The Vent Thread

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Pwolf
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Re: The Vent Thread

Post by Pwolf » Fri Oct 26, 2012 1:04 am

I applied for a IT Administrator position. It would be awesome if I got it but I have that nagging feeling that I wouldn't be able to do it. I know I can do it. I know I am capable of doing more than I am now and learning how to do more. I am confident that I have the skills and knowledge to be the best damn IT Admin this side of the American River... How do I get someone else to see that in me though?

I can list all the things I know and how many years I've been working in the field, but how do I show someone that those things aren't what make me the awesome technician I am today? Well, those things don't. It's my abilities to figure shit out, my persistence, perseverance, and my patience that do.

This reminds me of an intern we hired a few years ago. He looked really good on paper, knew everything we needed him to know, but as soon as he started working for us, those things didn't matter because he didn't have the same work ethic and enthusiasm for the job that we wanted.

I guess my overall frustration is that there are thousands of other people who have the same experience and and skills I have. Our resumes would be identical. Hell, what about people with more experience than me? How do I show that I'm awesome at what I do (cause I am) and that I'm capable of being awesome at doing something else?

I feel like I've mentioned this before, if I have, sorry, just feel like venting a bit.

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Kitsuner
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Re: The Vent Thread

Post by Kitsuner » Fri Oct 26, 2012 2:04 am

Pwolf wrote:I applied for a IT Administrator position. It would be awesome if I got it but I have that nagging feeling that I wouldn't be able to do it. I know I can do it. I know I am capable of doing more than I am now and learning how to do more. I am confident that I have the skills and knowledge to be the best damn IT Admin this side of the American River... How do I get someone else to see that in me though?

I can list all the things I know and how many years I've been working in the field, but how do I show someone that those things aren't what make me the awesome technician I am today? Well, those things don't. It's my abilities to figure shit out, my persistence, perseverance, and my patience that do.

This reminds me of an intern we hired a few years ago. He looked really good on paper, knew everything we needed him to know, but as soon as he started working for us, those things didn't matter because he didn't have the same work ethic and enthusiasm for the job that we wanted.

I guess my overall frustration is that there are thousands of other people who have the same experience and and skills I have. Our resumes would be identical. Hell, what about people with more experience than me? How do I show that I'm awesome at what I do (cause I am) and that I'm capable of being awesome at doing something else?

I feel like I've mentioned this before, if I have, sorry, just feel like venting a bit.
That's what the thread's for, man. It's not called the "Don't Mention Things Ever Again, Seriously Stop Bothering Us Thread".

I've got no advice, but in case it helps, I believe in you, dude. Long live the King!
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Re: The Vent Thread

Post by Kristyrat » Fri Oct 26, 2012 9:23 am

Pwolf wrote:I applied for a IT Administrator position. It would be awesome if I got it but I have that nagging feeling that I wouldn't be able to do it. I know I can do it. I know I am capable of doing more than I am now and learning how to do more. I am confident that I have the skills and knowledge to be the best damn IT Admin this side of the American River... How do I get someone else to see that in me though?

I can list all the things I know and how many years I've been working in the field, but how do I show someone that those things aren't what make me the awesome technician I am today? Well, those things don't. It's my abilities to figure shit out, my persistence, perseverance, and my patience that do.

This reminds me of an intern we hired a few years ago. He looked really good on paper, knew everything we needed him to know, but as soon as he started working for us, those things didn't matter because he didn't have the same work ethic and enthusiasm for the job that we wanted.

I guess my overall frustration is that there are thousands of other people who have the same experience and and skills I have. Our resumes would be identical. Hell, what about people with more experience than me? How do I show that I'm awesome at what I do (cause I am) and that I'm capable of being awesome at doing something else?

I feel like I've mentioned this before, if I have, sorry, just feel like venting a bit.
Is there any sort of formal interview tied to the application process? That's really where you'd shine, Scott. Show them first hand that you're good at problem solving, and even give them examples of when you've figured something out that was stumping people (if they aren't already aware of your work).

