Candidates I am Interviewing

Claymoore wrote: »

Different people will read your resume and how you phrase your experience may impress one person but not another. Here are a couple of paraphrased examples from recent candidates I had to tech interview:

Candidate 1 had a line stating he 'implemented redundancy in a client's Active Directory network'. Sounds cool to the recruiter, but I interpretted that to mean he installed another domain controller. It turns out his AD implementation experience was limited to running dcpromo on a server, and the interview just went downhill from there.

Candidate 2 had a line stating he 'deployed a multi-forest, multi-domain AD design'. Again, that sounds cool to the recruiter but I am suspect of his AD knowledge. There are only a few good reasons why you should use multiple forests and domains, so I called him on it. We had a great discussion about why that design was required and some of the challenges he faced, including Exchange GAL syncronization. Much better interview.

I think the important thing here is that the resumes were phrased in such a way you could ask probing questions about them. If the candidate does not come out and say that she knows X or Y and has done Z with those technologies, you are left with a dead fish of a resume. That I don't like.

cablegod

Whomever hit me with a neg because they don't "understand" how my analogy applies to IT career moves, thanks. The older IT guys understand it. You will one day, perhaps. I kinda think it is a bit silly, but, neg away at me if it makes you feel better. I am who I am, and make no apologies for it. Carry on.

RobertKaucher wrote: »

I'm not concerned. I am not going to discuss any of the candidates directly, as far as how an individual was dressed, etc. I decided on that last night. Once I have a couple more under my belt I will post some specifics, but careful about what I am saying.

My advice, be very careful in what you say about the interviews. You do NOT want to be sued, along with your company. It's in the same vein as the obvious questions to avoid (Are you married? What religion are you? [If the guy is obviously Jewish by him wearing his yarmulke] Will you need to leave early on Fridays to observe the sabbath?]

If you weren't posting your real name, it'd be almost a different story, but you are putting yourself out there. I am sure at least one of your interviewees will eventually find this thread at some point.

Just looking out for you, brother.

erpadmin wrote: »

My advice, be very careful in what you say about the interviews. You do NOT want to be sued, along with your company.

If I told a story about some idiot I met on the street, and that idiot turned out to be a member of this forum. Does he have any right to sue me?

Slander/defimation is about the only complaint he could have. But without names or pictures, how would I be hurting his character? I could have ran into any idiot on the street.

erpadmin wrote: »

My advice, be very careful in what you say about the interviews. You do NOT want to be sued, along with your company. It's in the same vein as the obvious questions to avoid (Are you married? What religion are you? [If the guy is obviously Jewish by him wearing his yarmulke] Will you need to leave early on Fridays to observe the sabbath?]

If you weren't posting your real name, it'd be almost a different story, but you are putting yourself out there. I am sure at least one of your interviewees will eventually find this thread at some point.

Just looking out for you, brother.

Actually, just got contacted regarding the position from someone I know to be a TE member. Sorry, but I am going to kill any further discussion of the candidates. I just think that is the fair thing. I'm very happy that I am getting better quality resumes, though.

phantasm

And so ends a potentially informative thread. Meh.

phantasm wrote: »

And so ends a potentially informative thread. Meh.

Sorry....
I think there is still potential here, though.

it_consultant

This is still an important board, we have aired a lot of issues that we are normally mum about. If the original poster is going through resumes and poo pooing ones he thinks suck, its nice to get that info from another tech guy. Tech guys tend to give more concrete feedback than HR managers.

[Deleted User]

phantasm wrote: »

And so ends a potentially informative thread. Meh.

It doesn't really have to end here. Robert isn't the only person to ever interview someone on these boards. Perhaps there are other people here who have interviewed someone and could share some insight. I think just looking at the discussions based on the resume and job listing alone was beneficial.

thenjduke

I think that it is time to update the resume since I have done so much more since my last update. I do keep a list of accomplishments I have done at each employer so it is easier to do new resume or redo resume.

thenjduke wrote: »

I think that it is time to update the resume since I have done so much more since my last update. I do keep a list of accomplishments I have done at each employer so it is easier to do new resume or redo resume.

I worked on mine a little last night. A lot has changed for me in the past 4 months. New job, MCSA, and college degree. I have a completely different skill set that back then.

thenjduke

Devilsbane wrote: »

I worked on mine a little last night. A lot has changed for me in the past 4 months. New job, MCSA, and college degree. I have a completely different skill set that back then.

Same thing with my. I accomplish my CCNA and CCNA Security. I am working alot with VMware and Cicso these days. I still do Microsoft AD stuff but not as much. I also been working alot with VPN and Security plus alot of SAN stuff.

