I got the Air Force civ job, and I start May 15th. I believe it was worth the 4 month wait. Warner Robins GA, here I come!
Thanks everyone for resume help and job advice!
*****
I am finishing my MS in Computer Science, and I'm working on getting my resume ready to send out. Can anyone critique it for me? Any comments are appreciated, especially those from those of you working as (or hiring ) programmers. I'm particularly interested in your thoughts on the profile section. Also, do I need GPA on there anywhere? It is 3.9+, so I'm not really trying to hide it.
The resume is 3 lines too long - I think I'll cut out the non-CS related items.
You can comment on the website too, if you'd like... but it's not meant to be a great one, nor will it be my professional home on the web.
Thank you in advance for your time!
J
[ April 28, 2006, 08:45 AM: Message edited by: Swampjedi ]
Posted by SenojRetep (Member # 8614) on :
Random observations:
1) I would find a place for GPA
2) I would give a brief summary of the research project you mention in the profile. An employer will likely care more about that then, say, your experience as a grader. Add it to the "Professional Experience" section and rename it "Research Experience." Or whatever.
3) Unless you're submitting online I might cut the "relevant coursework." Having lots of keywords helps with online searches, but doesn't give a nice visual interpretation.
4) Take any significant research projects you did for those classes listed in "relevant coursework" and summarize them in a "Research Experience" section at the top.
5) Limit the Honors to the three or four you are most proud of. For instance, President of your local ACM chapter is great. Being a member of a sociology honors society is not very relevant for this resume (unless you're working in a-life or something, but even then I don't find it very wow-ing).
Overall, I like the presentation; it's well organized and scannable. My biggest point is that your potential employer will likely care more about specific projects you've worked on (especially team projects) than almost anything else.
Posted by Swampjedi (Member # 7374) on :
Thank you for the ideas. This is (obviously) the first time I've ever done anything like this, so I have a lot to learn.
3 out of 3 people agree - emphasize the research more.
Posted by Xavier (Member # 405) on :
Have you done any J2EE development?
If not, can you study some of the key concepts and practices enough to know what you are talking about in an interview?
Because I haven't checked in the last seven months or so, but for the six months I was looking for a programming job before that, literally 90% of the programming jobs I found were doing J2EE development. A quick look at a local Omaha job site, and this appears to still be the case. There are a couple .Net jobs, a couple mainframe jobs, a handful of C++ jobs, and then literally dozens and dozens of J2EE jobs.
I wasn't getting any luck getting interviews, because just about every company wanted J2EE experience. One head-hunter I was talking to was desperate to fill a J2EE position, and asked me if I could take a J2EE proficiency test even though I told them I didn't know much about it.
So for the next week I studied J2EE for about 14 hours a day, and ended up getting a respectable score on the test. I didn't end up getting offered the position, but this gave me the confidence to put J2EE (along with EJBs, Servlets, JSPs, and all the related J2EE technologies) on my resume.
The difference was immediate. I started getting some very promising interviews, and I now have an awesome job doing J2EE development for some pretty decent pay.
So that's my advice to anyone looking to get a programming job, especially if you know Java.
Posted by human_2.0 (Member # 6006) on :
I've looked at a lot of computer resumes and yours is one of the shortest and ironically I was able to get an idea what you can do more from yours then I could from most of the long ones I've read.
Every time we have an opening we get dozens of resumes and they all start looking so much alike. It is nice to be able to see quickly what skills you have. Ironically, the long ones seem to be try to write down everything they've ever done on a computer so it seems like they have experience. I think they do this to make up for their lack of knowledge and skill.
Personally, I look for 3 things in a resume.
First, the minimum requirements. My group works on Macs, and so many resumes I get just plain lack any Mac experience (why would someone even apply????).
Second, I look for the ability to work in the group. Once we hired someone who knew too much. Didn't work out well.
Third, I look for someone who can grow. It is almost easier to hire a newbie who is still interested and capable of learning and try to train them to be what we really need.
