Linked in to what?
October 13, 2014 5:46 PM Subscribe
It's time to get a new job (Seattle, Unix w/ scripting). It's been seven years since the last time I changed jobs, and the the last time seemed to have more to do with luck than anything I did. My network, such as it is, is both slim and not here.
So - how does one look for a tech job in 2014?
I hear linkedin is involved, but I don't see how to turn a weak social media profile into a lean, mean job getting machine. Tips & tricks?
What are the other obvious ways to get a job now?
What am I missing?
I hear linkedin is involved, but I don't see how to turn a weak social media profile into a lean, mean job getting machine. Tips & tricks?
What are the other obvious ways to get a job now?
What am I missing?
Best answer: You're no longer a sysadmin. Now you are devops.
posted by oceanjesse at 6:07 PM on October 13, 2014 [8 favorites]
posted by oceanjesse at 6:07 PM on October 13, 2014 [8 favorites]
It is HARD. Despite the booming tech job market, the barriers to actually getting a job are significant. You need a great LinkedIn profile, a great resume with the right buzzwords, and some networking skill.
Here are some tips for the LinkedIn aspect in particular:
1) You can get a large number of people connected to you by searching for "linkedin open networker" and connecting with them. These are people who always connect back. But doesn't that defeat the purpose, you might ask? Yes it does. But nothing is lamer than a profile with 17 connections.
2) Measure how good your photo is quantitatively using photofeeler.com.
3) Ask old colleagues to recommend you on LinkedIn. If they hesitate, offer to write the recommendation and have them post it. Maybe 10% of the people I've asked have actually done it, but I do feel it makes my profile look a lot better.
One thing I do is meet lots of people at networking events, and ping a few of them later and invite them out for coffee or dinner. You can get a lot of knowledge about the job market in your area with a relatively small investment. Again the return rate is probably less than 10% but it's low cost and high reward. That guy you buy a $4 latte for is going to think of you first when he has a job opening.
Finally, I haven't figured out recruiters yet. Most of them appear to be incompetent. There must be good ones, but I don't know how to find them.
posted by miyabo at 7:47 PM on October 13, 2014 [1 favorite]
Here are some tips for the LinkedIn aspect in particular:
1) You can get a large number of people connected to you by searching for "linkedin open networker" and connecting with them. These are people who always connect back. But doesn't that defeat the purpose, you might ask? Yes it does. But nothing is lamer than a profile with 17 connections.
2) Measure how good your photo is quantitatively using photofeeler.com.
3) Ask old colleagues to recommend you on LinkedIn. If they hesitate, offer to write the recommendation and have them post it. Maybe 10% of the people I've asked have actually done it, but I do feel it makes my profile look a lot better.
One thing I do is meet lots of people at networking events, and ping a few of them later and invite them out for coffee or dinner. You can get a lot of knowledge about the job market in your area with a relatively small investment. Again the return rate is probably less than 10% but it's low cost and high reward. That guy you buy a $4 latte for is going to think of you first when he has a job opening.
Finally, I haven't figured out recruiters yet. Most of them appear to be incompetent. There must be good ones, but I don't know how to find them.
posted by miyabo at 7:47 PM on October 13, 2014 [1 favorite]
Recruiters use LinkedIn constantly. Fill out your profile as much as possible. Search for and add every person you've ever worked with (LinkedIn isn't super personal; it's pretty common to add everyone you've ever worked with even if you didn't work together very closely or for very long).
Add in every single skill you have on LinkedIn, whether or not you think they're terribly relevant. Recruiters plug in keywords and hit you up based on your skillset and past job experience. You say scripting, but scripting in what? Bash, python, PHP, perl? Any of them you're familiar with, put them in your skills list (also, if you've ever scripted repetitive tasks, say you're "familiar with automation" techniques). You say Unix, but what flavor (btw, say Linux, unless you really truly mean Unix and only Unix)? Ever used RedHat, CentOS, Fedora, Solaris, FreeBSD, Debian, Ubuntu? List any you're even remotely comfortable with. Make sure every single possibly-relevant skill you currently and have ever had is on there.
Read up on "DevOps." It's pretty likely you've been doing those things all along, it just now has a buzzword title and a growing toolset (look into Ansible, Chef, Puppet; "configuration management" tools). You're probably "familiar with DevOps practices" in current resume-speak.
