The Jaded Tech

We all hear the depresing news about the economy and how ‘bad it is’ out there.  The biggest problem is that the ‘mob mentality’ sets in and everyone starts believing it and they act accordingly (cut backs, reservedness in habits, talk about it) .  Let’s say we rate a problem on 1-100 (one being the best, 100 being the worst).  The current problem is somewhere around 60 in reality.  When people start seeing it, they react and then the ‘perceived problem’ starts to look like a 90.  So what happens?  Well, since belief preceedes reality, that 60 starts to actually become a 90 just because people believe it, then act accordingly.  Talk about the ultimate self-fulfilling prophecy eh?

So waht does this have to do with me and my blog?  Tons.  See, I subscribe to the age old axiom ‘half of what you see and none of what you hear.’  While this certainly puts me in, what I call, the enlightened few, this does not mean I am not affected when I go out and apply to jobs.

A little background on me.  I’ve been playing with technology since ‘79.  Anyone recall the Pong consoles?  Yes, I said that….Pong Consoles.  Basically the size of a keyboard with two knobs (paddles for moving the little bars up and down) and two switches (one was power, the other was for level of difficulty (1,2, or 3) I think…) .  My parents got one for Christmas and since I was into ‘taking things apart’ (being the curious guy that I am, I even took apart a Mickey Mouse watch…never got it back together….), rebuilding 10-speed bikes, making go-karts and the like, they asked me to hook it up.  Ok, no problem.  I unscrewed the two screws for the UHF antenna (heh, let’s see how many kiddies understand that!  Geeze…kinda sad when I’m proud of that actually….), hook up the two leads and tighten up the screws.  Turn on Channel 3 and turn on the game.  Voila!  Instant babsy-sitter for the parents!

Well, my tech ‘training’ grew from there.  Commodore Vic=20 (with a tape drive!  Yup, “Load 8,1,*”), C=64, then onto PCs…286/386/486/586/6×86….) and so forth.  Eventually I decided to get into the IT World, and got serious about my career.  Suffice to say, I’ve got a lot of experience and quite an interesting perspective on troubleshooting.  makes me damn good at what I do.

So, back to the modern economic world.  I’ve already ranted about the poor hiring process that many companies are using (”Tell me about a time when…”).  We’ve all heard about ‘how bad it is out there’.  So hwo does this all relate?

To sum up my recent job hunting excursion:

• Time spent hunting for a full-time jobs in earnest:  2 months
• Number of jobs applies to:  30+
• Number of interviews granted:  2
• Number of follow-up interviews hinted at during one of the above:  3
• Number of internal sighs during above interiew:  20
• Number of repeated questions at same interview:  1
• Number of  ’inside connections’ (aka the ‘hidden job market’) used:  6
• Number of places where the above was used:  3
• Number of job offers:  1 (accepted)

For comparison, last year at this time I was able to apply to 5-6 jobs, get 2-3 interviews and get offered 1-2 jobs.  This was a constant patteren I’ve had in the last 3-4 years.  This year was different.  I mean seriously….3 interviews for a tech support job?  Talk about going wayyyyy past cautious and into ‘waste of company resources’ swing!

The upside of all this?  I got a job that does better in a ‘down economy’ than an up one!

Now that’s out of the way, I can get back to my thing here.

Enjoy!

(Decided to expand upon this posting http://www.jadedtech.com/2009/04/16/it-running-out-of-ideasfollowup/ )

I am seriously questioning some business recruiting practices.  I seriously wonder about these big companies that seemed to be afflicted with a ‘dumbed down’ HR staff. It’s like the IQ level of HR has dropped in direct proportion to the economy. Some examples:

At one interview for a basic tech support position, not a single word was offered about the position itself. You’d think that I wouldn’t have to ask about ‘what will I be doing’ because we all know the postings rarely accurately describe the job. They tend to be overly general and ‘duties as assigned’ so that they can nail you with any old thing they think of on the fly. So in past times, every interview I went to, I was told about the position except this last interview. How annoying.

