[clug] Bidding for jobs (linux Digest, Vol 85, Issue 29, Message 8)

[Miles Goodhew]

David,

> Date: Mon, 11 Jan 2010 23:47:31 +1100
> From: David Tulloh <david at tulloh.id.au>
> Message-ID: <4B4B1DE3.7000709 at tulloh.id.au>
>
> I'm hijacking Miles' post because I want to get some feedback on bidding
> for jobs.

  Fan-tastic. The embarrassment just keeps on coming on this list!

> I occasionally bid for contracts and have recently gone through a round
> of job applications.
>
> The thing that immediately struck me about Miles' post was that it was
> very self-depreciating.  I "have a (distant) background", and then he
> points out his limitations with Xen.  This is nothing to do with Miles'
> particular skill sets but rather the method of putting yourself forward.

  I guess some background about me and my current situation is
probably in order now that we're on my favorite subject (me):

  My main goal was to be reasonably communicative but _brief_, as I
presumed the "door had closed".
  I figured the typically very helpful, well thought-out and
informative responses from the list would pretty-well have filled
Nathan's needs. Nevertheless the initial request was for "Can someone
come here and do this for me?", which sort-of got railroaded by
everyone's desire to offer solutions. Thus I wasn't sure if he
actually _needed_ such a person anymore (FYI aside: No need - problem
solved).
  The "distant security background" was 4 jobs ago in an R&D role
prior to circumnavigating the globe. It's nothing certified and not in
an administrative role, so I didn't want to oversell myself.
  I finished-up last year from ~1.5 years of pretty frazzling work in
Sydney and I'm still suffering the PTSD (unwinding), so not amazingly
keen to get back to "real" work just yet. The last three jobs have
been in "plumb" opportunities I was excited at the potential for and
thrilled I landed the positions. Hence I am picky about what positions
I will apply and accept offers for. A casual approach gauges the
desire of a potential employer and I don't want to have to run-out a
three ring circus to get a job. Like a lot of people on this list,
I've sat the "Google interrogation" and I'm really quite happy I got
booted-out after the second interview (In the end, I worked near their
building in Sydney - it smells BAD!).
  OTOH, I've had the misfortune of working alongside more than one
person who've "extended the truth" or even outright lied to get jobs
and their incompetence has rarely been enough for them to be "let go".
Although really not a factor in my approach, I really couldn't live
with myself in such a situation. Sometimes in interviews, I have even
been pulled-up on nuances of things I've stated in my application that
I didn't intend. FWIW noone I know-of on-list is such a person
although it's possible some of y'all might have worked with a few of
them.

So there you go.

(BTW, The .sig is an ironic joke incase anyone's missed it)

M0les.

-- 
Miles Goodhew,
Executive Computer Scientist