Posted by Swampjedi (Member # 7374) on :
Xavier - thank you, that is very helpful! Can you recommend some J2EE resources? I've done a little bit (Distributed Computing class), but I don't think I can use it.
human - clarity was my goal, thank you for the positive feedback in that regard.
I have lots to think about, and lots to do. Keep it coming!
Posted by Will B (Member # 7931) on :
Very nice. I'd hire you.
Suggestions:
Very important: give full citation information on your papers. Whether they got published really matters!
If you created a language, point out that you also created a compiler (if you did). More programming.
mysql is spelled MySQL.
Posted by Xavier (Member # 405) on :
No problem, dude, happy to help in any way I can. I spent a very long time without a job, and I would love to spare other talented programmers the same limbo I was in.
Pretty straightforward. I concentrated on chapters 1, 3, 4, 11, 12, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 29, 30. Basically, you need to know about Servlets, JSPs, each type of Bean (especially session beans and entity beans), and about the J2EE webserver in general (what the different containers do, Ears, deployment descriptors, that sort of thing). Knowing the difference between bean-managed-persistance and container-managed-persistance is key as well. Chapters 15, 16, 17, 28, 33 are helpful, but aren't as essential.
I also looked at a bunch of other online resources, basically googling "Session Beans" or "Servlets" or whatever specific thing I felt that I didn't know as much about as I should. There's a lot of helpful stuff out there.
Oh and one thing which tripped me up at the interviews was not knowing about the different application servers.
Basically, there are two J2EE application servers which businesses use: weblogic (BEA), and websphere (IBM). Not knowing much about either was a hard thing to overcome at an interview, and knowing the basics of both should be very helpful if you are in the same position. I'm not sure what resources are out there about either.
When I did get J2EE job, all the concepts I'd studied so hard made it very easy to learn the more practical aspects (as opposed to the conceptual ones), and I've been doing extremely good work here.
One last point, most job listings for J2EE will request that you have 3-5 years experience or something similar. Ignore that, apply anyway. There are a lot more J2EE jobs than there are good J2EE programmers to fill them. Most will interview a promising young graduate who has the concepts to build from. Especially if you have an M.S. degree.
Oh and work on your cover letter. After I was hired, they told me that after reading my cover letter, they just had to interview me. It was confident, well written, and to the point. They even mentioned it again at my six month review (which was about as glowing a review as possible ).
Posted by Swampjedi (Member # 7374) on :
Will B, there is a bit of a story behind the papers. Our first paper was accepted, but then we decided to pull the paper. Our reason was simple - the deadline to submit and the acceptance date were less than a week apart. We read that as a money making scheme, and didn't want to waste our research there. The ACM paper is being reviewed now, and we won't know until later if we've been accepted. Of course, the theses are unpublished.
As for the language, I hesitate to call it a compiler. There's a lexer and a parser, but no AST is created and no code generated. The end result is a list of clauses in LISP format {(1 2 3),...} which are created via complex SQL statements. So, the first two steps are compileresque, but it deviates at the end. Maybe my compiler mental construct is too constrained?
Posted by edgardu (Member # 242) on :
quote: I've looked at a lot of computer resumes and yours is one of the shortest and ironically I was able to get an idea what you can do more from yours then I could from most of the long ones I've read.
Every time we have an opening we get dozens of resumes and they all start looking so much alike. It is nice to be able to see quickly what skills you have. Ironically, the long ones seem to be try to write down everything they've ever done on a computer so it seems like they have experience. I think they do this to make up for their lack of knowledge and skill.
I've found that in this line of business, the resume is less relevant than in others. I don't mean Human2.0 specifically but most tech recruiters don't even look at the resumes to see if you're really qualified. They'll pass you on as long as the acronyms (J2EE, HTML, SQL, etc.) match up to the search terms they've been given.
