearing and autocratic.)

• Someone in a different position, who I've worked with.  I'm a programmer (and manager of programmers), so having a QA person or Product Owner (for example) say that I'm a good guy shows that I can communicate with people outside of my area of expertise, and that it isn't just programmers who respect me.

If I have at least one of each of these, then I can choose any 3 as references for a given job.  Is there a startup that's looking for a programmer?  I'll probably want a former manager, a colleague, and a QA person who can talk about my bug stomping.  Is there a mid-size company looking for a tech lead?  I'll probably go with a former manager, someone I managed, and a Product Owner.  But really it will depend on the job and my guesses about what will impress them.

Other points:

• Ask someone, before giving their name.  I recently acted as a reference for someone, when I wasn't expecting it.  Not a big thing, but I would have appreciated some time to think about them before talking with someone who's considering them for a job.

• Don't choose someone who has mixed things to say about you.  I've seen this happen.  Your reference has to take this seriously.  He or she may need to apply for a job with these people some day, and so will want to be as honest as possible.

The standard questions that someone asks a reference are

1. How did you work with this person?
2. What are their strengths?
3. What are their weaknesses?
4. What else can you tell me?

Think about how someone might answer these questions.

Last point: people will understand if your references are not from your current job.  Don't feel that you need to use your current colleagues to get a job – and therefore have them know that you're doing a job search.

Jobs for Geeks: NYPL Mobile Developer

I can be a very lazy job searcher.  I reach out to friends, I update my LinkedIn profile and watch the offers come pouring in, and sometimes I just don't think about this stuff at all.

And sometimes I do.  I thought I'd maybe sometimes post some non-obvious jobs that I'm not applying to, but that I think are pretty cool.

Check out this one from the New York Public Library for a mobile developer.  How cool is that, working the New York Public Library?  I love libraries, and the 42nd Street location with its iconic lions and amazing Reading Room are an inspiration.  Recently, a colleague from Ukraine was visiting NYC and I suggested he visit library.  (He's a writer.)  It's an odd suggestion, but he wrote to me immediately, talking about what a wonderful place it is.

Library programmer.  Really cool.

Have Someone Review Your Resume

A few jobs back, I had to review a lot of resumes and came across one that was filled with typos, grammatical errors, and an odd claim that was something like, "I have great atention to detael".  This was a lot of fun to read and share with co-workers, but, no, we didn't interview this person.

Your resume is probably in better shape than this, but I still recommend passing it in front of a few people who can critique it and help make it better.  I suggest people who'll be honest and thoughtful.  On the one hand, you don't want a sadist who rips everything to shreds, but on the other hand you don't want someone who'll just say, "great stuff, no problems here!" when there are things that need improving.

You might want to think of a few former colleagues, or people in your field.  It can also help if it's someone who's reviewed resumes before, because they may be able to pinpoint things that don't matter in a resume ("I'm really glad that you were in the Junior Scientist club in high school, but to be honest..."), and suggest things that need more explanation.

In a recent resume review, one of my friends pointed out that I was using quotation marks around technical terms ("RESTful" web services), which was unnecessary and, I will admit, irritating.  That one piece of advice made my resume much more professional.

Good luck with the editing.  You'll get by with a little help from your friends.

Your First Interview Will Probably Be Terrible

My words seem to be coming out of my mouth in random order, as my thoughts smash into each other like boulders tumbling down a hill in an avalanche.  This should be so much simpler!  I mean, we're talking about me, so how difficult can it be for me to form coherent sentences.  I'm being asked simple questions like, "what have you been working on lately," but I can't seem to even talk about that.  If this is how my first interview is going, how will the rest go?

Thankfully, the answer to that last question is: much, much better.

Most of us have a terrible first interview or two.  It's like with resume writing: we've got all the knowledge inside us, but have a hard time getting it out.

The standard piece of advice is: make sure your first couple of interviews are with places that you don't care whether you work there or not.  If it's a complete disaster, it's okay.  That happens to a lot of people, and the important thing is to get used to the interviewing environment, and think about what went wrong and how it can be improved next time.

If abject humiliation isn't your thing, here are some ways you might make even that first interview go a little smoother:

1. "Have a mock interview"

I haven't done this, but I've heard it given as advice.  Have someone you know act as an interviewer and ask standard questions.  That way, when you completely freeze up, you can say, "give me a minute," and fumble around, searching for the right answer.

2. "Write stuff down"

Sometimes before an interview I've thought about standard interview questions, and tried to write down the answers, as if I was doing the interview online.  It's silly, but for me at least it gets me thinking about things, and working on formatting my thoughts.

That's really pretty much it.

My only other piece of advice is: don't rely on your first interview going terribly.  It might actually go okay, if you're someone who often explains things, or are just good on your feet.  So I wouldn't apply to any places you specifically want to avoid.  If you have your eye on one particular job, I'd recommend lining up that interview too, but maybe try to make it your 3rd interview, if possible.

Good luck.  Hit 'em with your best shot.

To Resume a Résumé

I sit at my computer, staring helplessly at the screen.  I've been working hard at my job, but now it's time to move on, and the first step is updating my resume.  I know this, but right now it feels like my brain is frozen.  I'm pretty good at explaining things, so why can't I do this simple task?  Why does every sentence I write seem ungrammatical, incomprehensible, and lifeless?

