Saturday, May 31, 2008

My Blog Visited by a Random Recruiter :)

C.F. refers to my blog on hers .

I would say she has insight I may lack plus a sense of humour: she reckons "the posting tags read like a scene from a bad bar pickup [...]".

Hey, it is a way of picking up people but unlike the bar scene it's not for fun things (i.e. sex) but for money, i.e. recruiter's fees.

-ulianov

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Recruiters' Capital Sins (Part 6)

Recruiters are paid by companies to find bodies to fill cubicles. As such they represent the companies' interest, not yours, the job seeker.

In some jurisdictions they are even banned from soliciting money from job seekers.

Their intrinsic sin is that they are not available when one needs them most.

-ulianov

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Second Phone Interview w/ A**zon - Edit

C.R. of A**zon called and put me thru a whiteboard exercise.

He asked some questions:
0. what do I want to do (well, Embedded Linux, I think my Resume is clear on that);
1. write a non-recursive Fibonacci generator;
2. change code to return the n-th bit of a bit accumulator;
3. optimize code
(my C-ish pseudo code is below).

I drilled him and got some answers:
i. the development I am interested in is done partly in Cupertino, CA in "Låb 126";
ii. the code-writing interview is to establish a "SDE bar";
iii. they don't have a job in mind for this requisition, it may float among departments;
iv. monetary compensation is part cash part stock; he stressed that one gets shares not options and that compensation is comparable or better than the Seattle pay level of M$ and G**gle.

(This sort of riddles were homework du jour in the 10th and 11th grade in high school. Thanks to my professor, D.G., I went thru them all. She would go ballistic to see the return in the for() loop ;)

Fibonacci:
fib(n) // x(n):=x(n-1)+x(n-2), n > 2; x(1):=1; x(2):=2
{
if(n < 1) // error
if(n == 1) return 1;
if(n == 2) return 2;

n1 = 1; n2 = 2;

for(i = 3; i <= n; i++) {
new_n = n1 + n2;
if(i == n) return new_n; // C.R. asked why in the middle?
n1 = n2;
n2 = new_n;
}

/*NOTREACHED*/
}

Bit accumulator, crappy implementation:
bit(n) // bit accumulator 
{
if(n < 0) // error
if(n == 0) return 0;
if(n == 1) return 1;

n1 = 0; n2 = 1;

for(i = 2; i <= n; i++) {
new_n = (n1 + n2) % 2;
if(i == n) return new_n;
n1 = n2;
n2 = new_n;
}

/* NOTREACHED*/
}

Bit accumulator, optimised:
bit(n) // bit accumulator 
{
// 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
// ----- ----- ----- -
// 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 0

if((n % 3) == 0) return 0;
return 1;
}

-ulianov

Recruiters' Canned Opening Lines

Here are a few standard lines:

  • I noticed your resume on Monster and was very impressed with your background and qualifications.

  • I came across your resume on one of the job-boards and was very impressed by your credentials.

  • I reviewed your resume on the Internet and I believe you are qualified for other opportunities at Some Company

  • [From M$] I am interested in scheduling a phone conversation with you to learn more about your background, interests and experience. please let me know a couple of convenient times to reach you as well as an appropriate telephone number.

  • We noticed your information on the job boards or in our database and thought you may have an interest in an immediate opportunity [...]

Some are childish, use brokn Eenglsh and could be downright annoying:

  • Greetings of the Day!!! Hope you are doing well!!!

  • Hi Associates,
    How are you doing?
    Hope doing Great...

  • Incase you are available please respond back with your rate and contact details, if incase you on a project please let me know your next available date so that we can update our database for future usage.

  • Please let me know your interest in the following position and kindly send me the updated Resume along with following details which are mandatory for submission. [He expects me to fill a form]

As a rule of thumb I do not respond to job ads that peruse "pls.", "kindly" and (especially) "mandatory".

-ulianov

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Sr Software Development Engineer @ 85K in N Boston Area

A recruiter (a good one) e-mailed me about a position of "C Developer":
 
A total of 5 to 7 years experience out of which at least
two years should be writing general low-level code such
as Drivers/Diagnostics and Linux Kernel/Driver experience.
-In-depth Linux experience is required
-Network/protocol experience will be a huge plus
-Solid C programming and analytical skills
-Excellent inter-personal communication skills
-Minimum level of education: BS in CS, EE or equivalent.