Posted by Swampjedi (Member # 7374) on :
Looks like I need that J2EE (and related stuff) on there, then.
Posted by Will B (Member # 7931) on :
About publications: even if you didn't publish it, it's still worth citing. ("Submitted to Publication X" or "Technical report #blah-blah-blah" are OK.) If I see a list of papers w/o any citation information, I wonder if it's just term papers for a class, and if the author doesn't know the difference. If you submitted to an ACM pub, it shows you're in the right ball park, even if you don't get an acceptance.
You could refer to your non-compiler as an interpreter. Or you could point out that you "implemented" the language.
Posted by Swampjedi (Member # 7374) on :
"Implemented a not-quite-but-pretty-close-compiler..."
Thanks for the ideas on the pubs, Will. We're going to submit a long paper on the work later, assuming the ACM paper is accepted. Honestly, the work we've done on the SAT system has been exciting and interesting. Who says it's work? I enjoyed every minute of it... well, except debugging hundreds or thousands of lines of PL/SQL. ACK!
Posted by Valentine014 (Member # 5981) on :
I'm no programmer but I couldn't help but cringe when I heard that you wanted to put your GPA in there. Nothing screams "student" and "fresh out of school" like advertising your GPA. If you really must, do it subtle. For example, if you have an Education section, add your school and mention you graduated with honors.
EDIT: I see you have already done this.
I second Xavier's idea for the cover letter. Go ahead, be a little cocky.
EDIT: Yeah, and try to keep it to one page.
Posted by Valentine014 (Member # 5981) on :
How does Omaha sound? It's really not that bad, I assure you. Put J2EE in there and I'm sure Xavier would pass it on. I think they are still hiring.
Posted by tern (Member # 7429) on :
I'm not sure if you need to include all of the Honors societies. (such as the Sociology one)
Posted by Swampjedi (Member # 7374) on :
I will post a revised resume today.
I must admit, this is the first time I've heard of doing a cover letter. I'm totally clueless on what to include in that.
To add GPA or not to add GPA, that is the question. Personally, I want to leave it out. If they want to know, they can ask, right?
Posted by blacwolve (Member # 2972) on :
Valentine- Really? GPA=bad? What if you are fresh out of college or looking for an internship? I'm also a Political Science major, would that make a difference?
Posted by Xavier (Member # 405) on :
I don't know, I put my GPA on my resume, and you didn't say anything about it then, Niki...
Posted by edgardu (Member # 242) on :
Another thing you could try is to taylor your resume to fit the specific job requirement. Employers prefer you to have specialized knowledge in one platform rather than basic knowledged in a variety of areas. For example, if the job is for Java then emphasize your Java knowledge instead of just putting it down as one of the things you know.
I had a friend who would change his resume so that it looked like he had prior experience. If it was a VB requirement, he would say he did a previous project in VB even if it was actually done in some other language. It works well enough for him. He had the basic knowledge and was good enough that he could pick things up quickly once he got the job.
Posted by etphonehome (Member # 999) on :
I think if you're just graduating from college or still in college and looking for an internship, by all means put the GPA on there. In your case, it looks like all of your professional experience is in the academic arena, so the GPA (as an indicator of your success in that arena) should probably be included, especially if it's in the 3.9 range.
Posted by human_2.0 (Member # 6006) on :
I've never seen a GPA on a resume. Maybe that is because everyone applying had low ones.
Posted by Swampjedi (Member # 7374) on :
<watches as the battle 'rages' about GPA>
ET, you make a good point. Perhaps GPA is the best way to indicate my success in my academic experience. Now, do I include all GPAs or only the latest (grad school)?
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
In my experience, the only time you should ever include a GPA is when you're fresh out of school and you expect that all the other applicants will also be fresh out of school -- and, furthermore, expect that your GPA will be better than theirs. The vast majority of the time, it'll do you no favors -- especially if you've actually managed some non-academic success in other categories.
