How did you get your job?, by Jeffrey Veen

How did you get your job?

What did you go through to get the job you have today? Resume? Phone calls? A couple of interviews and some calls to your references? Maybe you did what I did -- "That sounds like fun, Peter. We should totally start our own company."

Or possibly you spent four years working your way through an enormous national institution, doing countless interviews, filling out dozens of forms, writing essay after essay. Then maybe you gave a presentation before a board made up of the leaders of that institution, then read a detailed statement describing your beliefs, followed by two hours of questions asking you to justify the very core of what you hold to be true? Did you support your answers with an interpretation of a 2,000 year-old document? In Ancient Greek?

I've always known the Presbyterian Church to be an intellectually rigorous organization. But I had no idea how rigorous until Leslie started through the ordination process to become a pastor. Have a look at what she's going through, and leave a note of encouragement while you're there.

This entry was written by Jeffrey Veen and posted 3 March 2005 at 8:33 AM. It was filed under Personal. | View blog reactions

Comments

1. On 3 March 2005 at 10:22 AM Charles Martin wrote:

You know the old adage, "maybe you're just trying too hard"? Well, I managed to get my current job without the "trying too hard" part. What I mean is that I was doing an active search to get out from under a really badly managed privately held company. However, out of the blue, I get a call from a recruiter for a possible position closer to home than my current one.

So I go to take the "exam" that they gave as a pre-screening for the interview process. Out of 7 people who took the test, I was one of 2. I went in for the actual interview a few days later and was hired on the spot... before the other guy had even interviewed for the position. Wow. That all happened in under 8 days time from the first call. And I had never heard of the recruiter before nor had directly applied for the position but was cold-called based on my posted resume on a job website.

That is how I got this job.

2. On 3 March 2005 at 10:23 AM Karl Swedberg wrote:

I'm a little embarrassed to admit how easy it was for me to get my current job.

1. I asked a friend of mine if I could work at his interactive communications agency part time for a year--no pay, just health benefits for me and my family--while I sent out my application for graduate school.
2. I had a one-hour interview with my friend and his two partners.
3. They offered me a full-time job with nice salary and full benefits. (I decided not to go to grad school.)

Seems like I've gotten most of my jobs through some kind of personal connection, which is rather humbling. The broader social reality of hiring based on "who you know" rather than "what you know" is also why I believe that affirmative action, in one form or another, is a good idea. But I digress...

3. On 3 March 2005 at 10:38 AM Jason Lancaster wrote:

Like you, I started my own company. I wanted to do it since I was 16 or 17... now I'm living that dream at 23. I love it!

4. On 3 March 2005 at 1:36 PM Bob wrote:

Got a phone call from a recruiter for the company; was recommended by someone who saw my website.

5. On 3 March 2005 at 2:57 PM Simon Willison wrote:

I'm happy to say I got my last (full time) job through my blog :)

6. On 3 March 2005 at 3:01 PM John B wrote:

It was pretty traditional for me. Classified ad, phone interview, face-to-face interview, job. The only twist is that they couldn't find anyone else who was qualified who wanted to move to Montana. After scouring the state they started advertising in cities across the northwest and rocky mountain region (I was in Denver). Nice thing (and rare thing) is they paid relocation. Bonus!

Every job I landed in Denver was a struggle.

7. On 3 March 2005 at 9:41 PM Hal! wrote:

When I was laid off a few years ago. . . I did everything.

Every job site, every agency with someone I could send an email and a link to, I did.

When I came down to it, someone saw my resume on monster, forwarded it to a friend of theirs in the "corporate world". . . Bam.

I just had to sit tight. . .

8. On 4 March 2005 at 12:22 PM Jeff Minard wrote:

* Saw poster on school wall.
* Called number.
* Went in with a resume and intervied with 5 people.
* Talked for 45 minutes.
* Walked out with a new job.

Toughie ;)

9. On 4 March 2005 at 1:13 PM Tracy wrote:

I job hunted for months before I even graduated from college. Went on interviews with no luck. Just didn't seem to have "the touch" or whatnot.

Finally got called in at my current job. Had an interview with the staff and a bunch of nuns (they're affiliated with our organization). Ended up not getting the job, but one nun on the panel was so impressed that she called me a month later to offer me a completely different job at the same organization.

10. On 5 March 2005 at 1:54 PM Neal wrote:

I'm still looking for that easy to get job. My last experience has been a directly opposite nightmare. Two positive phone interviews leading me to believe I was in, and waiting for the date of the interview. Then nothing. Two Weeks, I call. Nothing--get back to you real soon, we're working out the details. Two months. Nothing. I finally called HR and asked what the hold up was. The hold up was that I was never even a candidate for the job. Typical bloated managerial stucture and inefficiency.
The best jobs I've had have been by word of mouth and reputation.

11. On 6 March 2005 at 7:04 AM Russell James Smith wrote:

I got my current position through a mixture of reputation, word-of-mouth and friendship. Likewise the position before that. I'm lucky enough not to have had to update my CV (resume) since 1999!

12. On 7 March 2005 at 1:20 PM JD Nielsen wrote:

I got my current job through an ad in the local county weekly paper. What caught my eye was that they requested résumés to be emailed in PDF format. I was desperate to get out of my previous sales job and it just happened to be the first and only job I applied for at the time. It just seemed to just happen, now that I am looking again I wish it would seem to just happen again.

Join me for a one-day conference on starting your own company. August 7 in San Francisco.