Entries Tagged 'Interviews' ↓

On Friday I performed an interview for my team at work. My job was to take the candidate to lunch and answer questions the candidate might have and attempt to assess his intelligence and “fit” for our team. This is one of those very rare interviews that actually turned out well and everyone who interviewed the guy liked him and we decided to hire him.

However, I feel like he may not join us because he is actually currently living in Austin, Texas. He said that he went to a nearby open house in Foster City and was shocked to find that a tiny townhouse less than half the size of his home in Texas is listed for $900,000. He used to live in Sacramento many years ago but the cost of living there is nowhere near the craziness of San Mateo. Then we chatted about the Bay Area in general and I said that I actually did some research on Texas and found that I could afford a 40% pay cut and still afford a better standard of living. He agreed with me, and I asked him if he would consider relocating and he said he would probably prefer telecommuting. However, after he finished his 8 hour grueling interview my team lead did mention that he would like all core members to be close to the headquarter and telecommuting from Texas is probably a deal breaker.

I imagine this is happening all over the Silicon Valley. There are a lot of great talent from other states that are interested in the companies here, but are totally put off by the cost of living and the cost of relocating. Additionally, I know dozens of people who are exiting this place due to the same reason. Even though I love the energy and dynamics in this place sometimes I wonder if it’s worth it. Yes, we do have fairly high incomes compared to the rest of the country, but with that we have extremely high taxes and a ridiculously high cost of living. When all the math is worked out, I think many of us who live in the Valley could have better lives elsewhere.

I thought that the job candidate is wise to investigate the cost of living before making a decision. I doubt that he is getting a 70 to 100% pay increase because Austin, Texas is also a very lively city with an abundance of jobs. On one hand, I do want him to join our team, but on the other hand I was honest with him and I want him to make the best decision possible for himself. I really don’t want him to join my company and then regret it and become grumpy!!

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So I haven’t written that much this week because I started a new job on Wednesday. So far it’s been going really well. I like my new coworkers very much and one of the company founders went to the same college as me. Well, actually a lot of my new coworkers are my former college classmates so it is actually quite fun. With this new job comes some new changes that I will write about in the coming months. For example, I will transfer out of my crappy former 401k that I described in this post. My new employer’s 401k program is through Fidelity once again, and so I am a happy camper and I can roll all my 401k money into one place. Additionally, I have set up my direct deposit to deposit straight into my Vanguard money market account because I never really use my checking account except to funnel money. Vanguard’s direct deposit set up is actually quite cool and you can deposit your paycheck into any number of funds. Finally, I will need to make a decision on whether or not to exercise my vested options at my ex-employer. I do still have about 3 months to exercise my options and I am thinking of doing it in January so that in case I do trigger the AMT I would have to pay it in 2009 instead of 2008. By then, perhaps my old employer would go public (Hah! I wish). At this point, I think the options at my old employer is still worth exercising even though private stock is an illiquid asset. Besides those things, my pay schedule is now synced up with my hubby’s so monthly financial updates should be easier to manage. At my old company I got paid on the 7th and 22nd while he got paid on the 15th and end of the month. So that difference in pay schedule forced me to check our bank accounts every week.

Anyway, I think the hardest part about a new job is really just the first month. After that I can usually get into a regular schedule and comfortably finish my work. Right now I’m trying to get used to the fact that people on my team come to work even later than I do. On Friday I went to work at 11am and I was the first one there. I also got the last cube available in the entire office space and so I’m in the middle of a bunch of boxes and next to the IT lady who talks on the phone all the time about her kid and grandmother. However, that is all going to change soon because the entire company is moving to San Mateo in two weeks. I am looking forward to sitting close to my team and getting a newer office space. It is also ironic because I just left a job in San Mateo and I’m going to move right back. I will definitely see a lot of my old cohorts hanging around downtown San Mateo during lunch. It should be fun because I will get to introduce my new coworkers to the lunch spots I am already very familiar with and still keep up with the gossip of the old office.

