Here's a thought. I do need to hire someone. The contractor that we currently use will be leaving the country at the end of November. There's about a 60% chance that I'll hire someone from this list. I'll certainly contact a few people. I've never seen their resume, and although HR might ask, I won't. I'll request an interview based on the fact that I've seen their work on this list, and they've impressed me. Ditto how they treat other people on this list.
I think that especially in smaller companies, this is common. A resume means nothing. Word of mouth or experience interacting with someone will be the basis of a person being passed over or being hired. That's maybe not true for larger companies, but even then, I think 1/2 of the issue is being known. With so many people available, and so few available positions, there is no need to hire someone that the hiring person doesn't have personal experience with. The other thing, and it'll happen here too. Is people looking for a job are stupid. I recieved a call from someone who used to work at a company we interact with regularly. I know him fairly well, and we had gone for lunch a few times. He asked how things were for "Dynegy". Dynegy hasn't operated in Canada for almost a year. Frankly, I'm not going to hire someone who doesn't even know what company he's calling. This isn't the first time. I regularly hear people call and ask "can I send you a resume" immediately followed by "How do you spell your company's name?" or "What does this company do anyway?". I'll be really specific here. Do not send me a resume. I'll contact you if I'm interested. After being on this list for over a year, I generally know what the active people here do. I don't know where they work, and I don't know lots of other things about them, but I know that Person X has been on this list for months, but only reciently began running Linux. I know Person Y is a well respected OSS Software Developer who has worked hard to assist people who are new to Linux or have questions about KDE or Postgres in particular. I know Person Z is responsible for me initially trying Gentoo. Z has a deep understanding of Gentoo workings, and clearly enjoys helping others learn. Chances are good that even with these generalized descriptions, list followers will know who each of these people are. Based on this on-going interaction, I know people on this list far better than an interview would ever allow me to know them. Kev. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dave Wilson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, October 24, 2003 10:49 PM Subject: Re: (clug-talk) I can't understand ... > Michael Petch wrote: > > I am going to have to disagree with a significant comment made here. > > > > Cover letters are Important. I am both a consultant who looks for new > > contracts, and I am also a person who does Interviews. > > Thanks for your comments, I completely agree and I should expand on what > I said, or attempt to make myself more clear. > > First, I always submit a personal cover letter, *always*. There's one > stock paragraph I tend to use, but at least 2/3 of the cover letter is > customized for the job posting at hand. I definitely feel I would be > short changing myself if I were to not send a cover letter. > > What I wrote was "don't worry as much about the cover letter ...". > Although I didn't emphasize it enough, the key to this statement is "as > much". I used to put far more concern and effort into the cover letter, > and kept a mostly static resume that I never customized. After speaking > with a recruiter (who's opinion I respected) and an HR person who both > gave me similar suggestions, I realized that the cover letter should be > of secondary focus for me, due to the fact that they both said their > primary focus is the front page of the cover letter. I was told that > cover letters are usually given nothing more than a passing first > glance, and that the real focus of attention went to the resume's first > page. If the first page met the expectations, maybe then the cover > letter and whole resume would be reviewed more thoroughly. > > I guess my statement implied too much, and said too little. I'll try again: > > Be sure to write a personalized/customized cover letter, but give more > focus and attention to your resume and how your experience and skills > relate to the position's requirements. > > I used to (naively?) believe that trying to use the cover letter to > express myself as an individual who stands out from the crowd was the > best way to get a leg up in the numbers game, but I've came to believe > that the best way is to balance individuality with conformance to the > specs of the job opening. > > Dave > > > >