Putting a GPA on a resume is like saying "Hi! I'm young and eager and will work for next to nothing because I don't know any better! And you can mold me into the type of human being you want me to be!" Which is a great disguise if you're actually nothing like that, but probably not something you want to admit if it's true. Posted by Swampjedi (Member # 7374) on :
edgardu, I expect that I'll be developing in Java, so I should emphasize that. I am good with C as well , but I expect most people don't care about that. My experience with C++ is casual at best, but I could pick it up pretty quickly.
Your friend must have gotten into some interesting situations when he was hired on a resume like that. I think I'll keep my resume practices ethical, on both moral and practical grounds.
Posted by Swampjedi (Member # 7374) on :
So Tom, I am fresh out of school... and it wouldn't surprise me if my competition is as well. For the last point, I'm not too sure if a 3.95 is strong enough to add. Your thoughts?
EDIT: On the other hand, I don't want to give the impression that I'm willing to work for nothing!
I can't decide!
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
I think a 3.95 is perfectly presentable, especially in Computer Science. You should be proud of it. And if you think your competition is also likely to be newly out of school, I'd absolutely put the GPA on there -- or else just mention your Honors degree, without assigning a number to it. And if you aren't actually willing to work for nothing, you don't need to SAY that until they make their first salary offer. Posted by Swampjedi (Member # 7374) on :
I'd be more proud of it if I had gone to some other school than Emory. Granted, they have a good reputation... in the humanities and social sciences. Pretty much all of the students in the MS program were over 3.5.
Thanks for the input, Tom!
Posted by Valentine014 (Member # 5981) on :
Xavier, I don't remember that your resume did have it on there. It was revised so many times.
Posted by Valentine014 (Member # 5981) on :
No wait! I do remember! I did tell you that shouldn't put your GPA on there but you fought me. We ended up working it in because you were so damn proud of it.
Posted by Xavier (Member # 405) on :
Yikes, any bottled up resentment there .
Why bother doing well in college if you aren't going to put your GPA on a resume? Seems like if you aren't going to grad school, there's no reason to get anything better than the minumum grades to pass your classes.
I'm not saying you guys are wrong about this, but I think it stinks that its probably true.
Posted by blacwolve (Member # 2972) on :
Yea, I have a 4.0 and right now it's about the only thing I do have going for me, since I'm not really in any organizations and I don't have much work experience.
Posted by Swampjedi (Member # 7374) on :
I've incorporated some of your ideas into the resume. Also online are summaries of my papers/research. Resume Publications
Again, comments about the website are appreciated, but not expected or solicited. I'm no web designer, nor do I aspire to be one.
Posted by Swampjedi (Member # 7374) on :
No other comments?
Posted by SenojRetep (Member # 8614) on :
I like it. I like the way you incorporated the GPA; it allows you to brag a little, but it's obviously not your main point, which I think is appropriate.
My only comment is you are a little long winded about your thesis project, especially since it's the first thing on the resume. I'd try to decrease the description to its bare bones, something that will picque a reader's interest but not give a full exposition. If they want more info they'll ask, which is exactly what you want them to do.
<edit> I should also say that my favorable regard for GPA may be influenced by working at an academic research lab. I always judge applicants by their GPA first, and then use other information to flesh out the picture. This is probably due to the academic nature of my work more than anything else.</edit>
Posted by Jhai (Member # 5633) on :
I'd remove your A.A. degree. It'd give you another line to work with, and doesn't present any new information.
blacwolve, it's perfectly acceptable (even expected, I'd say) to leave your GPA on while you're in school. College is your main "job" for the time being, and a high GPA shows that you're good at your "job." For undergrads, anything above a 3.0 should be put on the resume, since most interviewers will assume it's less than that if it's not on your resume. If you don't have at least a 3.0, but, say, you do in the classes you've taken for your major, then you can list "major GPA" and whatever the score is. (This doesn't apply to you, of course, blacwolve - awesome GPA )
This is what I've been told by my career center, the Management Fellow program here at DePauw, and by actual interviewers/recruiters.
