Hook & Bait, Revisited

I have more thoughts in addition to my previous post on this topic.

I got this automated Monster spa^H^H^Hemail:

Subject: as per your posting on Monster - Embedded Software Developer

Hello MyName, my name is John Doe, a recruiter with XYZ.

I recently came across your posting on Monster while conducting a search for an Embedded Software Developer, and I currently have an opportunity which I feel you would show a strong interest in.

If you could please reach back to me at your earliest convenience we can discuss this opportunity further.

Thank you.

John Doe
Recruiter
[contact info]

I replied to his ad (he's local) asking for job description/pay rate/location and got this reply back:

My supervisor Sean Doe will be reaching out to you shortly to discuss this role in more detail. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask.

Diggin into XYZ's website (BTW don't you wonder why they always have a dumb Flash intro page whose only function is to say "Enter site"?) I learned that XYZ requires that all candidates be seen face to face by the recruiter.

Yet Another Mandatory Waste of My Time (YAMy-WaMyT).

-ulianov

How I Declined an Interview with an STB Maker in Mississauga

I got contacted by a local recruiter about an Embedded Linux job. By Googling for significant strings in the job ad I discovered that it was with XYZ, a STB maker of Mississauga, ON. This being very close to home I obliged.

Two weeks later he came back to me with a request that I attend a two-hour test on the 28th of Dec. He was nice to me and sent me some previously-asked questions:

1. Algorithm with O(n logn).
2. Algorithms with no solution.
3. Design class diagram for board game engine with pluggable algorithm.
4. Decorate, observer and strategy patterns.

While #1 and #2 are covered at length in Horowitz and Knuth I have no interest in #3 (I do Embedded Linux after all) and have no clue about #4.

So I asked myself whether it's worth wasting 4 hours and gas on this in lieu of the customary phone grilling or on-line test and here's what I replied to him:

Just as corporations (e.g. XYZ) I do have a policy when it comes to hiring [after 100+ interviews I know what flies and what not].

To me an interview is a two-way conversation that allows me to assess the company and the people I would be working with. A test is none of this. Some interviews have tests embedded -- this is fair and expected.

This is outside of my comfort zone & against my policy: what I like to see is a phone interview followed (maybe) by an in-person interview. I have deviated from this before with no positive outcome.

Thus I am not going for this waste of my time.

Unless you can arrange a phone interview [or maybe one full in-person interview] with XYZ I am afraid I am not willing to work for a company that has such inflexible and silly policies.

On the other hand I have hired for a Fortune-500-Company and I learned that it is very hard to find qualified talent -- and they were paying much much better. So it's up to them.

Alas some Canadian corporations feel that it's allright to abuse of the candidates' time and to summon them for such pointless tests.

I have noticed that this job was posted on XYZ's website for more than a year. This means that either they are incredibly picky or that they have a dizzying turnaround rate.

-ulianov

P.S STB = set top box

AMD/ATI Contract Rate?

This just off CareerBuilder: ATI (a well-known Canadian sweatshop) is hiring for a fairly senior Embedded Linux position (requirements below). Aside for XYZ's (an agency) boastful BS and if I can take the numbers at face value I read that ATI pays max $65/h to the agency for this position. Very stingy and in line with their reputation.

-ulianov

# Driver bring-up and qualification on new hardware platforms
# Debug, analyze and resolve quality and certification issues as reported by Customers and QA
# Improve driver performance
# Write detailed design notes for new features
# Coordinate closely with peers and colleagues to ensure timely and effective communication of all assigned work activities
# Execute software assignments as a highly motivated, self-starter
# Experience in implementing Embedded Linux System on various microcontrollers

This is a contract position with XYZ. XYZ is a Fortune 1000 company with over 350 office throughout the US, Canada, and Europe. XYZ is in the top three in staffing in the nation and in the top 5 in the world and has been serving some of the nation's strongest companies for 60 years. As a XYZ employee, you can expect the highest level of on-site support. As an equal opportunity employer, we have a long-standing tradition of developing lasting and mutually beneficial relationships with its employees. XYZ is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer and we maintain a drug-free workplace.

