What is the secret magic passphrase to getting hired?

Fenster

I've been on the job hunt for the past six weeks. While there have been a bunch of immediate rejections on the strength of my resume, there has been a great correlation between callbacks, interviews and technical tests, from employers and recruiters alike.

Except that's where it ends. Interview goes great and I complete the technical test (if any), then a chilly silence. I've been told on more than one occasion that I am the favourite for a position, then silence.

I'll send along a polite followup email a few days later, silence.

So what the hell, Dublin?

CreepingDeath

Secret passphrase is "I don't mind where I start in the company".

I'm on the other side of the interview table.
If someone has a fairly shallow depth CV, a little bit of this and that, but no depth and they can't talk about technical subjects
easily, then I'm usually not impressed.

Also, consider companies in awkward locations, that may be having trouble hiring.
Not a lot of people like Sandyford, City West, East Point etc.

Colonel Panic

Maybe someone better came along? Maybe they didn't like you?

14ned

Fenster wrote: »

Except that's where it ends. Interview goes great and I complete the technical test (if any), then a chilly silence.

Well it's fairly obvious: you did badly on the technical test!

As much as that is frustrating, it could simply be you are bad at taking technical tests. They have surprisingly little correlation with actual programming ability, rather I see them as a hoop you must learn to jump if you want to get into a top job.

So, buy a pack of technical tests - there are books from Amazon full of them and if you ask Google "books to help pass a Google interview" you'll find plenty. Learn them off by heart through sheer practice. It'll take about a month of full time 40 hours per week study, and by learning them off by heart, I really do mean that you can repeat the answers back verbatim from memory AND in a style which does not show you have memorised the answer.

If you ever do want to get into Google by the way, you'll need to spend at least a week cramming before the on-site and getting your wife to pretend to be the interviewer while you go nuts on the whiteboard. It's all rote practice, just repeat and repeat and repeat. It's part and parcel of getting into Google just as with any tech multinational, just be thankful Google are nothing like as anal about memorised technical detail as Amazon or Bloomberg.

And finally, even if you are someone like Dennis Ritchie or Chandler Carruth it doesn't mean you'll pass the standard Google interview. Passing interviews is a very different skill than engineering or coding. Google are aware of this, it's why they reapproach people who failed an on-site every 18 months.

Niall

Berserker

It could be anything OP, being honest. I interview people on a regular basis and people fail for a variety of reasons. The most common are the technical tests or their inability to convey their passion for software development. Do you have a family member or friend available who can interview you as a trial run before the real thing? Are you a nervous interviewee? Also, does your c.v. accurately reflect your real world experience and academic record?

DeclanRe

Are you applying directly or through a recruiter?

L.Jenkins

Companies and Recruiters can be notoriously bad at providing adequate feedback for any role you apply for. I suggest taking notes. What do they ask of you? (i.e. In-depth knowledge and understanding of a programming language, such as OOP, Abstraction, Inheritance, Interfaces and so on). When conveying your passion for Software Development, do you read up on the latest technologies, do you spend time learning new languages and what about test automation and deployment tools?

No matter how well you do in a technical test and interview, it usually boils down to whether you're interested in Development as a long term career and are you actually willing to learn, not just doing your 9-5 then píssing off home in the evening.

Firstly, develop something, even in a language you didn't study in College, contribute to Open Source and post what you do to the likes of Github. Secondly, research the role and Company you've applied to. Prepare questions to ask the interviewer prior to the interview or meeting. It actually conveys an interest not only for the role advertised or Development, but the Company itself.

jester77

Maybe your salary demands are too high?

Fenster

Update: I actually got hired the day after I made my post. I threw up the post to vent after a bad experience with a recruiter.

DeclanRe: Yeah, which I think was the problem. I relied on recruiters for the majority of my interviews. Getting a response or feedback was slow, if I got it at all.
jester77: No, I was targeting junior positions so I can I segue out of freelance and into a senior-er permanent role somewhere. My requests were right in line with what employers were offering.
Itzy: I already do. It was my GitHub that got me hired. I was challenged on my approach to a problem in my code, which I defended with citations and comparisons.

I can narrow down my complaint to: recruiters. I was contacted by two companies who I first approached at Career Zoo. I had a great experience with them; one shortlisted me out of a list of candidates, pushed me (gently) into the interview and hired me. But with recruiters, what happened was that I was put forward for jobs which were either just above, or just outside of, my skillset. They talked me up to get me in the door, even though I was frank about my abilities. And it was a waste of time afterward for me to chase the employer for feedback through the recruiter. This led me to feel I was unhirable for unknowable reasons.

Berserker

Fenster wrote: »

I narrow down my complaint and say: recruiters. I was contacted by two companies who I first approached at Career Zoo a few weeks ago. I had a great experience with them; one basically shortlisted me out of a list of candidates, pushed me (gently) into the interview and hired me.

I think what happened with recruiter applications was that I was put forward for jobs which were either just above, or just outside of, my skillset. They talked me up to get me in the door, even though I was frank about my abilities. Chasing the employer afterward for feedback through the recruiter was a waste of time. This led me to feel I was unhirable for unknowable reasons.

Congrats on the new job! You need to remember that recruitment agencies are acting with the best interest of the employer, i.e. their client, in mind. You are a poor second to them. I avoid them like the plague myself after being burned by them on more than a few occasions.

14ned

Berserker wrote: »

Congrats on the new job! You need to remember that recruitment agencies are acting with the best interest of the employer, i.e. their client, in mind. You are a poor second to them. I avoid them like the plague myself after being burned by them on more than a few occasions.

Recruitment agencies act in the best interest of themselves, not their client, believe me. One of the biggest problems when you hire them is that they send totally inappropriate candidates to you, and it is not unheard that some of them flat out lie to you about a candidate or even rewrite the candidate's CV to look better before sending it to you!

All that said, most permie candidates tend to see the high volume low margin recruiters with a corresponding attention to detail and quality of recruiter, and then think all recruiters are like that which isn't true. Contract candidates, who are worth vastly more to recruiters as they generally act as the contract intermediary in Ireland (i.e. they bill the corporate client and pay the contractor), tend to see a correspondingly high quality of recruiter.

Put another way, I regularly send small gifts to recruiters who impress me, especially if I don't get a contract. It costs me little, but has an outsize effect on whether I get forwarded for the very juicy contracts when they occasionally turn up because the recruiter remembers me.

Good recruiters are worth their weight in gold - but as with engineers, there is an enormous gap between the top and the rest. Many are in a quota based boiler rooms, so same effect happens as when you do that with programmers.

Niall