Seattle has some pretty active meet-ups. Start going. Great way to make connections.
Seattle DevOps is a great place to start. The DevOps community tends to be enthusiastic, friendly, and welcoming. Search for other meetups on MeetUp.com that are relevant to your skills, and you're sure to make some good connections.
Source: I'm a hiring manager who employs "DevOps-minded systems engineers."
posted by erst at 8:40 PM on October 13, 2014 [3 favorites]
Add in every single skill you have on LinkedIn, whether or not you think they're terribly relevant. Recruiters plug in keywords and hit you up based on your skillset and past job experience. You say scripting, but scripting in what? Bash, python, PHP, perl? Any of them you're familiar with, put them in your skills list (also, if you've ever scripted repetitive tasks, say you're "familiar with automation" techniques). You say Unix, but what flavor (btw, say Linux, unless you really truly mean Unix and only Unix)? Ever used RedHat, CentOS, Fedora, Solaris, FreeBSD, Debian, Ubuntu? List any you're even remotely comfortable with. Make sure every single possibly-relevant skill you currently and have ever had is on there.
Read up on "DevOps." It's pretty likely you've been doing those things all along, it just now has a buzzword title and a growing toolset (look into Ansible, Chef, Puppet; "configuration management" tools). You're probably "familiar with DevOps practices" in current resume-speak.
Seattle has some pretty active meet-ups. Start going. Great way to make connections.
Seattle DevOps is a great place to start. The DevOps community tends to be enthusiastic, friendly, and welcoming. Search for other meetups on MeetUp.com that are relevant to your skills, and you're sure to make some good connections.
Source: I'm a hiring manager who employs "DevOps-minded systems engineers."
posted by erst at 8:40 PM on October 13, 2014 [3 favorites]
PS, you probably don't want to say you're a "DevOps Engineer" unless you really, truly believe you have good experience with the kinds of skillsets and toolsets discussed and widely used by the DevOps communities.
Here's a good starter toolset for "DevOps".
If you aren't really familiar with many of those, and you get hired as a "DevOps" engineer, then you've probably been hired by a crappy company who is using "DevOps" to mean "We're too cheap to hire anything even remotely resembling the appropriate kinds and number of people so we expect you to do just about everything even though we can't properly define what that means. DevOps means a developer who can write all our code and do ops/sysadmin and be on call 24/7/365, right?"
posted by erst at 9:17 PM on October 13, 2014
Here's a good starter toolset for "DevOps".
If you aren't really familiar with many of those, and you get hired as a "DevOps" engineer, then you've probably been hired by a crappy company who is using "DevOps" to mean "We're too cheap to hire anything even remotely resembling the appropriate kinds and number of people so we expect you to do just about everything even though we can't properly define what that means. DevOps means a developer who can write all our code and do ops/sysadmin and be on call 24/7/365, right?"
posted by erst at 9:17 PM on October 13, 2014
erst is exactly right. If you apply as DevOps and you haven't used any of the platform automation tools that make devops not just ops (or if you can't, you know, dev), then you're going to be in for a horrible interview.
posted by sonic meat machine at 6:06 AM on October 14, 2014
posted by sonic meat machine at 6:06 AM on October 14, 2014
Put your resume on your profile. Make it short and sweet, bullet points. Have a good headshot taken. Do a selfie against a blue wall only if you have a steady hand and can not make it look like you're about to do body-shots. Or, have a professional take a photo. I did this. Worth the money.
Recruiters trawl by using key words. I get one offer a week from HR Recruiters, no exaggeration. Also Linkedin jobs are AWESOME. Very specific and legit.
PM me once you've put your profile together and I'll link to you! I work in IT, and I have a vast network!
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 6:27 AM on October 14, 2014 [1 favorite]
Recruiters trawl by using key words. I get one offer a week from HR Recruiters, no exaggeration. Also Linkedin jobs are AWESOME. Very specific and legit.
PM me once you've put your profile together and I'll link to you! I work in IT, and I have a vast network!
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 6:27 AM on October 14, 2014 [1 favorite]
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posted by Dragonness at 6:04 PM on October 13, 2014