On a purely monetary standpoint I am pretty sure that I would have had a higher salary in the next few months if I just stayed at my old company and gotten my yearly review. However, I felt like it was time to learn something new and move on to a younger company. The VP at my old company also tried to convince me that my stock options may be worth a lot even though I have very few shares. That may or may not be true, and I do agree with the VP that the company should do very well in the future. However, I think my current company has a lot more potential because it is younger and makes a great product. I really see stock options as a “possible bonus”, and I don’t count on them to make me rich. I just feel like I have to move on to stay competitive in the field of software engineering. I am really afraid of becoming one of those people that I interviewed who had 8 years of experience and didn’t know the basics.

So that’s what’s happening in my life, and I am pretty excited to do all of these new things.

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Today I read an article about speed interviewing. The idea is pretty much the same as speed dating. Basically interviewers see as many candidates as possible in a short amount of time and give offers quickly so that they fill up positions quickly. I think this method makes a lot of sense and is advantageous to both the interviewer and the interviewee because it saves everyone’s time and offering quickly gives the company a better chance of snatching the candidate they want. For example, in my most recent job hunting experience the first company I interviewed at pretty much said that they wanted to hire me after two short interviews, but to satisfy the HR process they had me speak to three more people at a later date. They actually told me that the second round of interviews was a formality and that they wanted me to join their team. I thought that the second round of interviews was a waste of time but I still went because the company seemed nice. Actually, they could have just told me what their offer was after the first interviews and I might have accepted it. Because their second interview delayed their offer by a week I interviewed at another company and that company also made an offer, but it was within a day of the interview. The end result was that I went to the second company because it was much more interesting and I knew a lot of classmates that worked at the second company. Speeding up the hiring process really tells a candidate that the company wants to hire him/her right away, and it is to a company’s advantage to do this.

I have interviewed a lot of people in the past few years and I have also been an interviewee on multiple occasions. Generally I know if I like someone within the first few minutes of meeting them. I have read that there were psychological experiments that concluded people make a determination on whether or not they like another person within the first few seconds of meeting them. Basically, regardless of whether you’re an interviewer or interviewee, there is no point in wasting time with people you don’t like. This is more reason why speed interviewing makes a lot of sense. It is advantageous to interviewees, too, because you get immediate feedback and you can either accept a new job or focus your energies on other companies. There is no point in waiting for a response for two weeks because your time is valuable. This is why I enjoy applying to small technology startups because the turnaround is very quick. Large companies are notorious for their HR bureaucracy and I have heard stories of people who were interviewed and never called back for more than a month. In my opinion job candidates should never wait for a response from a specific company and just keep on applying. Basically, if a company has a very slow moving hiring process then they will lose great candidates.

From my experience the companies that had the slowest recruiting processes are also the most bureaucratic companies. They are so overly organized that they’re disorganized. When an orgchart is thirteen levels deep there is bound to be a bit of chaos and frivolity. One example is an internship I had with a extremely large software and hardware vendor. The most ridiculous thing was that it took them a month to get my hiring paperwork done and then because they took so long my background check expired. Then I was required to go to  a different campus  about 20 miles from where I worked to get a keycard. Because of the long process my internship time was very short. When I finished the internship they created a position for me and wanted me to stay, but I chose to get a job elsewhere for obvious reasons. Then after I left it took them another month to mail me my final check. I had to call their payroll to demand it. This is a very well known company and that experience really put me off from working for extremely large organizations after college.

Anyway, I guess my whole spiel is that I am a great fan of companies that recruit quickly. Job hunters should definitely still research the companies that give an offer quickly, and if a company is extremely pushy that is not a good sign either. They should give you a reasonable amount of time to consider your options, but a immediate offer is always a good thing.

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My mom is looking for a new position for the first time in ten years because her company’s sole client has been taken over by another firm. She asked me before if I have any tips on finding a job, and I decided to list what I learned in the past few years here in the Silicon Valley:

1. Clearly Identify Your Target Job — I think this is the most difficult part of many people’s job search. Some people are changing jobs because they hate what they’re doing, and may be looking for something completely different. Some people are looking for the same job, but with different types of benefits and hours. The idea is that the job seeker needs to clearly identify the endgame for his or her job search and build a profile of the ideal job. A person can only aim when a target is clearly painted and it is a total waste of time and effort to find a job you don’t really want.