XYZ is an Equal Opportunity Employer

Minimum Requirements:

# Proficient in object oriented programming (3+ years)
# Proficient at C/C++ programming language (3+ years)
# Experience with software debuggers such as kgdb (3+ years)
# Experience with Kernel mode driver programming under Linux environment (3+ years)
# Good understanding of PC architecture
# Excellent understanding of operating system fundamentals and multithreaded programming issues.
# Strong oral and written skill
# Experience with graphic driver (optional)
# Experience with low-level hardware device programming (optional)
# Experience with embedded systems and/or real-time programming is an asset (optional)

Location: Markham, ON

Type: CONTRACT

Duration: 180 - 365 Days

Pay Rate: $29.00 - $45.00 Hourly DOE

Ant & Bēe Strikes Again

I got a cold call from the Toronto office of Ant & Bēe. N.C was calling asking whether I reviewed the job description she sent me. Apparently she used an old Monster ephemeral address (I keep changing them as Monster from time to time pads their bottom line by selling the candidate database to scammers).

Tho I explained to them about the ephemeral address and gave her my current one I never got a job description from her and I've waited for a week. Very unprofessional.

She grilled me in a stern manner as if she was going thru a checklist gave me her e-mail address and demanded that I send the CV so she can hook me up to an Embedded Linux job in Burlington, ON. She did not extend the courtesy of telling me the name of her client and asking whether I've applied at that company already.

Without my asking or permission she submitted me for another job as an Implementation Analyst. Had she read 2 lines from my Resume she would have realised this is not my trade.

Last I heard of N.C she called me "Daniel" in an e-mail (not my name). I got so pissed that I phoned her boss at Ant & Bēe and asked for them to stop contacting me.

This is the most unprofessional agency I've worked with, even worse than Oxford Intl in the US. N.C is the type of recruiter I would give a wide berth.

-ulianov

Getting to see Ian M*rtin at last!

For the past 8 years I have sporadically applied to job posted by IM on Workopolis and got no reply whatsoever. Not a peep. So I reckoned that this outfit may be a Resume troll.

To my surprise having applied two weeks ago for a f/t Perl job I got a reply back from M.D. She had me reshuffle my Resume so my Perl deeds stand out. Fair enough. Mind you I have used Perl as a tool for 16 years and I have for it (Perl) the love that dares not speak its name. (I have used it for things it was never meant to do and to great success.)

IM has this silly rule that a recruiter must see you face to face before they submit you. So here I am dragging myself to downtown Toronto at rush hour. Last time I did that was 2 1/2 years ago in Mass.

So I saw her and I think she was OK tho she/the account manager had qualms about my motivation (having made a good coin on contracts what made me go for a relatively low-paid Perl job? what if I take off in one year for a contract?). She also had me flag all places in my Resume where Perl was relevant.

Well, I like Perl and I need to stay close to home to care for my new addition to my family so I think for the time being I will be staying put in TO.

She shared with me a few horror stories with candidates that want to pull a quick one. Having interviewed/hired people myself I could sympathise with some of her problems.

Jan 2011 update: have been contacted again by the same recruiter about the same position; the company would like to see my resume but formatted so that Perl is even more underlined. Would not bother.

-ulianov

A New Fad in Identity Theft?

Each quarter Monster seems to sell their candidate database to whomever and his dog, preferably scammers & fraudsters. I got this letter on my 3rd ephemeral e-mail address I use for Monster.

I never contacted this "agency" so their explanation below is a lie. As I have been around the block a few time I know big corps ask you to self-identify after you have completed a job application. I think they are fishing for marks.

TO: POTENTIAL JOB APPLICANT

FROM: Superior Group includes Superior Technical Resources, Inc., Superior Staff Resources, Inc., SDC Information Services, Inc., Superior Design Co., Inc. and Sudesco Systems, Inc.

Superior Design International Inc. (SDI)

Superior Group and SDI comply with the Affirmative Action rules of the U.S. Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), which requires us to maintain data on the race and gender of job applicants. To comply with these rules, our recruiting software automatically sends the Voluntary Candidate Self-Identification link to persons whose resumes are attached to positions that we are trying to fill, as possible candidates for the positions.

