Job Hunt - am I supposed to just lie?

[dave_the_nerd]

So I just got passed over for an interview today because “It sounds like there are a few people my team has connected with that have built azure envio from scratch starting at network layer.”

I said I hadn’t because, well, I hadn’t built one at a corporate scale. But most people haven’t. Hell, most people who are on networking teams at Azure customers haven’t done that.

Then it occurred to me that every idiot who went through the networking tutorial on the “Azure For Dummies” book could argue that they’ve created an Azure environment.

Am I being cynical here or should I just be “faking it until I make it” more with this stuff?

 

[lxskllr]

Pretty sure padding your credentials is SOP.

 

[IronWing]

Answer yes to every question you possibly can and still pass a red face test, like Rudolf red.

 

[NutBucket]

Unless the question is, "are you a felon?"

 

[IronWing]

Unless the question is, "are you a felon?"

"Yes, I'm a felon. I did it to increase shareholder value."

 

[lxskllr]

"Yes, I'm a felon. I did it to increase shareholder value."

Gunning for CEO on the sysadmin interview... Showing initiative there, but it might be a little threatening coming out of the gate with that. You have to sneak up and knife your competition in the back to land that job.

 

[sdifox]

Shine a better light.

 

[BoomerD]

The proper answer to

“It sounds like there are a few people my team has connected with that have built azure envio from scratch starting at network layer.”

Would be, “I’m sorry…I didn’t realize I was supposed to lie to you like those other candidates did.”

Answer yes to every question you possibly can and still pass a red face test, like Rudolf red.

As long as you can back it up.

“If you can’t dazzle them with your brilliance, baffle them with your bullshit” is fine…to a point.

“Sure, I can build a functioning hydrogen bomb using only the scraps in your wastebasket” might make you seem like a confident and inventive guy…but if you can’t actually accomplish that…

 

[IronWing]

The proper answer to



Would be, “I’m sorry…I didn’t realize I was supposed to lie to you like those other candidates did.”



As long as you can back it up.

“If you can’t dazzle them with your brilliance, baffle them with your bullshit” is fine…to a point.

“Sure, I can build a functioning hydrogen bomb using only the scraps in your wastebasket” might make you seem like a confident and inventive guy…but if you can’t actually accomplish that…

… you'll be ten years into the company, risen through the ranks, and fired anyone who knew how you answered the question.

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

So I just got passed over for an interview today because “It sounds like there are a few people my team has connected with that have built azure envio from scratch starting at network layer.”

I said I hadn’t because, well, I hadn’t built one at a corporate scale. But most people haven’t. Hell, most people who are on networking teams at Azure customers haven’t done that.

Then it occurred to me that every idiot who went through the networking tutorial on the “Azure For Dummies” book could argue that they’ve created an Azure environment.

Am I being cynical here or should I just be “faking it until I make it” more with this stuff?

'Never had to within that environment, but I've done it elsewhere and the OSI layers don't change, just the UI' is the usual line I give for shit like that.

remember that like 95% of modern computing is the same series of shit with different UI wrappers around it. VLANS are VLANS, L2 is L2, routing is routing, ACLs are ACLs, logs are logs, RBAC is RBAC, etc.

 

[Stopsignhank]

I hired someone who said he had computer skills, and he had none at all. Maybe in his mind he did, but I would send him a document and when he would show it to me again the format was all messed up, the font was different and I could not make any changes to it. He told e hos smart IT was because he called them once and they told him to turn off his computer and turn it back on again and it worked. I had to let him go because he was dumb as a box of rocks also.

Because of him I actually had to make up a small computer test I did during interviews. I made an excel spreadsheet and asked them to type it in and then to have the computer add up the column of numbers. You would be surprised how many people could not do it.

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

I hired someone who said he had computer skills, and he had none at all. Maybe in his mind he did, but I would send him a document and when he would show it to me again the format was all messed up, the font was different and I could not make any changes to it. He told e hos smart IT was because he called them once and they told him to turn off his computer and turn it back on again and it worked. I had to let him go because he was dumb as a box of rocks also.

Because of him I actually had to make up a small computer test I did during interviews. I made an excel spreadsheet and asked them to type it in and then to have the computer add up the column of numbers. You would be surprised how many people could not do it.