2. Network with People You Know — After you work for a few years you will probably end up with quite a few ex-coworkers. You may not know all of them very well, but there has to be a few that you are on friendly terms with. Generally I ask for the contact information of coworkers I like when they leave my company. Recently a lot of them have been connecting with me on LinkedIn or Facebook. For the people that do not use these services I record their contact information in a text file. It’s very likely that some ex-coworkers are willing to forward your resume to HR, because a lot of companies have internal referral bonuses for successful hires. The world is a very small place, and I think the first place to look for a job is through people you know. Friends and relatives are also great resources for possible jobs. You can just send out a general email to all your friends and relatives and ask if there are any available positions that would fit you. I think it is to your advantage to tap your relationships unless you don’t want your friends and relatives to know that you’re looking for a job.

3. Ignore the Bad Mercenary Recruiters — I have found that most headhunting firms that cold call me end up wasting my time. They often overstate the salary of the job they’re recruiting for and they’re more like salesmen that are trying to sell whatever person they can for a commission. Most of these “bad” recruiters don’t read your resume and do not match you to a company’s needs very well. For example, there was one day when I got three calls from three different recruiters trying to pitch the same position which I knew I was not a good candidate for. Though, many companies do hire their own internal recruiters and they are the HR department of the company. Those calls lead usually lead to fruitful interviews. So it is very important to identify where a recruiter is coming from. It is as simple as asking, “are you part of the company you’re recruiting for, or are you a recruitment firm?” There are very good independent recruiters and I have known a couple, but they really work on finding you a job that matches your needs and the jobs they present to you should already be something you’re interested in.

4. Plan Interviews Close to Each Other — I think it’s generally good to group your interviews around the same days if it is possible. The reason is that if you interview at multiple companies on approximately the same day you’re likely to receive their responses at approximately the same time. Another reason is that you may be able to use less vacation days from your current job if you schedule multiple interviews on the same day. When you get responses back around the same time you are able to make more strategic decisions on what to do next.

5. Search for All Possible Titles of Your Desired Job — When you look for a job online you usually use some job search engine and type in your desired job title. Make sure to try all possible variations of your job title. For example, my current job title is Release Engineer. Some companies also title my position SCM Engineer, Configuration Engineer, Build Engineer, Software Engineer in Release, Build Release QA Engineer, and some other names. The point is that you can’t just search for one job title because you may miss out on some positions that is a good match to your skills. Brainstorm a list of titles you may be called and start searching there.

6. Prepare References — Make sure you have at least two to three people that will vouch for your work ethics. If you’re pretty new to the workforce you should still secure a couple people that will speak on your behalf. You should inform these people that your job search may burden them with writing a recommendation or answering a few questions. This is courtesy, and most companies still ask for human references no matter how good you look on paper or how smooth you were in the interview.

7. Research the Company You Are Interested In — It amazes me how many people I have interviewed had absolutely no interest in the companies that are supposed to hire them. If you are interested in a company you should find out some basics such as its location, its products, and its working environment. Such information can be obtained during an interview but a little preemptive research is always good. You may find out that a company is not really a good place to work or that its products are totally unappealing to you. If that’s the case then there is no point in applying and interviewing. If after your preliminary research you are still interested then you would have more to talk about with the interviewees. It is a win-win situation for you to do your due diligence.

8. Update Your Resume — It is a good idea to update your resume every six months even if you haven’t changed jobs. There may be new projects that you have done and new technologies you have learned, and your resume is a good place to keep record. Another reason is that when you update your resume in a website like Hotjobs or Monster employers tend to pick up on the update and contact you if they are interested. Make sure that you block your current employer in these services so that they don’t know you’re looking.

9. Prepare for Your Interview — This is a must. You can prepare for your interview any way you are comfortable with, but you must do it. Your preparation could be as simple as reviewing your resume and remembering what you wrote. I say this because I have had interviewees who wrote a lot of things on their resumes they did not know anything about. Since tips for interviewing would take up an entire book I will not elaborate here. However, I have written an article on some horrible interviews I have endured.