Posted by Swampjedi (Member # 7374) on :
For the research, I basically pasted the abstract of the paper we submitted, with some grammar changes.
Thank you both, I'll get right to it.
Posted by twinky (Member # 693) on :
In "programming languages," there's a space before a comma. It should be after the comma.
Other than that, looks good.
I agree with X -- cover letters are important. You can show that you've done a bit of research about the company in your cover letter, which is something you can't do in a resume.
Posted by Swampjedi (Member # 7374) on :
Xavier, I've been spending some time reading the Sun J2EE tutorial. I've found it quite useful for learning concepts - but the specifics elude me. For one, the tutorial is almost annoyingly Sun-centric. Of course I expect it to be... but for a tutorial, it is very lacking in actual teaching. I have no idea how to use the tools or application server, as the source code already provides everything you need to get running - with no real input from the user. I don't understand what asant is doing.
Having said that, I do feel that I have a pretty good theoretical grasp of the technology. It's not nearly as complicated as I thought. In fact, the only part that I don't get (at the moment) is building and deploying applications.
I'm going to start reading up on the servers, now. I think I might go buy some J2EE books, as I've grown tired of sitting here reading web pages all day.
****
I posted my resume on Monster 1/1, and got my first call today. Apex Systems in Charlotte. He didn't have anything for me, but it was pretty exciting. He obviously found me with the J2EE keyword, and was disappointed that I had no 'real world' experience with the technology. I wasn't going to lie to him and say I have actually used it instead of reading about it.
One thing that worries me about Monster is most of the positions that I see are contract slots. I don't want to do that kind of work - I want to work for someone on a long-term basis. You know, a real career. Am I expecting too much for a newbie?
Some days I think I'll never get a job. Some days I think my qualifications are crap. Some days I realize that my resume has been 'searchable' for less than a week. Posted by Valentine014 (Member # 5981) on :
Somebody looking to drop a few hundred? Try the library first.
Posted by Swampjedi (Member # 7374) on :
If I'm going to be doing J2EE for a living, I think I'd rather own the texts. Thanks for the thought, though.
Posted by DarkKnight (Member # 7536) on :
The first job in the computer field is always the hardest one. Don't get too discouraged. You may have to take a few contract spots to gain the experience and then move into a long term spot. Sometimes contract work becomes long term. Take some contract work at first, you're young and a broad experience can only help you You did the right thing in not overselling your J2EE experience. There is nothing worse than an employee who says they can do something, and then they can't
Posted by Xavier (Member # 405) on :
Yeah, the tutorial does have some serious flaws, one of them being that you lack a lot of practical knowledge of the application building and deployment process.
And you know what? I've been doing J2EE development for a year, and I still only have a sketchy knowledge of how to do that sort of thing.
See, we use Websphere and WSAD here (the IBM application server and J2EE development tool), and almost all of that stuff is automated by the tool. How do I write deploy code for an EJB project? By right clicking on the project, and selecting the Generate-->Deployment and RMIC code option. Building an Ear is as easy as telling the tool to do so. I only change the deployment descriptors through wizards .
Its sort of like having a high powered calculator, and never learning the math behind the calculator's functions. Its not a problem at my company, but it may be an issue for me if I switch to a company that uses Weblogic. You have to know how to do all the low level stuff to use Weblogic, I hear.
I'm not sure what resources you can use to learn that sort of thing, but I'm sure they are out there.
quote:I posted my resume on Monster 1/1, and got my first call today. Apex Systems in Charlotte. He didn't have anything for me, but it was pretty exciting. He obviously found me with the J2EE keyword, and was disappointed that I had no 'real world' experience with the technology. I wasn't going to lie to him and say I have actually used it instead of reading about it.