The pay level is 85K max. I looked at the company website and learned that they want "Intermediate to Sr. Level". They may get an Intermediate but Sr. is (IMNSHO) wishful thinking.

-ulianov

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Phone Interview w/ A**zon

I. of A**zon called; he wanted to go "straight to number one" (in this case algorithm questions).

I had to pry out of him what job/level he is interviewing me for, what is his role at A**zon and what's the job at hand for me.

Then he asked me:
1. how to calculate the intersection of two arrays;
2. how to generate 10 distinct random numbers in the range 1..100.

For the second question he insisted that I write code on paper and dictate to him the code. Quite weird.

I telegraphed him the notion that I am interviewing for Sr./Principal level to no avail. He said that A**zon wants senior people to be hands-on and that in the past they encountered Architect-level types that no longer knew how to write code.

Or maybe the types never knew how to write code from the get-go.

May 28 update: masked company name to get less hits from Google blog searches.

-ulianov

Monday, May 19, 2008

Old Hand Calls

P.B. of Burlington, MA called me. He's been in business for 24 years and knows how to listen.

Asked him why companies insist in perm. instead of long-term contracts; apparently this is for "team-building" and for creating a false sense of security for the management, i.e. the illusion that employees are in for the long-haul.

On the other hand the stats say that the average stint in IT is 3 years.

-ulianov

Interview with C**na

Went to Acton, MA to meet C**na. They are five minutes from my work place, next to a beautiful lake.

A fairly typical interview for a US company (6 people in 3 hours) except for:
1. I met the big cheese first thing in the morning instead of last;
2. they did not have me write code or solve trivial problems [which I appreciated!].

Nice people; they want to build a cool new Linux product.

May 27 update: Got a standard rejection note yet with a friendly tone:

The team enjoyed meeting you; however, at this time they
have selected another candidate for the role. If another
role becomes available in the near future I will definitely
let you know.

My translation: (maybe) they liked me but I may not be a fit with their team. Maybe I am biased.

May 28 update: masked company name to get less hits from Google blog searches.

-ulianov

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Spam in San Francisco

Got contacted by a recruiter working for a "social network" startup. They want an anti-spam expert. Cool!

-ulianov

A New Hurdle for Recruiters

God so tired on useless job ads coming from recruiters that I just invented a "double-optin" (ha! isn't the jargon of the spam industry wonderful?) hoop & hurdle for recruiters.

When somebody tries to e-mail me on my address listed on monster his e-mail is temporarily rejected and he is e-mailed back with a short note asking him to go to a web page to confirm his intentions.

If he jumps the hoop his e-mail is cleared and further e-mails go thru w/o further ado. This is so brilliant I should patent it!! I even have a verification code embedded in an image to make sure bots don't give false responses.

This is the page (click on it to see better):



This is akin to selling indulgences that will absolve the Recruiter from all of his Capital Sins:

I do this only for their own good ;)

-ulianov

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Gobbledygook Attack!

Last night I got a call from a guy looking for "talent".

He works for a company in Beverly Hills, CA and does "proprietary stock trading". Beats me what that means but it appears they want Java and NIO.

Having interviewed around L.A. and driven around in L.A. I have no wish to set foot in L.A. again.

May 22 update: the guy called again and started to talk the "proprietary" Gobbledygook again; told him I am not interested.

-ulianov

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Recruiters' Capital Sins (Part 5)

A company called Beacon e-mailed me. They addressed me as "UNIX" (which is part of my e-mail address).

These low-lifes are not even using a human to do the Ctrl+F thing, they simply have some sort of a bot that prowls the web for resumes.

But I suppose they would being that they extol these virtues on their website:

  • "Leading edge internet recruiting techniques which dramatically extend your company's reach, ensuring both quality and volume in your candidate pipeline"

  • "Access to our deep, talented network of contract recruiting professionals"

The name of the sin is pure spamming.

May 21 update: a co-worker tells me that some recruiters want MS-Word instead of PDF so they can change the Resume and pass it to the employers. He advises me to password-protect the Resumes I send out. Good bit.

-ulianov

Friday, May 9, 2008

J**diva is a SPAM House

I've been getting e-mail (i.e. carpet bombing) from various recruiters that use J**diva as their delivery man.

I keep unsubscribing but it's no use. And THAT is what makes J**diva a spammer!

May 28 update: masked company name.