10. Don’t Look Back — There may be rejections along the path of your job search, but the key is to just forget about it and don’t look back. There is no time to waste on being depressed about not getting a certain job. The same applies to your old employer when you do find a great offer. If you were jaded enough to search for a job in the first place then it’s probably best not to look back and go on to your new place.

Well mom, I hope you found this useful, and good luck on your job hunt. When you get an offer make sure to check out my article about job offers.

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Some of my friends that read this blog are still in school and haven’t started working yet and a couple other friends have asked me advice on evaluating the job offers they’ve gotten. So here’s a summary on how I currently evaluate job offers. This is purely from my perspective as a young engineer with no kids so your priorities may be very different. I am certain that my evaluation method will change as I go on to the later phases of my life. Right now, here are the things I consider in order of importance:

The Job and the Company — The first and most important thing is to understand what I will be doing in the position offered. Is this job something I would be happy doing eight to nine hours a day? Would I be creating a product or service that people find useful? Are there opportunities for advancement and recognition in this job? Of course, the best place to learn about the job is through asking questions at the interview or asking HR. It’s important to get as much information as possible because a lot of job descriptions these days are pretty vague. Additionally I would find out about the company from external sources such as surveys and friends. I would find out the working conditions and hours and the general company ethics. I really can’t stress enough how important it is to have a job you enjoy with a company that takes care of its employees because otherwise life is pretty miserable.

Your Future Coworkers – If you read my article on interviewing in the Valley, then you’ll know how important it is to me to find useful people that I can get along with at work. Interviews work both ways, so when I am the job candidate I am also assessing how skilled and amiable the interviewer is. The most important person that has to get along with me is my direct supervisor so I try to ask questions about his/her management style and gauge his/her personality. If my direct manager isn’t even interviewing me, then something is definitely broken at the company and I wouldn’t consider it.

The Benefit Package — A lot of people I know seem to put salary as the top priority in evaluating a job, but it’s really just part of a greater benefits package. Other major things to consider are paid time off, health insurance, retirement contributions, bonuses, and equity compensation. Each one of these benefit items could be worth a considerable amount financially. In some jobs, bonuses are the bulk of the compensation so you can’t really decide that a certain job pays worse just based on the salary. Retirement contributions is also a big benefit. A lot of people my age think that retirement is really far away and it’s not a big deal, but we are the generation that can’t depend on social security and pensions, so anything a employer would give us now could be a lifesaver in the future. Vacation days is another great thing. The difference between having 10 days and 15 days of vacation per year is huge. That extra week of vacation may just save your sanity. Equity compensation can include stock grants, incentive stock options, or employee stock purchase programs. If the company is doing well, then the equity is a worthwhile bonus. Health insurance is very important, but a lot of employers these days don’t pay for 100% of the premiums. So when I look at a compensation package I would find out how much health insurance the company pays for. There are also other miscellaneous benefits a company could offer such as free food, club memberships, and discounts. Those are also great, but they’re more minor additions to a benefits package.

The Location of the Job and Commuting– Most of the time I don’t apply for jobs that are more than 20 miles away from where I live. The physical accessibility of the job is very important because you need to consider that it takes time and money to commute. If your company offers telecommuting then that’s possibly the greatest location because you can work at home and not commute at all. I personally don’t mind going to the office because I like to interact with my coworkers, but if I have to drive more than an hour each way to work everyday I think I would go insane. And yet I know some people in the Bay Area that drive two to five hours per day to work because housing is so expensive in areas close to work. Driving that much is really not worth it because an 8 hour day turns into a 10 to 13 hour day and there will be no other life but work. I would prefer to take public transit to work if I could, so if the job is along well established public transportation then that’s a plus in my book.

In conclusion, there are many aspects of a job to consider before accepting an offer. The best thing to do is to get as much information as possible, either through the interview, people you trust, or online resources. If there are terms that you don’t like about the benefits package there is always room for negotiation. I have found that it’s never as clearcut as “this offer is better because it pays more”. Trust your instincts, and if you feel like you wouldn’t fit into a particular job or company, then don’t take it because if you do the lives of everyone involved may become a little worse.

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