You tell me – does this work for you as a cover letter?
Hi, My name is Bob and I’m planing a relocation with my sweet wife to the US. I have a vast knowledge in integration and specifically in BizTalk.
If relevant we can schedule a video interview.
Thanks, Bob Melbat
We’re doing some hiring in our engineering group. Incredibly cool stuff happening here: complete rebuild of our our core platform, live apps, UI. Re-architecting it all in Java (we’ve been a C#/.Net & C++ shop until now). Taking our UI, and making it hugely interactive, yet elegantly simple. Developing new metaphors for search. And, more that we’re not public with yet.
We’re going to need software engineers with chops in Java for both our Core platform (semantic, AI, rocket-science type stuff), and Web Dev team (that beautiful UI I mentioned, plus major changes to our apps, and more to come). Lots of interesting problems, in other words.
It’s kind of like building the technology for a start-up, front to back, but at a place that’s already profitable, and has 5 million unique visitors per month (instant eyes-on your work – cool!)
We want you to come help us figure it out.
So, this is an opportunity. A hell of an opportunity. Let me repeat: an absolute (cover your kids eyes) mutha-fuckah of an opportunity. Every software engineer in & around Boston should be clawing their way to get in here. And, we’re getting some traction around that.
But here’s the thing: we want the best. I figure it’s fair: best software engineering opportunity in Boston, possibly one of the best in the country, deserves the best software engineers.
No more or this “contributed to”, “supported”, “implemented” crap on your resumes. I want you to brag. Say “Architected & built from the ground up”. “Led team to glory”. “Researched and championed the use of [insert name of esoteric but cool technology here], which led to rapid scaling of…”
You get the idea. Be amazing. Don’t be some also ran, mostly worked as a consultant, never showed initiative. Stun us. We’ll give you work to do that you’ll thrive on.
I mean, think about it: this has been a Microsoft shop, and now we’re free. But, the team’s light on Java – you’ll be the man/woman. Major resource, cool cat, all of it. Get yer ass over here, before somebody else does.
Seriously. There’s a line between getting noticed, and getting blocked. If you’re right for the job, and you do the right things to get your resume/ blog/ whatever in front of the right person, they’ll call you. If you know they’ve seen your information, and you don’t get the call – well, all the repetitive e-mailing/ insisting on “networking over coffee”/ yada-yada isn’t going to change the fact that you’re not right for the job.
What it will do is burn you into the memory of the people you’ve harassed – in a bad way. If/ when a job comes up that you’d actually be a fit for, you won’t get called. You might get slapped with a restraining order, but you won’t get called….
Right now, there are a lot of people – understandably desperate and scared, and I feel for them – who are going overboard. They’re spamming every opening they can find, applying & reapplying for the same jobs, calling and insisting they’re a direct fit, etc. This is a true story from a friend of mine, that I’ve modified: “I’m perfect for this job!” (despite the fact that it’s in Miami, and the dude lives in Duluth, and requires an in-depth knowledge of selling social networking tools) “But, I use Twitter, that qualifies me!”. Then, he called my friend the next week. And the next. And… you get the picture.
Here’s a secret: recruiters talk. A lot. Mostly to each other. Don’t get known as a stalker. That said: if you’re good, but not a fit, we talk. A lot. To each other. If we know of someone good we can’t hire, and hear that one of our buddies is looking for someone like that, we’ll pass that person’s name along.
And, not from me – which may make this the most effective post on this blog. I’m a fan of Jason Alba. He took the whole “get serious about your job search” to a whole new level, and a company was born from those efforts (neat trick, by the way, Jason). Jason’s got a great point to make in his latest blog post about job-search being a full-time job in and of itself.
I will say that this post is geared towards the out of work – I know Jason (dad of 4, annnnd: WTf were you thinking, man???) can sympathize with the fact that if you’re a working parent, there’s no way in hell you can shoehorn in 40 more hours for your search. My advice there would be to expect your search to take longer in terms of weeks/ months, but just be grateful for that steady paycheck – makes you part of an increasingly elite percent.
Sometimes, what seems clear to some (due to their occupation) is pretty damned opaque to others. I was just looking at a profile on LinkedIn – background seemed at a high level to be a fit for a job I’m trying to fill (Java Engineer). So, I got excited.
Then I saw that he was interested in hearing about a new job. I got even more excited.
Then, I decided to reach out to him. And that’s when I got less excited. Considerably less excited.
See, he’d made that part impossible. He hadn’t done the standard workaround, for starters. LinkedIn likes to keep e-mail addresses hidden, so they can charge you for access to the person. If you want to be reached, add your e-mail next to your name, or title, whatever. Just get it up there. If you’re not so inclined to *ahem* play with the rules (I’m the “apologize later” type), at least provide some level of information. This guy had blocked out the name of every company he’d ever worked for, provided clearly generic titles, etc. I’m willing to dig around if I’m interested in somebody, and find a way to contact them, but there’s a limit. And, no, I’m not paying for LinkedIn’s premium service (and, I’d say the majority of my recruiting bretheren are the same), when I can typically get the info for free. If you’re the exception to that, then expect to remain hidden.
Beyond that, and back to my title, in general you want to be very visible. I don’t mean show up (with a briefcase full of crackers – a la Kramer), start working, and expect to get paid. Although, that’s taking the “apologize later” philosophy to potentially _awesome_ levels. But: try and contribute to Q&A sessions on websites that relate to what you do (recruiters read those religiously, looking for people who seem actively engaged in their professsions, and are – always important – reachable); check out Meetup, and find a group that relates to what you do – get to that MeetUp, and mingle; post your resume online, at Scribd – it’s ridiculously easy, and makes your resume searchable (recruiters do keyword searches on Google all the time: putting “inurl:resume” plus some skill set words in gets great people); use JibberJobber to manage your search; and…
…wait, I’m digressing into how cool Web 2.0 can be when it comes to helping get a better job, and that’s it’s own post. Just got excited again.
