So, you didn’t get the job; maybe it is YOUR fault.

  • Comments posted to this topic are about the item So, you didn’t get the job; maybe it is YOUR fault.

  • Hi Rodney,
                    i know what you mean about burnout. I have gone through two or three at this rate and I am not a DBA, but trying to keep current in all of the vegetable soups is dizzying.
                    The only thing to compare it to are professional golfers going thru a funk, I suppose one has to keep playing it thru until gets over it....One big difference is there is no senior tour for IT guys....

    Keep the faith,
    Mike.

  • I know what he means about the vegetable soup. I came to the realisation a while back that you can't know it all, when you have 6 different applications all doing effectively the same thing you cannot be an expert in all of them. I don't think any of this gets helped by the recruiters or the companies advertising for people when they advertise 40 different totally unrelated skills and tell everyone they want an expert in them all.

  • You're title reminds me of a quote from one of my favorite authors Larry Winget... "You're success is your own damn fault!"

    But I'm with you on the burn out thing. it happens. I started a new job about a year and a half ago and that has turned things around and got me excited about technology again.

  • Mike O'Gara - Wednesday, May 10, 2017 5:30 AM

                    The only thing to compare it to are professional golfers going thru a funk, I suppose one has to keep playing it thru until gets over it....One big difference is there is no senior tour for IT guys....

    Haha... a senior tour for IT guys. Nice!!

  • I remember attending a job interview that involved a C programming language test of various "low level" C function calls. Needless to say I had "forgotten" those low level details, because I had written a whole bunch of my own functions over a number of years in C that hid the complexity of those details to make my life easier in faster coding the rest of the application. So a lot of experience can count against you. Needless to say I did not get the job.

  • RandomEvent - Wednesday, May 10, 2017 5:54 AM

    I know what he means about the vegetable soup. I came to the realisation a while back that you can't know it all, when you have 6 different applications all doing effectively the same thing you cannot be an expert in all of them. I don't think any of this gets helped by the recruiters or the companies advertising for people when they advertise 40 different totally unrelated skills and tell everyone they want an expert in them all.

    I suspect recruiters to be some of the first to replaced with AI.

  • intheweeds - Wednesday, May 10, 2017 7:56 AM

    RandomEvent - Wednesday, May 10, 2017 5:54 AM

    I know what he means about the vegetable soup. I came to the realisation a while back that you can't know it all, when you have 6 different applications all doing effectively the same thing you cannot be an expert in all of them. I don't think any of this gets helped by the recruiters or the companies advertising for people when they advertise 40 different totally unrelated skills and tell everyone they want an expert in them all.

    I suspect recruiters to be some of the first to replaced with AI.

    But I expect AI to be used first to proofread horrible replies...😛

  • Technology as a career tends to have peaks and troughs naturally, within any job. Sometimes you have to accept periods of less-to-non-existent enthusiasm, I've had a few to be honest. For me it's like life in general, keep plugging away and you'll get your mojo back, sooner or later.

  • I loved this article! Thank you for writing it, Rod!

    Kindest Regards, Rod Connect with me on LinkedIn.

  • A little startling how close this cuts to home, right down to the branding part.  I hope people read this with an open mind.  Absorbing this before starting to HAVE to look for a new job would have saved me a lot of pain and suffering.  I think your being brutally honest with yourself might really save a lot of people in the same position.

  • Rod at work - Wednesday, May 10, 2017 8:52 AM

    I loved this article! Thank you for writing it, Rod!

    You are welcome. Thank you for the kind words. I enjoyed the process as it has taught me some things about myself that I have come to realize I need to change.

  • Dan Szepesi - Wednesday, May 10, 2017 9:00 AM

    A little startling how close this cuts to home, right down to the branding part.  I hope people read this with an open mind.  Absorbing this before starting to HAVE to look for a new job would have saved me a lot of pain and suffering.  I think your being brutally honest with yourself might really save a lot of people in the same position.

    Funny you say this. I reached out to the person I had the interview with just a few moments ago to thank him for the inadvertent motivation. Like most things in life, I think it may be as simple as starting with a plan. As oxymoronic as that sounds, because making a plan can be the hardest thing. I can attest to that.

  • call.copse - Wednesday, May 10, 2017 8:07 AM

    Technology as a career tends to have peaks and troughs naturally, within any job. Sometimes you have to accept periods of less-to-non-existent enthusiasm, I've had a few to be honest. For me it's like life in general, keep plugging away and you'll get your mojo back, sooner or later.

    I agree whole heartedly. I have lost that enthusiasm before, and was lucky enough to have worked at places that allowed me to "search" for solutions by playing. But I am learning that enthusiasm can come from other projects...and probably having a better work-life balance.

  • There are a lot of things that can contribute to whether you are successful at an interview or not.  Sometimes there is a better person who comes along - it happens.
    I've been on the merry-go-round for a few months now (coming up to Christmas is *never* a good time to start looking in the IT world... well, in Australia anyway....) and I have seen the range of methods people use. There are those who ask dozens of technical questions (no problem) but were asked by a HR person who had no idea what I was talking about and transcribed those answers into a report for the hiring manager. Things can get lost in translation but, to her credit, they didn't and I scored an interview.
    Like every other industry, as you get older, the panels look younger and you suddenly become aware of your age and that oldies aren't like anywhere in the job market.  If you don't stay on top of the technology and add value to yourself all the time, the knowledge will pass you by and the scrap heap beckons.  So, yes, the onus is on you to ensure that you retain that value in yourself and not expect your "brand" to be the saviour every time.
    The worst interview result came from a company that wanted a senior DBA. I seemed to get on OK with the panel and was professional in how I handled things. I answered all of their questions and didn't allow ego to be a problem. I even quizzed them on their "difficult" system which they told the recruiter was a tough one (it wasn't). What cost me the job was being reserved and not acting like my name had just been called out on The Price is Right and running around like a loon while drooling and professing that I had always wanted to work with this company that, quite frankly, nobody knew about (I know this because I asked many of my old colleagues....)
    It doesn't help your career when you have start-ups that think they are so great that it is impossible to not know who they are.

    A lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine.

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