Author: Carl Page 60 of 152

Any questions for me

On March 16, 2016

I always walk into an interview with a pile of questions for the interviewer. Some of them will get answered in the course of the interview. Others I will need to ask once we get to the inevitable “do you have any questions for me?” part of the process. Always have questions. A candidate without question is someone who doesn’t want the job.

When I interview a candidate and they don’t ask me anything, I question why they want the job (even if I’ve already asked them.) This post has some great questions. They may not all apply to your particular job hunt, but they’re things to consider and give you a little visibility into the closed box of the company you’re trying to work for.

If I get the job, how do I earn a “gold star” on my performance review? What are the key accomplishments you’d like to see in this role over the next year?

This is a great question and one I always ask. I know I’m going to step into the role (if hired) and knock their socks off. It’s disheartening how often I don’t get a good answer, or any answer at all to this question.

I want to work in a place that rewards hard work. If there’s nothing in place to do that already, odds are, you’ll not see anything but a pat on the back.

How did you get your start in this industry? Why do you stay?

I ask my interviewers how long they’ve been with the company, what brought them here and why they stay. This tells me if we’re looking for the same things. It also tells me what they see as the company’s values. It’s most interesting when I get an answer that isn’t what I’ve heard from the company recruiters or read in the brochures.

What’s the timeline for making a decision on this position? When should I get back in touch with you?

Are you in a hurry to fill this position? I don’t care if they’re looking to fill it today or next month. But I want to know. If they’re looking to fill it today, and I hear nothing back for a week, that’s probably a bad sign. But if they’re looking to fill it later this month then I can be more relaxed in my follow-up and worry about whether I got the job or not.

What is your reward system? Is it a star system / team-oriented / equity-based / bonus-based / golf-clap-based? Why is that your reward system? If you could change any one thing about it, what would it be?

Again, is there a reward system? So many times I’ve worked in places that had no concrete rewards or review system in place.

What is the rhythm to the work around here? Is there a time of year that it’s “all hands on deck” and we’re pulling all-nighters, or is it pretty consistent throughout the year? How about during the week / month? Is it pretty evenly spread throughout the week / month, or are there crunch days?

This is important. Find out the flow of the business. Especially if it’s an industry you’re new to. There is a busy and slow time. But when that falls completely depends on what you’ll be doing, who you’ll be working with and what your customers/clients/partners do.

Government slows down to a crawl from Thanksgiving through the first of the year. Quick printers (like Kinkos/AlphaGraphics) slow down in the summer and pick back up when school gets back in session. Are you releasing products? Working for The Atlantic, they had a monthly release schedule around the print magazine. Finding the ebb and flow of your job prepares for you the busy times and tells you when you can catch up.

My favorite interview question

By Carl

On March 15, 2016

In Links and Quotes

Recently, I hired my teammate, then shortly after that my replacement and I went scouring the web for interview questions. Because that’s what you do when you have no idea what you’re doing.

I didn’t find this until now but I absolutely love it.

Suppose you could design your dream job that you’ll be starting on Monday. It’s at your ideal company with your ideal job title and salary. All you have to do is tell them what you want to do at your job and you can have it. What does your job entail?

Just like all good questions, it’ not about the answer. It’s about where the question takes you. The immediacy means what do you want to do now and not months or years from now.

At the end of the interview, he’ll sum things up. For example:

Okay, so let me see if I have this correct. In your ideal job, you’d be spending 75% of the day writing code (JavaScript, if possible) and 25% of your day meeting with others to discuss technology and code. You’d prefer to be on a team of about 5 people and you’d like to be mentored by someone with more experience than you. Is that right?

And when it summation matches inspiration, the reason for this question:

The reason I ask this question to people is because I believe it’s important to match people up to the correct position. I wanted to get to know you and your career goals to make sure we have a good fit for you. What I’d like to do now is tell you what I’m looking for and we can decide together if it seems like we have a fit. Does that sound okay?

That’s the interview I want to be in. With an interviewer who has an eye to the current needs and to the future. Since bored people quit. It’s good to know boredom isn’t in the game plan.

‘When You’re Accustomed to Privilege, Equality Feels Like Oppression’

By Carl

On March 15, 2016

In Links and Quotes

“When you’re accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression.”