I'd be lying if I claimed I didn't oversell my J2EE experience in interviews. I admit to making vague mentions of having used it in a limited capacity in an academic environment. I had just gotten an 85% on a J2EE proficieny test, and I was pretty confident in my abilities to learn quickly if I got the job. Plus, my Java skills were top notch.
It worked out even better than I thought it would. In my six month review, the Human Resources woman at my company told me that I was the best hire they'd ever made. If I had told them when they called that I'd never done anything more than read about the technology, I would have never gotten my foot in the door.
I'm not telling you to lie, of course, but I wouldn't exactly blurt out the truth. Don't do anything that makes you uncomfortable.
And Monster isn't the site it used to be. Especially for tech jobs. Post your resume, sure, but don't expect much out of it.
My best resource, by far, was careerlink.org. Its only for the Omaha area though. Maybe see if there's a similar site for the areas you are looking for a job in.
I think I found my current job on Careerbuilder. I also found some decent hits at softwarejobs.com. That site is way better than Monster. Don't forget to check your local newspaper, but don't expect to find much there.
You'll notice that a lot of the jobs you are applying to are posted by technical recruiters, or headhunters. When you apply to these, you will get an interview no matter what. Not necessarily for the position listed, but they will bring you in to interview you and see what sort of positions they can plug you into. I interviewed with three different headhunters. They never offered to place me in anything (though the third was about to when I accepted this job), but I learned some valuable interview lessons. It really helped me nail the interview which got me this job.
Posted by Swampjedi (Member # 7374) on :
Thank you again for your insight, Xavier.
Posted by Swampjedi (Member # 7374) on :
Well, I flooded companies online with resumes today. We shall see how it goes!
Posted by human_2.0 (Member # 6006) on :
(look at their current openings)
Posted by Swampjedi (Member # 7374) on :
That's one place I don't want to work!
Posted by human_2.0 (Member # 6006) on :
Why not!?
Posted by Swampjedi (Member # 7374) on :
Because I'd hate to live in DC. (no offense to FIJC or other DCers)
Edit: I don't want you to think I'm ungrateful. I appreciate the time you took posting the link. Unfortunately, it's not for me.
Posted by human_2.0 (Member # 6006) on :
I think it would be cool to work for the FBI. That's all.
:pretends is wearing dark sunglasses and black suit:
Posted by Swampjedi (Member # 7374) on :
I need a bit of info - I have a few people offering me contract stuff, and they want a hourly rate. I have no idea, though I am about to start searching.
Anyone have a quick answer? Xavier?
Posted by Jhai (Member # 5633) on :
I'll ask a friend who's done some contract stuff as soon as he comes back in the lab...
In the mean time, what kind of contract stuff is this?
Posted by Swampjedi (Member # 7374) on :
Thank you. I am posting a Java Developer resume online, so I assume it's Java/J2EE stuff. The emails I have recieved are very vague.
Posted by Xavier (Member # 405) on :
Haha, I have no idea.
If you take my yearly salary, and divide by 52, then divide by 40, it comes out to about 27 dollars an hour.
When I started here about 11 months ago, it would have been about 22 dollars an hour.
But that's salary, not contract work. I think contract work generally pays more. Plus you need to factor in that you have a Master's Degree, and I only had a BS. Also, this is a small company, and they generally pay less. My benefits are pretty nice as well.
So yeah, I have no clue. Most of the developers here used to do contract work, but that was years ago.
One thing I should point out is that contractors can charge more for you work if you have desirable certifications. Get Java certified at least (if you are not). It shouldn't be very hard. Being certified doesn't make your work any better, but it does get you more pay in the contracting world. Plus it would help get more interviews.
I'm not Java certified, but I wish I had been when I was doing my job search. My company offers a $100 bonus when you get a new certification, so that should motivate me to get it at some point.
Posted by Swampjedi (Member # 7374) on :
I do want to get certified, at some point.
