Anyone job-seeking for a sysadmin position?

[Tyler Aviss]

Nah, all the recruiters were here. Initially I was living in and
applying from BC, so it was hard to get any strong interest from local
recruiters even though I indicated a willingness to travel for
interviews. Back in BC I can't remember ever dealing with a recruiter,
all my jobs came from good references of former
employers/co-workers/associates.



On Thu, Jul 31, 2008 at 10:19 AM, Dan Thomson <thomson.dan-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w at public.gmane.org> wrote:
> 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/
>> TLUG requests: Linux topics, No HTML, wrap text below 80 columns
>> How to UNSUBSCRIBE: http://gtalug.org/wiki/Mailing_lists
>>
>
>
>
> --
> Dan Thomson
> --
> 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/
TLUG requests: Linux topics, No HTML, wrap text below 80 columns
How to UNSUBSCRIBE: http://gtalug.org/wiki/Mailing_lists