Example #2. Same interview, they mentioned a second interview.  That’s fine and normal when you are interviewing quite a few candidates. They also hinted at a 3rd interview?! Ok, you know this is just a tech support position. Not some CEO or Department Manager level. See, these guys posted anonymously on Craigslist (not really out of the ordinary) but then emailed out of the blue asking me to fill out their questionnaire. I could only have assumed it was the same company as they never mentioned the CL add. Fine, filled out the questionnaire(this is considered the 1st level of screening). Then they call me for an interview (as described above, 2nd level of screening). Then they want a 2nd/3rd interview(3rd and 4th level of screening). Geeze. To top that all off, all the questions I was asked were “tell me about a time when…”. It’s like they have no idea how to interview people or assess someone’s skills.

Example #3. Admin Assistants love to state the obvious. I’ve seen this one posting show up on this recruiting site 3 times now. (I applied to it twice already). So I call them up to find out what they are really looking for (their so-called ‘requirements’ list is ungodly huge, more below). First, navigating through their phone system wasted 5 mins of time, I ended up in the company directory and could not get out. I call back, and get an admin assistant. So I tell her that I’d like to talk to someone about a posting I saw. I give her the job number and she proceeds to tell me how to apply! Not only is this condescending, it completely ignores my request. WTF!? I then tell her I’ve applied to it twice already and want to know more about what the company is really looking for. “Oh I can’t tell you anything about that, I’m an administrative assistant.” DUH! That is why I said at the beginning that “I’d like to talk to someone about this position.”! She then transfers me to one of the Recruiters voice mail (of course they aren’t in at the moment…) and I leave a message.  Dumb, dumb, dumb. While this may be stereotypical, I bet she’s blonde too.

Example #4. Job postings that don’t say anything. Seriously, how can someone apply when the job posting doesn’t say much more than “You need to know stuff.” Here’s a direct example:

Qualifications:
1. University degree and/or 3 years related industry experience
2. Excellent facilitation skills to both internal and external stakeholders
3. Knowledge of organizational systems as they impact other studies and projects
4. Demonstrated ability to work in a collaborative practice model with an interdisciplinary team
5. Relevant industry experience in order to provide leadership to project teams in provision of voice & data telecommunication processes
6. Current knowledge and experience with quality improvement processes

So, seeing this is a “Computer Technician – Telecommunications” position, from a large and supposedly respectable, corporation, what are they looking for?? Does anyone even vaguely see any sort of ’technical requirement’ in that list? “Facilitation skills”, ”collaborative practice”, ‘relevant industry experience”(Umm, if you told me what KIND of experience, maybe I could tell you…), ‘Quality Improvement process” (Is that KAIZAN? ISO?? What???).

Example #5. Don’t ask for the world of skills! Really! Learn to create a brief and to-the-point job posting. I really do seriously question companies to list everythign under the sun for requirements.

“Windows, Linux, Unix, OS/2, JavaOS, Hardware, Networking software, Networking hardware, Networking security , Intranet, Internet, Servers, Applications – desktop, Security software, Word processing software, Presentation software, Mail server software, HTML editing software, Data analysis , Database software”

I think they didn’t leave out a single Operating System except VMS.  If they had, I wold have immediately broken out my VT100 Terminal and showed up ready for work! Some may look at the list and say “That ain’t so bad…”, allow me to post up their ’specific skills list’:

“Maintain, troubleshoot and administer the use of local area networks (LANs), wide area networks (WANs), mainframe networks and computer workstations and peripheral equipment, Evaluate and install computer hardware, networking software and operating system software, Operate master consoles to monitor the performance of computer systems and networks and to co-ordinate access and use of computer networks, Load computer tapes and disks and install software and printer paper and forms, Provide problem-solving services to network users, Implement data, software and hardware security procedures, Perform routine network start up and close down and maintain control records, Perform data backups and disaster recovery operations, Install, maintain, troubleshoot and upgrade web-server hardware and software, Set up local area networks and connections to the internet, Implement network traffic and security monitoring software, and optimize server performance, Modify web pages, applets and scripts, Research and apply meta-data to web sites and register web sites with search engines, Respond to requests for help and information from web site visitors and web site designers, Perform web-server backup and recovery operations”

Seriously people….about the only thing I think missing is SASI certification. (Goolge that one you geeks…)

For those of you who read this and are in a position to hire people, learn how to post a job posting. It serves no one, least of the companies, to post up requirements that only God him/herself has, nor does it help anyone to say ‘you need to know stuff’ with zero details and nothing but generalities.