I am still going to make a few comments about the process in general:

1. Some candidates have had issues answering basic questions about network services, ports, and devices like switches vs routers, defining an IP address, explaining DHCP/DNS etc.

2. Candidates clearly did not do any prep before the interview. I know I was criticized for giving a vague job description, but the position I applied for had a description that was equally vague. Yet I prepared for the interview by reviewing the basics of what I was expecting to be asked about. I also brought items with me that demonstrated my knowledge of the technologies that were listed.

How many of you guys have a technical portfolio of stuff you have worked on?

Devilsbane wrote: »

If I told a story about some idiot I met on the street, and that idiot turned out to be a member of this forum. Does he have any right to sue me?

Slander/defimation is about the only complaint he could have. But without names or pictures, how would I be hurting his character? I could have ran into any idiot on the street.

Nothing to do with slander or defamation. There are very strict laws/regulations in place for hiring a candidate. They're very strict.

You don't have to take my word for it; please look up HR regs for yourself. Federal/State (even your state).

If I were a candidate that Rob had interviewed, and I was not hired and he discussed something I might have said, some third rate employment lawyer could probably make a case about it as the real reason why I wasn't hired. I don't even have to win the lawsuit, because most likely, his employer will settle. It's f'ed up, but it's so true.

You ever wonder why your last employer will only give the next employer your name, title, last salary, and how long you worked there? They will hardly ever discuss your peformance, bad or good. Because they do not want to get sued.

I am not trying to be a debbie-downer or anything, just advising that he be extremely careful.

nicklauscombs

RobertKaucher wrote: »

Candidates clearly did not do any prep before the interview.

i think this is the biggest lesson right here.

RobertKaucher wrote: »

How many of you guys have a technical portfolio of stuff you have worked on?

The technical portfolio I've always used was in my cover letter and resume. I usually list what I have written somewhere in my summary and then discuss it in the interview. That's just how I did it. If I knew that a potential interviewer had a preference, of course I'm gonna do it.

Claymoore

RobertKaucher wrote: »

I am still going to make a few comments about the process in general:

1. Some candidates have had issues answering basic questions about network services, ports, and devices like switches vs routers, defining an IP address, explaining DHCP/DNS etc.

2. Candidates clearly did not do any prep before the interview. I know I was criticized for giving a vague job description, but the position I applied for had a description that was equally vague. Yet I prepared for the interview by reviewing the basics of what I was expecting to be asked about. I also brought items with me that demonstrated my knowledge of the technologies that were listed.

How many of you guys have a technical portfolio of stuff you have worked on?

1. I told you that you would find some of them were unemployed for good reason.

2. This is a big one for me. Show some initiative and prepare for the interview. Besides the obvious technology requirements, just reading up on the company and learning our about our core business can demonstrate you actually might want to work here. I will grade people on the number and quality of the questions they ask about the company and the position during the interview. The interview is a two-way street and should be used by both parties to determine if the position and candidate are a fit.

I did the full court press when I applied for my current position. My cover letter explained why I thought I was a fit for the company and how I felt my experience mapped to the job requirements. I showed up at the interview with a folder full of documentation I wrote and a USB drive with PowerPoint presentations I delivered to management at my previous company. I am not sure if anyone ever looked at the flash drive, but our recruiter still talks about the fact I even brought it.

Claymoore wrote: »

and a USB drive with PowerPoint presentations I delivered to management at my previous company.

Is that really a good idea? Aren't those documents essentially stolen?

mikej412

Claymoore wrote: »

I showed up at the interview with a folder full of documentation I wrote and a USB drive with PowerPoint presentations I delivered to management at my previous company.

That would be an interview stopper at most of the places I've worked.

Claymoore

mikej412 wrote: »

That would be an interview stopper at most of the places I've worked.

Interesting, why is that?

undomiel

I only came across the formal idea of a technical portfolio recently but I've been putting a lot of work into it for the next time I start job searching. Before that though I did make some sample scripts available online and also had started up a tech blog which did get some good feedback from a few potential employers. I would definitely recommend a portfolio as a way to stand out though. Documentation, scripting, configs, anything that you can put on a piece of paper would work great, and a few that don't as Claymoore uses.

Have any of you guys heard of / used efolio? Where I went to school they really pushed it as an online resume type thing. That is where you could put up examples of your work and stuff. Every other day I was hearing something about it, and in several classes I was forced to create one. I have never heard the word mentioned outside of school, so I'm not sure why everyone was so stuck on it.

2E151

A technical portfolio has never crossed my mind before, what do you typically include?