And things started making a little more sense to me. All this anger we see from people screaming “All Lives Matter” in response to black protesters at rallies. All this anger we see from people insisting that their “religious freedom” is being infringed because a gay couple wants to get married. All these people angry about immigrants, angry about Muslims, angry about “Happy Holidays,” angry about not being able to say bigoted things without being called a bigot…

They all basically boil down to people who have grown accustomed to walking straight at other folks, and expecting them to move. So when “those people” in their path don’t move — when those people start wondering, “Why am I always moving out of this guy’s way?”; when those people start asking themselves, “What if I didn’t move? What if I just kept walking too?”; when those people start believing that they have every bit as much right to that aisle as anyone else — it can seem like their rights are being taken away.

Every issue has two sides. It’s important to understand and acknowledge where the other side is coming from if you hope to ever bridge the gap.

From todd desantis on https://unsplash.com/todddesantis

Infrastructure

By Carl

On March 3, 2016

In Observations

I’ve thought a lot about the follow your passion mantra. Building your life as you wish you had it and doing meaningful work. And that’s great for people who are able to do it.

It’s great to have the entrepreneurial spirit and have the skills to make a go at working for yourself. I applaud you. My wife works for herself. My brother works for himself. My family either is self-employed or was before.

I’ve always worked for someone. Most recently for a string of government agencies for a longer list of government contractors. It’s not where my passion lies. And it’s not meaningful work to anyone outside of myself and my customers. But it pays the bills and provides financial stability so my wife could quit her job and work for herself.

I am the infrastructure that makes it all possible. I think about this a lot because I wonder who else is the rock behind the scenes supporting a loves one’s business while they get going.

Who else is the rock bringing in the steady money working the unimpressive job?

Do I wish I could work from home and make my schedule? Sort of. I’m not a great person to work for. I’m highly motivated and go above and beyond. But I also have my days where I can’t do anything and want to lay in bed or waste the day.

Would I be a good employee? Maybe. Would I enjoy the freedom and flexibility? Absolutely. Do I have any idea what I’d do for myself? No.

I don’t know what I’d do for myself. I don’t know where I have the skills to make a living for myself. So I trade my time for money. I go to work. I answer phones and support others. I come home and turn my brain back on and enjoy life.

It reminds me of an article I read awhile back. “Sponsored” by my husband: Why it’s a problem that writers never talk about where their money comes from

Here’s my life. My husband and I get up each morning at 7 o’clock and he showers while I make coffee. By the time he’s dressed I’m already sitting at my desk writing. He kisses me goodbye then leaves for the job where he makes good money, draws excellent benefits and gets many perks, such as travel, catered lunches and full reimbursement for the gym where I attend yoga midday. His career has allowed me to work only sporadically, as a consultant, in a field I enjoy.

The author is able to write and live the life she wants while her husband works a job that support their lifestyle.

While his job sounds better than mine, I do the same thing for my wife. I sponsor her while she gets her business up and running. I make sure we can pay our bills, go on vacation and put some money into savings. I have been as lucky as I’ve been smart with my career moves and negotiation.

I don’t have catered lunches or a gym membership, but I have doubled my salary in the past 5 years. I didn’t attend Master’s program nor did I pay for expensive certifications or training classes. I worked hard and I learned a lot on the job. But I also fell into a lucky niche that was interesting, easy and paid well.

Credit: matthew wiebe https://unsplash.com/matthewwiebe

Comfortable

By Carl

On March 2, 2016

In Introspection

What am I doing here?

I just turned 35 and I’m working at a help desk. I just turned 35 and I spend my days answering phones telling people their user names or reactivating their accounts. I spend my days doing the same thing I did the day I left college.

I’m very well paid for the work I do. It’s not fulfilling nor interesting. It’s not something I enjoy or think about. This job has no emotion to it at all. I go in to work and I shut off my brain. I don’t need it. It’s rote memorization and repetition of questions and facts.

But that’s also the point of this job. I don’t need anything challenging. I don’t need to spend my days struggling to solve hard problems or make the world a better place.

I perform a job, a function that’s needed and can’t be turned over to a robot. I answer phones and I talk to people. I enable them.

I’m an enabler. I help them where they would fail without me. I give them tools to complete their work. I fix problems and guide. I help.

My job is a job. I work. I go home. I don’t think about it any more. It’s not a challenge. It’s a job. It pays me. I can afford a nice place to live. I pay my bills. I can afford a nice life and to travel and live in a nice house with my wonderful wife. I can afford to be comfortable.

I buy comfort with my job.

The callers keep me comfortable. They fill the hours. They pay my bills. They keep me working. They keep me comfortable.

Comfortable isn’t the worst thing in the world.