Most of us have probably gone through that feeling.  Sometimes many times.  And for those of us who spend years working hard at one company it can be particularly frustrating.  We've done so much, and now need to somehow [A] remember everything we've done, [B] figure out what's important, and [C] reduce it from a beautiful, simmering, rich soup of experience, down to a flavor packet that can be easily digested.  The ramen-ization of your information.

So here are a few tactics that might help you get unstuck.  Some of these may be in direct conflict with each other, so feel free to try out any and abandon them if they don't resonate with you.

(Note: this really is a blog post about how to start writing your resume.  It won't tell you what to include and what to leave out, give advice like "use action verbs!" or other nuts-and-bolts stuff.  There's enough of that out there.  This is mostly about how to stop staring at a blank screen and uncork the knowledge floating around in your head.)

1. "Just Start Writing"
My mother has spent many years teaching writing, and sometimes teaching teachers how to teach writing.  (Isn't that a mouthful?)  One of her pieces of advice is to just sit down and start to write anything that occurs to you.  Don't worry about editing yet – for your first step, just get anything and everything down on paper.  (Editing is important too – but at first it can just trip you up.)

For me, the first sentence is often something like, "I don't want to be doing this crap!!!"  I may even write a few more sentences in this vein ("Why should I?  I don't wanna I don't wanna I don't wanna!")  Strangely, this sometimes gets it out of my system and lets me go ahead.

2. "Write it like you're explaining it to some random person"

Resumes are very simple, and use few words.  It can be really difficult to write in that style, particularly when you're also trying to remember what you did, and figure out if it's useful.

So don't start with resume writing.  Start by pretending you're writing a letter to someone.  Explain, using as many words as you need, what you've been working on during your time at this company.  Go off on tangents.  Go off and get a drink of coffee / slice of cheesecake / tub of ice cream (or is that just me?) and come back later to look for what you missed, or what might be hard to understand.

Then, when you've got a big ol' mass of writing, start to reduce it.  Start to think about what work will seem important to a reader, and what isn't.  Start to remove excess language, and tighten up sentences.

But the main point is: start with lots of text, and then make it smaller.

2b. "Write it like you're explaining to someone who knows your business"

Sometimes the "random person" is a bit too random.  I'm a computer programmer, and some of the things I need to write about will take hours if I'm explaining them to someone non-technical.  And that probably isn't worth it for a technical resume.  So I've written RESTful web services that communicate (of course) using HTTP and AJAX.  That won't make sense to a lot of human beings, but for the small subset that will read my resume, it will.

So sometimes it makes sense to write your first draft like you're writing to a friend who studied the same things in college, or someone you used to work with a few jobs ago, who's curious about what you've been up to.  You can skip some of the "Intro to My Field" stuff, but you still need to explain what you worked on, and why it's important.

3. "Write lists"

A completely different approach is to avoid prose, and just start writing lists.  I actually find that a pen or pencil and a blank, unlined piece of paper is more useful to me when I'm in this mode.  I just start writing lists in different places.  Some lists might be jargon.  Others might be projects I worked on.  Others might be names of programs I started or contributed to.

This is basically just brainstorming.  Getting lots of ideas out as quickly as possible.  Remembering.  Free-associating.

Is it messy?  Only if you do it right.  :-)  But at the end, hopefully you'll have some ideas of starting points, and can start to flesh them out.

First Post: Quick Start

Recently a lot of people have reached out to me because they're looking for jobs.  I've looked for a lot of jobs in the last couple of decades, and I found myself giving some advice that I wished I'd gotten a long time ago.

This blog is an effort to put some of that advice into writing, in one place, so I can refer people to things I've written, rather than frantically struggling to find a piece of e-mail, thinking, "I'm sure I told someone about this before!"

To start off the blog, here's some quick advice about starting up a job search:

• Start by updating your resume.  There's tons of advice on the internet telling you how to write a resume, and I don't consider myself an expert, so I won't go into a lot of detail here.  The main idea, though, is that you want to have a resume ready.  You'll probably need a copy in Word (or in a text editor that can export to a Word document), and a PDF file.
• Join LinkedIn.  If you're already on LinkedIn, you will find that as soon as you update your resume, headhunters will seek you out.  If you are connected to people at work, and don't want them to see that you have updated your resume, there is a way to do this.
• I also recommend joining Glassdoor, so you can read reviews of companies.  I have a personal hatred for the fact that they let people post interview questions (I might blog about that later), but the reviews of companies can be useful.  Take any individual review with a grain of salt, but if there are a lot of people are saying something, then you should probably take it seriously.
• Reach out to people you know, who might be able to pass your resume to their HR department.  Please keep in mind that many companies these days make people sign something saying that they won't recruit former co-workers, so they may be dying to talk to you, but are worried about getting sued.  If you make the first contact, and specifically ask, then they aren't recruiting you.  (Note: I am not a lawyer, this just seems like common sense to me.)  Also, many companies offer referral bonuses these days, so people may have a financial incentive to refer you, as well.
• As you start to apply to places, choose a few references, and reach out to them early to ask if they'd be references.  I've actually been named as a reference by someone who hadn't asked me.  I was happy to say good things about the person, but a bit of a heads-up is a nice thing.

That's really it, to start.  It's both simple, and sometimes very difficult.  I've had a few times in my career where starting a job search made me feel like a kid standing on the edge of a swimming pool, trying to psyche myself up to jump.  It can be difficult, but you'll feel a lot better when you're in the pool.

Jump!  Jump!