Here’s my resume for the ‘need to know stuff’:

Skills:
- Knows stuff

After the recent futility of applying to jobs, this radical departure from “diagnosed connectivity issues with various network tools” to ”can fix stuff” can only help because so far, nothing else has help on my resume recently. Ugh.

In February my cell phone contract was up with Rogers. I had been with Rogers since I got my first cell back in 99. They had treated me pretty well, although their billing system sucks and God forbid you make a change half-way through a billing period! A lot has changed in 10 year and this time I decided to check out the competition.

Fido seemed to be my best option, especially with no ’system access fee’, whatever the hell that is. I thought I _was_ paying to use their system and yet here stands some sort of other fee that seemed to imply that if I didn’t pay it, I would have ‘access’. At $7 per month, that adds up over a year. So Fido has no such fee (nor a 911 ‘access fee’ either). During such times as these, it is wise to be price conscious so I chose to go with Fido for my next contract.  Oddly enough, Fido is owned by Rogers. They are what you would call ‘niche marketing’ line. They cater to a slightly different crowd but do overlap with their big brother company. I figured I saved at least $100 over a year going with them and that’s better in my pocket than theirs.

My old phone had a wired headset. While it served it’s purpose, it was rather cumbersome and got awkward at times while driving. So with the new phone, I decided I would get a Bluetooth headset. Besides being a way cool geek  accessory, it is also extremely convenient and has some neat features (such as allowing me to dial by number with
only the touch of one button on it). The headset is extremely lightweight, to the point that you don’t even notice it on your ear.  This H690 is a great headset if you are looking into one.

There is also a comfortable rubber piece that goes around the speaker part where it sits in your ear. This helps seal out exterior sound and provides stability to the headset so that it just doesn’t flop around on your ear. The downside is that the little rubber piece easily comes off. I’ve put it in my pocket and pulled out the headset without the rubber piece many times. The problem is that the last time I took it off, the rubber piece went missing. The speaker part is very harsh on my ear as it has some sharp edges and without the rubber piece, it flops around. I’ve managed to get around that by putting the clip part of it over my glasses arm so it at least is stable but pushing the button hurts like hell. So I go back to the store I bought it from because I can’t find the package that came with the ’spare’ one. Guess what….they don’t sell it! What?! These stupid little things can get lost easily and they don’t sell them??  The rep said to try Motorola’s site. Ugh, that means using a credit card and all that crap. Not keep on that but after trying 4 other
stores in the mall, the website is my only choice.

So, off to http://www.motorola.com and see about getting this stupid little rubber piece. Oh look…an error message “This Content Component encountered an error”. Great, now what? By law I have to have a hands-free device and without the rubber part, my ear is getting sore.

I am extremely disappointed with Motorola and ANY cell phone retail store for not carrying these items. I mean, they can’t cost much and certainly don’t take up any significant room. Heck, the one rep said “We get asked for them all the time…” Umm, Hello!!! Business opportunity knocking! Well, I am certainly going to let Motorola know about this.  $70 for a piece of equipment that now causes me pain when I use it is not exactly ‘good customer relations’, not to mention a broken website. I will also point out this posting too and let them know that a LOT of people read my blog.

My message to Motorola:

“I am writing today to make a complain about necessary accessories for the H690 Bluetooth headset. A couple of days ago I lost the little rubber piece that fits over the speaker. I also could not find the spare. I went back to the store where I bought it and they don’t sell it, neither does any of the other 4 stores in the mall. The rep told me “I get asked for those all the time.”. How is it that an item in demand, albeit it small in cost, can’t be found. Especially something so small and easily popped off when placing the headset in a pocket for storage! I am severely disappointed because that $70 sitting on my ear is causing me pain because of sharp edges yet I am required by Ontario Law to have one while driving. How can I get the necessary piece so that I am not forced to return the product and try someone else’s headset (which means I’ll return my RAZR as well…).

BTW, I’ve written this into my blog, you can read all about it here: http://www.jadedtech.com/2009/05/22/blue-tooth-and-motorola/”