Plantwiz

Claymoore wrote: »

Interesting, why is that?

I was thinking something similar to mikej412 who already posted...I'm not certain how good of an idea taking a 'tech' portfolio is especially if working in security.

For myself, I would consider that a possible breach of former clients/employers networks. Certainly, one can demonstrate a general scenerio they have created/maintained/etc... verbally or if necessary demostrate a walk through a test lab and setup a few items without showing a fully diagramed map.

When one is talking about artistic items, ad campaigns, marketing materials, images, slogans, etc... while they are the property of the companies, the creator tends to still receive the recognition for successful ones...it cannot be replicated as you could replicate a network setup (which with each use becomes less secure as more learn about how the setup is created).

So, IMO I'd stay clear of a efolio/portfolio for a tech person.

ajs1976

I had a portfolio a few years ago, that I need to update.

Extra good copies of my resume, summary of my certifications, certificates, transcripts, training certificates, project summaries.

Project summaries were very general. No identifying info like server names, IP configuration, etc. If there was a diagram it was explain a concept not to show how something was configured.

Plantwiz wrote: »

For myself, I would consider that a possible breach of former clients/employers networks. Certainly, one can demonstrate a general scenerio they have created/maintained/etc... verbally or if necessary demostrate a walk through a test lab and setup a few items without showing a fully diagramed map.

When one is talking about artistic items, ad campaigns, marketing materials, images, slogans, etc... while they are the property of the companies, the creator tends to still receive the recognition for successful ones...it cannot be replicated as you could replicate a network setup (which with each use becomes less secure as more learn about how the setup is created).

So, IMO I'd stay clear of a efolio/portfolio for a tech person.

I agree that deppending on the field this can be a bad idea, but it really deppends on the person's approach.

1. You should not include any information that could be potentially damaging to you previous employers. For example, one of the items I showed was a print of a SharePoint list I had customized and the code I used to generate and clear the content of the list. I made sure that none of the client information contained in the list was visible but explained what information the user could drill down into.

2. I showed a spread sheet dashboard that I created that linked to a SQL query to get its data and I showed the query itself as an example of a typical report I might write. The data in what I showed could in no way have been used against my current employer and I certainly did not leave the information with the people conducting the interview.

Showing a script that you wrote to help automate some process or something simmilar is totally different from showing the config for your ASA or a full network diagram with all the IP ranges, etc... Not such a good idea. But visual things like this can set you apart. Showing the configs on your lab equipment or the network documentation for your lab or a proposal you did. You just have to use good judgement.

it_consultant

RobertKaucher wrote: »

I am still going to make a few comments about the process in general:

1. Some candidates have had issues answering basic questions about network services, ports, and devices like switches vs routers, defining an IP address, explaining DHCP/DNS etc.

2. Candidates clearly did not do any prep before the interview. I know I was criticized for giving a vague job description, but the position I applied for had a description that was equally vague. Yet I prepared for the interview by reviewing the basics of what I was expecting to be asked about. I also brought items with me that demonstrated my knowledge of the technologies that were listed.

How many of you guys have a technical portfolio of stuff you have worked on?

Your second point is a real problem in our industry. A lot of good talent fails because they can't get themselves together to do interviews, presentations, and writing reports. They generally lack professionalism.

Are they at least dressed appropriately?

You might give immediate feedback; "You dont seem prepared, moving forward in your job search you may want to do so and so".

earweed

phoeneous wrote: »

How do you guys feel about adding your blog address (if you have one) on your resume? I started one back in 08 but Im really starting to take off with it and document the different things I work on, even if they arent IT related. I think its not just a good resource for recruiters to learn a little more about you but shows a bit of your character as well. I havent put it on my resume yet but I think eventually I will. Thoughts?

P.S. I love SQL

It may be a good idea. Where to put it in the resume is a good question.

About the P.S., are you trying to suck up? j/k

phoeneous wrote: »

I'm thinking of putting it under my contact numbers, like:
Name

Address

Phone

Blog

And not trying to suck up I genuinely like sql. I think every sysadmin, even network guys, should have an understanding of a dbms. I want to be able to manage everything that I am responsible for, from an asa 5500 to a sql 05 box. There are too many IT guys in my town that are beyond clueless. To touch up on what other have said, not knowing how AD and DNS work together is total fail.

Being a Cisco guy and a DBA is a fool's errand. You can definitely do one, but not both. Mind you can do both...in my opinion, it just won't be done well.

It is definitely better to stay a systems/domain admin and a DBA, then to be that guy that does everything. In a tiny shop, that's probably doable, but as the shop's get bigger...no way.