I mean, 'computer skills' are not excel skills. I can put together an entire domain but I'd either have to guess, prod through the excel UI, or google how to add numbers in excel cuz I never have to do that particular task.

 

[lxskllr]

I's 'sum' or something like that. I had to do a web search to add it to my sheet, and promptly forgot. If I had to do it again, I'd either have to look at my old sheet, or do another search :^D

 

[lxskllr]

Since spreadsheets came up... Are there any math libraries you can access through a spreadsheet? I started to try making a cogo program in a spreadsheet; mostly for the lulz, but I thought it would make common functions more accessible to the office people, but holy shit, doing anything is like pulling teeth. It doesn't know anything, so you have to math your way through every function. It was tedious as shit so I bailed on it, at least for now.

 

[Ken g6]

I use LibreOffice Calc all the time so I'd have no problem with a basic spreadsheet test. But all the documents you sent me would get their formatting and fonts messed up because I avoid Windows.

 

[purbeast0]

Even if I have basically read about a tech I will put it on my resume.

Then if it comes up in the interview for that specific tech, I will just be honest about it and tell them that I am familiar with what it is but have never really used it before, and say that I feel confident I could pick it up based on my other skill sets.

The downside is that I have recruiters hitting me up for specific jobs that are basically all in that tech, then I'll just let them know I'm not interested.

 

[Stopsignhank]

The minimum job requirements stated being able to use Microsoft Word, Excel and Outlook. I had to make done type of test do I did not hire a guy like him again. I mean he barely knew how to turn a computer on and off. There was no programming involved, just being able to modify a document was beyond him and since he would mess it up, not only was he not being helpful. He was harmful.

 

[KLin]

The minimum job requirements stated being able to use Microsoft Word, Excel and Outlook. I had to make done type of test do I did not hire a guy like him again. I mean he barely knew how to turn a computer on and off. There was no programming involved, just being able to modify a document was beyond him and since he would mess it up, not only was he not being helpful. He was harmful.

Say what?

 

[IronWing]

Say what?

The job requires math skills, not english skills. If he wanted an english major, he would have gone to Starbucks and hired one.

 

[sdifox]

Since spreadsheets came up... Are there any math libraries you can access through a spreadsheet? I started to try making a cogo program in a spreadsheet; mostly for the lulz, but I thought it would make common functions more accessible to the office people, but holy shit, doing anything is like pulling teeth. It doesn't know anything, so you have to math your way through every function. It was tedious as shit so I bailed on it, at least for now.

Err VBA is as good as it gets in excel.

 

[Stopsignhank]

Say what?

I am retired now, all typing skills have gone to hell.

 

[lxskllr]

I don't use Office, so I guess it would be in "macros" or something similarly named? A quick look gave me this...

The most powerful macros in LibreOffice are created by writing code using one of the four supported scripting languages (LibreOffice Basic, BeanShell, JavaScript, and Python).

If I wanted to write something serious for math, what would be the best to focus on, python? My goal is a full scientific calculator without having to do all the intermediate steps for the trivial tasks a calculator does.

At this point, this'll probably never happen, but it might be entertaining learning something new.

 

[Stopsignhank]

Even if I have basically read about a tech I will put it on my resume.

Then if it comes up in the interview for that specific tech, I will just be honest about it and tell them that I am familiar with what it is but have never really used it before, and say that I feel confident I could pick it up based on my other skill sets.

The downside is that I have recruiters hitting me up for specific jobs that are basically all in that tech, then I'll just let them know I'm not interested.

When I was getting resume's to hire my replacement 2 years ago I got a non negative number of 10 or more page resumes.

(Sorry Dave, did not mean to take over your thread.)

 

[Red Squirrel]

The current climate for trying to get a job is super shitty. I like to look for fun to see what's available in my area sometimes and they ask for the moon, and then the salary starts at like $20/hour.

 

[sactoking]

When I was getting resume's to hire my replacement 2 years ago I got a non negative number of 10 or more page resumes.

(Sorry Dave, did not mean to take over your thread.)

Damn, I just submitted my resume for a political appointment position with my current agency, 20 years industry experience, and I was sweating whether to leave mine at 3 pages or cut it back to 2. I couldn't imagine a 10 pager.