Tag: job

Job Hunting and Dogfood

I like the expression eating one’s own dogfood. I also like the encouragement it gives to organizations to use their own products and services.

I was reminded of dogfooding during my current job search. Google asked for my phone number and for my resume. Those two requests are reasonable, and usual, but I was surprised at how closely Google stuck to the usual (Web 1.0ish) script.

Google has the usual categories for phone number: home, work, mobile, if memory serves. Hey, wouldn’t it be great if you could have a number that you could map to whichever phone you happen to be next to? Yes there is, and it’s called Google Voice. I’m surprised that wasn’t an option for phone number on the job application.

I’m also surprised by the option for sending a resume: upload, or paste into a window. Why not ask for a link to an online resume. Perhaps one at Google Docs? Yes, I am aware that people sometimes want to keep their resume private, rather than putting it on the web, and that one could use the paste a resume space to paste a link, but still… I uploaded my resume in Word format. Guess I could have used PDF…

I’m surprised that the application process didn’t steer me toward the dogfood made by the firm to which I applied (Google). Instead, it steered me toward the firm where the dogfooding phrase originated (Microsoft).

Jobs in DC, Indeed

job-competition-indeedIt’s looking more and more likely that we will be moving south so that my wife can take up a new job in Washington DC. I have mixed feelings about this.

It’s good news that Washington DC appears to be the best city in the USA in terms of job postings to unemployed people. My source is Indeed (via TechCrunch, where there are many comments pointing out ways in which the data may be misleading). Third on the list is nearby Baltimore. I have to like the data, and I like the graphic.

For those who are wondering about Boston, and why my feelings are mixed, I’ll add that Boston: is tenth on the Indeed list; and is positively balmy compared with DC. While the usually prolific Universal Adam can’t even finish his own post about how hot it is in Boston, it’s about 10 degrees hotter in DC. It’s almost a consolation that more thunderstorms are forecast for down there than for up here.

Job Market 2.0

I’m currently looking out of my ivory tower window at industry jobs. I’m looking at web-related jobs, using, of course, the web.

My main remark on what I’ve seen so far of the web-based job market is that it’s even more silo-ridden than most of the rest of the web. For example, Mashable Sean posted last year about 70+ tools for job hunting 2.0.

More recently, Sarah at RWW took a look at web-enabled job hunting. She provides useful detail on a rather smaller number of tools. Each post attracted comments of the “hey, your didn’t mention my site” variety.

So what about vertical search and aggregation tools for the job hunter? I went to AltSearchEngines, had to page down a few times to find the search box, and found searching the site rather confusing. I won’t get sidetracked by mentioning the other obstacles to use I encountered there.

More on my job search soon. I’ll wrap up this post by pointing out a particularly interesting perspective from the other side: hiring in a 2.0 world, by Aaron Strout at Mzinga.

Considering Industry Re-Entry

It may well be time for me to go back into industry. There are several reasons for this, not the least of which is that the information technology industry has got a lot more interesting during the time I’ve been in academia. It’s got more interesting because of the web.

There are arguments against returning to industry. Scott Adams provides regular reminders.

More on this job/career stuff later in the week…