Hey guys, thanks for the compliments.
Rajesh Hegde:
- You mentioned that you are in USA - Silicon Valley. You also mentioned that you are a resident.
- First advice, indicate this on your resume' and cover letter. Your name (because it is Indian - at least I think it is Indian) may automatically cause your resume to be tossed aside as the interviewer may think you need H1B sponsorship.
- Definitely need to make this clear on cover letter and resume.
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- Since you will be dealing directly with companies. It's called "cold calling" as opposed to just anwering newspaper/internet advertisements - you will need a very strong cover letter, in addition to your resume.
- I would visit one of the resume' writers - with a first or second draft of the resume. Do not pay more than $100-$250 to get this done. Go to a professional, not someone who is doing this part time. Get them also to write a good cover letter for you. This is your real reason for paying the $$ to visit with them. The cover letter should be 3 or 4 paragraphs long. It should NOT be a total rehash of the resume'.
The "cold calling" cover letter is the one instance where I would deviate from the free college placement center help and hire a professional writer.
It may sound expensive, but if you get a good writer, it can both relieve your fears and get the ball rolling.
You are going to need to get to a point where you are comfortable with the resume and cover letter.
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- Once you are comfortable with the resume. & cover letter. It is time to hit the market. You will need to do some research at libary for company names/addresses. They have books at Barnes & Noble that have this information for each state/metro area.
- Start sending out cover-letter & resume'. Make sure you type the envelope (not handwrite). And use stamps - not a postage meter. Remember, people are flying through envolopes & paper and you get perhaps 2 seconds to make an impression. The worst thing you want is the secretary thinking she received a piece of junk mail and chucking the whole package in the trash.
- Again, hit up the career fairs, user groups, newspapers, internet and newspapers - in addition to your "cold calling" efforts. Even if the company says 2+ years experience, fire them a resume' and cover letter.
- Talk to everyone, even head hunters. Network with friends. Just keep hammering the street - as I like to say. I really don't know of any other way to get a job.
- About a week after sending the resume'/cover letter out - follow up with a phone call - try to get an interview. If they are not hiring (typical response), ask if they know of anyone in the field who is. Turn this into a discussion. The longer you are on the phone - and the conversation is productive - the greater the chances are that they may remember you.
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- The job search does not have to be a painful/mortifying experience. And here is what I do to make it more enjoyable.
- After 2 or 3 weeks, this will turn into a full-time 40+ hour per week job search. You will be doing research, answering phones, typing up letters (each one needs to have the name/address of the individual on it - and this takes time)- the body can stay the same, typing up envelopes, etc. If you do this right, you will be a busy puppy.
- Realize that you are playing the numbers game. About the only way I know how to do this. You will get an initial 95% rejection rate. Don't worry about this - it's normal - expect it. I have a 3 inch stack of rejection letters from 1994 when I first hit the job market right out of school. I hope someday to post a picture of this on this site.
- The idea is to stay so busy that you forget about the rejections. It eventually turns into a game. If you go to enough interviews - you can tell within 5 seconds whether they are serious about you are not.
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- I have mentioned this before - surprised
Paul Wheaton doesn't try to get some $$ from Amazon.com for links to these interview books.
- I strongly recommend, "Knock 'Em Dead - Interview Questions" by Martin Yate, and "Knock 'Em Dead - Resume's" by Martin Yate. These helped me out a lot. They are generic (not computer related) but you WILL get hit with these types of "managerial" questions at the interview.
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- The job search should take 2-3 months. You should have 2 or 3 good contacts/leads after the first month - if you average sending out 15-20 letters a week.
- Regarding the job market. I started my last job search in the Oct/Nov 2000 timeframe and was utterly slammed with phone calls. I highly doubt that the market has slowed down so much that there are no entry-level Java jobs out there. I just can't imagine the economy putting on the brakes that fast.
- If you have a CS degree, and 6-12 months of ANY type of computer experience (even help desk), and the SJCP. You should be able to land a Java job. If not a Java job - at least another computer programmer job (C/C++).
- Given the fact that you are in the Silicon Valley - should make your job easier (I would think).
- In the meantime, hit up XML and EJB.
- Keep the faith and let us know how things go.
John Coxey
(jpcoxey@aol.com)