To help us comply with the Affirmative Action rules, we ask you to please fill out the Candidate Self-Identification form by Clicking here.. Your response will not be seen by a recruiter or anyone making a hiring decision; however, because the form is voluntary, you are not required to fill it out if you do not wish to. If the Voluntary Self-Identification form is not completed, we will assume that you have declined to provide information on your gender and race/ethnicity. Please note that failure to complete the above referenced form will not subject you to any adverse treatment.

This email and the link for the Voluntary Candidate Self-ID are being sent to you AUTOMATICALLY either because you directly submitted your resume for a position we are trying to fill, or your resume was accessed by one of our recruiters during a search for candidates. Your resume may or may not have been actually reviewed by a recruiter. If you are actually considered for a position, you will be contacted directly by one of our recruiters.

We apologize if you have previously received this form. If you have already completed this form, please disregard this notice.

Thank you for your consideration.

Affirmative Action Department
Superior Group/SDI

-ulianov

On Interviewing for a Contact in Tōrōnto

As never before I went for an interview with a startup located in downtown Tōrōnto. Tho it's located 12km (7.5m) from my house it took me an hour to get there because of the unbelievably bad traffic.

As a rule I require that the 1st interview be conducted on the phone as a quick means of weeding the job offers. This time I let the recruiter sweet-talk me into hauling myself to their premises. Never a good idea.

An oddity about the Qu*kPlay job description was its purposeful vagueness - the recruiter says that they keep it like that "to attract talent". Not a good sign. Another odd thing was that they wanted to hire "yesterday" and that the customary two-week notice wasn't good enough.

So I went to the 1st interview; it was with some technical guys: apparently they use BREW from the CDMA company and this piece of work is quite buggy. They needed some low-level debugging. All good. They hinted of other projects as well.

A week has elapsed and they scheduled another interview at 3pm against my morning preference (3pm+ is hard rush hour in Toronto). So I went. This time I saw the Architect [think Matrix] who's asked me lots of SW design questions, behavioural questions [a bit odd to do that for hired help] and hinted of a third interview.

Having sunk six hours already in coming to their place and showing my face I said that the next interview must be conducted over the phone as they had seen plenty of me. This didn't quite go well so I did not get the job.

The last two oddities were that the Architect had no idea that he had an interview scheduled so he was laate and that in both interviews they were insisting that I come join their company as a f/t perm employee and asking me for justifications for my dislike of perm positions.

I think this startup is growing rapidly and they cannot make their minds as to who does what. And that they want to enlarge the staff by adding low-ish paid perm staffers (it's much cheaper to have perms in Canada than the US as the health insurance is taken care of by the taxes we pay and the government-run insurance scheme).

-ulianov

Attack of the Cyb3rC0ders Drones

Lately this outfit has been blasting my M0nster-listed e-mail address with "personalised" e-mails that read

Hi Name,

I noticed your background and thought you,
or someone you know, may be interested in
finding out more about our new job opening,
which is pasted below for your review. 

The position is for a Title in Location, State.

[...]

Good luck in your searches,
Scumbag

Scum Bag | Executive Recruiter | Cyb3rC0d3rs
Read my full recruiter bio!

Cyb3rC0d3rs | address | optout

The opt-out link is not working: I keep getting spam from these low-lifes.

Obviously these ads are matched using keywords and they don't match at all what I do for a living. I have to block this scum outfit in my mail server.

Jun 16 update: these trolls are carpet-bombing my Dice e-mail address; they are fishing for resumes on Dice.

-ulianov

A Dodecalogue of Candidates' Sins

This person is spamming a LinkedIn group that subscribe to with gratuitous career advice but once she got it right: 12 Deadly Sins that Kill Your Job Search .

However I disagree on some finer points:
- #1 May be advisable especially when you want to "thin out" your experience for a position for which you may be perceived as over-qualified;
- #3 Cover letters are use by recruiters as trashcan liners period;
- #12 While talking to your references is a good idea, if they give you too "stellar" references that make you seem like a super-hero the references may sound fake. I think the references should reflect your work and be a fair representation of you as a person.

-ulianov