Landing the Tech Job You Don't Despise

Presenter: Olaf Alders @wundercounter (http://twitter.com/wundercounter) and on CPAN (https://metacpan.org/author/OALDERS)

Let's face it, the "Landing the ____ job you love" thing is totally overused. And who every said you had to be in love with your job anyway? But I digress. This talk is a summary of all I have learned and maybe in some cases haven't learned about the hiring process.

What qualifies me to give this kind of a talk? I've been on both sides of the interview table. I've helped write job ads and been puzzled by reading job ads. I've interviewed for jobs in Canada, the US and in the EU. I've done onsite interviews and video interviews. I've taken and given technical phone screens. On some occasions I've been offered the job that I've interviewed for, but I've also failed miserably. And really, do you want to learn from the person who never gets it wrong? Here's a chance to hear about it from someone who has stumbled and occasionally danced through the interview process from start to finish.

We'll touch on many stages of the process.

Deciphering job ads
Cover letters
Resumes
Surviving the phone screen
(Possibly) nailing the interview AKA "What's the deal with whiteboarding?"
Negotiating your salary and other negotiables

I'll toss in a few other goodies along the way. Hopefully it'll be a fun ride. Even if you just pick up a few good ideas to apply in your future job searches, it'll be a worthwhile discussion. Just remember, you may not be planning on looking for a job, but that's not to say you won't find yourself hunting for a job in the future anyway. The worst time to prepare for your search is when you're in the middle of it. Think of this as a little bit of future proofing for your career.