Hot Jobs :: Week of 03.09.09

Here are this week’s featured jobs on the Pittsburgh Technology Council’s Career Center. Visit careers.pghtech.org for more job listings.

Sales Manager – PsychConsult Provider
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center

Accounting Assistant
Foundation Radiology Group

SharePoint Developer
PLUS Consulting, L.L.C.
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Hot Internship:

Customer Support Intern
Ariba

Laid Off? Go Camping.

Driving into work today I heard this story on NPR and thought, “What a great idea!” Laid Off Camp is a grassroots sort of project started by someone who was, what else, laid off himself and wanted to connect with others who were unemployed. These informal groups of job-seekers get together for support, guidance, and potentially – leads to a new career. Their workshops focus on issues like budgeting, how to find affordable health insurance, and how to start your own consulting business. Although started in San Fransisco, new groups have cropped up around the country. No one has planned one for Pittsburgh yet, but I’m sure there are some enterprising individuals out there who will take on this great idea. Just be sure to let me know when you pitch your first tent!

The Interview Dress Rehearsal

I’m not one of those people who is great at talking on my feet. There’s something about the way I am wired that makes it difficult for me to act suave and say intelligent things under pressure. I’ll never be a politician, or an actor, or anyone behind a news desk. But I can overcome this “flaw” in certain situations with just a little bit of practice. It’s best to borrow a friend to help you out and ask you random questions to put you on the spot (although I must admit, I’ve had to resort to talking to my cat in the past). Here’s a bit of inspiration to get you thinking about potential questions.

Now don’t start memorizing answers to all of them. Obviously, that’s just ridiculous and you never know what the interviewer will ask. But I’ve found that if I concentrate my efforts in a few areas, this helps me draw out examples and provide some pretty solid, respectable answers.

1. First and foremost, be prepared with your elevator pitch!
2. Think of several examples of things you do well. Previous projects, situations that were difficult, times in which your boss or others absolutely raved about your work.
3. Be prepared by remembering a time when things did not happen as you wanted them to happen and how you overcame this. (this will answer those annoying questions related to challenges, weaknesses, etc.)
4. Give some thought to what your personality type is like and how you work with others – are you a very independent worker? Do you need others around for motivation?
5. Since you’ve done lots of research on this company and know all about what they do (you did that, right?) give careful consideration to forming a brief description of them in your own words, one that preferably gives the company a bit of an ego rub while you’re at it.
6. There are plenty of on-line resources for finding out what your salary range should be. Come prepared to tell them what you’d like to be making, as long as it falls within the parameters of the position, of course.

Last, but certainly not least, don’t forget that you also must (and I mean MUST) ask questions of the interviewer. Your inquiries should be smart, and show knowledge that you understand their business and have given some serious thought to how you can help them succeed.

All done? Take a bow. Then practice again. If you’re like me and end up resorting to using the family pet as your “audience”, I promise he won’t mind.

Hot Jobs :: Week of 03.02.09

Here are this week’s featured jobs on the Pittsburgh Technology Council’s Career Center. Visit careers.pghtech.org for more job listings.

TeleSales Representative
Four Rivers Software Systems, Inc.

Accounting Assistant
Foundation Radiology Group

SharePoint Developer
PLUS Consulting, L.L.C.
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Hot Internship:

Mechanical/Electrical Eng Intern
Catalyst Connection

Didn’t your mother tell you to say thank you?

One of the best things you can do to make sure you leave a positive impression after an interview is simply say, thank you. It can get a bit confusing however, when one takes into account the many ways of communicating this simple message. Send an email? Write a formal letter? Use those leftover thank you cards that your Aunt Sally gave to you back in High School? And then, what do you say?

Someone once gave me advice that I found quite refreshing. He told me that nothing works better than a handwritten note. It’s personalized, shows sincere effort and interest in the position, and doubles as a quick reminder of the excellent impression you made during the interview. Just make sure you have some decent, professional looking notecards or stationary. My thank you notes are typically short and succinct:

Dear so-and-so,
Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to meet with me. It was great to [learn about X] or [meet you and so-and-so]. I am excited about the opportunity and know that [my skills in X] would add unique value to your company.  Yadda, yadda, yadda.