Posted by Xavier (Member # 405) on :
I would do it before taking any contracting work. It shouldn't be very hard to pass, only costs 50 bucks or so (plus maybe another 50-100 for practice materials if you aren't confident), and when you get it, your contracting rate goes up by a substantial margin. It would be an investment that pays off big time, and after a very short amount of time .
Posted by Swampjedi (Member # 7374) on :
Alright, thank you. I'll start on that after tomorrow (interview for a full time Java position in Atlanta with qualifications that I exceed).
Posted by Xavier (Member # 405) on :
Wow, awesome. Good luck .
Posted by Swampjedi (Member # 7374) on :
Thanks Xavier. I'll post here tomorrow, after I am done being 'evaluated' by their CTO.
They have a 60 minute test of technical skills, for goodness sake.
Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
You said they are very vague -- are they for sure companies offering you contract work? Or are these headhunter guys, trying to sign you up and then farm you out as contract through them?
(I just ask because that is what happened with a co-worker of mine. However, it did work into a good job for him in the long-term. But what he thought at first was a company contacting him actually turned out to be a type of employment agency contacting him. So they were very vague).
FG
Posted by Jhai (Member # 5633) on :
Hey swampjedi, Contacted friend. He said that he does work from job to job, not hour to hour. He charges $120 for an hour-long consultation. (I need to get into this field!) For jobs, he estimates how long it will take him if he just codes like mad, and charges $40-$50 per hour for that. Normally he doesn't work quite that hard, so the job ends up earning him around $20 to $30 per hour. He also has a lot of certifications, which allow him to push up his rates a bit.
Hope that helps! Posted by Swampjedi (Member # 7374) on :
Thank you Jhai.
Farmgirl - I'm not all that interested in contracting yet, as I'd rather have the security of a full time job. They're just out there, for the moment.
My First Interview (tm) tomorrow! Posted by Swampjedi (Member # 7374) on :
Well, it went ok. The CTO interviewed me, and asked me some questions that I couldn't recall the answers to (best way to solve Traveling Salesman, how to solve TSP using Linear Programing, 2 stage commit). I nailed the J2EE EJB stuff though.
Posted by fugu13 (Member # 2859) on :
Jhai: unfortunately, the realities of most freelancing mean a freelancer's equivalent hourly salary is maybe half (at most) what he charges.
A pretty decent computer systems architect, freelancing, charges well over $100 an hour, billed by hours worked.
Posted by Swampjedi (Member # 7374) on :
Well, they called me back today - apparently I impressed the CTO and he told the HR lady to move me to the next part of the process. Educational verification, criminal history, work history - all things that I'm not worried about. She said at that point (after the things have come back) that she would be in the position to make me an offer.
Does this sound like I have the job if I check out (which I do)? Or am I excited over nothing?
Posted by edgardu (Member # 242) on :
It does sound promising. They wouldn't be wasting time checking up on you if they weren't interested.
Posted by Swampjedi (Member # 7374) on :
Oh, I forgot to mention. When I finished the interview, the HR lady told me I'd hear from them in about a week and a half. I heard within 24 hours.
Of course, this could mean that the other candidates dropped out.
Posted by human_2.0 (Member # 6006) on :
It sounds like you have the job to me. But once I was told I pretty much had a job and didn't hear back and finally I called and they said they hired someone else and didn't seem to care one wit they totally left me hanging.
I've heard of consulting rates from $50-$250.
Posted by Swampjedi (Member # 7374) on :
I got an offer today! I'm so excited. It's a Java/J2EE position that was targeted to recent MS CS grads. I'm comfortable posting the salary, if that's not TMI.
Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
Hey, if you want to tell us, who are we to argue?
Congrats, btw. That's exciting! Posted by SenojRetep (Member # 8614) on :
Way to go, swampjedi!
Posted by Xavier (Member # 405) on :
Posted by DarkKnight (Member # 7536) on :
Congratulations!
Posted by Swampjedi (Member # 7374) on :
Thank you everyone.
