Anyone job-seeking for a sysadmin position?

[Dan Thomson]

Maybe it's BC then. I've talked to a bunch of recruiters in Vancouver
(somewhat casually, I guess) and none of them seemed to grasp exactly
where my skills/interests lay. I've also gotten contacted a LOT for
positions I'm either really over or under qualified for.

Now I find that NOT jumping through hoops or abiding by these "job
search rules" (such as not mentioning compensation during the
interview) works best. I think that frank, direct honesty with
potential employers is probably going to help you most in the long
run. I haven't met a recruiter that agrees with me though :)

2008/7/31 Tyler Aviss <tjaviss-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w at public.gmane.org>:
> Strange, my experiences with recruiters have been rather muddy. Mind
> you, initially I was applying from BC (and a few recruiters would just
> drop me like a hot rock even if I was qualified), but I ran into many
> who had very little understanding of the position or requirements.
> I've actually had to explain to recruiters why I *wasn't* qualified
> for a given job that they were pushing me for... and things such as
> explaining why my understanding of JavaScript wasn't going to much
> help me in a Java job.
>
> I've also had most recruiters say to *never* ask about compensation
> (pay, holidays, bonuses) etc during the initial interview... but it
> seems to me that since those topics are pretty much a deal-breaker for
> most people, not mentioning them could just end up wasting both my and
> the interviewer's time.
>
>
> That being said, I've run into a few knowlegable recruiting companies
> every so often too. I usually try to let them know how much I
> appreciate talking to somebody who understands the position they're
> hiring for, and mention that to the employer as well if I happen to
> interview with them. There must be an awful lot of companies wasting
> good money on bad recruiters around there though, IMHO.
>
>
> As for the question of salary. I'd definitely agree that candidates
> should not lowball themselves. I know a *lot* of people who get less
> pay than they are worth (and are very unhappy about it), not because
> the company couldn't afford to pay them more, but simply because they
> weren't willing to "sell" themselves to the employer and ask for what
> they were worth.
>
>
>
> On Tue, Jul 29, 2008 at 12:26 PM, Robert Brockway
> <robert-5LEc/6Zm6xCUd8a0hrldnti2O/JbrIOy at public.gmane.org> wrote:
>> On Mon, 28 Jul 2008, Neil Watson wrote:
>>
>>> This really frustrates me.  You spend time preparing and going to
>>> interviews only to find out afterward, sometimes after more than one
>>> interview, that they are not willing to pay what you would like.  Why
>>
>> I know some people are down on recruiters but I have always been very happy
>> when I use recruiters.  One advantage is that they typically have a good
>> idea of the salary range and will filter out jobs that don't meet my
>> expectations.  If a recruiter sends me to an interview then the employer and
>> I are already in the same ballpark when it comes to salary.
>>
>>> waste everyone's time wasted in the first place?  I am almost certain
>>> that employers often do not advertise or tell you what they are willing
>>> to pay in hopes that you will low ball yourself thus saving them money.
>>
>> I agree it happens but I've known a lot of employers to be smarter than
>> that.  It is quite a short-sighted position as a low-balled employee will be
>> very unhappy as soon as they realise what has happened and will typically
>> correct the situation by leaving for another position[1]. Losing staff costs
>> the employer money.  So in my experience most employers will not do this if
>> they are actually keen on retaining the employee.
>>
>> [1] It's much easier for the person to negotiate a reasonable salary with a
>> new employer than it is to negotiate with a current employer for a massive
>> jump in salary.
>>
>> Cheers,
>>
>> Rob
>>
>> --
>> "With sufficient thrust, pigs fly just fine..."
>>        -- RFC 1925 "The Twelve Networking Truths"
>> --
>> The Toronto Linux Users Group.      Meetings: http://gtalug.org/
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>
>
>
> --
> Tyler Aviss
> Systems Support
> LPIC/LPIC-2
> (647) 302-0942
> --
> The Toronto Linux Users Group.      Meetings: http://gtalug.org/
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-- 
Dan Thomson
--
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