
That's right. I am 90% sure I am going to be offered a full internship at Perdue for roughly $15 an hour for 40 hours a week during the summer, then about 20 a week during the school year. I sent them a resume, they liked what they saw about my skills, and I'm going in for the interview next week. The person I talked to on the phone sounded really excited, so that's good news.
Since this is my first formal job interview for something that I very may well be offered a full-time position for when I leave college... help? Advice? Good little hints that will make it smoother?
Sucker.
My college IT job had an automatic "once you graduate, you're no longer our employee" policy, though they were allowed to pluck one kid each year to offer a full time job. As for advice? Make sure to bring class work for the downtime. More multitasking!
Welcome. We shall raise you as our own.
(Pray the Perdue chicken-barons don't say the same. )
Welcome! Prepare for the onslaught of confused users!
What kind of work will you be doing?
Get yourself a nice suit (btw - Chinese collars and Zoot Suits are out ), shave, and get a haircut; when you look good, you feel good and it shows.
FYI - Burlington Coat Factory has matching suits, shirts and ties (w/ matching silk pocket hankerchiefs, cufflinks ect...) for well under $200.00.
Bring a couple copies of your resume to the interview. If you own a briefcase or a professional looking "manbag" you can throw them in there, and then hand them out when you enter the interview room. This will do two things, One, you will looked serious and prepared; two, it will give you the upper hand and allow you to dictate more of the conversation flow right from the start.
Other than that, relax, be confident...Oh, and asking for some assistance from the "Big Chief" upstairs never hurt either...Good Luck!!!
.Oh, and asking for some assistance from the "Big Chief" upstairs never hurt either...
Not sure what I could do from my office in Canada, but I'll do my best.
Cool I just started in an IT shop recently as well and am going to school for IT stuff. Let's enjoy it now while we can!
.Oh, and asking for some assistance from the "Big Chief" upstairs never hurt either...Not sure what I could do from my office in Canada, but I'll do my best.
(*laughing) Nice one!
I guess if folks could trot out the hoary old "standards" of interviews that Vrikk may not yet have encountered in his larval form, it may help. I interviewed for an IT position at VU (Vrikk's University) and they actually asked, "Why should we hire you for this position?" I'm ashamed I was caught flat-footed by that one; I hadn't heard that shit since my own college days. I didn't make use of my own observation that this town is like a historical village dialed back to the 1980's.
Get yourself a nice suit (btw - Chinese collars and Zoot Suits are out
), shave, and get a haircut; when you look good, you feel good and it shows.
To expand this a bit - there are IT shops where suits are impressive, and IT shops where wearing a suit to the interview will get you negative points. Find out which kind it is ahead of time.
Another thing: don't let them push you around and make you feel like the network rests on your shoulders. Work the hours you are given (believe it or not, it's easy to slack off), and don't work overtime - at least, don't make it a habit. Your life is yours, contrary to the opinion of many IT managers. This does not mean you won't have off-hours stuff, and it doesn't mean you won't have long days.
And keep in mind - there's always stuff that needs to be done. Don't let it bother you, just work smart and do your best.
Not sure what I could do from my office in Canada, but I'll do my best.
I'm fairly certain he was talking about a higher power Certis, like the great and powerful Emery.
Also, you probably shouldn't browse the forums from work. It's not productive, and if caught, won't be a good thing.
*looks around nervously*
Good luck.
My advice is to work hard, get through the 24 hour on-call phase of your career as fast as you can, and break into management ASAP.
Also, if you go full time, remember that as long as you're working for a university (which I do, and I love it) budget will always be your number one limitation. Learn to live with it.
Not sure what I could do from my office in Canada, but I'll do my best.I'm fairly certain he was talking about a higher power Certis, like the great and powerful Emery.
No, but close, I like Ray...But if it ain't gonna be Jesus, than at least make it this Emery; it's even 4/20 today, where's the love man?
Anyway, to stay on topic, make sure your urine is clean or go just go here if need be...
Get yourself a nice suit (btw - Chinese collars and Zoot Suits are out
), shave, and get a haircut; when you look good, you feel good and it shows.
FYI - Burlington Coat Factory has matching suits, shirts and ties (w/ matching silk pocket hankerchiefs, cufflinks ect...) for well under $200.00.
Shirts, ties and kerchiefs don't have to be made of the material -- complimentary colours will be fine. Indeed, if you buy separate items it looks like more thought has gon into the outfit.
And if you get a suit, make sure that jacket (or is it coat? I can never remember) sleeves end somewhere by your wrist. If they fall by your knuckles, you'll look like a schoolboy in hand-me-downs.
Welcome to the fold. Send me a PM and I will tell you where to send the check for your annual membership fees.
"Turn back, Vrikk. Turn back before it's too late."
First off, congratulations! $15/hour isn't bad starting out.
As for interviews, I was told by many people that it would be useful to have some questions to ask the person interviewing me. Theoretically it helps keep the conversation more of an actual conversation and not a one-sided interrogation. Ideally you want dialogue, not monologe.
