The job search process has been pretty interesting so far. I am fortunate that I have experience in both PHP and .Net so that widens the job possibilities. Some of the position descriptions have got to be written by people who aren’t directly involved in the position. They can be very cryptic that you have no idea what the job is you are reading about:
- Maintain a broad and continuous assessment of the organization’s information environment
- Take on moderately complex projects
- Refine the architecture based on changes in business strategy and technological advances to suit the corporate strategies
- Articulate architectural decisions clearly to the client
- Ensures that all business models are integrated into the IT architecture
- Coordinates the information architecture with the other organization’s technical architectures and data architects
Those are the essential duties and responsibilities for a programming job. I am the type of person who tailors a resume to each job and writes a unique cover letter, well for this job, I didn’t bother applying because it tells me absolutely nothing about the position.
Sometimes I think when people are on the hiring end, they assume they don’t have to show their best side too. Well, I know personally, even when I am being interviewed, I am interviewing the company. I know I have to show up and be ready to sell myself, but the employer also has to do the same. I’ve had 5 interviews so far. A couple of the jobs paid extremely well, but the work sounded absolutely boring. I had 3 interviews with one company and had a video conference scheduled for Thursday (dec. 20) which ideally would have been the last interview but they never called. Come to find out they decided that since I didn’t have 10 years experience, they weren’t interested in me for the job. Seriously, WTF? You can easily read my resume and see that I have just over 5 years experience. I guess I think, don’t waste my time if you could have made that disqualifying decision before the first call was ever made. Maybe I’m being idealistic but I want the interviewer to be just as interested in me as I am in them. This would give insight as to how they would be as an employer.
So far I have a couple of options but I am waiting until next week to decide anything. What it’s going to come down to is this
- Will I make enough to pay the bills and maintain our current lifestyle? - Yes, I have a bottom dollar figure that I need to work with. Surprisingly the jobs I am applying range from this dollar figure to 40k plus. The biggest difference in what they pay is the size of the company, whether an active security clearance is required (appears to add 15k-20k to your net worth), and if they are a private or publicly funded company.
- Am I excited about the job? - This is very important to me. I enjoy working in general but I really want to be excited about what I do. It makes it all worth it! There is one job that has put an offer on the table but the job just doesn’t sound that great. Now I spoke to someone recently about a different job opportunity and that job sounded really cool. The 2nd job pays 30k less (and I don’t have an offer at this point) but I would lean more towards that one than the first just because I think I would enjoy the job much more.
- How’s the quality of life? - Something else that is important to me. I am at a stage in my life where I’m not trying to make as much as I can make. I am instead focused on the quality of life (quality of the job plays a role in this) the job provides me. I’ve been working from home for the last 3.5 years so it will be an adjustment to get back to an office environment. But does the position offer good benefits (time off, flex time, telecommute opportunities, etc.) For example, if my son got sick today and had to go home, I would pick him up and I would still be able to get my work done. Would a job allow me to do this or would I need to take it as a day off?
- What are the advancement opportunities? - I’m not looking for a job to pay the bills, I want something that will provide opportunity and growth!
What do you look for in a job?