I've encountered some complications.
The Java Job (60k/yr) is now joined by the C Job (Electronic Warfare, AFB Job, 50k/yr).
The Java job promises to be a workaholic job. The CFO told me this - to expect the first couple of years to be very intense and lots of overtime. It's also in Atlanta, the city that I hate.
The C job is 10k less a year, but in a MUCH cheaper part of the state (Warner Robins). They are very laid back. They pay me to go to the gym 3 hours a week. Overtime is not paid, but instead transferred into vacation time. It's in a slow part of the state. No awful commute. The big drawback is that I don't have an offer. The hiring guy told me that he's as sure as he can be that I have the job... but that the process takes 6 weeks. So if I wait for it, that's 6 more weeks at home.
Family is of utmost importance to me. I don't have one currently, or even the possibility of one. However, I don't want to work so hard that I have no time for a girlfriend. The Java job, while offering better rewards, expects much more. I just don't know if I'm willing to sell my soul for money.
I'm not thinking about it right now. I have faith that God will lead me where He wants me to be.
I interview with the Air Force Base tomorrow.
Posted by Swampjedi (Member # 7374) on :
I want the job at the base. None of the 70-hour a week nonsense. They made it a point to say that they rarely do more than 40. When overtime is needed, it's either paid, or an equal amount is credited to vacation time.
The place was just so relaxed. The work they do is cool, too. They have the electronic guts of a B1 Bomber inside the facility!
Furthermore, the retirement plan was light years better for the government job.
I want that job. I feel like that's where I'm supposed to be.
Posted by Valentine014 (Member # 5981) on :
I assume paid overtime means an hourly, not salary position?
Might want to think about that.
Posted by SenojRetep (Member # 8614) on :
Swampjedi-
I took the "base job" (I actually do work on an airforce base, for a pseudo-government organization) rather than the "gobs-of-money" job. I haven't regretted it so far. I think my wife is pretty happy about it, too
<edit> and it may help to think of that $10,000 difference as an hourly wage. If you're regularly working, say, 20 hrs more a week that's an extra 1000 hrs a year (assuming 2 weeks vacation), which is a $10/hour wage. Significantly less than your 40-hour a week base salary (appr. $25/hour).</edit>
Posted by Swampjedi (Member # 7374) on :
Yeah, thanks Retep. I thought of that today on the way home. I don't think my sanity is worth that.
Valentine, the position is salary. Apparently overtime pay is relatively rare. The extra time off is not.
Posted by Swampjedi (Member # 7374) on :
I got the Air Force civ job, and I start May 15th. I believe it was worth the 4 month wait. Warner Robins GA, here I come! I already have my apartment, furniture is ordered, and I'm packing. It'll be strange to be out of my parents home for the first time in my almost 24 years. But dang, does it ever feel good.
Thanks everyone for resume help and job advice!
Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
CONGRATS on the new job, SwampJedi!
Thanks for letting us know an update!
Posted by SenojRetep (Member # 8614) on :
Congratulations, SJ. I hope everything turns out well. I'm glad you got the job you wanted.
Posted by Swampjedi (Member # 7374) on :
Thanks SR and FG. I felt/feel strongly that this job is where God wants me. Turning down a great job for the chance at job with lower salary was quite a test of faith, lemme tell ya.
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
) programmers. I'm particularly interested in your thoughts on the profile section. Also, do I need GPA on there anywhere? It is 3.9+, so I'm not really trying to hide it.![[Blushing]](graemlins/blushing.gif)
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
.![[Dont Know]](graemlins/dontknow.gif)
.![[Eek!]](eek.gif)
(I need to get into this field!) For jobs, he estimates how long it will take him if he just codes like mad, and charges $40-$50 per hour for that. Normally he doesn't work quite that hard, so the job ends up earning him around $20 to $30 per hour. He also has a lot of certifications, which allow him to push up his rates a bit.![[Party]](graemlins/party.gif)