Unfortunately it's never worked out that way for me. While I try to engage the person interviewing me (eye contact is important! - but not creepy starey kind), I had problems coming up with questions to ask. The questions I had prepared in advance either got puzzled looks or gobledygook responses.
I'm glad they were upfront about the pay and that the person sounds excited to interview you. Enthusiasm is great, if you walk in enthusiastic they will probably mirror your attitude. Enthusiastic but not exuberant - you shouldn't be giddy or gleeful, you don't even have the job yet.
Finally, going through HR can be a pain. Make friends everywhere, from the mail room to the managers. You are constantly imposing on others to get things done during the day and you trade favors, so being friendly helps a lot. I doubt you'll have a problem with that, you seemed friendly for the few moments I saw you at the Slap and Tickle, but it falls under HP's "Hoary Standards".
There are plenty of "what not to do at an interview" threads up here from hiring jer... I mean respected fellow goodjers with better jobs than me.
Once you start, 2 things:
- I agree on hours. Don't feel too pressured to stay late and come in early or on off days.
- Be really good at making coffee as soon as the old pot is done. This will make everyone like you more.
- Respect your coworkers. They'll mostly assume you're a punk when they first meet you.
- That's 2 things. Don't argue with me.
Also, you probably shouldn't browse the forums from work. It's not productive, and if caught, won't be a good thing.
Says who?
Train telepathy. It helps when dealing with people who report that they "had received a weird Email but deleted it and emptied Trash folder, but it was something about a virus, do you know what it is ?", or people who say "my internet broke" when mail server is down, or people who say "my computer wouldn't turn on" when their monitor is plugged off, or, my favorite, people who say "there's something wrong with my computer, there was an error, but I closed it".
Telepathy is underrated, really.
You can browse from work, just do it smartly, set up your home router to forward RDP to your home machine and then surf from there.
And if you get a suit, make sure that jacket (or is it coat? I can never remember) sleeves end somewhere by your wrist. If they fall by your knuckles, you'll look like a schoolboy in hand-me-downs.
It's a suit coat. Also, if the cuff falls at the wrist with your arms down, you're going to look far more ridiculous than a schoolboy when you go to shake someone's hand. Ideal sleeve length has the cuff falling on the wrist, +/- half an inch when your arm is perp to your body. At your sides, it should be roughly halfway between the wrist and knuckles, again, give or take half an inch.
Crouton wrote:What kind of work will you be doing?
It'll be dealing with the customers as the requests come into a queue.
Oh man.
I'm sorry.
And cuff lengths vary depending on the situation. Shorter for less formal things, such as a business suit.
Helpdesk?
Let's start the pool for when he gets his first crazy customer story.
Helpdesk?
Let's start the pool for when he gets his first crazy customer story.
I call Day 1.
It'll be dealing with the customers as the requests come into a queue. I'm sure you all know about this a lot more than I do since it'll be my foot-in-the-door for my field of work I'll want to get into.
Ugh. Helpdesk. Learn as much as you can, as fast as you can, and get a job that doesn't include constant user interaction as soon as you can. Your sanity will thank you later.
My advice: Skip the suit/tie and show up to the interview in a well-ironed long sleeve dress shirt (non-white, I usually go french blue), khaki's, and brown shoes. Get used to that getup, as that will be your uniform for most of your IT career. A good shave and haircut won't do you wrong either. I got a new senior sysadmin team lead job three months ago, and never once donned a jacket or tie for interviews. Firm (but not vice-like) handshake, eye contact, and a few copies of your resume on hand, and you should be fine. Also, when asked technical questions, don't lie or make stuff up. At $15/hour, you're not expected to know everything, and nobody hires an obvious fibber.
The good news is that I started exactly where you are, but making $8.50/hour babysitting users in the computer labs at Penn State, and I'm quite happy with where the career track has taken me. By the time I graduated, I was running the network at the chemistry department, and knew enough to get a good salary job in California. Within seven years, I was in management, I've just stepped back to doing what I do best since the pay and work environment of my new job is worth it.
P.S. I posted this from work. Muahahahahaha!
Good luck, Vrikk!
Just remember, try to never, ever get bitter!
As your career goes forward, make sure that you're working for an organization that you would want to be a part of. I know you'll always be doing the same kind of work, but it will help you a lot more in your day-to-day sanity when the mission of your employer is something you can get behind. I've worked for private industry, government, and education, and even though I've always done the same IT work, I've never been happier than I am at my current job, all because I think the work the organization does is important.
Also, as you get more experience, you're going to specialize; that's a good thing. But don't get locked into a rigid mindset about what you will and won't work with. That hot new technology that you are the point person on will be next year's crap. (see: Novell Netware) You're much more valuable being known as a smart person who can roll with the punches than being a wizard of X technology, especially when X technology goes away. And IT is always changing.
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