Hiring Process Archives — Eric Burns Online

Karma and Hiring Managers

I’ve interviewed with a good number of tech firms. No, not as a job hopper – rather as having been unexpectedly (temporarily) disabled. I experienced a longer than expected recovery time and one overconfident false start. Hiring managers have ghosted me the majority of the time. A solid education and…

Recruiters and “Agency”

August 29, 2020 Hiring Process No Comments

If you’ve ever been involved with a real estate transaction in California (and perhaps most of the US) you have hopefully gotten to learn about Agency. In at least California you have to sign a disclosure document that clears up who is representing who. The typical way things work is…

Being Prepared for Changes in Your Career

December 23, 2019 Attitude Getting Hired Hiring Process No Comments

Right now is a great time to be employed in the IT space. But it doesn’t mean that your current employment has any guarantees, especially if you work for a small start-up, or if your employer has been taken private. There are a few steps that are worthwhile no matter…

As a Job Seeker – Is There Too Much Data?

January 30, 2019 Getting Hired Hiring Process No Comments

I recently visited one of the big job boards and was blown away that it claimed that there were 2,245 Sales Engineering jobs open within 25 miles of San Francisco. Based on past experiences this was so out of touch that I didn’t bother signing up for the site. What…

Hiring, but the Bus Is Empty?

July 11, 2018 Hiring Process Startups No Comments

One of the most influential book I read during my graduate studies was Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap . . . And Others Don’t by Jim Collins. His analogy of the Mirror and Window is a litmus test I use for leaders in the workplace. And…

Outbound Job Applications? Why I’ll Think Twice Next Time

July 9, 2018 Attitude Hiring Process No Comments

I’ve seen multiple posts about how applying for roles as a job seeker is often not a good use of your time. It can even work against you for various reasons. After this latest search I’m giving serious pause on how many outbound applications I’ll go through the effort to…

Job Candidate – We All Get The Same Pay . . .

July 5, 2018 Hiring Process Startups No Comments

I’ve worked for startups that have ranged in size from 5 people to a few hundred. (Yes, technically those shouldn’t be labeled “startups” but this is a different kind of economy.) At the smallest I actually signed on part-time for just health insurance and equity in the beginning. The next…

SE Candidate – Keep Organized During The Search

July 3, 2018 Hiring Process Sales Engineers No Comments

So one thing that is different about being a Sales Engineer in the tech space is that there is often true career stability. While other technologies or industries will grow or shrink, an SE that can adapt and learn will always be of value. When I look at my history,…

Hiring? PagerDuty Knows How To Do It

June 4, 2018 Hiring Process Sales Engineers No Comments

So I’m a few months into my search for a new role and of course have had a few hiccups along the way. When I joined Compuware/Dynatrace I didn’t know what a Sales Engineer (or even APM) was, and it was a life changing experience. As for Fastly, CDNs sounded…

SE Candidate, the Technical Exercise Should Be Your Friend – Part II

May 29, 2018 Hiring Process Sales Engineers No Comments

It’s been two months since I wrote Part I on how the technical exercise, if done correctly, is good for all parties involved. During those two months I’ve had an opportunity to do several more exercises plus a handful of “technical” interviews. I’ve gotten to see some impressive ones as…