It can certainly get more detailed and formalized than this, and depending on what you pick-up about the interviewer’s personality, you might feel more comfortable sending a typed-written letter instead. Alternatively, if you know that decisions will be made very quickly, within two days of the interview, an email is acceptable. I would only use this as a last resort however, since an email is the least likely to stand out and definitely the laziest option.

Of course, in this day and age the lost art of nice handwriting  is likely also lost on you . If you need a little refresher you can practice by printing out these old school lesson sheets that are sure to bring back some memories. Just make sure to give yourself a gold star when you’ve mastered them.

And, don’t forget to get that note to the post office box ASAP! Employers expect to receive a thank you within 2-3 days of an interview.

Hot Jobs :: Week of 02.23.09

Here are this week’s featured jobs on the Pittsburgh Technology Council’s Career Center. Visit careers.pghtech.org for more job listings.

Information Technology Specialist/Network Admin
DVSport, Inc.

Technical Service Representative
ABG Capital

Software Developer
HP3 Software Inc.
________________________________________
Hot Internship:

Quality Assurance Analyst Intern – Summer 2009
Management Science Associates, Inc.
________________________________________
Hot Job at
2000 Technology Drive:

Project Manager
Pennsylvania NanoMaterials Commercialization Center

Hot Jobs :: Week of 02.16.09

Contrary to what the news says, people are hiring! If you don’t believe me, check out the 1200 or so jobs posted to the PTC’s career center. I now direct your attention to this week’s hot jobs:

Environmental Chemist
On Assignment Lab Support

Lotus Notes/Domino Administrator
4CTechnologies

Software Developer
HP3 Software Inc.
________________________________________
Hot Internship:

Technical Writing Intern
Vivisimo, Inc.
________________________________________
Hot Job at
2000 Technology Drive:

Project Manager
Pennsylvania NanoMaterials Commercialization Center

Czar of what?

A friend’s posted item on Facebook tipped me off to this phenomena, and although I’ve certainly noticed the abundant emergence of the word “czar” in more and more job titles, it hadn’t struck me as all that strange until I starting thinking about it. Car Czar, Energy Czar, Data Czar, ECommerce Czar, Climate Czar. It’s one of those words that sounds funny after you say it a few times. I went to indeed.com and typed in “czar” and lo and behold, there were 19 czar jobs.

Simply Hired has even graphed it out and says that the average czar earns $88,000! Not too bad, and Czars typically have perks too, like a palatial estate and personal chauffeur.

I personally like the New York Times definition that “‘czar has become the default term for a quasi-bigwig troubleshooter whose mission is ill defined except that, well, it’s important and someone has to deal with the mess.” You can read the full article here where you’ll discover endearing titles Czars give to their loved ones, like czardines! It’s even been suggested that the Obama administration is “addicted to czars“, although in this case there is more to it that a simple title fad.

I’m going to spend some time pondering a title change myself, although I guess I’d technically be “czaritsa.”

Pitt’s Spring Technical Job Fair

If anyone out there in blog land is planning to attend the University of Pittsburgh’s job fair tomorrow, please stop by and say hello! The PTC will be available to answer your questions and help you find a job or internship.

Check it out from 10:00 am – 4:00 pm at the William Pitt Union.

Hot Jobs :: Week of 02.09.09

I’d like to preface this particular posting of Hot Jobs  by drawing to your attention to a Membership Sales position at the PTC. Could you be my new co-worker?

And now, on to this week’s Hot Jobs…

Technical Specialist/IOM Technologist
Surgical Neuromonitoring Associates

Software Sales Executive
Direct Response Technologies, Inc.

HelpDesk Specialist / Network Administrator
Wolf Consulting Inc.
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Hot Internship:

IT Support Intern
Ariba