October 26, 2026 at 12:00 am
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Making an Impression
October 26, 2026 at 7:19 am
My plan when I reach 60 (in a few years' time) is to ask to take on two people straight out of school or college. I hope to retire at 70 and 10 years should be enough to train them up while also doing my job.
I have two criteria: they must be eager to learn and they must be able to think logically. If they want to study part-time and work part-time, I am happy with that too.
On another note, I really hate the use of photographs for it biases us (either consciously or unconsciously) and the physical attractiveness (or lack thereof) of an employee is but a distraction. They also let prejudice unnecessarily play a role. If I have too many applications, I'll choose 20 at random, interview them and then from the remaining pool, choose the final two at random.
October 26, 2026 at 1:50 pm
Regarding the picture on LinkedIN thing, I'm not a fan of how I look in ANY pictures of me and actively avoid being photographed if I can help it. Heck, I don't even like how I look in my official work photo, so when we were given the option to either use that in our company Teams as the photo, or leave the photo blank, I went for blank.
As to whether I'd hire myself if I were running the team I'm on, probably not. But not for the reason you might think, but because I have a personal tendency to sell myself short. Based on comments from people I've worked with here and prior, THEY would hire me again, which means I am being hard on myself.
October 26, 2026 at 2:12 pm
In your editorial you wrote, "[Hiring managers] also mentioned that while checking LinkedIn, they were turned off by people who hadn't added their picture." WOW, yet another way hiring managers are discriminating against older people, people of different ethnic groups, people who are handicapped, etc. All illegal here in the US.
Where I work, they've not hired a citizen of my state for a role in IT in 18 months. (I work in state government.) They have hired a dozen foreign contractors, though. What irritates me and my fellow coworkers is we get stuck supporting legacy applications, meanwhile the contractors get to learn AI and work on newer technologies. How do you counteract this type of discrimination?
Rod
October 26, 2026 at 3:03 pm
I have been out of the hiring market from before Linkedin existed, but my take is that if you are searching for employment, then delete yourself from Linkedin. Everyone on there seems to need to complain about 'the system' and belittle hiring managers in general. If I found you there, your resume would likely go to the bottom of the stack. Linkedin is a place for cry-babies and so-called 'experts' who want to 'coach' people they know nothing about.
Rick
If you do a half-assed job of things, folks will ask 'why did this ass only do half the job?'
October 26, 2026 at 4:16 pm
My plan when I reach 60 (in a few years' time) is to ask to take on two people straight out of school or college. I hope to retire at 70 and 10 years should be enough to train them up while also doing my job. I have two criteria: they must be eager to learn and they must be able to think logically. If they want to study part-time and work part-time, I am happy with that too. On another note, I really hate the use of photographs for it biases us (either consciously or unconsciously) and the physical attractiveness (or lack thereof) of an employee is but a distraction. They also let prejudice unnecessarily play a role. If I have too many applications, I'll choose 20 at random, interview them and then from the remaining pool, choose the final two at random.
Good luck finding candidates and training them. It's a great plan. I likely need to do something similar in the next year or so as well.
Agree on photos
October 26, 2026 at 4:17 pm
Regarding the picture on LinkedIN thing, I'm not a fan of how I look in ANY pictures of me and actively avoid being photographed if I can help it. Heck, I don't even like how I look in my official work photo, so when we were given the option to either use that in our company Teams as the photo, or leave the photo blank, I went for blank. As to whether I'd hire myself if I were running the team I'm on, probably not. But not for the reason you might think, but because I have a personal tendency to sell myself short. Based on comments from people I've worked with here and prior, THEY would hire me again, which means I am being hard on myself.
Lol, I've given up worrying about photos. I get caught in many, often in mid-sentence or grimace or whatever. The nature of my job means I can't get too worried.
October 26, 2026 at 4:18 pm
In your editorial you wrote, "[Hiring managers] also mentioned that while checking LinkedIn, they were turned off by people who hadn't added their picture." WOW, yet another way hiring managers are discriminating against older people, people of different ethnic groups, people who are handicapped, etc. All illegal here in the US. Where I work, they've not hired a citizen of my state for a role in IT in 18 months. (I work in state government.) They have hired a dozen foreign contractors, though. What irritates me and my fellow coworkers is we get stuck supporting legacy applications, meanwhile the contractors get to learn AI and work on newer technologies. How do you counteract this type of discrimination?
No good ideas here. You could let press know that their state is hiring non-state employees for state positions. I'm sure that's a poor look for them, but my first, and not better idea, is find a new job.
October 27, 2026 at 8:29 am
I think I've had 1 job as a result of interacting with LinkedIn. All the rest have been applying for advertised positions or being recommended by ex-colleagues.
Of the ones I applied for, more than one said they called me for interview because they had read what I wrote on SQLServerCentral. My one big regret was that I didn't take Steve's advice to submit a presentation for consideration for SQLBits. I was overawed by people like Denny Cherry, Thomas Kesjer, Jen Stirrup, Buck Woody and quite a few others who have their names on books.
I would recommend putting yourself forwards at tech MeetUps. You will get interesting questions thrown at you, learn as much as you present and you might just meet your future colleagues.
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