Jul 22 update: Yes, they are BFS'es (i.e. Big Effing Spammers). I blacklisted them and redirected their SMTP traffic to a fake MTA and lo and behold all e-mail coming from them is random job ads spamming crappy jobs that have no meaning whatsoever for me.

Just like the V:/\gR@ ads but coming from bottom-feeding recruiters instead of your friendly neighbourhood scammer.

-ulianov

Thursday, May 8, 2008

The Know-It-All Recruiter

D.G. of NJ writes:

I saw your profile on Job Site, which I believe
well qualifies you for a position with Intel in
Portland, OR. Please contact me ASAP [...]

This nincompoop does not bother to read Resumes (Ctrl-F is GOOD) or he would have learned that I don't do FreeBSD.

PLUS he sent me the whole job requisition including the comments that the employer meant for him-only:

Should be a graphics software developer with a
degree, or at least 3-5 years of experience.
Mid - Sr. level.
Validation experience is a plus.

Need an experienced resource familiar with BSD,
validation methods, driver level or kernel level
debug and/or driver development.
Analyzing the test coverage of BSD stack,
identifying & filling test gaps, helping to develop
debug methodology for BSD environment, offering
input to developers as to potential problem areas
in design.

We are creating a FreeBSD kernel here in VCG. If
someone has extensive experience with unix/linux,
then that would helpful. Ideally someone who is
comfortable with debug and test of BSD is preferred.

A SW developer with test/validation experience is
exactly what we want.

-ulianov

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Recruiters' Capital Sins (Part 4)

My recruiter genie has managed to condense wisdom & experience in a gem:

"Using Ctrl-F as their primary method for reviewing resumes"

I couldn't have put it better. Now I understand why they insist on having Resumes in Word format... PDF seems like rocket science to most of them.

-ulianov

Recruiters' Capital Sins (Part 3)

C.A.H. of NH wants me to take a f/t job in Franklin, MA which pays up to 90k.

The job requires "1-5 years C/C++ programming experience under Linux". To an astute reader this means "Junior/Intermediate".

She either did not read my Resume or she is desperate. Or maybe her client is desperate and cheap.

The name of the sin is not matching job requirements with candidate's experience.

-ulianov

Recruiters' Capital Sins (Part 2)

The moron from Oxford (WI) called again to see "how I am".

The name of the sin is not having a job to push.

Such creeps are a positive waste of time. I told him to sod off.

He's slow on the uptake and he sent me three jobs, two in Cali and one in Kitchener, ON. The latter is in R*M land and I suspect it's a low-paid job :(

-ulianov

Recruiters' Capital Sins (Part 1)

M.M. from Frisco, TX commits this sin:

This is to ask for your interest and availability for
a Contract to hire/Full time position with a Telecom
Client. Would love to have your thoughts and a copy
of your updated resume in a WORD document along with
contact details. I will be glad to get in touch with
you to discuss the opening in person.

You can get in touch with me through mail or also call
my cell phone number given below. I look forward to
hearing from you soon and hope you have a great day!

Blah, blah blah. This guy is a rookie with his foot in his mouth.

The name of the sin is communicating w/o a subject.

Love and positive thoughts are a waste of my time. What matters is:
1. location;
2. pay rate;
3. job description.

-ulianov

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

B**derware in Mississauga

E.C. of Bay Area, CA wishes to send me to B**derware in Mississauga, ON.

The world is small - it happens that many co-workers from a previous company went to work for B**derware, including the VP of Eng. so I asked him to convey my salutations to them.

Update: after one week he called again for exactly the same job. Told him to beep off.

May 28 update: masked company name.


-ulianov

Recruiters' Fees for I**el Gig

K.S. of NJ wants me to go to Oregon to work six months for I**el on W2 for $55/h.

My recruiter genie tells me that they charge I**el $90/h and pocket the difference ($35/h).

Not bad for an agency to make $35,000 for six months of somebody else's work.

May 28 update: masked company name.

-ulianov

NAS/FreeBSD in Pittsburgh

S.B. of Pittsburgh, PA writes:

The company is a well-known, well established, company
located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (voted “Most
Liveable” city). It offers competitive salary +
benefits + relocation assistance.

I asked what's the salary and S.B's feathers got ruffled:

Actually this company - for Pittsburgh - pays
beyond what most technical companies pay their engineers.

I'm not sure if this is cultural, but it is not
appropriate to ask that question up front.

Well I could not resist replying to that:

First the question is fair. Plus I've been around the
block a few times (10 years in business) so I know
precisely what the interviewing etiquette is.