If there isn't a formal interview, try to just contact the people responsible for hiring and chat with them. Can't hurt!
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Re: The Vent Thread

Post by ZephyrStar » Fri Oct 26, 2012 10:02 am

You're absolutely right about how you look on paper (skills) versus the things you've actually DONE while in the field, and how that makes you awesome. I generally just make a very short and simple bulleted list of skills for expected information, but then I make it a point to talk about how my performance specifically affected projects I worked on. So I list specific things under my job history that I did, like maybe:

Dec 2007- Aug 2012, Company A
• On top of regular duties, volunteered for special pilot program to launch and support new product, resulting in $3.5M new sales in Q4 2011
• Identified API feed code problem outside of my regular job duties and volunteered to help fix it, saving company 20% in claims over Q1 2012
• Pioneered new training program for new hires to quickly get them up to speed for agile integration, saving 3 months time and training costs

I usually try and do about 5-7 of these, keeping them short and sweet, per relevant position. Some positions have less, but if I've done a whole lot of good stuff, I want that known.

Take a look at all those guys who have similar or identical resumes, and then see if you can figure out a way to make yourself sound better than them, while still having those same skills. In my experience it's about having specific things you can show on a resume to get someone interested, then talk to in an interview so people go "hey, this guy really goes out of his way to work really hard and get stuff done" vs the guy who just lists skills only.

Something else I've noticed is how... really inept some people are despite looking good on paper. As in they don't know how to just get around fast in an OS, or don't readily pick up methods to work faster without someone having to hold their hand. If you're the kind of person who learns systems on their own, makes it a point to ask questions, and become a subject matter expert, this is really important to show! This is the ideal employee.

It's tough to put that into words on a resume in a bullet point without sounding like an ass, but you could do something like:

• Go to person on team for process improvements, workflow questions, subject matter expert for x and y systems
• Volunteered to mentor other employees to solidify their knowledge of workflows

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Pwolf
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Re: The Vent Thread

Post by Pwolf » Fri Oct 26, 2012 12:40 pm

Turns out, an old co-worker was the Admin for this company and moved on so I just applied for his position, lol. Got an e-mail from the HR manager saying he talked me up a bit. Apparently he told her that I taught him most of what he knows :x Interview Tuesday morning.

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Re: The Vent Thread

Post by lloyd9988 » Fri Oct 26, 2012 3:11 pm

Pwolf wrote:Turns out, an old co-worker was the Admin for this company and moved on so I just applied for his position, lol. Got an e-mail from the HR manager saying he talked me up a bit. Apparently he told her that I taught him most of what he knows :x Interview Tuesday morning.
:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

Win

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Re: The Vent Thread

Post by lloyd9988 » Fri Oct 26, 2012 10:37 pm

Today was a miserable day for the Awesome-O's >.>

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Mkid
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Re: The Vent Thread

Post by Mkid » Fri Oct 26, 2012 10:44 pm

lloyd9988 wrote:Today was a miserable day for the Awesome-O's >.>
we all stayed up late to finish our POE tracks

Bani: 2 hours of sleep and headed out to school.
Pudding: 4 hours of sleep and went to work.
Mkid: 4 hours of sleep, got lost in manhattan. walked 30 blocks. 2 trains and 1 bus later here i am.

:|
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TritioAFB
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Re: The Vent Thread

Post by TritioAFB » Fri Oct 26, 2012 11:06 pm

Things are getting intense, as everybody suddenly stop working and leave more job to the people that wills to work :down:

I'll need vacations soon
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Moonlight Soldier
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Re: The Vent Thread

Post by Moonlight Soldier » Sun Oct 28, 2012 1:31 am

@_@ Super busy ever since I got back from chi-town.

Murder/almost-suicide (sad sad story T-T) blew up across Thursday night and trickled down to overtime on Friday. Just finished writing a story for the chain about the B.C. earthquake. No quiet nights so far. AND my freelance clients are all latching on with more work.

/pileonpileonpileon.

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