It's cultural all right: some recruiters/companies
would have one do umpteenth interviews only to reveal
at the end that they want to go as cheap as possible
and pay below industry average.

It's the culture of "time well spent" on my side.
Therefore its is unbelievably appropriate to ask that
first.

As for the Pittsburgh locale they have to compete
with employers/wages found elsewhere so if they want
to attract good people their pay levels should be
sensibly similar.

Later she became a bit more reasonable but still pushing recruiters' BS:

Our Client ultimately makes its offers based on a
candidate's years of experience, and their salary
requirement.

I understand you don't want to waste your time,
and I appreciate that.

Translation: Client will pay the least they can get away with. But don't they all want that?

-ulianov

Monday, May 5, 2008

Q**lcomm in Disguise

R.G. of NJ writes:

I saw your profile on a job portal and it seems to be
a good fit for an opportunity with one of our esteemed
clients, a giant in wireless communications industry.

Title: Embedded Software Engineer
Duration: 6 months contract to hire
Location: San Deigo, CA

Very boombastik! This smells like Q**lcomm to me. Well Cali is far away so I asked for $85/h.

May 28 update: masked company name.

-ulianov

A**zon Calls

H.G. of A**zon (Seattle, WA) wants me for some Web/GUI job. Obviously she's not good at reading Resumes.

Told her to look at the kindle team as I am into Embedded Linux.

Don't think I shall hear from her again.

I think she had worked at MS before as her initial spam used the same wording.

May 9 update: J.E. of A**zon/handheld devices group has contacted me. Maybe she talked to H.G. or may be it's just a fluke -- her e-mail was rather boilerplate.

May 28 update: masked company name.

-ulianov

Ring-Ring

From 9 to 10:30 the phone rang three times.

They want me ASAP! NOW! ON THE DOUBLE! They don't like Jul 21.

Got two missed calls later. Oh Well.

-ulianov

MS Access, No Thanks

Erika S. wants me to do MS-Access. She ain't got no clue.

I asked her what's the rate, just out of curiosity.

-ulianov

Friday, May 2, 2008

Re-connecting with an old Acquaintance

Went looking for somebody on LinkedIn and remembered "Big Jim" M. of San Diego, CA.

He's a great guy who's been around the block a few times.

Pinged him but he has nothing around Boston, MA :(

-ulianov

Javascript (AJAX) / PHP / PostgreSQL Software Engineer

M.G. of Boston, MA wants me for a LAMP job.

This creep hasn't read my Resume. Told him to bugger off.

-ulianov

Attack of the Oxford Drones!!

Got THREE calls from three recruiters from Oxford from three distinct locations.

NONE has a job for me but all three want to "work me up". One promises to call later to "get to know me". Another one makes me promise to have him as the sole point of contact at Oxford.

These morons are fishing for Resumes. Shan't talk to them.

May 13 update: got a phone call from a fourth drone; I told him that I do not wish to be contacted by his company as I got too many calls from different persons in his company. I hung up but the bugger kept calling.

These guys are truly unflushable.

-ulianov

Thursday, May 1, 2008

Smart Cookie Calls In

N.F. of Salem, NH calls and wants me for Juniper. Cool!

He's one of the few good ones: knows how to listen and pulls references.

Oops! He knows my boss at Moto.

-ulianov

SIP and C++ in Mass

K.P. of Westford, MA wants to know if I do C++ and SIP.

I said yuck to C++.

-ulianov

Pop Goes a Clueless Recruiter

Got an e-mail from E.L. of Cambridge, MA.

This guy has not read my Resume and he wants me for a Sysadmin. Oh, bugger.

-ulianov

Perl in NYC

Got contacted by J. McG. from NYC for a PERL Developer/Architect in NYC with B**omberg.

Well NYC is a bit high on the cost of living scale and knowing that in NYC in the financial industry they charge $150/h so I asked for that.

J. McG. said no, f/t only so I quoted 150K/year. The guy called, he had a thick NYC accent (think Sopranos -- a bit scary).

He painted a rosy picture with me in it and said that yeah, relocation+ 150K base+bonus is OK.

He also wanted to know that I am committed or something like that, that is me jumping with joy.

Brief detour: I never commit to anything until I talk to some technical people inside so I get an idea about the scope of the work.

He did not like me not signing in blood and asking for 150K base. So is life.

-ulianov